Whoa Baby
Chapter 49- Wake Me Up
"But that's ok, we're all a little broken." -The Breakfast Club
3rd Person POV
It was another one of those nights. A cold sweat breaking out across JC's forehead and down his spine. He rolled his head on his pillow from side to side mumbling softly and incoherently on occasion. The nightmares came back. A different one this time. His mind brought him back to another night.
Not surprising, Jim Ace, intoxicated out of his mind, slurred his threats as he swayed back and forth waiting for JC to come out of his room. It couldn't have been more than six o'clock and Jim was already in this state. It was also, only a matter of time before the boy became scared and listened. Jim called out for his son again, in a more calming voice knowing it'd lure JC out.
JC stuck his head out of his room, curious to know why his father was acting so strange. He was never his calm when he was drunk. And JC could tell by the blood shot eyes and red pigmented skin that Jim was indeed intoxicated. "Come on we're leaving." Jim told him, grabbing his arm tightly in his grip and dragging him towards the steps.
"No. Where are we going?" JC squirmed, trying to break loose of his hold.
"We're leaving town. Just the two of us. You're mother isn't coming. She doesn't know how good she's had until I take it away from her. She doesn't deserve us! The bitch doesn't deserve anything." Jim cursed pulling at JC arm forcefully.
"No I don't want to go anywhere with you." JC demanded, pulling back on his arm and digging his heels on the floor.
"You don't have a choice! You don't tell me no! You hear me you little piece of shit?!" Jim bellowed, pulling at JC's arm so that they were now face to face.
"I want to stay here with mom!" JC fumed, daring to punch his father's arm so he'd let go of him.
Shortly after those words were spoken Carrie walks through the front door quickly putting the paper bags down on the floor. She screams Jim's name only to be ignored. "Jimmy let go of him!" Carrie demand, stomping her foot from the bottom of the stair case.
"Get out of my way whore, you don't appreciate anything around here." Jim shouts from the top of the stair case.
"JC go back to your room." Carrie encourage, "James let him go!" She screams running up the staircase.
Jim, fueled with anger, waits until Carrie reaches the top to slap her across the face. She falls, holding her face in her hands, trying not to look at JC with tears in her eyes. Jim pulls JC along to leave. JC fights back. Carrie, filled with fear that Jim will make it out of the house, tugs on his leg to stop him from going anywhere. Little did she know, that would just make him angrier and put his son's life on the line.
Jim forgets he's holding on to JC tightly, and JC doesn't know his father is going to let go to cause more pain on Carrie. So as Jim let's go, JC stumbles backwards, down all twelve steps. Carrie screams, trying to reach out but it's too late; JC has already falling. Carrie jumps to her feet, punching Jim before she runs down the stairs and tends to JC. There's a lot of blood pooling around his head. She cried for a while, and cries some more, checking his pulse and trying to wake him up. It's only a matter of time when she hastily grabs her cell phone that she previously dropped on the floor along with the groceries and calls 911.
James Ace, at the top of the stair case just stares. And stares. And stares. He doesn't say anything until he finally sees the red and blue lights through the windows. It's only then, that one time, where he sobers up enough to open the door for the EMTs; then sits at his dining room table with a half drank bottle of beer in his hands. Promising himself it would be the last one.
He never kept that promise.
It was never his last one.
JC, just like after every nightmare stood up to scream. But he realized just in time that he was not in the comfort of his room. So he rolled his face into his pillow and screamed on the top of his lungs. And even that didn't help him. He thrashed around on his mattress, threw his pillow against the closet door, rattling, griping his hands in his hair tightly. With all the noise and movement, Paisley finally stirred slightly awake.
Out of habit she looked over to the crib first, listening quietly for any sounds and then looked down to see JC in his terror state. Her fingers move down, gripping on his arm closest to her. "JC." She calls, shaking him lightly, "JC what's wrong?"
JC stuffs his fist in his mouth to prevent the screams. Paisley slides off her bed, kneeling by JC mattress to comfort him. "JC. What's wrong? You're scaring me." She says to him, shaking his shoulder. He laid there, panting, and she couldn't help but worry more. "JC, open your eyes. Everything is going to be ok." Paisley promised him holding one of his hands he gripped so tightly on.
