AN: I do apologize for the late update, and also for the fact that there will be a few time skips. Mainly to avoid boring scenes, or just unimportant scenes. And no, that's not my car.
Dinner ended as quickly as it had begun.
Elliot and Olivia were gone, giggling as the went, leaving Jasper with his exhausted sister and niece.
"Are you gonna be alright?" He places a hand on Erica's shoulder, as he watches her clean their dishes, with her husband on her left.
"Yeah, I just, I need some space, okay? He'll be spending the night with me," she nods to Phillip. "I'll put him on my bureau in the morning."
Jasper nods curtly, smiling softly. "Alright, well, I'm heading to bed, okay? If you need anything, just knock." Jasper eases his way up the stairs, and peaks his head into Meliza's room.
"Night kiddo."
"Night uncle Jasp." She murmurs from her lump of blankets.
He closes her door softly, and makes his way back to his room. Upon opening it, he examines his suitcase covered mattress. "Let's settle, shall we?" He tugs them off the mattress, and layers them at the foot.
Reaching into his side bureau, he pulls out a navy blue bed sheet, a quilt his mother had made him for his seventeenth birthday, and three pillows.
Jasper takes the sheet, and places in over his mattress. He then takes the pillows, and layers them onto the queen. After this, he picks up his quilt, and sets it over the bed.
"I'll unpack tomorrow." He takes his laptop from one of his suitcases, and slides into bed.
Opening up his most recent document, he examines the title. "An Unknown Love" it reads. He still can't say 100% what it's about. What he knew so far though, was that it focused around a young black man, seeking acceptance and love in a world full of hatred and fear, as he raises two young girls, with his loving husband.
Jasper remembers deciding to write this under his female pen name, instead of his normal one, to not tarnish his name. He had always been afraid, he never understood why. Perhaps the idea of others judgment and ridicule frightens him.
"Alright. How 'bout this."
'The day had been long, and I could no longer handle the stress. I slid into bed, and waited for him to join me.'
"Blake?" Blake looked up at his partner, who stood half naked, in the doorway. "You okay?"
Blake hummed softly to himself. "I'm okay Oliver. Come. Join me." Oliver strutted to the bed, and slid in.
"I missed you today. The girls couldn't wait for you to come home."
"The cake they made, was delicious." Blake kissed Oliver's cheek.
"They're getting better at cooking."
"Indeed they are."
~~~
"All I'm saying is, this is a really accepting and forgiving community. We're kinda like a family. Even the thieves."
Jasper stops at the head of the stairs, hearing Elliot's voice ring through the house.
"I'm glad this is a nice neighborhood." Erica smiles, chuckling as she stirs her coffee.
"As am I. I can't really afford to move." Elliot laughs.
"I understand what you mean." She sets her hand on Elliot's arm. "Jasp!" She stands, seeing her brother walk into the kitchen. "Elliot brought us over some food, to last us until we got a car. Speaking of which, would you be able to return the rental tomorrow? They say they have a few cars we could choose from, to buy that is. I have an interview tomorrow, for a teaching job at the school, so I'm afraid I can't. I'm sorry. I know it's a three hour drive but, I'm sorry." She furrows her brows in worry.
Jasper smiles. "Of course, it's okay. Two questions though, how will you get there, and which school is it?" He takes a mug from the cupboard, and pours himself some coffee.
"Oh! Well I was planning on taking a cab-"
Elliot cuts her off. "I'll drive you. I know exactly where the school is, and besides I gotta see if I can get Olivia registered for next year."
"Thank you Elliot! That's so sweet of you!" She pecks his cheek, and turns back to her brother. "To answer your second question, it's called Washington Academy, or WA for short." She reaches into the fridge, and pulls out milk.
"Meliza! Breakfast is ready!" She pours out a cup of milk for Olivia.
"Thank you!" She takes the cup, and begins chugging.
"Slow down McQueen, can't have you choking now." Elliot chuckles lightly.
Olivia sets down the cup and grins, showing off her milky mustache.
Jasper takes a creamer from the fridge, as well as two sugar cubes.
"D'you bring these over too?" He points at the sugar and creamer.
"Yeah." Elliot looks up from his own coffee, which appears to be regular black coffee. "When my mom came to visit the other day, I found out that she only liked one of the creamers, and I had bought five." He takes a quick sip. "That's okay though. Turns out, you guys needed it. Happy to share." He raises his mug in a toast-like manor, before taking a larger gulp.
"Well, I need to take 'lil miss muffin here to a dentist appointment. You have my number Erica, so later, if you want, you can message me when to be up and ready."
"Can I go with you guys tomorrow?" Olivia grins up at her brother.
"Course kiddo. Now come on, we're gonna be late."
He thanks Erica for the milk and mug, and walks his sister out of their house.
"I get to spend a whole day with you then!" Meliza grins wickedly.
Jasper lets out a pitiful sigh. "Does that mean I have to listen to West, Sevenfold and N Sync? I mean, I don't mind Beyoncé, or Drake and Phil Collins, and a lot of Gaga's music is great but the other music you listen to?" He teases lightly.
