“You could have avoided this a long time ago if you had told that little girl she was adopted. You’re pretending to be her mother.”
“I am her mother!”
Brooklyn opened the screen door, and Tessa ran out onto the porch in excitement.
“Daddy!” she screamed.
Cairo didn’t even bend down to hug Tessa. Ellie didn’t know how she had ever been attracted to this man. Everything about him disgusted her.
“You’re going to stay with your mom, sweetheart,” he told Tessa.“Brooklyn, let’sgo.”
“Why can’t Tess come?” Brooklyn asked.
“It’s complicated, baby girl, but it’s between me and your mom. Let’s go,” Cairo said, summoning her off the porch.
“That’s not fair! I want to come with you, too!” Tessa pleaded. Ellie couldn’t stop her tears as she made her way down the stairs to pick Tessa up.
“It’s okay, big girl. You can stay here with Mommy. Daddy has some big girl things planned for Brooklyn.”
“Stop lying to her, Ellie! Damn it! Stop telling her I’m her dad! I’m not her fucking father!”Cairo snapped.
The sound of Tessa’s cries cracked Ellie’s heart in two.
“Daddy!” Brooklyn shouted in shock.
“Get in the car, Brooklyn!” Cairo shouted.
Ellie could see the conflict in her oldest child. She wanted to check on her sister, but she also hadn’t seen her father in such a long time. Ellie pressed Tessa’s face into her shoulder and consoled her as Brooklyn stood there, distraught.
“It’s okay, baby, go with your father. It’s okay,” Ellie said, reassuring Brooklyn.
“But Mom…” Brooklyn’s voice was so broken that she reminded Ellie of the little girl she used to be before the lying and the smoking and the teenage growing pains.
“It’s okay, baby. I’llsee you when you get back to Papa’s in a few days. It’s okay,” Ellie soothed.“I’ve got Tess.”
Brooklyn reluctantly went to her father’s car, and Cairo stood there staring at Ellie.
“Leave,” Ellie said in disgust.
Cairo looked remorseful, and even that pissed her off because his guilt didn’t erase the hurt he had just inflicted. He got in his car and drove away, leaving wounds that Ellie knew Tessa would be nursing for the rest of her life.
Chapter 9
Ellie sat in the front row of the sprinter as they rode back to Shy’s house to retrieve their cars. The night had been ruined. Ellie was numb. Her heart hurt so much that she felt nothing. Tessa had cried herself to sleep. As she laid her head in Ellie’s lap, Ellie stroked her hair softly. If Ellie could carry this pain for her baby, she would, but life didn’t work that way. Her phone rang, and she scoffed when she saw Loyal’s name pop up on her screen. She couldn’t even think about a man right now. In fact, she hated all men just off the strength of Cairo being on the same team.Bitch-ass nigga, she thought. She regretted coming home. If she had stayed away from Michigan, like she had planned, her daughter’s heart would still be whole.
Friendsmas is a joke, she thought. There wasn’t a bit of Christmas cheer in sight. The entire van had been silent. No one spoke and she was sure it was because they didn’t know what to say. Her life was a spectacle and if these weren’t her closest friends, she would be certain that the gossip would be all in the streets by now. She was mortified. It was this exact feeling that she had avoided all these years. She hadn’t wanted witnesses to the unraveling of her marriage, but now her loved ones had front-row seats.
Sloan sat in the back of the van, tucked away in the corner as she rested her head on Cassidy’s shoulder. He lifted his arm, and she leaned into him, exhaling as he rubbed circles into her shoulder.
Her heart was so tender at the thought of Ellie’s situation.
“I got her,” Cassidy whispered in her ear. She looked at him, trying to make out his features in the dark to no avail. He lifted a hand to her cheek and caressed the side of her face reassuringly, and Sloan sighed. She lifted her feet onto the empty seats beside her and laid her head in his lap as he kneaded the tips of his fingers into her scalp. There was such comfort in his touch, so much gentleness, and caring that she had no choice but to hand her anxiety over to him. She sighed as she closed her eyes. She was asleep before she knew it.
The hour-long drive passed by in what felt like the blink of an eye, and when Sloan felt Cassidy shift, she was aroused from her rest.
“That’s a wrap, everybody,” Shy said dryly, standing and getting out of the sprinter first. “Court, come on, girl, let’s get you settled.”
“Good night, everybody,” Court said, giving Ellie a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder before she exited the sprinter. One by one they got off and Cassidy picked Tessa up from Ellie’s lap.