Slowly he opened his eyes, his breath just a bit more calming. She got him to sit up, and lean his back against the bed. "What just happened?" She asks him, holding his hand and looking at him intently. "Are you alright? Do you need to go to a doctor?" She asks worriedly, not really understanding what just happened.
He shook his head taking long deep breaths. "No. It was just a nightmare." He tells her with a long exhaling breath. Except it wasn't a nightmare, it really did happen, it just came back to haunt him.
"That must have been some nightmare." Paisley mumble, trying to sooth him comfortingly.
He paused, looking in the dark for her, to see if she were really paying attention. "My dad was in it." He admits in a whisper.
She press her lips together not knowing what to say besides, "I'm sorry. But he's gone. You don't have to worry about him anymore." She assure him, holding onto both of his hands tightly.
"It feels too real every time." He mumbles in a slight daze while shaking his head. One of his hands reaches behind his head, his fingers brushing over and over on the same spot.
"This isn't the first time?" She figures, asking him curiously, sitting by his side.
He shakes his head, pressing his finger for the slight dead bald spot on the back of his head where five staples once were years ago. "I'm fine now. You can go back to sleep." He insists, patting her hand.
"How long has this been going on for?" Paisley asks, not ready to go back to sleep with so many questions on her mind. This could be the moment she needed for JC to tell her everything, to tell her why he was so moody all the time, why he can't sleep properly, and everything else that's going on with him.
"I don't know. Frequently now in the past few months. Before it was rare." JC admits, rubbing his eyes. "I didn't mean to wake you." He says.
She shakes her head not really caring about that, "What changed from rarely to frequently?" She asks, still holding one of his hands because it was locked around hers so tightly.
He didn't speak, he just let silence engulf them until Paisley's head felt too heavy to carry and fell to his shoulder. He knew she was out of it by now but he still chose to speak and answer the question that was left floating in the air. "He's coming back." JC whispered sounded scared. "He's coming back."
===
Paisley's POV
The next morning, I woke up stiff. Neck, back, butt, and I couldn't feel my left hand. I picked up my head and realized I indeed fell asleep sitting on the floor with JC. JC, still snoozing, had his head back against the mattress with his mouth slightly parted, holding onto my hand tightly from last night.
I got up cautiously, trying not to make sudden movements and wake him. I tip toed to the crib to find Colton still sleeping like a good baby. I went to my phone, the time reading ten to seven. Colton would be waking up in an hour and very hungry. Now I didn't know whether or not to crawl back in bed until Colton wakes up or start making coffee down stairs.
Coffee and donuts sound great... Ugh too much of a drive but coffee and bagels sounds just as awesome.
Closing the bedroom door behind me I quietly made my way downstairs in the kitchen, and going straight to the coffee pot. I prepped the coffee and turned on the toaster, heating it up so I could pop in some bagels. Minutes later, when the coffee just finished brewing I heard the wooden floors creak and in popped JC, caring the baby over his shoulder with a tired look on his face.
"Oh I forgot to turn on the baby monitor." I winced when he walked into the room. "I'm sorry I didn't want to wake you up."
"It's fine." He yawns, putting him down in the feeding chair.
"You can go back upstairs and sleep I'll feed him." I told him without a worry. He shook his head, sitting down in the chair nearest to Colton. I fill two coffee cups and set them on the table with the cream and sugar, then back to the bagels, spreading the cream cheese over it while I wait for the milk to warm up.
When everything is settled, and Colton has a bottle in his mouth, I stare at JC softly, remembering about last night. JC knew by the look I was giving him that I was waiting for answers, but I wouldn't get any until I asked the actually question.
"What happen last night JC?" I ask with much concern. Holding the warm mug between both my hands and guiding the rim of the cup to my lips to cool my beverage down.
"A wicked nightmare." He mutters, sipping his coffee cautiously.
"Yeah you told me that last night." I remember, nodding my head for him to continue on. He just stared at me for the longest time before turning to Colton, tilting the bottle more for him. "JC, this is me trying to help, alright. Let me please." I beg of him, drawing closer to him. "You screamed in the middle of the night and you don't think that has me worried."
