CELESTE
..
ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ
ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʏ
.....
Someone's shaking me. Why is someone shaking me? My eyes are tired and my body hurts. Sad life.
I opened my eyes, looking around in confusion. How long did I sleep? A hot guy is sitting beside me. Ohh nevermind, it's my boo.
"Hi." I say, stretching my arms to get rid of the stiffened muscles. Damn..relaxing. Why he looks so panicked? "What's wrong?" I ask.
"Fuck off. You scared me!" He exclaims.
That excites me. "Really?" But wait..what did I do?
"I've been trying to wake you up for so long..you were not even moving, I was about to call a doctor idiot." He tells me.
"Oh." I look at him. "Why do you look homeless?" I ask, noticing his appearance. His shirt is half untucked, don't even ask about his hair.
"Your cat was fighting with me." He lies. Does he think I'll believe him? Pico perks up, listening to the false accusation against him.
"Chase Elias Black. Did you just lie to me?" I narrowed my eyes. Am I looking Stern enough?
He sighs. "I found out something about my biological mother today." He says.
"Is she hot?" I didn't mean to let it slip. "I..hehe." He rolls his eyes, shaking his head.
"It's Marissa." He says after a looong pause.
"Marissa? Like Marissa, Marissa or your actual mother's name is Marissa too?" I ask. Is he messing with me because I have a concussion? If Marissa is his mother then Pete? Eww. But wait..he looks nothing like Marissa or Pete.
"Marissa as in Caden's mom." He clarifies.
"But..how..wha.."
"I think Pete's fucking with me." He shrugs.
"You went to meet Pete?" I ask.
"Yeah..just casual talk." He shrugged again. "Do you think she's my mother?" He asks.
"Don't know man..she's hot though..if we overlook the fact that she's not a very likable person? Dunno..do you think we should invite her to dinner..so like we know the story from both sides?" I suggest.
"I don't know." He sighed, keeping his leg over my good leg and burying his face in my neck. He took a long sniff. "You need a shower." He commented. This fucker. I tried to pull him away by grabbing his hair. "I was kidding darling." He says, pressing a kiss there.
We stayed in that position, I felt like he was dozing off. I run my fingers through his hair. They've gotten softer, he uses my shampoo and conditioner. That is the reason, I know. He showers with me on my hair wash day so I can do his hair too, lazy man.
"Is today okay?" He asks out of nowhere. Okay for what? "To invite Marissa." He explains further.
"Oh. Yeah, absolutely." I nod.
"No..leave it." He dismissed the idea.
"No hush. Close this whole thing as soon as you can..I don't want you overthinking this..whatever this is. You already have lot of things to worry about." Just as I finished, Caden and Rome walked in with plates in both their hands.
"Is he asleep?" Caden whispered.
"Say yes." Chase whispered as slowly as he could.
"He has food stoopid." I tell him.
"Okay, it's clear he isn't, get up." Caden ordered. Chase didn't move for a few seconds but tightened his grip on me. Caden kept the plates on the couch and pulled Chase away from me.
"Asshole." Chase muttered, getting off of the bed and removing his shirt on his way to the closet.
Caden and I looked at each other then back at Rome as we clearly saw Rome looking at my man the way he totally was not supposed to.
"Roman Rodriguez." Caden narrowed his eyes. Rome shook his head, getting out of the daze.
"I'm sooo sorry, that was just for research purposes." Rome said, liar.
"What research?" Caden interrogated further.
"We made ramen for you guys!" Rome exclaimed as Chase walked out, now wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. One day I'll remove every piece of black clothing in there and fill it with actual colors.
"We'll talk about this later, you're sleeping on the couch." I heard Caden say to Rome. Is pregnancy making my ears useful?
"They ordered it." Chase deadpanned, looking at the bowls. I swear I'm giving him 'be nice' classes, he's still learning.
"Doesn't matter, give me my plate already!" I forward both my hands, realizing that the other one is actually useless for a while. Chase took my plate and sat beside me.
Caden kept a smaller bowl infront of Pico before joining us. "Is it okay if I invite Marissa to dinner tonight?" Chase asked.
"Who dat?" Caden asked.
"Your mom dumbass." I rolled my eyes.
"Oh." He frowned. "Is something wrong?" He asked, picking up the piece of chicken from Chase's bowl since he was feeding me first, one glare was enough for him to leave it.
"No..just.." He narrated the same thing he told me to them.
"I can go to our house tonight if you want some privacy." Rome said.
"Shut up." Chase said. The smile on Caden's face was almost blinding.
We finished food silently..kidding. Caden dropped some food on the duvet which led to Chase scolding him.
We were lying on the bed after Caden called his mom to invite her for dinner, surprisingly she agreed. We were looking at the ceiling. "Why is your ceiling black?" Rome asked.
"It-" Chase started but I cut him off. "He was in his emo phase, everything's black." I tell him.
