Chapter 114

Josh catches up to me before I reach the house, he offers me a smile, I shrug. None of this is his fault. We take a seat by the kitchen window, staring at the trio seated inside the gazebo. From our position here, we can’t see their lips moving but I can’t help wishing they will start a conversation. Talk to each other even if it ends in a screaming bout. 

“Do you think they will reconcile?”

Josh snickers. He hops to the fridge like he pays rent and returns with a huge chunk of cake. The leftover I had saved to munch on later because I can’t resist anything sugary and his family didn’t let me enjoy it. Fleeting anger surges through me, I close my eyes.

“Nope. Not a chance,” he says. I turn to see him dragging another stool close to me. 

The poise and gracefulness he was forced to adapt when we were outside vanish when he gobbles the cake. I smile foolishly, this is the Josh I know. Slapping his knee, I motion for him to look out the window to see Brandon leaning over the table with anger rolling off him in waves. I can picture him telling his parents to never step foot into our house again and I am surprised to find myself relieved at the possibility of that happening. 

I don’t want them here again. We can discuss somewhere far from here. They snuff out the air in a room and that’s saying something since we were outdoor.

A good daughter-in-law should try hard to reconnect her mother-in-law to her son but a good mother—parent will be more resolute in seeking reconciliation with her child after five years. I had to convince them to honour my invitation and that was my mistake. 

Moving forward, my husband and baby are my priorities and stress is not good for us. To think their presence might have caused a rift between me and Brandon makes me want to go out there and whip both of them until they begin to act like the adults they are. They need to do better or the closest thing to a relationship they will have with their grandbaby is online, glimpses of her on social media. If Brandon lets it happen.

Brandon might be a bad man but he certainly knows how to be a good parent. He is a good father. He will break his back if Brianna is involved and I cannot understand why his parents didn’t do the same. Why they haven’t tried to reach out to him before now.

Granted, that man is stubborn as hell, a trait he inherited from them but he has his strengths. He’s human and he needs a bit of patience and a lot of dark chocolates.

“What about you,” I say to Josh who steals another slice of cake, eating it shamelessly. I ignore the smudges on his lips. “Will you talk to Brandon?” Before he opens his mouth, I can already tell he will answer in the negative so I add, “Please.” Rubbing my bump, I say, “I know she will be a girl but if she’s a boy, he will have Joshua as his middle name.”

The proposal puts him on the spot, he turns his back to me to drop the empty saucer on the island. “Have you checked the gender?” I shake my head and he scowls. “Why not?”

I shrug. We are curious but not enough to ask for a reveal. “He wants it to be a boy,” I whisper like I am telling a secret. “I want it to be a girl.” The people in the gazebo are forgotten as I join him on a high stool by the island. “What do you think? Girl or boy?”

“Easy. You are carrying a miniature Joshua.”

We burst out laughing, I nudge his rib with my elbow, failing to mention how much my baby already envisions having a Brandon Junior. “Does that mean you will talk to him?”

“Maybe.”

“What did he do?” Knowing he won’t answer me, I sigh and say, “Can’t you forgive him?”

“Some sins can never be forgiven,” he replies in his usual chirpy voice. We have had this conversation, each time, we hit a dead end but I had hoped today would be different.

Staring at his boyishly handsome face, I stick my tongue out and he pouts. He will talk to him, even if it’s only a greeting, I am fine with that. My attention returns to the people outside, their rigid postures. If they don’t want to reconcile, why are they still there?

“He has changed,” Joshua whispers. My head snaps in his direction, he flashes me a grin that disappears as soon as it comes and I smoothen the invisible creases on my gown.

Moved by curiosity, I ask in a voice lowered by my shaky nerves, “Is that good or bad?”

“Good.” Relief worms its way into my heart, I nod. Josh smiles so much, so bright, I have to reciprocate it. “Old Brandon was so full of anger.” His eyes dart to the window, a sigh escapes him and my chest falls. “He would have walked out as soon as he saw them.” 

“Why?” I don’t know what exactly I am asking him. If it’s for the reason he was full of anger or why he dislikes his parents. No love lost between them. “I don’t understand.”

A lot of questions need to be answered and I am beginning to think I will never get the answer to any of them. I jump down from the seat. Josh’s eyes follow me, and I send him a reassuring smile. I need to stretch my legs. To think. To be close to Brandon.

