Chapter 3
After Gym, I changed back into my regular clothes and headed out without even looking at Kane. I could still feel his eyes on me, though, just like I had all throughout Gym. After I said bye to Caroline and Emma, I got into my Range Rover and headed for Jake’s preschool so I could pick him up.
“Hey, Hannah,” I said when I walked through the door of the preschool.
“Hi, Reece, are you here to pick up Jake?” she asked, smiling.
“Yep, Mom’s got to stay late today at school so here I am,” I said, nodding.
“Let me go get him then. They’ve been outside for the last fifteen minutes on the playground,” she said, getting up from her chair at her desk.
A minute or two later, she came back, holding Jake’s hand. He was smiling until he saw me and then it turned into a frown.
“Hey, bud, ready to go?” I asked, holding out my hand to him.
“Miss Hannah, I don’t wanna go with her!” he said, looking up at her. “She’s mean.”
Hannah laughed as I knelt down in front of him. “Oh, come on, Jake. I’m not mean,” I said, smiling.
Jake narrowed his eyes at me. “Yes, you are,” he said. “You didn’t say bye to me this morning so…” He stuck his tongue out at me like the five year old he was.
I stood up and sighed dramatically. “Well, then, I guess I’ll have to go get ice cream all by myself,” I said.
I heard him gasp and then his arms were around my waist. “I’m sorry, Reecey. I didn’t mean it!” he said, holding on to me.
I laughed and ran my fingers through his dark, messy hair. “Sure, bud, I was just kidding,” I said. “Now go get your backpack and we’ll get going.”
“To get ice cream?” he asked, jumping up and down while still holding onto my waist.
“Oh, alright,” I said. “Hurry up and we’ll go.”
He ran back into his classroom, got his backpack, and ran back to grab my hand. “Come on, Reecey!” he said dragging me to the door. “Bye, Miss Hannah!”
“Bye, Jake,” she said, laughing. “Bye, Reece.”
When we got to my Range Rover, I helped Jake get into his seat that I had to get out of Mom’s before I left school. He was rambling about all the things he did in school while I buckled him up.
He continued talking all the way to the little ice cream shop that was just a little ways away from our house. Jake had already unbuckled when I opened the back door to let him out. He jumped down, landing beside me, and took my hand.
“Now, you can’t tell Mommy or Daddy you had ice cream before dinner, okay?” I said, looking down at him as we walked toward the door.
“It’ll be our secret,” he said, smiling.
I laughed. “Good,” I said.
I was surprised Jake didn’t go into a sugar coma with everything that he wanted on top of his chocolate ice cream. He practically got every sugary thing that he could. When we sat down at a table, he dug in. The ice cream made its way down his chin and dripped onto the table before his second bite. At least he didn’t get all over his clothes.
“So are Kole and Mia comin’ for dinner?” he asked, getting another spoonful of ice cream.
“They always come Monday night for dinner, don’t they?” I said.
“And Mommy told me this morning that Grandma and Grandpa and Nana and Papa were coming, too,” he said. Grandma and Grandpa were my dad’s parents and Nana and Papa were my mom’s father and stepmom.
“Well, then, it seems like we’re almost going to have almost the entire family for dinner, aren’t we?”
He nodded, sticking the spoon in his mouth. “And I heard Kole on this phone with Mia also,” he said.
“And what was he saying?”
“He said that they were going to tell everyone something tonight but I didn’t hear what. Mommy called me to get dressed for school so I didn’t hear.”
He finished his ice cream and stuck the spoon back in the cup.
“Alright,” I said, handing him a napkin. “Wipe your face and we’ll start heading home,” I said. “And then we’ll find out just what they wanted to tell us, hm?”
Jake took the napkin from my outstretched hand and wiped his face. He then hopped down from the chair and ran to throw his cup in the trash. I stood up as he ran back to me and took my hand.
When we got home, it was a little after five so I was surprised to see that Dad was already home and helping Mom finish cooking dinner.
“Hi, Daddy! Hi, Mommy!” Jake said as he ran toward them.
Dad turned around just as Jake was about to reach them and picked him up in his arms.
“How was school today, bud?” Dad asked.
“It was great!” Jake said enthusiastically.
“And what did you and Reece do that made you stay out after she picked you up?” Mom asked him, smiling and looking at me.
“We…uh,” Jake said. He shot me a wide-eyed look and I just smiled. “We went to the park!”
“Oh, did you now,” Dad said, laughing, and leaned in toward him. “So why is it you smell like chocolate ice cream?”
“Um,” Jake said. “I don’t know?”
I laughed at the look of pure five year old innocence on his face.
“Did your sister take you out for ice cream?” Mom asked. She was still smiling.
Jake looked back and forth between Mom and Dad and me, looking like he was trying to figure out what to say. I thought I’d save him.
“I took him out for ice cream because that was the only way I could get him in the car,” I said, laughing again. “I did it to tempt him.”
“I’m sorry, Mommy!” Jake said, looking at her with wide eyes. “But I promise I’ll eat all my dinner. Promise!”
Mom laughed again and Dad put him down.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” she said. “But you’d better eat all your dinner.”
“I will!” he said, jumping up and down. “You know I’m always hungry, Mommy!”
“Yeah, I know you are,” she said, leaning down to kiss the top of his head. “Now, go pick up your toys on your bedroom floor and put them where they belong before your brother and grandparents get here.”
“Okay!” he said, and bounded toward the stairs.
“Oh, to be five again,” I said, sitting down on one of the bar stools.
Dad laughed and walked over to kiss my temple. “I sure don’t want you to be a five year old again. You were crazier than your brothers put together,” he said.
I rolled my eyes just as we heard the front door opened.
“Hello!” Kole shouted from the foyer. “We’re here and we brought someone else along!”
Kole and Mia walked in the kitchen then. Both of them were smiling.
Mia was pretty tiny compared to Kole’s six-foot-two. She had dark red hair and green eyes the color of emeralds. Kole was a ladies’ man before he met her. All of us saw him change and it made him better. They were so adorable together. Mia had become like a sister to me and I loved her like one.
“Hi,” I said, hugging her.
When I did, I couldn’t help but notice that her usually flat stomach was a sticking out more than it ever had. You couldn’t tell, though, when you looked at her because of her loose-fitting white shirt. I pulled back and looked at her face. She looked back with wide eyes, like she realized that I realized something.
A slow smile spread across her face and I wanted to scream in happiness but I reined it in.
“Really?” I whispered to her.
“Yeah,” she whispered back, still smiling. “But don’t say anything just yet.”
I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling as I turned around…
But I didn’t have to for long.
Kane was standing there watching me with a slight smile on his face…his gorgeous face that I wanted to go up and…Ugh! Stop it, Reece!
“What are you doing here?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.
“Hey, there, buttercup,” he said, grinning.
“Don’t you dare call me that again,” I said. Stupid nickname that he gave me when I was seven! He’d called me that whenever he had wanted to annoy me…which had been a lot. That was until that one day…No, I couldn’t think about that day.
“I invited him,” Kole said, slapping him on the back.
“Well, uninvited him,” I said. “I already had to see him twice today already. And I want to be able to eat dinner.”
“That’s right!” Kole said, laughing. “You’re her history teacher now! I totally forgot!”
“And don’t forget Gym coach also,” Kane said, laughing.
“How does it feel to have your brother’s best friend as your teacher, Reece?” Kole asked, grinning.
“It’s amazing,” I said in a flat voice.
The door opened again and we could hear voices and laughter coming closer and closer to the kitchen. All of my grandparents walked in then and smiled when they saw us. I hugged each of them and got kisses on the cheek from Grandpa and Papa.
