Jackson patted his head. "She has curwy hair like me and daddy," he said in a voice that melted my heart on the spot. I had a feeling my dad was going to be right. This kid would totally have me wrapped around his finger in no time.
The next few days flew by. We spent lots of time making and eating Southern food. Samantha gave Rush and me cooking lessons, and the more time I spent with her, I saw that despite the age difference between her and my father, they were really good for each other. They made each other happy, and that was all that mattered.
My dad and I were able to spend some time alone together as well. We went for a walk each morning and also went out on the lake. We were reconnecting, slowly but surely.
Where we spent most of our time, though, was with Jackson. We all took him to the park, to the zoo, played with Play-Doh, colored, watched shows, played hide and seek, had a dance party, and anything else he wanted to do.
Thankfully, Jackson warmed up to Rush and me fairly quickly. He was such a spunky and friendly kid. He and Rush were already the best of friends, and it was fun to see how good Rush was with kids. I shouldn't have been surprised since he did have five younger siblings.
My dad and Samantha eventually told Jackson that I was his half-sister, and did a great job of explaining it while they showed him pictures of my dad and me. I didn't know if he completely understood, but he seemed excited about having a sister.
Now that it was time to leave, I didn't want to go. Funny how things turn out differently than you think. For so long I hadn't wanted to come, worried about how awful it would be. But now I realized I’d missed out on so much time being with my dad and little brother.
I gave Samantha a hug, thanking her for welcoming me into her home and being so kind.
Next, I hugged my dad, telling him I loved him and that I'd be back soon.
Then I knelt down to look Jackson in the eyes. "Okay, li'l bro, I expect you to have your mom send me all your wonderful drawings. You can call me whenever you want."
He loved to draw and was actually pretty good at it for only being three years old.
He nodded vigorously. "I'm going to go dwaw one wight now."
I smiled at him. "I can't wait to see it."
I pulled him to me and squeezed him tight, his little arms going around my neck.
Rush said his goodbyes as well, and we walked out to the same black SUV to head back to the airport.
"Bye, Scarwet!" Jackson yelled out to us, waving his little hand. "Bye, Wush!"
We waved back, saying bye once more.
As I drove out of the long driveway, a few tears escaped. Rush reached over and put his hand on my leg.
I looked over at him through watery eyes. "Thank you."
His brows creased in confusion. "For what?"
"For encouraging me to talk about my dad with you, for getting me to realize how much I missed him, and for coming here with me. I don't know if or when I ever would have come or given him a chance to explain and apologize." I wiped my eyes. "And that cute little boy. I wish I hadn't missed out on his first three years."
He wiped away another tear off my cheek. "The most important years with him are still ahead, and you'll get to be a part of that."
"You're right." I nodded and gave a small smile. "I'm so glad we came."
"I'm glad I got to be here with you." He took my hand in his. "Being with you and being part of your family the past few days has been amazing."
"It was nice not having to hide, that's for sure," I added. "But now back to our reality."
"Yeah," he said softly, turning to look out the window, his expression becoming serious.
I was about to ask him if everything was okay, but he asked the driver to turn on the radio. I decided to leave it for now. It probably meant nothing anyway. Neither of us loved having to hide our relationship, so he probably wasn't looking forward to going back. At least I hoped that's what it was.
* * *
Olivia and I rode the elevator to the top floor of the Sorensen Building, where the athletics department had decided to throw a New Year's Eve party in celebration of the football team winning their bowl game two years in a row. It seemed a little excessive to throw them a huge party, but football was king and did make the school a lot of money.
Mirrors surrounded the walls of the elevator, showing our reflections. We'd gotten ready together tonight in our dorm room, and I wasn't above saying how amazingly hot we looked. We'd both decided to go with a sparkly look tonight, her in a shimmering red sleeveless dress that hit her mid-thigh. I wore a short, sparkly silver dress with thin spaghetti straps and a low-cut cowl neck. I felt like a disco ball, but a sexy disco ball. I'd left my hair down for Rush.