"Well it's adorable of you to worry about me." He smirks, wiping Colton's mouth with the corner of his bib.
"JC I'm serious. Can't you trust me enough to help you and work it out?" I question him, feeling desperate to reconnect like we did last night, because if I let this drop and slip away like it never happened then I'd lose my chance.
"What happen to this isn't a fucking relationship or a game of house?" He bellows out so quickly that I was startled at the tone of his voice and the hostility of his words. Still in shock I stand up from the chair slowly and walk out of the kitchen, to the living room, sitting on my feet as I rest on the couch and stare blankly at the blank TV. I've come to a point where I've decided that if JC yells, I'm going to walk away and give him a moment to take a deep breath. He probably needs his space, and too, I didn't want to start another argument. Especially this early in the morning, "Paisley I'm sorry I didn't mean... I'm just really stressed and tired and a lot of things and- can you please just look at me."
"You don't want to talk, that's fine, but leave me be when I give you the space you need and stop talking about it." I tell him seriously, going back to the kitchen where he left Colton alone. I come back in the living room with him, sitting him on the floor on his blanket while I hand him a couple of cereal puffs to eat.
"Paisley, sometimes things are just better left unknown or to the imagination rather than knowing the truth." He whispers, sitting on the arm of the sofa I was sitting on.
"Then how can I ever help you JC if I don't know? Because if you ever scream like that again, looking that terrified, then this conversation won't end the same." What has him so horrified like that is a mystery to me. What still lingers in JC's mind still haunts him and I could only think of one thing, and one thing alone, that could frighten JC like he was last night and that is, and probably always will be, his father. "Is this why you're having trouble sleeping at night still?" I ask him, earning a small nod. "If you won't tell me then maybe you should get some kind of help. Go to that therapy session with your mom or-"
"I'll handle it on my own like I do with everything else." He says, sitting up and pacing the room.
"If it has something to do with your father, then maybe you should tell your mom about it. If you're not going to tell me, you've got to tell someone. Drake can't be the only one you drop your problems on because he doesn't do anything to help you." That's probably why he tells Drake.
"I don't want to worry my mom." He says, not objecting that it is something to do about his father.
"You need help and you know it." I tell him, turning my head away. We sit there for a few quiet minutes. I wanted for him to say something, but he never did. "I need to shower before I get ready for church. Can you watch him for a bit?" I ask, placing a couple of Colton's toys around him before getting up from the floor.
"Yeah, I got him." He sighs, slipping to the floor.
Before turning away, and heading for upstairs, I turn back to JC figuring out something comforting to say, or so I hope, "I know this is a long shot, but you can always trust me; especially when you're in need. I may not seem it at times, but I'm still that same girl that sat with you at the Drop Off and talked with you. That girl you put your trust on so easily. It's different with me. I have a hard time opening up and letting people into my problems, but I know you don't. So if you don't want to talk to a shrink. Talk to me. I'm sure we can work on it together. JC, I do care, I really do."
Then I saw it. That glimmer in his eyes, the mask peeling off his face. He looked the same as he did the night of the Drop Off, the night we sat on his couch and talked just for a while. He had the look of a boy, not the broken one, or the bad boy façade, but that same look of admiration he gave me before when I said I believed in him. I still do though, even if I was a horrible bitch down the line. What can I say... hormones.
I grinned back to him, trotting up the stairs quickly to take that shower. I just hoped now, with that being said, he'd really open up more. I think that's what he really needs.
===
"I'm just going to run to the bathroom before we sit. Here, take the baby." JC says, handing off the carrier to me, as he nods his head over to the bathrooms. I nod my head, preparing for the sudden weight I'd be lifting. Instead of coming early with my family, I decided to stay back and come in with JC during normal service hours. We were five minutes late, but that didn't matter much.
I waited for JC outside the sanctuary doors so that we could walk in together and not cause too much of a disturbance. As I waited around I saw something- someone actually, a face I thought I'd never see again. "Adam." I grinned as I find him walking through the front doors, looking swiftly around him.
