Acknowledge His Heart

Clearing The Air

Jasmine POV

I was on my third attempt at calling Joe as I paced up and down my kitchen waiting for him to answer, there were plenty of reasons why he hadn't answered, he could still be driving, he could be dealing with Kalia, at this point I would take any reason other than he was ignoring me especially since our daughter was with him.

"Hey" he says answering the call

"Hey, I was beginning to think you were ignoring my calls" I sigh with relief

"Sorry I was changing Kalia" he says "listen I know why you wanted to talk to me and I'm not cool with it but I'll get used to it"

"Get used to what Joe?" I ask already knowing the answer

"You and Randy" he sighs "if he makes you happy then I accept it" I smile at his words because in a way it's kind of sweet that he would do that.

"Joe there is no me and Randy" I smile "he's just a friend, nothing more"

"but I heard that he was dating some one" he says sounding confused

"and he is but it's not me" I say "I am very much single"

"There I go again getting the wrong end of the stick" he sighs "I'm sorry Jas I should have stayed and talked to you"

"Listen why don't you and Kalia come back here" I say "You can stay the night and we can talk properly"

"Really? I'd like that" he says and I can practically hear him smile "We'll be there soon"

When we end the call I start to feel very nervous at the thought of being alone with Joe but I know we need to talk, I have things I want to say and I'm sure he does too. I head upstairs to sort out the spare room for Joe to sleep in and as I reach the top of the stairs my phone rings.

"Hey Colb" I answer

"Hey, how you holding up?" he asks

"I'm ok, Joe is on his way over" I sigh "he's going to stay the night and we are going to talk"

"well halle fucking lujah" he cheers "it's only taken you six months, what kicked you up the ass?"

"Randy was here whenhe came to pick up Kalia" I sigh

"Jesus Jas I told you to tell him you two had sorted things out" he sighs "Right either you two sort things out tonight properly or I will take matters into my own hands"

"Yes boss" I laugh "I'll let you know how it goes"

"damn straight I'm the boss" he laughs "I'll talk to you soon"

Ending the call I chuckle to myself as I straighten the spare room out and sort out the bedding, once that's done I head to the kitchen and start a pot of coffee, since Joe has done a lot of driving today I'm sure he will need it.

Joe POV

As I pull onto Jas's driveway I still can't believe that once again I got the wrong end of the stick, it's a bad habit that I need to break if I want to sort things out with Jas. As I park up I see in my rear view mirror that Kalia has fallen asleep and I smile at her knowing there is at least one thing in this world I got right.

I lift Kalia carefully out of the car and grab our bags, knocking on the door I take a deep breath and try to calm myself.

"Hey" Jas says greeting me with that beautiful smile of hers

"Hey" I say quietly "she's out, where do you want me to put her?"

"You can put her in her room" she says "let me take your bags"

"no way, mine is heavy I got this" I smile "just lead the way"

I follow Jas upstairs to Kalia's room and lay her down gently on her bed and Jas pulls a blanket over her before gently stroking her hair and placing a kiss on her temple.

"I'll show you to your room" she says leading me down the hall to another bedroom

I place my bad down on the bed and then for the first time I fully take in Jas, she looks as beautiful as ever and just as before pregnancy looks really good on her, I reach out to touch her bump but stop myself.

"may I?" I ask and she nods

Jasmine POV

Joe places his hands on my bump before lowering himself to his knees, he slowly lifts the hem of my top and then places a soft kiss on my bump. Instinctively I reach out and place my hand on his head as he places a few more kisses on my bump. I close my eyes and just enjoy the sensation of his lips on my skin, it seems like forever since I've felt this.

When Joe stands we are a lot closer than I expected, in fact we are practically nose to nose, we look at each other for a moment before Joe gives me a nervous smile and takes a step back.

"Um would you like some coffee?" I ask feeling a little awkward

"Yes please" he says "that would be great"

We head down to the kitchen and I pour him a cup of coffee, as he takes the cup from me his fingers graze mine and there is no denying he still has an affect on me.

"so what did you want to talk to me about?" he asks

"Well I have a scan tomorrow and I wanted to ask you if you would like to come" I say

"I'd love to" he smiles "do you know what we are having?" he asks

"Not yet" I say "I wanted to wait until we were at a point where we were getting on well enough for me to ask you to come so that we could find out together"

"Jas I know I've said this a thousand times but I really am sorry for what happened between us" he sighs "I never should have said those things and I never should have walked out of that room"

"I know and I'm sorry too" I sigh "We both said things we didn't mean that day, I never meant to break your heart I'm so sorry"

"hey" he says putting his cup down and taking my hands in his "I forgive you Jas, I know you didn't mean it, I just wish we could have saved us"

"Yeah me too" I sigh "I forgive you too Joe"

"Would it be ok if I gave you a hug?" he asks

"Yeah of course" I say as he wraps his arms around me, I feel him kiss the top of my head before resting his head against mine. After a moment I move my head to look up at him and he smiles down at me, he leans in slowly pressing a feather light kiss against my lips, before I have chance to respond he moves back from me and begins rubbing his neck nervously

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that" he says

"Joe it's fine honestly" I say stepping towards him, I reach up and cup his cheek and he leans into my touch, unable to stop myself I lean up and press my lips to his, he returns the kiss but only briefly.

"as much as I want this, I think we still have a lot of stuff to work out" he says resting his forehead against mine "let's not rush anything"