THIRTY-TWO
"We will just pick something up on our way home," Chloe says placing keys inside her pocket.
"Oh that reminds me," Chloe begins looking over at Hayley.
"Any chance we can take your car for now?" She asked cheekily, it was obvious Hayley sobered up quite quick for a moment.
"-And who do you expect to drive, you don't have a driving license." She says strongly.
Chloe points to me still smiling as cheeky as ever, I never saw her this way.
"He just woke up from a coma, Chloe." She warned her slowly.
"That's the one thing I remember how to do," I replied sighing, backing up my fiance.
She looked between us for a moment before deciding.
"Fine, but I do not want one scratch on my car and you better bring Chloe back with those two extra pieces.
She smirked at her little joke but you could tell she was serious.
"I promise." I say while wrapping an arm around Chloe's waist.
I didn't care to go, but I know it's important to her, therefore it's important to me.
Hayley threw me the keys, and I caught them with one hand, gesturing for Chloe to take the lead.
She bounced on the balls of her feet giggling as she took my hand.
'Adorable, lovable, and for a girl who lived her entire life in a basement, who had nothing, she is very smart with her money.' I thought to myself as I followed her out the door.
She ran to the car bouncing with every step.
"Someone seems excited," I laughed as I finally unlocked the car.
"I'm excited to finally learn who I am, of course I'm excited!" She hollered as we got in the car.
I smiled sadly as I put the key into the ignition, I'm not sure why but I'm anxious about this meeting even though she deserves to know who her family is. Another part of me doesn't and I feel selfish for that.
We drove slowly on the highway, and she took a pack of smokes out of her jacket, I narrowed my eyes on her.
"What?" She asked, placing one between her lips.
I sighed before thinking what to say, of course she wouldn't know better about smoking while pregnant but I would have thought that maybe Hayley would have told her.
"Smoking is bad, you especially when you're pregnant, did hayley not tell you that?" I questioned.
"Yeah Hayley won't tell me much anymore, but yes I know it's bad, this the first one I had in months," she says lighting and taking an exaggerated breath.
"If you know better should I take it away from you?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the road.
"Here," she says, passing the entire pack of cigarettes.
"How'd you even get these, you have to be 19," I asked, taking one out of the pack one-handedly, and placing it between my lips as she then passed me the lighter.
"Hayley is 19," she says, shrugging as if buying a minor cigarette means nothing.
I slid the windows down with the click of a button.
"This is the last one, okay?" I warned as she stopped paying attention and watched the scenery of trees whiz by.
"I'm not saying that to scold you," I say gently taking another puff.
Her dark hair flying in the wind, as she also takes another.
"I know, but I really don't think you realize how difficult the past year was." She says as her eyes glistened from tears.
"I can only imagine, but please don't cry I'm sorry.." I say, meaning every word.
"I have PTSD, and possible schizophrenia," She says as the cigarettes burned low.
All I could do was nod, Schizophrenia, hallucinations, quick mood swings and intense anger.
Of course she would have trauma from everything, which made my hatred against my father grow even more.
I tightened my hands on the steering wheel as I drove staring down the road ahead, we slowly came to a red light.
"I'm sorry," I whispered again.
She nodded as she continued to watch out the window.
I looked at the time on the dashboard it read six o clock.
Might want to let him know we might be a bit late, she then also looked at the time and nodded and took out her phone and started texting him.
"You've came a long way, you learn fast and you don't back down," I say looking between the road and her, she put her phone away and nodded before adding.
"I didn't have a choice but, I wish you could have been here to teach me," she says, taking my unoccupied hand.
"I know which is why I'm trying to figure out everything, I'm trying to understand you, remember the person I was that you knew, and it feels like I'm failing you." I say placing my foot on the gas again.
"You're not failing, I've changed too. I've done things, and forced others to do things, I'm not proud of." She says, tightening her hand around mine for a moment.
"Where do we go from here, how do we fix this mess?" I asked gently.
"We finish this, and then I retire from all this gang life stuff." She says looking away again.
"Please Chloe, stop looking away from me, I missed you, all- of you." I say as my hand untangled itself from hers and slowly slid up her thigh.
She swallowed hard her eyes wide yet in a way I knew she missed me just as much.
I caressed her thigh for a moment before putting both my hands on the wheel getting ready to turn onto the dirt road.
We were almost to Jason's place, and my chest began to fill with dread.
My knuckles white as the tighten on the steering wheel and sitting up more in the seat.
"Okay," taking a deep exhale.
I could feel her fingers caress my shoulder gently.
"You ready?" I asked her before turning into the parking lot.
"Yeah, I'm ready." She replies as she waits for us to park.
She undid her seat belt and wobbled to get out of the car, her large belly making it more and more difficult every day.
Jason stood outside of the door way a tooth pick between his lips arms crossed as he waited for us to come up and meet him.
"Hey, I hope you don't mind but my parents came home a bit early, so if its anything about Alastair or the gang, we gotta talk out here."Jason says, twirling the tooth pick.
"Actually, I'd like to talk to all of you about something." Chloe replies a bit more serious.
"Is everything alright?" Jason began to eye me before he began to put out accusations.
"Everything is fine, this one is more about your younger sister." She was quick to hold her breath, but he didn't catch on.
"why what happened-" I cut him off, I'm tired of playing around the mulberry bush to get anything done.
"Just let her talk to them; Jason, it's important to her," He then nodded and opened the door, gesturing that we could go in.
A man and a woman, maybe in their forty's sat at the kitchen table chatting over cups of coffee, quieted down as we walked through the door.
"Chloe, It's wonderful to see you dear," The woman says with a smile on her face.
"You as well, Mrs. Bayleigh." Chloe says with a nervous grin back.
"-And who is this young man?" Mr. Bayleigh asked standing up and putting out his hand, I met his half way and shook it.
"My name is Colby, very nice to meet both of you," I say smiling, that's when the gave each other a look and turned back to Chloe.
"Colby as in-," Mrs Bayleigh trailed off.
"Yes, he finally woke up." Chloe responds with tears in her eyes.
"Oh, I'm so happy for both of you!" Mrs. Bayleigh says with glee.
"Yes, so happy." Mr. Bayleigh repeats while staring me down, they don't even know she's their real daughter but he sure as hell already took up the roll.
Actually, Mister and Mrs. Bayleigh, Colby isn't why I'm here, truth is I have looked through my family history recently, and…" Her hands began to shake, so I placed a hand in the center of her back and caressed her gently, showing her, she has my support.
"I-I was stolen when I was born almost nineteen years ago in some hospital I couldn't find the name of but my last name on file was Bayleigh." She says quickly, taking a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, is this some kind of joke, did he put you up to this?" Mr. Bayleigh raised his voice and that's when Jason came into the room.
"I never mentioned anything like that, and in any case shes not one to mess around that way either." Jason stepped behind Chloe holding his fathers glare.
The woman got up making her chair scream in protest against the tile, Chloe didn't move, she stood there.
"I'm not saying I'm your daughter, I'm asking if there's a possibility that someone in the family could be." She had authority in her tone all of a sudden, a dull yet confident voice.
Mrs. Bayleigh walked up to her and place a hand on Chloes cheek, her ice blue eyes almost breaking character but turns back to stone nearly immediately.
That's when the woman broke down, the woman had graying dark brown hair and brown eyes quaked with slow realization.
"This is ridiculous!" Mr. Bayleigh yelled loud enough that if they had neighbors they would have definitely heard his side of the conversation.
His eyes, the same shade as Chloes, denied in rage.