Fallen Families

Chapter 20.

"Oh he is...um well." He was trying to look for the right words. 

"Famous? It's okay to say it. I like what I do. And yes I would say so but um, I would rather have you meet him before I actually start telling you his life story." Scarlett laughed, as did Brett. Jasmine, however, did not as she watched Scarlett poor the wine. 

"I hope you know I am taking Nicole back," Jasmine said causing all the laughter to fade away from the room. Brett awkwardly looked down at the glass that was handed to him and Scarlett looked up at her. 

"Excuse me?" she asked trying to understand if she heard her correctly or not. From the looks of it, she was not angry, more surprised. 

"My daughter. She is coming home with me and I hope you know that." She said. Scarlett put her drink down and looked at her. 

"Of course I know you would take her home, but-" 

"No buts she is my daughter, not yours." She said sternly. Scarlett frowned and put her hands on her hips, all the while Brett sat there awkwardly not knowing what to say or do. 

"I understand you have been taking care of her for the last few years." 

"Last few years? You mean her entire freaking life? Because I have been there for her always. Where have you been? Huh? Filming your movies? Tell me was it worth it?" She asked as Brett lifted his head. 

"Jas maybe you should calm down. Yeah?" He said calmly. Jasmine sighed. 

"I am just informing her she can't keep our daughter. Couldn't you see it on her face when we showed up? She was disappointed we came. Because she spent a few days with our daughter before realizing that she was a great hum and now she wants to be around her." Jasmine said. "and she wants us to give her the permission to be around her more and more." She said. 

"Excuse but I never wanted to make you angry," Scarlett said. "But I don't appreciate you coming into my home and accusing me of things." She said. Brett closed his eyes silently praying that someone else would walk through the doors. And as if he prays were answered Nicole came running through the door, with the intents of grabbing her phone. 

"Sorry I just need to grab... Is everything alright?" She asked noticing the looks on everyone's faces. And as if to make things worse Scarlett was about to answer her when Jasmine interrupted. 

"Everything is fine. We are just explaining to her that you are coming back home forever." She said sternly. And although they never talked about it Nicole stood their kind of shocked at what her mother had to say. 

"Forever? As in you mean, I can never come back?" She said trying to understand what was happening. 

"As in we need to talk about this when we get home," Brett said before Jasmine could answer. Because he knew his wife and it would probably be an answer that no would want to hear causing either an outburst from Nicole or Scarlett. 

"I don't understand. I wanna spend more time with them." Nicole said. "I just met them and already know how much fun that we would have together. So I don't understand why you won't allow me to you know hang out with her." 

"Nicole, you have to understand that this is a very complicated situation. And I am not saying that you will never see her again. Maybe once a year."

"Once a year? Mom. I am not trying to make you upset but I don't wanna be away from either of them. At least not when I still don't really know them. I want to spend time with them." Nicole said. She was not okay with what her mother was saying and she was letting it be known. 

"We can have this discussion when we get home. Why don't you go back with your sibling tell them we need to go check into the hotel." Jasmine said. She really didn't want to argue with Nicole. Neither did Nicole so she took the time to walk away and calm down for a bit. Once she was gone Scarlett spoke up.

"I don't want to be away from her any longer." She said honestly. "I know you will be in town for the next two days so can you please think about it. I understand that she is your daughter, I gave up the right to make choices about her a long time ago. But I also know that you know what an amazing girl she is. And I just don't wanna miss out on anything else." She said very politely. Jasmine didn't respond but Brett nodded. 

"we will talk. But we best be going. The hotel check-in time is coming up." He said. "And we wanna have a conversation with Nicole if you don't mind." Brett said. "and whatever we decided we will make sure she doesn't leave without saying goodbye." 

"Thank you," Scarlett said silently. She was not happy but she wouldn't let them see it. So they both stood up and called for their kids. Nicole walked down with the small back that she had come with and walked up to Scarlett. 

"thank you for letting me stay here." She said sadly. Scarlett gave her a sad smile. 

"Hey, I will see you soon kid. Don't let that smile fade away." She said. Nicole smiled at her before giving her a quick hug. She whispered another thank you before releasing her and leaving with her family. Scarlett didn't miss the jealous look that Jasmine wore on her face as they left. And once the door closed the tears came. She wasn't gonna lose this little girl.