"Fuck off."
"What are you making for dinner?" I asked.
"Can we order pizza?" Caden asked.
"Order whatever you want to..now get out of our room." Chase said, pulling the duvet off their body. Rome was holding Caden's hand, he tried to pull his hand away getting caught but Caden wasn't having it. "Get out already!"
"Fiiiiiine." Caden said, dragging the i's. He got up and left, Rome following him behind.
"Wake me up when your mum arrives." I tell Chase, trying to turn and lie on my stomach. Stupid boot. He helps me, his hand resting on my back. A few seconds later, I felt his hands moving. "Thank you." I sigh, closing my eyes. I dozed off somewhere between the massage. Last thing I felt were his lips on my forehead. I love this man so freaking much.
••••••
There was no one in the room when I woke up. I looked at the time, it was half past 8. He didn't wake me up.
I turn to look at the stupid crutches, they're not exactly useful. I pick up my phone, texting Chase and forwarding the same message to the other two idiots in case he doesn't have his phone with him.
Chase walked in a few minutes later. "Slept well?" He asked.
"Yes, is your mom here?" I asked.
"She just arrived. You wanna go downstairs?" He asks. I should've said yes when he asked if I want to stay in a room downstairs till I heal.
"Yes, do I look okay?" I ask.
"Beautiful." He replied, brushing my hair with his fingers.
He helped me get down from the bed, I straightened my clothes. "Do you think I should wear something nicer?" I ask, looking down at my outfit. I was drowning in his oversized tshirt, it looked like I wasn't wearing shorts underneath.
"Are you comfortable?" He asked.
"Yeah.."
"That's all that matters. C'mon." He put the hand he was holding around his neck and picked me up.
"I think we should stay in the room downstairs." I say as we descended the stairs.
"Are you sure?" He asked. I nodded, looking at his mom who was already looking at us. Holy mama, she looks gorgeous. She wasn't wearing anything over the top, it was just mom jeans paired with a knitted sweater.
"let's go back to our room." I whispered in his ear.
"Shut up." He groaned, setting me down on the sofa.
How do I greet her? She never seemed fond of me but she never talked to me either. Why did I even suggest this. God.
"Chase made pasta for you." Caden broke the silence, sensing the awkward moment.
"Hii." I looked back at Marissa.
"Are you feeling okay?" She asked, referring to my half useless body. Her voice was softer than I have ever heard her all the times before.
"Oh yeah, totally fine."
Can someone start talking already, it's getting awkward here. "I saw what you did to Blair." She said. Is she going to scold me?
"She touched him, without his permission." I murmured, not wanting to have those pictures I received back in my mind.
"Thankyou." She said, shocking me. What? Did she just thank me? "You did what I couldn't back then." She added. What is going on? Excuse me? How long has it been since she arrived.
"I want the backstory, you're his mama or not?" I ask, leaning forward to study her expressions.
"I am." She said. I turned to look at Chase who was sitting beside me.
"I missed the whole story! I asked you to wake me up!!!" I cried.
"She just arrived." Chase tells me.
"Liar. Why is she being so nice?" I ask. Rome cleared his throat dramatically. Oops. I look at Marissa. "No offense, I was just.."
"It's fine, I gave you a reason to say that." She said, looking at her hands.
"Mom..can you please tell us everything?" Caden said, taking a seat beside Rome.
"Your father." She stopped. "Chase's..we were in a relationship during college..he was the best person I knew. He always stayed away from attention and had this calm aura that I loved." A smile formed on her face as she talked about him. I took Chase's hand in mine as I noticed him fidgeting with his fingers at the mention of his father.
"I knew he had an older brother, Pete never liked Elias..your dad..he wanted to be a photographer and his parents supported him..Pete was jealous that he was getting to do what he wanted to unlike him, he had to take over the family business..he died in a car crash the day we found out we were expecting you. He wanted to get married." I felt Chase stiffen beside me, his hand unconsciously coming over my stomach.
She continued, "This is where Pete came in, he offered my parents money and asked for my hand in marriage in exchange. We weren't rich..my parents obviously liked the idea, I was pregnant and my boyfriend was no more. He married me a couple of months before you were born." She tells us..her voice was cracking as she spoke. Rome gave her a glass of water.
"Why the hell no one knows about him?" Caden questioned.
"He was out of the public eye..and after he passed away, Pete destroyed everything that could lead to him. Jealousy destroys everything..he destroyed his own brother..because of jealousy." She looked up at the ceiling, clenching her jaw.
"Why did you.." I trailed off..not wanting to voice my question. Why did she give him up? Why didn't she fight for him?!
"I was depressed, he made everyone believe that I couldn't handle raising a child with my mental health..he gave him up for adoption. Your grandfather made sure no one adopted you. He knew everything. Pete started asking for an heir shortly after, I started taking medicines. I couldn't bear the pain of having another baby when I was aware that I couldn't save my first baby. When nothing helped, he agreed to adopt you." She looked at Chase, blinking rapidly to stop the tears.