“If you stay around them long enough, you will be just as angry,” he murmurs. The way he says it causes me to laugh. But one look at his face and the laughter dies off. Okay.

Lowering myself back to the stool, I drum my fingers on the island and release a long sigh. We stay in silence while I process this information, I pick the fork he used and dip it into the cake. I asked Lydia to get this flavour because of Brandon’s love for dark chocolate. Brandon didn’t touch his share and I don’t blame him. With that much negative energy hovering over us, I wouldn’t have eaten anything for fear of choking.

“What about you?” I take another bite and another until I am done. “You are not angry.”

Josh’s eyebrows shoot up, almost disappearing into his hairline, his hair falls over his forehead and he swipes at them with a scowl. I want to tell him how much trouble he will save himself if he chops the whole thing off but I need him to keep talking to me. He directs a scowl my way like he can read my mind, I bat my lashes at him and pout.

“Says who?” he says. I roll my eyes. 

We have been friends for so long I would have noticed if he had a temper but this guy right here cannot hold a grudge. I fold my arms over my chest and uncross them when I notice how his eyes linger on my breasts. Apparently, he is not the only Stark who likes my breasts and my cheeks heat up when I remember his attraction for me. Though the resemblance is unnoticeable at first glance, he has a lot in common with his brother.

“I went to boarding school,” he adds at my wild gestures and sneers. I need him to talk to me not my breasts which now have his attention. “Didn’t spend much time at home.”

“Why didn’t he go to boarding school?”

Josh hesitates, in a smaller voice, he says, “I don’t know. They wanted them to learn the ropes since they were next in line to being CEO.” My head bobs, he leans back in his chair, looking relieved by the fact I am privy to this knowledge. I smile. “He told you?”

A proud smile takes over my lips, I nod and he murmurs, “He likes you.” To a crush, this might have been good news but to a wife, this is not enough. I roll my eyes, at this rate, they will get stuck in my head. He needs to love, not like me. “You are good for him.”

“Thank you,” I say.

“He is good for you too.” My head jerks up, Josh spreads out his hands. Placing a hand over his mouth as if afraid for me to hear his next words, he says, “You are glowing.”

“Because of the baby,” I retort. My hand finds my bump, Josh snorts. Pregnant women always glow, our babies reward us with glowing skin for the stress of carrying them.

“A baby he put inside you.”

My comeback is interrupted by the kick from inside my belly, I giggle and gesture for Josh to stand when his face scrunches. Taking his hand, I place it on the spot I felt the kick, boys don’t kick this hard, right? His brow furrows while I hold a finger to my lips and his expression transforms to one of unadulterated joy when my baby kicks again. 

I squeal, Josh screams. He retracts his hand and places it almost immediately but she doesn’t kick again. Disappointed, Josh turns to me with a pout. “Can you tell her to do it again?” he asks in a small voice that would have had me nodding if it was in my control.

“Josh,” I start, apologetic, “it doesn’t work that-”

I am cut off by another powerful kick and I start suspecting my baby to be a boy. 

Girls shouldn’t be able to kick this hard. Or maybe they should so they can kick anyone who tries to mess with them off the planet. Josh’s mouth hangs open, I shake my head, it was a coincidence, that’s what I think until my girl kicks again to prove me wrong. He bursts out laughing, pleased with himself and I pout. For the duration he has his hand on my belly, all she does is kick and I can’t stop giggling because of how much it tickles. 

“Okay, that’s enough,” I say, extricating his hand with a fake scowl that morphs into a smile. I hope she will like him as much as he does when they meet. “Move, mister.”

With a smile on his lips, he puffs his chest like he won a lottery. “Someone is jealous.” 

Brandon too will be jealous if he finds out she kicked as much as this in the presence of her uncle. We only get a few kicks once in a few days and we are the parents. I purse my lips. I can imagine her getting away with her many tantrums all thanks to Uncle Josh. 

On the bright side, she will have a fine relative by her side. A loving uncle, something I wouldn’t have been able to give her as the only child. I send Josh a smile he repays, he will be a great uncle. I know he will try to be civil to his brother because of his niece.

Maybe we will be fine.