Chapter 25

Julie

“Julie,” her dad snapped.

“Hey, baby girl,” Julie heard Jessie say loud and clear from the next room. “Mommy missed you. Did you sleep well?”

Julie watched her dad freeze and heard her mom gasp, and she couldn't stop the tears that were rushing to the surface.

“I got what we needed,” Jessie said, as she got closer to the kitchen. “We're going to have a great dinner. You'll forget all about going home.”

The word home wasn't even completely out yet when Jessie stepped into the kitchen, looked over, and stopped moving, as the bags she'd carried in dropped from her hands. Julie watched as shock took over her sister's face. There was no way anyone could have missed it.

“Did you just say mommy?” their dad asked, with his jaw clenched tight.

Julie watched the shock leave Jessie's face as it was replaced by fear.

“It'll be okay,” Julie mouthed, but Jessie shook her head.

“Answer me, Jessie,” their dad growled out.

Jessie turned back toward the living room. Then she walked over to the swing, unstrapped her little girl, and cuddled her close, as she walked back toward their very pissed off looking father and extremely shocked mother.

“Tell them,” Julie whispered.

“Did you call them?” Jessie asked, as she narrowed her eyes at Julie.

“No,” her mom said, in the quietest voice Julie had ever heard her use before. “You were both blowing us off, so we thought we would surprise you and try to get you to come home for dinner. Is she yours?”

Julie watched Jessie's eyes connect with their mothers, as Jessie nodded.

“Why didn't you tell me?” their mom asked.

“I was afraid,” Jessie answered, with tears of her own fighting to break free. “I didn't want you to be disappointed. I didn't mean to be irresponsible. That's not me. I wouldn't change it for anything though. I love this little girl more than you will ever know. Her name is Jackie.”

As soon as the word Jackie left Jessie's mouth, their mother lost it, and between the three women, there were tears everywhere.

“That's so sweet,” their mom said. “Lisa and Gracie would be so happy. Do they know? Does anyone know?”

“No,” Jessie said, as she shook her head. “Julie is the only one that knows.”

“Can I hold her?” their mother asked, and Jessie nodded as she handed her the baby. “I can't believe I'm a grandma. We're grandparents.”

Their mom took the baby and walked over to their dad. The second his eyes landed on the precious little girl, all anger left them, and sadness replaced it.

“We would have been here,” their dad mumbled, as he looked away from the baby and over at Julie and Jessie. “When was she born?”

“She's almost two months old,” Jessie answered.

“Shit!” their dad spat out, as he walked over to their table and sat down, putting his head in his hands. “You should have told us. I can't believe you kept this from us.”

“You're not disappointed?” both Julie and Jessie asked at the same time.

“Oh, I'm disappointed,” he answered, and they both looked at each other nervously,” but not at you two. I'm disappointed in myself.”

He looked away from them and over at their mom and the baby.

“Where did I go wrong?” he asked her, as she gave him a look Julie didn't understand. “Neither of my girls think they can count on me.”

“Dad,” both Julie and Jessie said at the same time, Julie instantly feeling bad for every bit of shit she'd ever given him, and it had been a lot.

“No,” he said, stopping them from talking. “One of my little girls thinks she's of no value to me, and the other hides an entire pregnancy and two months after from me.”

He looked over at Jessie.

“We would have been here. We would have done anything and everything you needed. Whether you're with the dad of your child or not doesn't matter to me. I'd like to kick his ass, but that's not what matters at the moment.”

“He's gone,” Jessie said, before Julie heard her whisper from next to her. “I don't think he even knew.”

When Julie's elbow nudged her sister, Jessie pulled away.

“It doesn't matter,” their dad said. “We would have helped you buy things and get them put together. We would have been here when you had her. Who was there with you?”

“Julie was there when I had her, and both her and Cody helped me get everything ready,” Jessie answered.

“Cody,” their dad said roughly.

“Gavin,” their mom blurted out in warning.

“He knew?” he asked, as he looked at Julie.

“He did,” she answered, as she wiped away a fresh tear that had come at the mention of Cody's name.

“He helped you with things for the baby?” he asked, as his eyes locked on Julie's.

“He's helped us with more than that,” Jessie answered for her. “He's not who you've all made him out to be.”

“Jessie,” Julie said, as she looked at her sister.

“Just speaking the truth,” Jessie said.

“It wasn't about Gavin,” Julie heard her dad say, and she quickly looked back his way.

“What?” she asked.

“It wasn't all because of Gavin,” her dad said. “He's a man.”

Julie felt anger fill her body from his words, and even more tears broke free from her eyes.

“Let me explain,” he quickly said, just as she was about to rip him a new ass. “The business isn't easy. It takes up every moment of your time. I didn't want that for you. I know how you are, and you would have put every single waking moment into that place. You would put aside love and family just to keep it going, and I didn't want you to do that. Your brother would have kept it going, but he wouldn't have given up everything else for it. He didn't have that passion for it. You did. That's amazing, but I didn't want you to let that company become your entire life like I did. Sure, I was home a lot, but I worked way more than I ever should have. You're all grown. Even your little brother is too old to want to hang out with his old man. I let it all pass me by, and it was because of the company.”

“I could have had a family and the company,” Julie said, crying even more than she was before.

“Maybe you could,” he said, “but that wasn't how I'd been looking at it while you were growing up. Kids need their mothers so much. I was never going to be the reason yours wouldn't have theirs. If your brother had a family, his kids would have their mom all the time, yours wouldn't.”

He let out a sigh.

“I was wrong,” he said. “I see that now. Please don't think I wasn't proud. I was, Julie. I've always been proud. Every single time you showed me your work, I was proud. Seeing you in your room working for hours at a time made me proud. And, as pissed as I am that you outbid me, I'm so damn proud of you. I love you. I'm so sorry I ever made you feel like you were less than your brother. You weren't, not for one second.”

“I love you too,” Julie said. “I'm sorry too. I know I've been hard on you.”

“Yeah, you have,” he said. “Harder than any of your siblings.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” she said, as she laughed and wiped away the tears still lingering on her face.

Jessie walked over to their mom and the baby just as Julie heard a knock at the door.

“It's not for me,” Jessie said, as Julie let out a loud rush of air.

Julie couldn't take one more ounce of stress and hoped with everything in her that it wasn't the one person she truly wanted to see.