"Why didn't you tell me? Anything..he..he used to hurt me. You watched..you always watched. You never stopped him." I heard him say.
"It was you..or Caden. He blackmailed me, he made me watch..he used to hit me everytime he hit you. I didn't want another child of mine to face the same things we were facing."
Caden fisted his hands. "Why didn't you divorce him?" He asked.
"I couldn't. I wasn't allowed to go out of the house or have a phone. He took everything away. After your grandparents passed away, it got worse. He sent Caden away..but he never stopped hurting Chase. I tried to stop him but he would just hurt me. I loved you..I have always loved you but it was better to love you in secret than show you affection, he hated it. He hated you..and I didn't want him to hurt you way more than he actually did. I distanced myself from you..I never wanted to hurt you." She sobbed, hugging Caden who was sitting beside her. "I wanted to tell you everything..I love both of you..more than everything..I'm so sorry-"
"Shh." Caden rubbed her back.
I looked at Chase, who had his eyes closed. I tugged on his hand..he opened his eyes to look at me. I nodded toward Marissa.
He hesitated before getting up and wrapping his arms around her slowly. He looked stiff as a pole, Marissa stiffened too, feeling another pair of arms. Pulling back from Caden, she looked at Chase as fresh tears started flowing again as she wrapped her arms around him.
I wanted to go to another room or kitchen to give them a little privacy but I couldn't. Rome already excused himself, fucker left me.
She kept crying, repeating that she was sorry again and again.
"I think I need some food in me after all this." Caden joked, lightening the mood. As if on cue, my stomach grumbled.
They turned to look at me, well..How do I hide? I looked away, hiding my reddening cheeks.
"Shut up..I am eating for three!" I covered my eyes.
"They're not even this big!" Caden pinched his fingers together.
"Shut up."
"Are you..oh my..congratulations." Marissa wiped her face, smiling at us.
"He couldn't keep-" I was rudely stopped by Chase keeping his hand over my mouth.
"Don't mind her." Caden brushed me off, walking into the kitchen where Rome was. Chase followed him too. Don't leave me dudes!
"I hope you forgive me..it's fine if you don't..I was rude to you for no reason. I..I didn't want a repeat of Blair with him..I just-"
"It's okay. Your intentions were pure..it doesn't matter now." I said, motioning her to come closer. "Do you need help? I mean..if you want you can stay here for a while and file for a divorce..I am sure Chase knows some best lawyers." I tell her.
"I don't think Pete will divorce me this easily." She sighed. "And I don't want to impose-"
"Oh don't worry about it..we have so many rooms here..I don't even know why he bought this bigass penthouse in the first place..and I want you to recreate the bond between him and you...I want him to get all the love he deserves." I look at Chase, bickering with the couple.
"I'll see what I can do." She said as Chase walked back into the living room and helped me to the dining table.
"The pizza got cold." Caden said.
"Reheat it dumb." Rome rolled his eyes.
"Good idea." And both of them went back to the kitchen.
Dinner went quite nicely with a few jokes here and there and a few smacks Caden received from Chase. The highlight of the dinner was them finding out we were engaged, I thought they knew. Caden cried for a good one minute because he wasn't the first one to know after he congratulated us.
"Can I plan the wedding?" He asked.
"No." "Yes." Me and Chase said simultaneously.
"That was a rhetorical question..obviously I am planning the wedding." He says.
"Have you decided a date?" Marissa asked. "If you don't mind me asking." She added.
"Nope..Maybe after the babies are born?" I say. Chase grumbled under his breath. If it were up to him, we would've been married till now.
"Do you have his picture?" Chase asked Marissa.
"I have an album at my parents' house, I can get it for you if you'd like?" She asked.
"If it's not a problem."
"It's not." She smiled. She looked happier than I've ever seen her. "It's getting late..I should get going." She said, looking at the time.
"You can stay the night." Chase offered.
"I can't." She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry..thank you for the food." She said.
"I'll drop you." Caden said as she got up, picking up her plate.
"I came with a driver. Don't worry, goodnight. I love you." She told both of them, kissing Caden's forehead, she looked at Chase hesitantly.
"Goodnight mom." He whispered, calling her mom for the very first time. She smiled, touching his hair. "You are so much like your father." She said as Caden walked her out.
"Well..that was intense." Caden said, coming back after he walked her to her car.
"We're going to sleep." Chase said, taking me upstairs with him. Finally, I can pee.
We brushed our teeth together before finally going to bed. He hugged me, not saying anything..that's when I felt them. The tears. I wish I could take his pain away and somehow change the past.
I moved my fingers through his hair as he slept after he sobbed silently for a while. I kissed his head, pulling the duvet over him.
My little boo.
•×•×•×•×•×•