“I expect you both to behave. No whining and remember to say please and thank you.” They both agree so I help them out and they run to the front door. I grab their suitcases out of the trunk and meet them at the door. I open it and they run inside screaming when they see Kallie. She catches them, much like I did and it’s nothing but excited talk. Jax stands next to me and watches over them.
“They love their aunt so much,” I say watching with a smile on my face.
“Believe me, she loves them just as much,” Jax says. I look at him and grin. I know she does, she always had a special connection with my girls, and I love that.
After Kallie helps them change into their bathing suits and I blow up tubes and swimmies, they jump into the pool where I am sure they will spend the entire day. I watch them swimming around and I can’t believe how big they have gotten since I last saw them. Dawn is now eight years old and Tiffany three, and I am missing so much of their lives. I didn’t even know that Tiffany could swim around like she is in the tube and swimmies.
“Why the serious face? You should be nothing but smiles watching them,” Kallie says.
I look over at her, wrap my arm around her shoulders and kiss her head. “Just thinking about how much I miss out on. Only seeing them a few times a year is hard as hell.”
She looks up at me and smiles. “You could always sue for custody. After everything that bitch did to you…”
I cut her off. “How many times do I need to tell you I won’t take them away from their mother, no matter how horrible she was to me, she loves them. Think about it, what if our dad wanted to see us and mom kept us away.”
She’s right though, and I am doing just that. I just don’t want anyone to know just yet. I need to be careful with everything I do because Sarah is a bitch, and she is already giving me hell.
She sighs and looks back at them splashing around. “You’re right.”
After a few hours, the girls are running around the backyard and my mom is watching them so I could have a few beers. I’m standing there talking with the guys and laughing when they all start busting on Blake for the food still not being here. Just as I finish off my beer the girls are yelling for me by the pool.
“Shit, the girls want to go back in the pool. Who wants to bring them in for me?” Even I laugh at the question. I walk over to the pool and sit on the steps as they jump back in.
My mom sits next to me and smiles. “I miss them so much when they aren’t here.”
She does so much for them, and I know it breaks her heart that she can’t be the kind of grandma that has her grandkids spend the weekend with her. I usually let her take them one night when they visit, just so she can have that.
“I know Mom, I miss them too,” I say, watching them and hoping that one day I will be able to spend every day with them.
She laughs at the girls before turning her attention to me. “You’re a great dad Braden, just because your marriage didn’t work doesn’t mean a damn thing. I don’t think she’s fit to have my grandbabies, but I’m not going to get into that again.”
No, please don’t. I’ve heard it all before. I know she did me wrong, and the reason everything fell apart was her fault, but I’ve heard it all so many times before.
“You’ll find someone, and she will love you enough to never break your heart.”
I smile at her and kiss her cheek. “Thanks, Mom. Let’s hope so because I’m man enough to admit I don’t think I’d survive that shit again.”
“Daddy, you said a bad word,” Dawn yells with a smile on her face.
Crap, I always forget they listen so closely. “You’re right Dawn, sorry. I’ll go put myself on a timeout while Grandma watches you.”
She laughs when I get up to go get another beer.
I walk over to the cooler and look around for Jax and Kallie, when I don’t see them, I figure the food must be here. I open my beer and walk into the house where you could hear a pin drop. Walking into the living room I see Kallie, Jax, and London standing there looking at Blake with a woman I have never seen before. I know that for sure because she is beautiful, actually gorgeous and I definitely would have remembered her. “What’s going on?” I whisper to Kallie.
“Umm, apparently Blake has a sister.” I snap my head to her, and she shrugs her shoulders. How the fuck does a sister just show up?
Chapter 3
McKinley
I thought the most uncomfortable thing would be telling Blake I’m his sister, but I was wrong. Standing here with all these strange eyes staring at me, in a silence I’ve never heard, this is uncomfortable. Obviously, I figured it would be a lot for Blake to take in, I just didn’t expect him to be having a huge party when I showed up. Part of me feels bad, but another part thinks this might work to my advantage. I don’t think he’ll toss me out on my ass in front of people, or maybe he will. I don’t know anything about him.
A beautiful woman walks over to Blake and grabs ahold of his hand. He breaks his eye contact with me and looks to her.
She gives him a nod and smiles before looking toward me. “McKinley why don’t you and Blake go out front and talk. There is a lot to discuss obviously.”
Just as I
