Blake
I take my sweet kitten to our new house, or at least what I hope will be our new house. I can't wait to show her the place. When I found the ad, I was taken off guard by how beautiful the house is. It fits our tastes perfectly.
"Close your eyes baby." I instruct when we get closer.
"Oh come on! – Lia whines adorably – I'll see it anyway, so what's the point?"
"Nuh-uh. I don't want you to guess which one is it." I tease, making her grunt sulkily.
"Meanie." She pouts dejectedly, but closer her eyes nonetheless.
I drive down the long driveway leading to the house then park it in front of the entrance. "Stay inside." I tell my kitten before quickly getting out of the car and rounding it to help her. With her small hand in mine, we walk inside the house.
"Okay, kitten. Open your eyes." I whisper, hugging my girl from behind.
"Oh my god! – she gasps – It's so beautiful! It's gorgeous!!!" She exclaims happily turning in my arms to wrap hers around my waist. "It's perfect!"
I laugh at her cuteness. "You haven't seen everything yet."
"Then let's see it!" She cheers, pulling me around the house. I watch amused as she checks every room.
It's a two-story house, with three bedrooms with adjoined bathrooms, two living rooms, big kitchen, guest bathroom on each floor and even a big basement, which we can turn into a gym. The color scheme is already the way we wanted – white and gray with a touch of wood. I can already imagine us living here.
Lia skips around the place, checking everything like she's on a mission, then runs back to me, giggling happily as she jumps around me like a hyperactive kitten. Adorable.
"I love it! I love it! I love it!" She shouts as she hugs my waist, staring up at me with wide eyes that are almost sparkling in happiness.
"Should we get it?"
"Get it? – she frowns – You mean, you want to buy this house?!"
"Why not? It's not like we don't have money... At first I thought we could lease it, but..." I shrug.
"But what?" Lia pries curiously.
"But having it forever doesn't sound like a bad idea. Imagine it kitten, you and me in a house out of the city. No nosy neighbors, no loud parties around, no noise, no traffic... It'd be just us in our own haven."
Lia's eyes brighten even more at this as a gorgeous smile appears on her cute face.
"Let's buy it! Please, let's buy it! How much is it?" She rushes out, getting this cute concentrated look on her face as she does the calculations.
"Are you sure? If you want, we can look for something else..."
"I'm sure. This is perfect! Don't you like it too...?" She tentatively asks, frowning in worry.
As if she has anything to worry about.
"I love it just as much as you do. – she grins at this – Let's call the owners, shall we?" I suggest, pulling out my phone from my jeans.
The owners of the house arrive about 15 minutes later, seemingly happy about being able to sell the house so fast. The only thing they're unsure about is our credibility.
"This is not a small sum, you know. Are you sure you want to pay it all at once?" The man, Carl questions curiously.
"Yeah, we're sure. We'd like to move in as soon as possible." I smile, glancing lovingly at my kitten as she snuggles into my side. She's almost bouncing in excitement.
"Okay then. – Carl shrugs – As soon as you pay, the house is yours. My lawyer will take care of the documentation and send it to you. He'll be here in a while to get the contract ready."
"Alright. I'll get the deposit and the rest of the money will be wired to your account, like we agreed."
"Very well."
We go over the details of the deal with the lawyer for the next hour, making sure everything's fine. We decide to pay for the house from our joint account, on which we have more than enough money saved to buy even three houses. Lia put over half of her savings from fights into it, and I added the money from the trust fund my parents opened for me when I was born. Over the eighteen years, quite a big sum accumulated there.
After the 'previous' owners and their lawyer hand us the keys and leave the house, I pull Lia into my arms, twirling her around happily. "We just bought a house, baby!"
"We have a house!!! Our new home!" Lia grins widely before jumping on me, wrapping her arms and legs around my torso like a monkey. "This is ours now. We have new home." She smiles lovingly, tearing up a bit.
"Yeah we do. – I smile back – I can't wait to live here with you." I sigh in pure bliss.
"Me too!" She shouts excitedly, making me chuckle. She's so cute!!!
We decide to move our stuff as soon as possible and set up a gym in the basement. One of the living rooms will be made into our study, like we did in our apartment in Berkeley.
As much as we're enjoying our peace here, it doesn't last long.
After a distressed call from Aiden, we rush back to the clubhouse, where we're greeted by furious Tyson being restrained by Bone and Brute while Anna's yelling at him.
"You have no right to say that to me!" She screams at him. "This is my daughter!"
"Say that shit one more time and they won't be able to stop me!" Tyson yells back, struggling against the guys holding him.
