Struggles of an Only Child (Book 2 of the Struggle Puff Series)

Chapter Seven

When dad came over, I kept my attention on Ain who was now following Jessica back into the bedroom he and my dad had just emerged from. I felt something in me start to hurt as my mind raced with all the possibilities of what they could be doing in there.

I knew Amy and dad were talking, but the conversation didn't register until I heard Cadence call out my name and wave me over to where she was sitting with Rosie. I was slow to saunter over, still lost in thought, but eventually I sat down next to them.

"We have of questions." Rosie said, looking around suspiciously before looking back at me and lowering her voice, "What were Carter and Ain talking about?"

The irritation I felt was immediate, "How would I know? I wasn't in the room with them."

Cadence and Rosie glanced at each other before nodding.

"Next question," It was Cadence that spoke this time, "What were you and Jessica talking about?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business." I stated calmly.

"It's not Rosie's-"

"Hey!"

"But it is mine."

"What happened to teamwork, Cadence?" Rosie complained with a pout.

Cadence shrugged, "Didn't seem like the right tactic."

I rolled my eyes at them, "Not that it concerns either of you, but nothing happened. We just talked."

"Uhhh, that looked like way more than a talk." Rosie said with a raised eyebrow.

"Last time I checked, talks don't involve grabbing, glaring, whispered threats, or malicious intent." Cadence pointed out.

"I didn't say it was a civil talk, now did I?" I whispered out through gritted teeth

Just as I said that, Ain and Jessica came out of the bedroom, both looking irritated. Before I knew it, Cadence had stood up and gone over to them, a determined look on her face.

"What is she doing?" I muttered to myself.

Rosie only shrugged, both of us watching in curious wonder what would happen next.

She grabbed Ain's shoulder and whispered a few things in his ear that made him scowl and pull away from her. Their conversation was whispers that even Jessica couldn't understand even though she was right there next to them.

A few moments later, they settled down and were talking like nothing even happened, including Jessica in on whatever it was they were now talking about.

Rosie and I looked at each other with wide eyes as we tried to figure out what just transpired over there.

Eventually, we shrugged and decided to carry on with another conversation.

"So, you and my dad?" I asked with a knowing smirk.

Rosie's face turned red, "What about it?"

"What's going on with that?"

"Honestly, I don't know." She admitted with a heavy sigh, "I guess we're kind of just talking, right now. No dating or anything like that."

"You say that as if it's a bad thing."

"It's not that it's bad." She said quickly, "It's just... slow. Like, snail-pace. Maybe I'm just impatient."

"Nah, you're right. It is kind of slow." I frowned when I came to a realization, "It's my fault, really. He's too focused on me to speed things up with you. I'm sorry."

Rosie laughed a little, "Why are you apologizing? You act like I didn't know he had a kid before I decided I was interested in him." She rubbed my back, as she kept talking, "I knew what I was getting into before I got into it. I knew this was going to be the pace of our relationship, but I'm being pushy, so don't apologize for my inability to wait."

I smiled for the first time that night.

I really did like Rosie. She was easy to talk to and a genuinely good person. She wasn't that much older than me, but all things considered, neither was my dad, so I didn't mind. She was nothing like a mom to me, but instead a really good friend that I could be around, and that was okay. I really didn't need a mom anyway.

We decided to change the subject to school and work, only stopping when my phone buzzed from a text courtesy of Ain.

We're repeating my birthday party. Get ready to go.

I looked up to where he stood showing his phone to Cadence who simply nodded and departed from him and Jessica.

"Is everything okay?" Rosie asked.

I flashed her my phone, "You know the story, right?"

"Uh... I would like to say that I did, but I can't."

My eyes went wide, "I can't believe we never told you!" I quickly pulled up a picture from my phone gallery and showed it to her. It was one of Ain, Jake, Amy, dad, and myself at the pizza parlor back when I was three. "My memory isn't super great about the occasion considering I was a child, but what I do remember is that Ain's super rich parents threw him some stupid fancy party for his sixth birthday, but he didn't want it. So while they were parading around their wealth, he was having the worst time ever. Well, after dad and I met his parents, something happened where his mom said something to Amy which caused us to leave, only for it to actually be a huge plan so that we could take him away for a real kid's party!" I sunk down in my chair, letting the excitement simmer away, "I'm sure dad tells it better since he remembers it more clearly than I do."

Rosie laughed, "I think I get the gist of it though. I'm guessing you guys are planning to ditch this party to hang out somewhere else?"

I nodded, "You should come too."

She chuckled nervously, her eyes darting to where Amy was now making rounds to her guests, "Um, I don't think so."

I lowered my voice and leaned closer to her, "Is it because of Amy?"

She nodded, "It's not that I'm scared of her or anything, but I think it's clear that she has feelings for Carter and really doesn't want me intervening on that."

"You realize that they've already talked about this, right?" I pointed out, "Yes, she loves him, but he doesn't hold the same flame for her like he did all those years ago. He likes you, Rosie. Don't self-sabotage."

Her smile was almost sad as she looked at him, "I know. That doesn't change the fact that I'm not going tonight."

I felt myself become irritated, "Why not?"

"Because" This time her smile was bright as she turned to face me, "You guys deserve to have one last night with just the OG's and I don't think I've been around long enough to intrude on that. Besides, I'm getting tired and want to go home." She stood up and stretched, "I'll see you later. Text me if anything happens, okay?"

I nodded, "Okay. Drive safe." I couldn't think of anything else to say after all that she had. It had me wondering even more about what my place in Ain's life was going to be from here on out.

As I watched Rosie wave at everyone before leaving, I glanced back at Ain who was now walking around the room and shaking hands with the various people there.

One more night, I thought to myself, One more night of being friends, and then I'll let you go.