He looked at me stunned, but a good stunned. Like the 'oh my gosh it's you!' stunned. "Hey, fancy seeing you around." He says, approaching me with a smile on his face. "You go to church here?"
"Have been my whole life." I tell him, "So what girl told you that this was the best church in town?" I joke with him, thinking about the last time how he asked me what the best ice cream place in town was.
He laughs at that, "No one actually. I asked Siri: closest church near me. This was the only one in this small town, but there was ten others nearby. I figured I'd make some visits." He tells me.
"Well, not to brag, but I think you're going to like this church." I tell him, a bit smug.
"Is that because you're here?" He snickers.
"Yeah, something like that." I tell him with a small chuckle.
"Is this your son?" He asks, bending down, balancing on the balls of his feet as he looks down to the carrier.
"Yep, this is Colton." I introduce, taking the blanket off and throwing it over the diaper bag I was carrying.
"Even more handsome in person." Adam compliments, looking up to me. He reaches into the carrier and smiles, "So you're the little booger that's keeping your mom from calling me back." He jokes, being very subtle.
"About that," I laugh, biting my bottom lip as I feel like cheeks heating up.
From the corner of my eyes I see JC walking back, he stands next to me, reaching his hand down slowly to grab the carrier from my hand, "Hey," He says, nodding to Adam.
"Hey there." Adam greets, standing back up, and stretching out his hand, "I'm Adam."
"JC." He responds, shaking Adam's hand.
"Nice to meet you." Adam says, then quickly looks over to me, "I should get inside. Maybe I'll see you at the end?" He wonders, walking backward slowly.
"I'll be around." I tell him, before he walks through the doors. "Shall we go?" I say to JC when it's just the two of us alone in the hall.
"Is that the guy you were telling Mile's about?" He asks just before I opened the doors.
"Yeah, the one I met at that country diner after all my appointments." I clarify, opening the doors which ended our conversation. We walked in just in time actually. It was the moment when everyone turned around- or walked around- to greet each other with handshakes and hugs. People would get out of their pews and walk around, trying to get to as many people possible to say hello to in the matter of the three minutes given.
I waved to some people, giving them a quick hug hello when they came up to me, but for the most part I was trying to get to the first pew with my family before worship started back up again.
"Can I ask you for a small favor?" JC mutters down in my ear as I shrug off my thin coat.
"What is it?" I ask, my eyebrows coming together in confusion.
"Instead of eating lunch with your family today, you mind coming over my place? My mom asked if I would invite you over when I went back home to change." He says, not really showing any emotion about it.
"Sure. That sounds more interesting." I agree, nodding my head slightly.
"Cool." He says, turning away and grabbing Colton out of the carrier. Service was the same as always. Today, it was just one of those days, when I couldn't seem to pay attention. To be honest, it's not like I did every single week, but today I felt more distracted. I didn't even know it was the end of service until SJ poked me asking if I was dead or sleeping with my eyes open.
I didn't noticed that I had stared at my mom the whole service just dazing off. I couldn't help but think about the countless times my mother kept reminding me I should have baptized Colton by now, I was thinking about Adam, replaying that whole day in my head to remember what that hostess girl looked like, to piece together what Drake had told me last week, and then my thoughts would come down to JC. What was going on with him, his dad, his life; what was going on with JC Ace?
"So, you're the pastor's daughter too." Someone says, chuckling behind me. I turn around, finding Adam taking a seat behind me on the pew and leaning over to be closer, "Well, there's a twist on things." He says, thinking of his words carefully.
"I guess there are far more interesting and scandalous things back in LA than the pastor's teenage daughter having a baby." I agree, showing a smile to him.
"Oh it's up there. We're all still hungover on Kim Kardashian's seventy-two day marriage." He jokes, shrugging his shoulders. "How have you been?" He asks, leaning over slightly.
"I've been well. I've had my hands full, but how about you. Still enjoying the quiet small town?" I ask, nodding my head to JC when he mumbles to me he was going to walk around with Colton.
"Visiting all the same places. The pub, the ice cream place, the park, the shopping mall, but I like it though. It's nice to be able to walk down the street and not have people crowding around you or being knocked around." He says, talking about the simplest thing that I never considered. "I hope I'm not making things awkward between you and JC. Or stepping over the line."
"Oh, no. No. We're- Um, we're nowhere near those kinds of feelings for each other." I stutter, feeling as if I'm not making any sense, "We struggle to be friends. I think if it weren't for Colton we would still be strangers."
"Interesting." Adam mutters in a quiet voice, eyes narrow as he tries to figure something out.
"It's a complicated relationship." I tell him. Maybe if JC and I never got... intimate that night, actually, I don't know what would have happened. Even after that night he didn't talk to me the next day, so what would have happened if nothing did go on? Would we have been friends? Was it his goal to end up sleeping with me? What kind of friend would he have been?
"Well, as long as you're happy." He says with a confident smile.
"Yeah," I agree quickly, seeing my mom coming from the corner of my eyes towards me.
"Hello, nice to see a new face today. I'm Pastor Christi, how are you doing?" My mom introduces, stretching out her hand to Adam.
"Hi! I'm going fantastic. Nice to meet you. I'm Adam." He introduces, standing up quickly to shake her hand.
"Well nice to meet you Adam. Did you go to school with my daughter?" She inquires, looking over to me with a quizzical look, and then back to Adam. It didn't help that we both started to chuckle at the whole school thing.
"No, I just recently moved to town." Adam says.
"Welcome then." My mother says happily, "Welcome to Avon, and if I do say so myself you picked the best church attend in the county." She says in her attempt to be humorous.
"I couldn't agree more." Adam approves, nodding his head as well.
"Well I think it's great that a young man like you moves out, but still remembers to find a church to attend and maybe even call home." Mom compliments, looking away briefly to wave to someone. "It was nice meeting you Adam. I hope to see you next week for Easter Sunday." She says, shaking his hand one more time.
"You too pastor. I'll definitely be around." Adam says with a smile on his face. I noticed his teeth were pearly white, and perfectly straight, maybe due to braces, but it was flawless anyways.
"I'll see you at home for lunch Paisley." Mom says, patting my head for a quick moment.
"Actually, Carrie invited me over her house for lunch, so I was just going to go there today." I tell her, remembering it on the spot.
"Alright, that's fine. I'll see you later then. Does JC have Colton with him? She asks, walking away slowly.
"Yeah, he's just walking around." I tell her, pointing around the sanctuary, indicating he could be around. She nods her head, waking away completely and leaving Adam and I alone. I let out snicker, looking back at Adam, "Met you in high school." I mutter, thinking maybe this would somehow give me a hint at his age.
"I haven't been in high school for a while." He laughs. Darn! Way to be vague.
"Oh yeah, it looks like you haven't been in high school for years." I say, in attempt to draw out the answer.
"It's been a few years." He tells me, "I should go though. Leave you to your lunch plans." Adam says grabbing his jacket off the pew.
"I'll see you around then." I say, more as a question than a statement.
"You have my number. Use it." He reminds me. Right. "Have a good day, Paisley."
"You too Adam. Have a great day." I tell him, gathering my things. He waves to me walking out of the sanctuary. I grabbed the empty carrier and baby bag and walked around looking for JC. When I did, I found him with my mom, holding Colton and showing him off to someone. "Hey, you ready to go?" I ask JC, standing near him.
"Yeah, ready when you are." He says, discreetly pointing to my mom.
"Hey mom, we need our baby back." I tell her, motioning with my hands for her to pass Colton on to me. She kisses the side of his head and hands him over to me so I can put him in the carrier. Saying our quick goodbyes we head to my car- which JC is driving, since he doesn't have Colton's car seat in his. When driving to his house it was silent, though I wanted to ask him why I was going to his house, why his mom wanted me there, and so much more.
The Ace household seemed to have a different aura when walking in. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it wasn't so dark inside anymore. The curtains were drawn, all the lights on, and the entrance walls seemed to have a different paint color now. The house also smelled amazing. It smelled like Carrie had been slaving away all morning cooking up something for lunch.
Even JC looked slightly confused walking in. "Mom!" He shouts, walking through the front door, bringing the carrier all the way to the kitchen.
