His Chose Family

Brennan

I slammed my hand down on the bedside table, throwing the pillow that Leah had been sleeping on to the floor. She hadn’t been in my room for days, and I was miserable. I wanted to hold her. I wanted to apologize to her. I wanted her. It had been so long since she had been in my arms that her scent had completely faded. I was miserable. I hadn’t really slept since she kicked me out of her house. It hadn’t hit me that I told Sugar that I loved her until I got back to my office. It had come so effortlessly. It felt right, and I knew I was getting closer to being able to tell Leah, but just like usual, I had fucked up the chance to be with her yet again.

I rolled over onto my stomach, burying my face deep into the pillows. I didn’t care if I couldn’t breathe. What was the point any more? I hated this shit. I needed to get out of Eden. I couldn’t keep stalking her from afar. It was weird and creepy, but I needed to reassure myself that she was okay. Having made up my mind, I pushed myself up off the bed. I quickly showered before putting my shoes on. I had no idea where I was going, but I had to get out of here. I was going crazy without seeing her. I was going to really go stir crazy if I didn’t take a break from missing her so intensely. Once I was dressed, I lifted my watch to my mouth.

“Doc?”

“Good morning, R. H. M. How are you doing today?” She asked softly, and it didn’t take a genius to know she was worried about me.

“I’m not doing very well, Doc. I really miss her,” I admitted.

“I know you do, R. H. M. I wish there was something that I could do to help you.”

“Actually, there is. Do you think you could watch Eden for me for a few hours?” I asked.

“Where are you going? Do I need to be worried?”

“I just need to step away. I need to breathe.”

“I understand. Let me know when you get back so I can turn my watch back off,” she requested.

“I will. Thank you, Doc.”

“You’re welcome, R. H. M.”

I walked out of the office before jogging to the gate where I had left my car from the day before. I got in before opening the gate on my watch. As I drove out of the community, I ran my hands over the steering wheel. This woman had driven me crazy in such a short time that I wasn’t sure if I would ever get over her. I wanted nothing more than to make up with her. I wanted to tell her about how hurt I was over the triplets not being mine. I wanted to beg for her forgiveness. I wanted to make sure she knew that I didn’t think she was a bad woman. I wanted her to know that I was so in love with her that even if I made mistakes, I would always apologize and try to do better for her.

When I parked in front of a building, I shook my head to try to clear my thoughts so I could figure out where I stopped. I blinked in surprise when I found myself sitting in front of Diadra’s aunt’s house. What in the world made me come here? I was too tired of fighting my instincts to leave. Something had brought me here, and I was going to find out what it was. I hesitantly walked up onto the porch before knocking on the door. I stuck my hands in my pockets as I waited for someone to answer. I wasn’t even sure if Diadra’s aunt still lived there or not, but I was going to find out.

“Brennan?” Aunt Misty gushed as she opened the door. “It’s been so long since you’ve been home.”

She immediately wrapped me up in a tight hug, and my dam broke. Aunt Misty had been like a mother to me when I first met Diadra, while my in-laws were very hateful toward me. Aunt Misty had taken me into her life without hesitation. I clung to her tightly, trying to keep myself from sobbing out loud. She ran her hands down my back before taking a step back.

“How have you been?” She asked.

“Not very good, Misty. I’m sorry to turn up out of the blue like this, but I just needed something, and something deep inside of me told me I could find it here,” I admitted.

“I’m glad you’re here, son. Come in. I have chocolate chunk walnut brownies, and I can make hot cocoa,” she said, looking over her shoulder at me as she walked toward the kitchen. “I trust that you still like that combination.”

“Yes, I do.”

When we got into the kitchen, I sat at the bar, watching her as she moved around the kitchen preparing me a small plate of brownies and some cocoa. After she set a plate down in front of me, she snagged a smaller brownie from it before leaning back against the counter behind her.

“Tell me about this woman, Brennan.”

I stiffened at her order. “What woman?”

“The woman that you need to talk about. The relationship with the woman whose Diadra’s memory is destroying,” she told me.

“What makes you think there is a woman?”

“Because I know you. Just like I knew Diadra. I never liked how my niece treated you. I always thought you deserved better. Diadra was not capable of loving you like you deserved to be loved. I hated every single time that she said she loved you. She never meant it. She didn’t know what love was. She didn’t know how to love you or those beautiful girls of yours,” she told me sadly.

“They weren’t mine, Misty. They were Diadra’s. Every word she said to me was a lie. Every word was meant to hurt me. I never thought that she would do something like that to me, but she forged their paternity papers. I don’t think she would have ever told me if she would have survived the accident.”

“Did you love the girls?” She asked.

“You know I did, Misty. I loved them with everything in me.”

“Did you do everything you could to make sure they were taken care of?”

“Yes.”

“Did you plan for their future so they would be taken care of after you were gone?” Misty continued to question.

“Yes.”

“Why did you do all of that?”

“Because I loved them. They were innocent. They should not have been punished for their mother’s mistakes. I was never going to do that to them,” I answered.

“Exactly. You loved them. You raised those girls. They were yours. DNA doesn’t mean anything when compared to the way you loved them. So what if their biological father was not you? They were yours in every way that mattered. Chosen family is almost always better than the one you were born into. You were the only father that they knew. And had they survived, you would have been the only father they knew. I promise you that,” she said.

“Misty, can I ask you something?”

“Can you?” She instantly retorted like usual.

“May I?”

“Yes, you may.”

“I know that you spoke to Diadra a lot. I know that you helped her work through a lot of emotions and chaotic thoughts. Did you talk to her that day?” I inquired hesitantly.

“Do you mean the day of the accident?”

“Yes. That day.”

She raised her mug of cocoa to her mouth, and I knew she was buying time. “I did speak to her, yes.”

“What did she say?”

“She was sad. She said you didn’t love her. She was so upset that you wouldn’t give her the money she wanted for drugs. She was so angry. I could hear the girls in the backseat, crying and begging her to get you.” She met my eyes. “The girls wanted you. Their daddy. They wanted to be with you. Upon hearing them, I had her pull over so I could calm Diadra down. By the end of our conversation, I got her to realize the drugs weren't really what she was looking for. She wanted to be accepted and loved, and she just wanted to be held. She was having a severe issue with depression and thought drugs could help her. I knew if I could just convince her to go home, you would help her. You always did. You were the only constant in her life. You would always try to help her.”

I sighed as I lowered my head. “I never told anyone, but part of our fight was me telling her that if her drug-seeking behaviors kept up, I was going to leave her. I couldn’t keep putting the girls through that. I couldn’t keep letting her hurt them like that. They loved her so much, but I wasn’t going to let her bad habits destroy them. I was going to protect them. No matter the cost.”