Meliza scowls as she grins. "Yes. Suffeeer!" She bonks her uncle on the nose, before walking off with her own coffee, and a book.
"She loves spending time with you, you know?" Erica sips her coffee as she read the newspaper.
"Yeah, yeah. So what's in the news today?" He scratched the back of his neck, and took Elliot's stool.
"Oh, same old same old. Stupid political drama, homeless people, starving children, and a new store is opening up in the Bangor Mall!" She waved her arms in mock excitement. "The president is being an idiot again."
Jasper chuckled lightly. "Most presidents are idiots." He retorted. "But we're dumb enough to vote for them, because it's a choice. You pick the devil, or you pick the devil." He blew on his coffee.
"Amen to that. Sheesh. What's up with this world." She tossed the paper into the garbage. "They might as well call it a wad-of-depression!" She took a seat beside Jasper.
"I'm gonna go freshen up, and then I'm heading to Rite-Aid, come with?"
"And leave Meli alone?" He widened his eyes. "Oh heck no. I'll only go if she is."
Erica shook her head. "Oh my goodness, you two nincompoops."
Jasper threw his head back and laughed. "Your nincompoops, that's what we are!" He raised his cup to the sky.
~~~
"We watched the sun go down, as we were walking. I'd spend the rest of my life, just standing here talking."
"Hoping I'll just stay the same, and nothing will change, and it'll be us, just for awhile. Do they even exist, that's when I'll make the wish, to swim away with the fish."
"I never would've believed you three years ago, but here I am, next to you, the sky is so blue, in Malibu." Meliza nodded her head, and tapped her fingers to the beat.
"This is Miley Cyrus?!" He asked in shock.
"Ahhhhh, ahh uh, ahhh uh, ahhhh uh." She leaned into his ear, before moving away.
"You act like your twelve." He took a brief glimpse into the rear view mirror.
"Maybe I am!" She waved her arm out the window.
"Last time I checked kid, you were seventeen."
"So?"
Jasper chuckled, and left her to her music.
"We're walking the wire, love!" She sang in that soft voice of hers, the voice that only mothers could hold.
You'll be a great mom one day. He thought.
"How long until we're there?" She shouted over the music.
"Half an hour!" He shouted back, causing them both to laugh.
~~~
"We have a nice Nissan over here, and beside it is a Toyota Carola." Jasper examined the two cars in front of him.
"Do you have anything in black?" He chewed at his nail anxiously.
"Yes actually. Right over here, were have a Renegade, another Nissan, and a Mercedes benz!" The salesman guided them over the the vehicles.
"You don't have much for options, do you?" Meliza asked.
The man breathed nervously. "Well, we are mostly a car rental service, so we don't get many people in here buying cars, and besides, most of these are used." The man wiped his hands on his trousers.
"Alright, well, what's the safest family car you have?" Jasper turned to the man.
He lit up instantly. "Right this way! Past the Ram's!"
~~~
"A Prius?" Erica's voice cracks softly.
"Yeah, I hope that's okay. It was the only black one they had in good condition. Which is odd, if you think about it." Jasper turned onto Main Street.
"Thank goodness. Could you imagine," Erica murmured incoherently. Something about black vehicles, she never wanted to appear "racist".
"We'll be home in ten."
"Hey mom! Love you!" Meliza shouted.
"Love you too sweetie! Hey, we're having a barbecue over at Elliot's, I hope that's okay. He drove me to the school, as you know, and after, we went shopping. I'm waiting to hear back from the school, and Elliot's offered to cook!"
Jasper didn't know why, but his heart fluttered slightly at the mentioning of his name. "Yeah, yea, no it's cool. I hope they take you. Alright, I gotta hang up. There's a cop following me." He clicked his phone shut, and set it in a cup holder.
"Are you scared of the police because you're not white?"
Jasper scoffed at Meliza's comment. "No, I'm not afraid of police. They're here to protect us. Yeah, I'm not impressed with them murdering people in cold blood. Not impressed at all, but I don't think these cops are like that. Elliot said everyone is like a family here."
Meliza hummed softly. "Just because they're like a family, doesn't mean their cops aren't racist."
Jasper saw her point, but prayed she was wrong.
Pulling into their driveway, he spotted Elliot wheeling a grill out of his garage.
"Need help?" Jasper asked, getting out of the car.
"Maybe a little." He replied, chuckling.
Jasper took the other side. "On three?"
"On three."
Carrying it into Elliot's backyard, was much easier with two people.
"Thanks man, really. Shit stick over here can't really lift it." He pointed at Olivia, who retaliated by kicking him in the shin.
"You little-" he ran off after her, chasing her around the yard.
"They're sweet." He turned to his niece, who now held a bowl of potato salad.
"Yeah, they are." Jasper took the bowl, and placed it inside, on Elliot's counter.
Jasper looked back through the sliding doors, and watched as Elliot tackled his sister, and tickled her.
"He's sweet."
AN:
If you enjoyed this story so far, please leave a like, or comment, and please let me know what you thought! This has NOT been edited.
Thanks for reading! I hope you will enjoy the rest of this story!
- Amry Mae (T.H.L)
Copyright © 2017 2018 AmryMae