209. GIFTS

209. GIFTS
KADE
By the time I reached home, with the diamond jewellery I bought, blue daisies because she didn’t stop clicking pictures of them last time I bought them, two jars of pickles because that’s the only thing she wanted to eat these days, and a brand new car just for her because I haven’t gifted her anything expensive other than a house, Seline was chasing Storm.
I swear I will take that dog out one day and forget to bring it back.
“Do not over-exert yourself.” I cried, catching Storm’s leash to hold him still.
“We were just playing. Right, Storm?”
Storm barked in response.
Her eyes travelled from my head to toe.
“What are all these things in your hands?”
“Gifts,” I said.
Storm barked twice. “You are not getting one,” I told him. “Lilly brought you enough.”
She took the flowers first, the pickle jars next, and eyed the jeweller suspiciously.
“Is that for me?”
I don’t like how she is looking at me right now.
Oh, no!
That’s not a wow, I like the gift look. That’s why the hell would you bring all this look.
“Is that for me?” She asked again. It’s not too late to step back.
“No.”
Seline narrowed her eyes.
Storm barked.
“It's for Storm.”
Storm barked again loudly.
Seline immediately grabbed the jewellery bag before I could stop her.
“Baby.”
Too late.
Way too late.
She was already opening it.
The moment she saw the necklace, her eyes widened.
Then narrowed suspiciously.
Then widened again.
Then narrowed.
I was getting dizzy.
“Why are you looking at it like that?”
She slowly lifted the necklace.
The diamond caught the evening sunlight pouring through the windows.
For a second, the entire room sparkled.
Seline looked at the necklace.
Then at me.
Then at the necklace again.
“How much did this cost?”
Ah. There it was. The unnecessary question.
I immediately looked away.
Storm looked away, too.
Coward.
“Kade.”
“It wasn't that expensive.”
She gasped.
“That's a lie.”
“It wasn't.”
“It absolutely was.”
“It wasn't.”
“You bought me a house, and somehow this is the thing you're lying about.”
“Because the house was cheaper.” My words escaped before I could contain them.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Seline blinked.
Storm barked.
Even the dog looked shocked.
“The house was WHAT?”
I immediately regretted speaking.
Across the room, Seline looked like she was calculating whether murder was legal during pregnancy.
Then her eyes landed on another key.
A car key.
Brand new.
Still inside its box.
She froze.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
She looked up.
“No.”
I smiled.
Immediately a mistake.
Because now she knew.
“Kade.”
“No.”
“Kade.”
“No.”
“Kade.”
“No.”
She picked up the key.
Then looked at me.
Then the key.
Then me again.
“You bought me a car.”
“You don't have one.”
“I do.”
“That’s an old one, and you stole mine.”
“That's because we live together. My car isn’t that old. I bought it three years ago.”
“Exactly. That’s old. Now you don't need to steal mine.”
Seline looked like she was seconds away from either crying or strangling me.
Possibly both.
“You bought flowers.”
“Yes.”
“You bought pickles.”
“Yes.”
“You bought jewellery.”
“Yes.”
“You bought a car.”
“Yes.”
“You bought all of this today?”
I thought about it.
Then nodded.
“Yes.”
Her hand immediately flew to her forehead.
“You have a problem.”
“No.”
“You absolutely have a problem.”
“No.”
“Kade.”
“No.”
“Your solution to every emotional situation is buying things.”
“That isn't true. I never did that before.”
“It absolutely is true. You did it many times. You bought the apartment I live in, the company I work at, and half of Zaley’s building because I am working there. Remember?”
Storm barked.
“See? Even Storm agrees.”
Storm barked again. I am a second away from strangling that dog.
Seline stared at the necklace for another long moment before placing it carefully on the table.
Then she stared at me. A very dangerous look. The kind that usually preceded trouble.
“You forgot something.”
I frowned.
“I did?”
“Yes.”
Impossible. I bought flowers.
Pickles.
Jewellery.
A car.
What else existed?
She slowly walked toward me. One step. Then another. Then another.
Until she was standing directly in front of me.
Close enough that I could smell her shampoo.
Close enough that Storm immediately lost interest and started walking away because, apparently, even the dog knew where this was heading.
Then she poked my chest.
“You forgot the most important gift.”
I looked genuinely confused.
“What gift?”
Her expression softened.
Just slightly.
Then she reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck. The answer hit me immediately.
Oh.
That gift.
My hands settled on her waist automatically. Carefully. Always carefully now.
The tiny bump was still small enough that most people wouldn't notice it.
I noticed.
Every second.
Every minute.
Every hour.
“You're impossible,” she whispered.
“You like impossible.”
“I do.”
I smirked.
She sighed dramatically.
Then buried her face against my chest. And just like that, the jewellery disappeared from her thoughts.
The flowers disappeared. The car disappeared. Everything disappeared.
Because this—
This had always been her favourite place.
Not the house.
Not the gifts.
Not the money.
Me.
My chest tightened unexpectedly.
A strange feeling swarmed through me.
The kind that made me want to buy another car.
Maybe two.
“You're thinking about buying something else.”
I froze.
“How do you do that?”
She laughed against my chest.
“I've known you long enough.”
“That wasn't an answer.”
“You were absolutely thinking about buying something.”
“Maybe.”
“Kade.”
“Maybe.”
Her head snapped up.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
I looked away.
“Kade.”
“It might be a horse.”
She stared.
Storm stared.
The entire house felt like it stared.
“A horse.”
“Maybe.”
“For who?”
I pointed toward the dog that wants to destroy the glass window and jump off the cliff. We both looked at the dog, at the landscape surrounding our house, until Seline buried her face against my chest one more time.
“Take me there,” Seline whispered against my chest. “I am ready.”
She doesn’t have to mention the place.
“Are you sure?” I asked her.
She looked up and nodded. “I am ready to meet her.”
“Meet who?” Hana, who has just arrived from school, asked.
“My sister,” Seline answered.
“You have another sister?” She asked in confusion. It didn’t go unnoticed that she said another sister.
The other sister is her.
Seline nodded. “She is the one who saved both of us.”
I agree to disagree. But I don’t say a word.
“She saved me?”
Seline nodded again. “Both of us. We were alive because of her.”
She killed the others!
“Oh—,” Hana didn’t ask to elaborate. I like that about her. Though she is a curious kid, she can study the room and ask the questions only when needed.
“Then, can I visit her?”
“Maybe, someday,” I replied. “Let us go first.”
That got her thinking again.
“She dead?”
Seline trembled in my arms. I nodded slowly.
“Sorry about that.”
Silence followed.
And then came the crash.
Seline and I sighed at once.
“I am sorry. I just want that cup in the upper cabinet.” Hana shouted.