"You're going to need to scrub a little harder." I did my best to maintain my composure as I gestured toward the dirty bathroom wall. Jace's lip curled back in disgust; I was sure if he had the chance, he'd been biting my head off. Considering Luke and Eliott were perched on the bath tub and toilet seat, I knew he wouldn't say a word to me knowing he'd get attack from either side.
"Best punishment ever." Luke said, flashing our brother a smirk. Jason gave made a gesture with his finger at the oldest Harrison. I took it as my cue to leave and walked out, ready to check on Griffin and James mopping in the kitchen.
Walking in, the last thing I expected was to find Dad sitting at the table with a manila folder beneath his coffee mug.
"Dad?" I said, surprised, "What are you doing home? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
I had my entire day planned out perfectly. I'd make sure the losing team had started our chores, then take the Xbox and play for a while without their constant bickering on either side of me. Toby would come over after work at the beach for our next swimming lesson. Then I'd have the TV to myself all night while the boys all passed out from all the work they had done all day.
Dad sitting at the end of the table in the middle of the day completely disrupted my plans.
"I took the day off." he responded quietly.
"Oh." I stood awkwardly beside the table, "Why?"
"I thought we could spend some time together." He smiled, "Have some Daddy-Daughter time." I could hear a quiet snicker come from inside the kitchen.
"You stopped being Daddy when I was ten." I replied.
"Well, whatever it is you want to call me shouldn't matter. Do you want to go get ice cream or-"
"I'm good, Dad." I started to back out of the room, "Just so you know, I'm lactose intolerant."
*
My day went downhill after my conversation with Dad. The boys all finished their chores early and took the living room, taking away any hopes I had of playing the Xbox or watching TV.
I ended up in my room, going through the piles of trash, dirty laundry, and miscellaneous items thrown all around my messy room. I could have forced one of the losing team members to come in and help me, but there was something calming about cleaning my room and letting my music play quietly as background noise.
I sat down at the foot of my bed so I could clean underneath it. I had been stuffing everything down there ages; I was honestly a little afraid of what I might find.
It turned out to be a lot of trash and clothes. I threw everything away a little too quickly, scared I might get sick of something had bacteria on it.
I frowned a little in surprise when my hand slammed against something hard. I lowered myself on to the ground and grabbed my phone, shining the flashlight under the bed so I could see what my hand had struck.
It was a small pink box with my name in a beautiful handwritten cursive. I gave it a tug, huffing out a frustrated sigh when it didn't budge. I sat up and moved my body around so I was on my back and my feet were under the bed. I started kicking at the box until it finally broke free. I crawled around to the other side of my bed, pushing my comforter up so I could get a clear view of the box.
It was a gift box, a baby shower present by the looks of the tag on it. I pulled it toward me with slight hesitation. I had absolutely no memory of ever putting a pink box under my bed, and it had obviously been hidden beneath for a reason.
"Screw it." I muttered, setting it on my lap and slowly pulling off the top. I felt my lips parting little by little as I took in the contents of the box.
In the middle was a stack of photos, a mini yellow sticky note on top. A pregnancy test in a zip lock bag laid beside it, two red lines signaling a positive test. An envelope was tucked against the side, the color so similar to the inside coating of the box I almost didn't see it.
I took the photos out first, staring at the bold words printed on it.
My Angel
I peeled the note off and stuck it against my jeans, my hand over my mouth within seconds when I saw the picture.
It was a girl, no older than me, holding her extraordinarily pregnant stomach. Her blonde hair was tied in a braid that fell down her back, her eyes on something in the distance. I flipped the photo over and stared blankly at what it said.
Eight months. She's started to kick
I moved through the other photos quickly, checking the back of them. Most of them were the girl's pregnancy, every month leading up to a picture with her in the hospital, holding a bundle of pink blankets securely in her arms with a smile.
The final picture had my heart starting to break. The girl was obviously unaware the photo had been taken. She was laying on a bed with a baby, her blonde hair in a loose ponytail as she kissed the infant's nose. The baby appeared to be laughing. I spun the picture around and smiled at what it said.
My beautiful angel smiling for this first time. Two months.
I set the pictures back in the box, a sick feeling starting to circulate in the pit of my stomach.
I grabbed the envelope a few minutes later; it had already been open. I pulled the folded paper out, surprised to find that the writing didn't fill the page.
Jared,
This is Alexis. She's beautiful, isn't she? She's my angel. I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to write or say, but I know that it won't ever be a good reason for giving you our baby.
When my parents found out that you were her father, they wanted me to get. . . to hurt our baby or get out of their house. Of course I did the latter.
I understood where they were coming from too. I was a seventeen year old girl pregnant with a twenty three year old man's baby. It had taken me months to convince them you hadn't raped me, Jared. And I'm sure they still don't believe me.
I wish I could take care of her, but I can't. I don't have money, I don't have a job, and I don't have a place to live. I'm sure she'll be better off with you. You have everything that I could ever wish for my angel to have.
Tell her I never wanted to give her up, Jared. Please don't contact me, I'll be changing my phone number as soon as I can.
Thank you,
Em
I threw the piece of line paper away from me, something close to a cry escaping me as I stared at the box.
Everything little part of me wanted to believe it was some sick joke, that one of my brothers or Griffin had planted the box in my room. But even I knew they would never do something like this.
"Alex?" there was a gentle knock at the door, "Are you in here?"
I stared at my door, my vision starting to blur as Luke pushed it open and walked in. His eyes took in my clean room before they fell on me sitting beside my bed. He barely glanced at the box beside me and looked as if I had just told him everything I had read.
"Shit." he ran a hand through his hair as he sat down beside me, capping the box and pushing it away from me, "How much did you see?"
"She. . . we. . . I. . ." I couldn't forced out a coherent sentence, my mind still felt as if it were a muddy mess.
"I know." he slid his arm around my shoulders and hugged me tightly against him, his own breathing shaky, "I'm so sorry, Alex."
I clenched my brother's shirt in my hands, but there were no tears that followed. After another moment of silence, Lucas brushed a strand of my blonde hair from my cheek and stared into my eyes with a guilty look.
"I'm so sorry, Alex. I'm so sorry."
***AN***
Hope you guys enjoyed!
Do you think Alex is going to lose it when she talks to her father again? Do you think Luke might explain everything?
Let me know what you thought/think! I'd love to hear it!
~ChasingMadness24