"Yeah, I'm in here." Carrie shouts from the kitchen. When we walk in we find Carrie in a blue and white apron, curly hair tied in a knotted bun, a cook book laid open on the counter with spices around it as she hovers over the stove. "Hey kids, you hungry?" She asks, looking over her shoulder to us with a slight smile and some pip in her step.
"Starving." JC replies, walking around the kitchen as if it were a foreign room to him in his own home. "Haven't seen you open one of these before." He says, flipping over to the cover.
"I thought I'd try something new today." She says, mixing another pot on the stove. "Paisley, it's great to see you. I hope you like chicken scampi." She says hopefully, looking over her shoulder to me.
"Sounds delicious." I tell her honestly. Anything sounds amazing right now to a girl who didn't at breakfast.
"I hope you're family wasn't too upset that I took you away. I would have invited them all over, but I'm-"
"Mom, that boiling water is foaming up." JC warns, pointing to the pot on the stove.
"Oh shit!" She mutters under her breath, mixing the contents with a wooden spoon and turning down the fire.
"Do you need help, Carrie?" I ask, noticing the table wasn't set yet and ingredients were still out.
"Do you mind helping to set the table? JC can show you were the plates and silverware is. Honey, do you mind?" Carrie says, flipping over hot, sizzling season chicken in the frying pan.
"Not at all." I mention, "Here, let me put Colton over here. That way he can watch us, and we can watch him." I say, grabbing the carrier from JC and setting it on top of the table for now.
"Oh if I weren't so dirty and gross I'd go over there and pick him up and kiss and pinch his cheeks." Carrie pouts, taking a long sip of her red wine that I've just noticed was place beside her.
"How are you feeling, mom?" JC asks, resting his hand on her shoulder as he passes, handing me a few plates.
"Oh honey, I'm doing great. I actually sold a couple of my paintings today. Harold was so trilled. He even said he's got two more customers lined up for me. Three, honey. Ugh, I've got to run to the paint store later, get some more paints." She rambled off, holding her wine glass in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other.
JC nods his head the whole time, avoiding eye contact as he cleans around the kitchen. I observe him doing so, picking up a wine bottle to examine it, only to throw it out. "Harold bring you a celebratory bottle of wine." JC says with a slight bitterness tone in his voice, but his mother couldn't pick that up.
"Oh yeah! He brought me a couple of bottles. One for each painting I sold. Oh, and honey, remind me tomorrow morning, I've got to deposit those checks too." She tells him, turning around swiftly, poking him lightly on the chest with the wet wooden spoon, smoke coming from it from just recently being in the pot.
JC comes to the table to hand me a couple of glasses and napkins to set on the table, "Is she drunk?" I whisper to him as he stands right in front of me.
He didn't verbally respond, or nod his head, but the melancholy look on his face said it all. "JC, honey, grab me that big dish on that top cabinet for me. Alright!" She says, clapping her hands before putting on some oven mittens to grab the pot off the stove. I watch her carefully strain the pasta and dump it back in the same pot, adding lots of butter, olive oil and other spices. "Now let me wash my hands and kiss my grandson. JC, honey, put this in that dish for me, would you honey. Thank you." She says, pointing to the finished pasta and to the dish JC grabbed from one of the top shelfs.
"Actually, Carrie I think I'm going to feed him really quickly before we eat lunch. He's going to get hungry real soon." I tell her, grabbing Colton out of the carrier.
"Oh," She snickers, hiding her smile behind her hand, "Now I can't do that for you." She jokes, kissing the back of Colton's head, "Hi, baby boy. You're so handsome. Yes you are." She says, talking in that baby voice.
With a forcing smile of my own I kiss Colton's head and walk out of the room, grabbing a clean diaper, a bib, and a blanket before heading to the living room. I didn't expect any of this walking into the house, but I guess I should have known. Surprises always do come from the Ace's when you least expect it.
===
"Now they're both down for a nap." JC sighs, slumping down onto the couch with an already exhausted look on his face, for it being only two in the afternoon.
"I didn't expect to see your mom drunk today." I mention, biting my lower lip, and playing with a lock of my hair like I always do when I'm nervous.
