Unseen

Chapter Twenty-Two: Anthony

A/N: I completely dropped the ball on this story, but a reader asked me to update. I only have this chapter and the next written, but I'll try to work on a conclusion soon. I love y'all if you're still here, two years later 💙

Recap: Preston went to Connecticut to work through rehab with his ex, Brayden's mother. While he was there, the married couple had a huge fight over something hurtful Preston said: they were a split family. Kayla was offended because she's cared for Brayden since he was an infant, so to her, she's the only mother he's known, and simply because their children would have two different mothers didn't mean they weren't one united family. After returning, Kayla and Preston announced to their family that she is pregnant. She and Preston have another argument, and we pick up here... enjoy!

Anthony

Kayla put her headphones in and took a deep breath as she pressed play on her music. She was in downtown L.A. preparing to take a run through the park. She needed to calm herself down. She had won her case, which helped lessen her irritation, but each time she got happy, she immediately got angry. She thought she was over the argument she and her husband had before she left home, but obviously she was not over it. He had been beyond silent and pushy since he got back to California.

She kept thinking about the infinite possibilities of what he was hiding. He had spent three weeks with his ex, the biological mother of his child, in rehab. It concerned her that whatever he was scared to tell had a lot to do with her. She just had a feeling that she would find out a secret involving Alexandria that he never told her. As much as it was eating away at her, Kayla tried to remember to stay calm both for herself and the baby. She knew Preston loved her, but love wasn't enough to make marriage work. It requires communication, trust, and commitment. Until that point, they had all those values as well as love and their marriage was incredible. But now they had hit a road block and both of them had to decide whether or not they would take a detour.

As Kayla began jogging, she thought back to the phone call again. She forgave him for it but it still bothered her, especially now that he was hiding something. It wasn't like her husband to not come telling her everything. Preston couldn't hold water if his life depended on it. That's why she was so concerned about whatever he wasn't telling her. They had a no secrets policy, and especially considering his track record of lying to her, this situation was rubbing her the wrong way.

However, she couldn't dwell on that. Regardless of what he was hiding, Preston was on a strict time line to tell her what it was by the end of the night, or else she'd be sleeping in a hotel room. A part of her felt she was going overboard, but she needed to know whether or not their relationship was in jeopardy. If he had kissed his ex, she could handle it. If he'd slept with her, she knew it would take awhile to forgive but they'd work through it. There was nothing Preston could have done that would make her want to leave him, which is why she didn't understand his silence. It was more irritating than angering. She had so much anxiety about what happened while he was gone, and that wasn't good for her pregnancy. So with that in mind, Kayla decided to pick up her speed and attempt to clear her mind for her midday run.

When she returned home, Kayla noticed no one was there. It was four in the afternoon, and Erica was meeting her soon for a chat. Kayla started putting away the few groceries she had bought for the house, and as she did so, she shot Preston a text reminding him to pick up their son and be home in enough time to explain himself. When he read the text and didn't respond, Kayla got even more worried. He was behaving so out of character that it was throwing her off. Now she really wasn't trusting him, and that was a space they hadn't been in since they got back together almost two years prior. It was nerve wrecking and simply made her anxious as hell. A few minutes later, the doorbell ring, shaking her from her thoughts, and Kayla rushed over to let her best friend in.