"What's going on here?! Dad!" Lia runs up to her father and wraps her arms around him, frowning worriedly. "Dad? What's going on?"
"Amelia, get away from him! He's unstable! He'll hurt you!" Anna panics, trying to pry Lia away from her dad. I'm too fucking stunned to even react.
"Don't you dare touch her! – Tyson growls lowly, pulling Lia tighter against him – She's mine!" What the hell is going on?
"Stop it! – Lia yells at Anna – What is wrong with you?! Stop touching me!" She shrugs off Anna's arm.
"Amelia, this man is bad influence on you. Just come stay with me, I can help you get better."
"What the fuck? She's not sick! Why are you so stubborn about this?!" I take my girl's side, standing between her and her mother.
"You're all sick! You made her into... into this as if it's normal for a girl to fight illegally! And you keep encouraging this behavior instead of stopping it!" I feel pure fury spread through me.
"And what right do you have to tell her what to do?! You left her when she was just a baby!" I snarl at the obnoxious woman in front of me. How dare she!
"Do you have any idea what could happen if this got out?! She's a Devereux! If anyone found out about this our family's reputation would be ruined!!! RUINED!!!" I physically recoil from this woman, too taken aback by her audacity. I don't miss how her sons and everyone in the room gapes at her in pure shock.
Tyson only chuckles darkly behind me, still keeping Lia in his arms. "Is that so? That's what bothers you... Don't you worry, bitch, even if someone looked into my daughter's past, they wouldn't be able to associate you with her. She's a Clarke, not a Devereux. No one will ever find out about her being related to your pretentious ass." He sneers.
I glance at my kitten, only to find her glaring murderously at Anna. "Leave. – she hisses – I don't want to see you ever again. You do not come to me after eighteen years and insult my dad. You should be thanking him for raising me!!! No one, and I mean NO ONE can speak to him like that!!! Not even you!" She finally erupts, yelling furiously at the woman in front of us.
I turn to glare at Anna. "You fucked up. Don't look for her again." I snarl, heaving in fury. Who does she think she is?!
"Amelia? You can't be serious?! I'm your mother!"
"No, you're not. – Lia denies – You're just a woman who gave birth to me. You haven't earned the title of my mother. And after what you just said, you never will." She coldly states, glaring at Anna with pure hatred. As much as I would like to, I just can't seem to find it in me to feel bad for Anna. She brought this upon herself.
"Amelia, please!" Anna cries out, reaching out to Lia again, but I'm having none of it. I step between them, blocking Anna's way. "You can't do this. You need a mother!" I can't help but chuckle.
"That's where you're wrong, Anna. I can do this. And I already have a mother." Lia smiles at me. She means my mom.
"I am your mother!" Anna retorts harshly.
"No, you're not." Lia cuts her off then turns to Tyson, hugging him tightly "I'm sorry you had to hear it, dad." She apologizes with a sigh and I turn to Anna.
"Go away. Just leave her alone already."
"Mom... - Aiden starts - She's made her decision." He sighs.
"Why is it that she's okay with you and not me?!" Anna exclaims angrily pointing at Lia behind me.
"Because they made effort to get close to her, to get to know her! You didn't. You're hateful, condescending and unaccepting. Lia doesn't need you in her life. Not anymore." I tell her coldly, uncaring how harsh I may sound.
Anna starts crying, going as far as beg Lia to reconsider, but no one seems touched by her show. She's only trying to make my kitten feel bad, to guilt-trip her into accepting Anna in her life.
She really doesn't know my kitten. Once she's done with someone, she's done for good, no matter who it is. Tank got a taste of this firsthand. He said some wrong things and it took Lia a while to forgive him. The only difference between him and Anna right now is that he at least felt bad about what he did, while Anna... she's deliberately pushing my girl to her limits, trying to control her life to fit her expectations. She doesn't care about what Lia went through or who she became. And Lia doesn't need a person like her in her life.
Anna seems to realize there's no chance Lia will change her mind, staggering back as she cries. "Amelia, please. Don't do this." She pleads pathetically.
"Leave. Come on dad, I'm hungry." Everyone chuckles at my kitten's sudden change of mood. With no further ado, she puts one of her hands in mine and the other in Tyson's then drags us away to the kitchen.
"So what does my little mouse want to eat?" Tyson chuckles, as if earlier argument didn't even happen, while I watch them from the doorway, blocking it at the same time. It's amazing how easily they slip into this playful and easy mood. It's like, no matter what happens, they don't care about it, as long as they have each other.
Watching them makes me want our family to be like this – loving, supportive, understanding, able to rely on each other when needed...
A family that has each other's back, no matter what.