"Neither did I." He says softly, closing his eyes and leaning his head back on the couch. "She wasn't drunk when I left her this morning, so I don't know what happened between then."
"Well, at least today was something different." I tell him, thinking about all the different things that occurred in the last twenty-four hours.
From the minor difference of JC driving my car today, to the most unexpected which was now a close tie between JC screaming about nightmare, and coming over to find Carrie drunk. Which to be honest, I didn't find it at all a horrible thing. Carrie was actually more open, more alive, and fun when she had a whole bottle of wine in her system. Unfortunately. I liked that Carrie though, not that I didn't like that soft spoken, monotone, slightly emotionless Carrie, she was great too.
"You've got that right." JC mumbles, "Here's another wacky, different idea. Why don't you and Colton sleep here for the night? Change it up."
I laughed, not in a mean way, but more humorous because think about it for a moment. What are the odds that JC would bring something like that up the same day he meets Adam and I spent time talking to him. Not that he should care though, right? "Thanks for the offer, but I like sleeping in my own bed, and I don't think it's going to be too easy trying to put Colton to sleep somewhere other than his crib."
"I'm serious." He says, trying to get me past the humor I found in it.
"Alright, yeah, the day you start opening up to me about why you're screaming at night, and everything else that's been going on with you lately." I bargained.
For a moment, I believed JC would have agreed if the following tings didn't happen. Carrie walked back into the room, clearly not napping, "Hey, hey honey, don't get mad. I just want some orange juice, okay? Okay. I'll be really quick I promise." She tells JC, walking out of the room. As we hear the refrigerator door open the phone rings. Not a cell phone, but a land line, which I didn't even think existed anymore. "I'll get it honey-"
"No, no, mom, I'll get it you just go- Mom no-" JC orders, rushing to the kitchen as we hear Carrie answer the phone anyways.
"Hello. Well howdy. This is she. Oh I'm doing marvelous and yourself?" I picture her over the phone, talking to who ever was on the line. "Honey I got this, I'm fine." She whispers to JC like it wasn't a problem.
"Mom, hand me the phone." JC orders.
"I'm all ears, you've got my undivided attention. What do you want to talk about, sir?" She responds in a cheerful voice. "Uh huh. Uh huh. Oh."
Oh.
You could practically hear Carrie sober up with just that word. Oh. Her voice was back down to a soft tone, calm, and quiet. Who ever was on the phone must have been important, but important didn't mean long conversation, because after two minutes of long silence I finally hear Carrie's voice break though.
"Thank you for the call. We'll see you then. Bye." The sound of a decline button sounded, and a few whispers, until JC came sauntering into the room in a quiet manner. Sat on the couch and stared at the TV without even a word. Carrie's footsteps echoed up the stair case, and the faint noise of a bedroom door closing.
"Did you want to talk about something?" I suggested to JC when he failed to recognize that I had been staring at him for a whole minute waiting for something to happen.
In a quiet voice just like his mama's, he rubbedhis hand over his mouth, the small stubble on his chin and cheeks rubbing onhis palm, "No. Not anymore. Not today, Paisley. Not today."
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WHOA! Something just happened.
Any guesses!?
WOOHOO! ADAM IS BACK BABY! AND HE'S COMING BACK AGAIN! btw SUPER tired and really want to get this chapter out to you guys so this author's note is going to be short.
FAIR WARNING: There may not be a chapter next week due to not being around to post. We'll be camping from Monday-Friday next week and don't know if we'll have internet access/time to write a new chapter. We'll keep you posted on Twitter! If you haven't followed us yet, our link is on our home page!
Chapter song: Come Together by Echosmith. Goes great with our quote because their music video is a reenactment of the Breakfast Club! Plus, it's a darn good song!
Chapter picture: thank you AgentCarter16 for the banner! Super sweet of you to make one for us, thank you! <3
PS. if you haven't noticed by now this chapter is probably mostly not edited due to we just finished it RIGHT NOW and we're too tired to do it. So, so sorry.
Comment. Vote. Fan. Follow on Twitter.- Kylie & Kelsey