Apparently Greer had gotten in just as they did because he came in with them. He, Kole, and Greer went into the living room to talk about whatever it was guys talk about. I saw Kane glance at me before they disappeared around the corner.
“Reece, can you go get Jake and tell him it’s time for dinner?” Mom asked.
“Sure,” I said, and headed for the stairs.
I had to pass Kane and my brothers when I did. I didn’t look at him but I knew Kane’s eyes were on me.
When I got up to Jake’s room, he actually did pick up all of his toys that had been on the floor. He usually never did.
He was lying on his stomach with his chin resting in his hands as he watched some cartoon on his television.
“Jake, it’s time for dinner,” I said.
“Oh, alright,” he said, sighing, and got up. I grabbed the remote of his bedside table and turned it off.
He held my hand all the way down the stairs. And when we went through the living room, Jake saw Kane.
“Who are you?” he asked him.
I looked over at Kane, who was smiling. “Is that Jake?” he asked Kole.
“Yeah, that’s him,” Kole said, smiling.
“You grew,” Kane said, looking back at Jake. “I haven’t seen you since you were a baby.”
Jake stood up straighter. “Well, I’m not a baby anymore!” he said proudly.
I couldn’t help but smile as Mom called us into the dining room for dinner.
I always loved it when my family got together for dinner. The table was still full even without my Uncle Freddie, Aunt Isabel, and my cousins John and Andrew and my other aunt Ellie, her husband Mason, and my other cousin Haylie.
It wasn’t until after we’d all eaten that I saw Kole and Mia smiling at each other, telling each other something with their eyes. Mia reached down by her feet then and I saw her put something in her lap. When she saw me watching, I raised an eyebrow and she just smiled.
“Okay, we’ve got some announcements,” Kole said loudly so he could get everyone’s attention.
He waited until everyone was looking at him. Jake was playing with the peas that were still on his plate, making car noises as he raced them around his plate with his fork.
“First announcement,” Kole said, smiling. “We set a date for the wedding and have everything already planned out and paid for.”
Mom gasped. “You do? Your father and I were going to help pay for it…”
“No, we wanted to do this ourselves. Besides, you can buy other things soon enough,” he said.
“So when is it?” Grandpa asked.
Kole laughed. “In three weeks!” he said, and Mia laughed.
Everyone started laughing and clapping and Mom got up to hug them.
“You already have everything planned?” she asked as she hugged Mia.
She nodded. “The venue is rented, caterers hired, and basically everything else,” she said, and then looked at me. “I want you to be one of my bridesmaids, Reece. Can you?”
I smiled. “Of course!” I said.
“But why so soon? Not that I’m complaining, of course, but I still want to know!” Mom said.
“Well, this is the second announcement,” Mia said, and grabbed a gift bag from her chair. So that’s what she had gotten.
I knew what was coming next.
Mia gave the gift bag to Mom and I walked over so I could see what it was. When Mom pulled out the present, she unwrapped a picture frame with an ultrasound picture in it.
“Are you really?” Mom asked, looking up at Mia with tears in her eyes.
“Yeah,” Mia said, laughing.
“What?” Dad asked in confusion.
Mom hugged Mia, laughing, when Kole stood up and threw his arms in the air. “I’m going to be a dad in six months!” he said.
Everyone started laughing, crying, and hugging again at the news of the new little baby going to be the new addition to our.
While everyone was congratulating them, I picked up the picture frame from where Mom had set it down and looked at the tiny little baby that was going to be my niece or nephew. I touched the picture with my fingertip and smiled slightly.
When I looked up, Kane was watching me yet again. I swear that guy was acting more like a stalker every minute. But when I saw the way he was looking at me, butterflies irrupted in my stomach.
It was the same way he used to look at me all those years ago. A look of such love that I just wanted to jump into his arms and kiss him like I used to.
But I knew he didn’t love me. He told me so the day he tore my heart out.
So?!?
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