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“It was good to see you again too, Jay,” her mom said. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”
Her mom laid a hand on Misha’s back and guided her away from Jay and out the front doors of the church. They walked in silence to the car and didn’t talk until they got home.
What was there to say? If they wanted to keep their new life, Misha had to learn to co-exist with Jay, which meant there would be more moments like the one they’d just had.
“Why don’t you two go and get changed?” her mom suggested. “I’ll get lunch on the table.”
Misha didn’t feel much like eating, but she did what her mom told her. She changed Ciara out of her cute church outfit and into a pair of leggings and a T-shirt, clothes she could nap in after she ate lunch. Once she was in something comfortable as well, Misha went back down to join her mom at the table.
Life was supposed to have settled down by uprooting their lives and coming to Serenity. Instead, it had gotten infinitely more complicated, and this time, there was no escape.
They wouldn’t be able to leave to get out of this situation. She’d just have to stick it out. Ride the rough waters until things smoothed out again.
She just hoped it didn’t take too long.
~*~
Jay tried to mask the heaviness of his heart as he left the church with Peyton. They were headed to his folks’ place for lunch with some of his other siblings. He would have rather been going to eat with Misha and Denise. Unfortunately, that was not his place anymore.
He hadn’t thought he’d be a part of Ciara’s future milestones, so seeing her take hesitant steps toward Layla had been incredible. Though he’d witnessed some of those milestones in Layla’s life, it hadn’t struck him exactly what he’d missed with Peyton until he’d seen Ciara take those first steps.
A new regret had been added to the ones already present within him when it came to Peyton. He couldn’t help but wonderif there would be a moment of great regret for Amberlyn when she realized what she was going to miss of her son’s life.
“Do you love her?” Peyton asked from the back seat.
Jay looked into the rearview mirror and saw Peyton staring out the window. “Love who?”
Even as he asked the question, Jay knew the answer would be the same whether Peyton was talking about Misha or Ciara. However, he needed to know what was going through the boy’s head.
Peyton’s gaze met his for a moment before he looked back out the window. “That baby.”
“Yes. I do love her. Just like I love Layla. Just like I love you.”
“And her mom?” he asked. “Do you love her too?”
Jay sighed. “I do.”
“So why isn’t she your girlfriend anymore?”
“Sometimes it just doesn’t work out.”
“Do you wish the baby was your daughter?”
Where were these questions coming from? Was he just trying to understand the dynamics and relationships in this new world of his? Or was there something more to it?
He didn’t want to lie to Peyton, but since he didn’t understand the motivation behind the questions, he had to be more careful with his answers.
“We really hadn’t been going out long enough for me to think too much about that.”
Peyton fell silent and didn’t say anything more for the remainder of the drive to the family home. Jay had no ideawhere his answers fell into the little boy’s perception of his life. Would they make things worse?
Jay knew things could be worse, but he didn’t want them to move in that direction. Not just for his own sake, but for Peyton’s. He was already so angry and sad that if things got worse, there wouldn’t be any happiness left in him. From Charli’s account of Peyton’s times with Layla, at least he seemed happy there. Jay didn’t want him to lose that.
“Hello, Peyton, darling,” his mom said when they arrived at the house.
Peyton let her give him a hug, though he held himself as stiffly as when Jay hugged him. The only person whose hugs he returned were Layla’s.
“Did you enjoy children’s church?” his mom asked as she guided him toward the kitchen.
