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Author's Chapter Notes:

Wow that took me a while...sorry. I hope you guys are still interested. Thank you so much!

 

 

That night I had the task of giving my little niece a bullshit explanation of how the man that she believed was her uncle all these years, was really her father. I’m not sure if I did a good job, but she took in my response with a smile. After tucking in Hannah that night, I cried for a good two hours. I made a mental note that I would call my mother to get a better explanation for Hannah, even if Brian wanted to keep it a secret.

 

I was so mad at the twosome. I just couldn’t get over the fact that Angie had never told anybody. That she had kept it from Brian for so long and probably now that she was in trouble she felt compelled to tell him the truth.

 

Then I started to think that maybe I had overreacted with poor Brian. No...He was just as guilty. I couldn’t shake off the fact that he hadn’t bothered to help me out when I asked him to. He had made a comment about her not being his daughter and that’s why he couldn’t help me. He knew about her by then, which only means he was trying to avoid his responsibilities.

 

I sighed heavily; it was terrible to know my family was slowly falling apart.

 

My sobbing moment was interrupted by someone knocking on the door. My eyes darted to the clock that read midnight and then to my end table where I had a gun, I never used. Shit, it probably didn’t even have bullets.

 

Slowly I walked over to the door and peaked through the hole. “Open the door Soph.”

 

The sound of Alex’s voice brought me comfort. At least I knew it wasn’t another one of those crazy suited men coming to get Hannah or me. I was still cautious as I opened the door.

 

I’m not going to lie; my heart fluttered as I looked out into the hall and saw Alex standing there in a fitted white shirt, low hung jeans and his badge around his neck. It gave me that familiar feeling I got when we were together.

 

“The old man sent me to see if you were ok? Howie has the night shift so he couldn’t come.”

 

Alex had always been the serious looking guy. He hardly ever laughed or smiled, unless it was with the kids or me. But lately he just seemed so dead, like nothing mattered to him anymore.

 

“I’m ok. I look like an unprofessional boxer, but I’m ok. Are you ok?” I had to ask.

 

“You know how much grief Brian always gave me about being with you?”

 

I sighed, imagining Brian with his righteous lectures. Most of the time he just did it out of the goodness of his heart, but sometimes he just seemed to act like he was above us all; yet he had his own dirty secret.

 

“Come in.” I motioned him to come in and went directly to the coffee machine. It was out of habit. I fiddled with the machine and turned to talk to him. Never had I really paid attention to how small my kitchen was; it took having my personal space being invaded by Alex and his sexiness to realize that.

 

“Then again, we need to cut the guy some slack. We’ve all got our secrets and we’ve all made mistakes. Angie is just as guilty about all this. How is Hannah?”

 

I was busy watching his mouth move that I hadn’t heard a damn thing he’d said. “Wha..?” I asked in a daze.

 

He grinned and licked his lips. “I asked about Hannah.”

 

“Oh. She’s fine.” Nervously I spun back around to face my cupboards. I didn’t want to focus on that look Alex gave me. I wasn’t Kevin’s girlfriend, but in our own way we were together. I couldn’t let Alex and his charm tempt me. I sucked in a breath as I felt his arms wrap around my waist and the warmth of his body touch my backside.

 

“I miss you.” He breathed into my ear.

 

I was tempted to let him know that I did too. I just stood there taking in the moment, unsure of what to do. “Alex...you need to go...” In my head I said it with power, but it came out more like a mousey whisper.

 

“You really want me to go?” I felt his tongue slither along my neck and it gave me chills.

 

There was no way I could fall for this. I spun around to give him a piece of my mind, but got distracted with how close he was to me and the power of his hazel eyes. His hand had found its way up my nightgown.

 

Memo to self: never wear anything with easy access again.

 

“Alex...” I managed to breathe out before I did the unthinkable. I grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him towards me, making our mouths crash into each other. His hands moved to my thighs and my arms wrapped around his neck. I felt the room get hot as our kiss deepened.

 

We blindly crashed into everything in our path till we made it to my room. Kevin was in the back of my mind, but my desire for Alex was much greater than my guilt. Alex slid between my legs and continued to kiss me while his hands worked on tugging off my clothes.

 

I helped him remove his shirt and moved on to his belt and was delighted to see my bad boy in all his glory. Just as Alex pushed himself into me, my phone began to sing, but I drowned out the sounds with my moans. I didn’t want to think about who it could be at that moment.

 

The next morning when I woke up, there was no Alex in my bed. Part of me was relieved and the other was pretty hurt. I’d only been good for the romp. I started to curse myself for being so dumb and falling for his...wait...he hadn’t said much. Ok, I’d fallen for his bedroom eyes.

