Chapter 34
"Stella! It's so good to see you!" My mom shouted once she saw my face on the other side of the door. She pulled me into her arms.
I hugged her tightly, "I missed you mom."
She let go of me and wiped her hands on her jeans from the melted snow that got on her hands from my coat.
"Come in, it's freezing out here!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.
When people say Chicago is the 'Windy City' they truly mean it. It's always so terribly cold in the winters here at home. The snows falls almost everyday. Some days it's a snowstorm and somedays it's just little beautiful snowflakes slowly falling from the sky. Today, it was snowing a lot and I wanted to get out of it.
I walked into my childhood home and took off my puffy winter coat. I looked around and nothing has changed. I always thought my mom would want to move out of this house. I mean it was the house my father almost killed me in. I guess the good memories here ruled out all the bad ones for her. I pulled off my snow boots and ran into the living room flopping down on to the couch.
"I missed this couch!" I cried.
My mom laughed, "And I'm sure it missed you."
I laughed and sat up, "So is Nick home?"
My mom searched through the cabinets for a pan, "Yeah, he's in his old room sleeping. He was up late studying."
My head snapped up at her, "Studying? What? Studying for what?"
"Oh crap!" She shut her eyes and slapped her hand to her forehead, "I wasn't suppose to tell you."
"Tell me what?" I shot up from the couch, curious.
"Well, I might as well tell you. Nick is back in college. He started about a month ago"
"Oh my god are you serious?" I shouted happily.
I bolted up to the stairs and ran up skipping a step every once and a while. I burst through the door of Nick's old bedroom and saw him fast asleep on his bed. I pounced on him and began bouncing up and down as I shook him awake.
"Nick! Nick wake up!"
He groaned and rolled over, "What the?" His eyes peaked open, "Stella what the hell?"
I laughed and hugged him, "Nick, I'm so proud of you!"
Nick sat up with me still attached to him, "What are you talking about?" He said groggily.
"You're back in school!" I looked at him with my chocolate brown eyes.
"Dammit, mom told you! I wanted it to be a surprise!"
I hugged him tighter, "I'm so happy for you!"
He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me to hug me back, "Thanks Stel-bell." I haven't heard him call me that since we were kids.
I let go of him, "So what are you majoring in?" I smiled widely.
"Uh, engineering." He scratched the back of his neck.
I clapped my hands together, "Yay! You're good at math!"
Nick laughed, "I know. Now, come on let's go downstairs. I smell pancakes."
"Race you down." I arched my eyebrows at him.
"I'm gonna win." He said and then bolted out the door with me close behind.
We rounded the corner and started stomping down the stairs, pushing each other as we went down. I reached the bottom first but Nick managed to get in front of me. As I caught up, Nick quickly opened the bathroom door so I had to stop in front of it.
"Nick!" I shouted as I ran into it.
"Haha!" Nick mocked me.
I groaned and shut the door, knowing he won.
"You cheated!" I accused him and pointed an angry finger in his face.
"I didn't cheat. You just weren't prepared to play the game." Nick teased.
I stuck my tongue out at him childishly. Nick laughed and shook my hair up.
"Hey!" I shouted.
"I swear you guys haven't changed one bit." A man's voice said and laughed
We both snapped our heads in the direction of the voice. My face fell. My whole body went numb.
"Hey dad, Merry Christmas." Nick greeted and went in to hug our dad.
I stood there motionless.
After my dad greeted Nick he slowly went up to me.
"Hi, Stella. How are you." He spoke softly.
"I'm-I'm good." I stuttered out nervously.
He started at me with his deep blue eyes. I look a moment to look at his features. His oval shaped face was pretty wrinkly for his age. The rough stubble on his chin showed he hasn't been keeping up with his shaving. His nose was small and slim, like Nick's. He was definitely more pale. When I was younger, my dad was always tan because he worked outside a lot but I guess being stuck in a prison cell took away his darkness. Looking at him so closely made me realize that my father and looked nothing alike. I looked so much more like my mother. I'm sure people would never guess I was Jacob Jones' daughter.
"Well, that's good. Do you mind if I join you guys for the Christmas season?" His voice was sweet and full of kindness and consideration. I knew he was speaking like this to get me to trust him and for me to get more comfortable around him.
I shook my head, "No, it's fine. It'll be nice." I managed to smile.
"Then let's all sit down for breakfast." He motioned towards the table.
Nick and I set down at the set table. My mom put down a plate with a stack of pancakes down and my dad set down a pitcher full of orange juice.
"You squeeze this yourself, mom?" Nick said as he stuck his fork into the stack taking three pancakes.
"Actually your dad did." She smiled proudly at her husband.
My dad chuckled, "Not a big deal, Kathryn."
"I know," She shrugged, "But it's nice." She looked at him lovingly.
I looked at the two stare at each other. I saw how my mom looked at him. The same way she looked at when I was younger. I saw that she still loved him even for what he did to us. For what he did to me. She loved him for his flaws like how you should any other person. For the first time, I looked at my dad as my dad. Not the man who shot me. Not the man who almost ruined my brother. Not the man who almost tore apart our family. I saw him as the man who came into my room in the middle of the night when I had a terrifying nightmare. I saw him as the man who held me as I cried when I scraped my knee. I saw him as the man who would make me chicken noodle soup when I was sick. I saw him as the man who would always say "Jump" as we reached a curb and he pulled me up so I could get up onto the pavement. I saw him as the man who played airplane with me. I saw him as the man who would tell me the most magical bedtime stories. I saw him as the man who made me laugh, who made me smile, who made me happy. I saw him as the man who loved me with all his heart.
I swear I was about to cry right there. I held in as best as I could. I took a drink of the orange juice my mom poured for me. I put the glass down and looked at my dad. He was already looking me. I looked him in the eyes and genuinely smiled. It wasn't fake or weak or small. It was a real, genuine, wide smile. My dad smiled back at me and cocked his head up at me. He always did that when he sent me off to school when I was younger. Even going to high school he still did it. I realized, just like my mom, I never stopped loving my father. I still loved him with all my heart.
"Hey, Stel you alright? You look like you're about to cry." Nick asked shoving a piece of pancake into his mouth.
I nodded my head, "I'm all good." And placed some pancakes onto my plate.
We all ate at the table like a family, like old times. We made jokes and reminisced. The first time in almost four years.
"So how are things with Zayn going?" My mom asked my curiously.
"Actually, I kinda left him on bad terms. We got into a fight and left it unresolved."
"What happened," My mom asked.
"He wants me to go on tour with them but I want to stay back and go to school." I left out the whole smoking thing because I know my mom hates smokers even more than I do.
"What do you want to do?" My dad spoke up.
I looked at him, "I decided I'm going to stay." I said slowly. I was having a real conversation with my dad.
"Well that's good. It'll be good for you instead of just following him around. But I think you guys should talk."
"I know. I think I'm going to call him later today."
My dad nodded in response, "Proud of you," He whispered so quietly that it was barely audible.
I knew I was the only one who heard it. I grinned at him and whispered back, "Proud of you too, dad."
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Sorry there isn't much of Zayn in this chapter! Next chapter there will be a little bit of him! Hope you guys liked this chapter though. Don't forget to vote and comment.
Thanks guys(: