“I don’t know or care,” Jim replied. “She is serving time and with the other two dead my wife is finally safe. Come on, let’s go and join the others.”
They moved towards a larger group where Aimee was sitting next to Jude and trying to hold his hand, attempts he was fighting off.
“Jude,” she beseeched with a steely determination. “Hold my hand, now!” she snapped as she pulled his fingers.
“I don't want to,” he cried and looked close to tears.
Jim looked down at his daughter who at three-years-old was far more confident and forceful than any grown woman he’d ever met, apart from her mother, but she certainly put Lizzie to shame. He smiled as he remembered when Lizzie and Aimee got into fights, which was often it was always Lizzie that would resort to calling for reinforcements in the form of a cry ofTashorDaddyfollowed by atell her. He was certain that without intervention it would be Lizzie who ended up in tears rather than Aimee, which is how it usually went down with Connor.
She was a perfect replica of her mother, in miniature form. While that filled his heart with joy and pride, it also scared the shit out of him because that meant when boys did want her hand in theirs he would have to kill them, or lock her up.
Turning with a cut of her eyes identical to her mother's, she looked at Jude's almost blue hand then spotted her father, causing her look to soften, albeit slightly. “Hi Daddy.” She grinned.
“Hi, baby,” he replied leaning down to speak to her. “What you doing?” he almost sang.
“Holding Jude's hand. He's my boyfriend,” she said seriously making him smile but knew that wouldn't always be the case when she uttered those words.
“No, I'm not,” contradicted Jude who was looking at Jim with a pleading expression. “She's hurting me, Uncle Jim, and Auntie Tasha has already made her to let me go once,” he said close to tears.
“Aimee,” said Jim firmly. “Let go of Jude's hand, please.”
“No. He's my boyfriend,” she protested.
“Honey, you know Daddy doesn’t work well with no and I don't think Jude wants to be your boyfriend and you're hurting him. Let go of Jude's hand, now,” he said more insistently.
She looked ready to protest until her father's expression hardened further which is when she released him. Turning on Jude she told him, “You'll be sorry before I am.”
Everyone around them stared at the undeniably beautiful girl standing now with her hands on her hips, some of them openly laughing.
“What?” she asked all the stares she was under. “That's what Mommy said when the guy at the club kept talking at her and trying to touch her. He got mean when she walked away, Daddy, and he said bad things, so she said you'll be sorry before I am,” the little girl spoke with confidence, nodding her head. “I heard her talking about it with Juan and Philip. Philip said you’d go ape.”
Tasha had just appeared and having gathered the gist of her daughter's revelation simply said, “It was a while ago and I too need to shut doors behind me.”
“This is not over, Natasha.” Jim repeated his wife's earlier words as he picked his daughter up and kissed her cheek.
“Didn't think it would be, James,” she replied.
“And another time there was a guy and he wanted to get Mommy a couch, but she didn’t want it and she told him to go and screw himself because he sure as hell wouldn’t be screwing her,” the little girl told her father with a wide-eyed stare and a little giggle as she shared the details of overheard conversations she didn’t understand.
“A couch, baby?” Jim stared across at his wife before returning his undivided attention back to the little girl in his arms.
“Huh-huh. Auntie Abby and Auntie Lucy said it was a caster couch, and Mommy said you would flip if you found out.” She giggled. “Flip like nobody has ever flipped before.” She pulled her father’s face towards her own with her hands gently cupping his face, much like her brother had done to their mother.
“Like you wouldn’t believe, baby,” he assured his daughter who was landing a gentle kiss on his lips.
“Momma said you were too much sometimes, and Philip said you only go bat shit crazy because you love us all so much. Juan didn’t say anything though, he just told them that he was having nothing to do with it.”
“I do love you all so, so much baby, but you shouldn’t say some of those things, they’re kind of rude.”
“But Mommy and Philip…”
“Mommy and Philip will find out just howtoo muchDaddy can be,” Jim warned as Philip appeared with Juan.
“And Juan?” Aimee asked as Juan looked on with concern. “I love Juan. He’s my best friend and he makes me laugh.” She giggled.
“Yeah, baby, Juan is funny and always remembers not to cross Daddy.”
Philip gasped with a horrified expression as the scene fully came into view before him. “Has she done it to us again? Jeez, Aimee we need to go over the importance of keeping sibling secrets,” Philip told Aimee who shook her head at her biggest brother.