 

The door slowly opened and Hannah peeked into the room. I got up and was thankful for my habit of getting dressed the night before. I met her at the door and stopped to wash my face.

 

“Aunt Soph. Can we do something today?”

 

I dried my face and smiled back at her. “Of course, did you have something in mind?”

 

“I want to see my mommy.” The look on her face let me know exactly what the visit was going to be about. I don’t think Hannah really missed her mother. She just wanted answers.

 

“Sure. Let’s get dressed, stop by for breakfast and see your mom.” We scurried off to get dressed.

 

After breakfast at McDonalds we pulled into a parking space and hopped out of the car. I wasn’t sure how my sister was going to react to her six year old daughter questioning her, but I was determined not to interfere.

 

We signed in and were led down the hallway to Angie’s room. She was sitting on the corner of the bed with a smile on her face. It widened as she saw Angie appear through the door.

 

“Hannah!” She yelped and stretched out her arms.

 

Hannah looked up at me and I motioned her that it was ok for her to go. Something that I know Angie didn’t like much. Hannah made way towards her mother’s outstretched arms and gave her a big hug. They held on tight to each other for a while. No matter the habits or her way of living, I knew that deep down my sister loved her daughter. She was just sick.

 

When they parted she looked up at me. “So, what brings you around here?”

 

I sighed knowing that I would have to start the conversation first. Where was I supposed to start? “Uh...something happened this weekend and Hannah wants to talk to you about it.”

 

Angie ran her fingers through Hannah’s blonde hair and caressed her face. “What’s wrong baby?” She asked Hannah.

 

“Uncle Brian says he’s my daddy! You said I don’t have a daddy.” I bit down on my lip to try and stop the tears from flooding my eyes. My niece was too damn little to be talking about shit like this. Her little voice was barely above a squeak. Angie glared up at me and stood up pushing Hannah out of the way.

 

I stood up straight knowing my sister was coming over to fight me now, thinking I had something to do with the new revelation.

 

“What the hell is she talking about? What ideas are you putting in my daughter’s head? No one knows about that...”

 

“You can’t blame me. I have nothing to do with this...I’m just as surprised.”

 

“How did she find out?”

 

“Brian told me about it last night when we were fighting over Hannah’s custody. She overheard. He wants to take her with him.”

 

I’d forgotten about Hannah being in the room. “No Aunt Soph, you can’t let him take me.” She ran up to me and held on to my leg.

 

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to explain anything...I’m not a real mother. I’m just...trying to help you.” I exclaimed. I bent down to wrap my arms around my fragile little niece.  “I’m not letting anyone take you from me, Hannah. You got that.”

 

“I need you guys to leave. I don’t want to deal with this right now.” Angie pointed towards the door.

 

I stood up and furrowed my brows at her in anger and uncertainty. How could she decide to shut this out like it didn’t matter?

 

“Angie you have to face this. You can’t let her go without giving her an explanation that she understands.”

 

“Go away!”

 

“Fine. At least help me figure out who is trying to hurt Hannah. Do you know who it might be?” I saw Angie’s look darken. She stayed quiet. “How do they know about her? Angie I need to know.” 

 

She smiled. “They are the ones that did that to your face? I owe money...they think that by taking my little girl they will get it.” She shrugged like it was no big deal. “It wouldn’t make a difference...I don’t have the money. Now get the hell out of here and don’t bring her here again.”

 

“You’re a bitch!” I muttered taking Hannah by the hand we stormed out of the facility.

 

My heart leaped into my throat when I saw the familiar figure in uniform standing by my car. I smiled up at him, trying to keep my cool and not seem so nervous. I opened the door for Hannah and buckled her up in her seat and went around the car to face Kevin.

 

“Hi. Are you alright?” He leaned in to kiss me, but I moved out of the way. He frowned. It didn’t feel right to kiss him after what I’d done last night.

 

“I’m fine. Just a bit stressed out. How did you know I was here?”

 

“Intuition. I called you last night.”

 

The whole episode with Alex flashed before my eyes. “Yeah, I was upset and I must’ve been asleep.”

 

He cleared his throat and moved out of my way. I opened the door and looked up at him. I could tell his green eyes were trying to read my awkwardness. Was it really fair to just come out and tell him about last night? I mean, Alex was gone this morning. Maybe it didn’t mean a damn thing. It might not change the fact that I cheated. If I can call it that...

 

“I’m sorry.” I said reaching up to kiss him.

 

He smiled wide and gave me a big hug. “What could you possibly be sorry about?”