Shattered Pieces

Twenty Nine

Six months later: Jordan's Pov

"Hi, Uncle Jordan!" Aaliyah runs right into me the moment I open the door.

"Bean!" I scoop her up and give her cheek the sloppiest kiss possible.

There was like a two month period where all Aaliyah ever wanted for dinner was beans, and thus a new nickname was born.

"I get to go see Auntie Capri this weekend!" She smiles so brightly, and I eye her parents because they might as well kiss this sweet angel goodbye once Capri gets her hands on her.

"I thought you and Kia had some dance something this weekend?" I ask Liv.

"Subtle, Jordan. We do, but D'Angelo is receiving some award Saturday night, so Spencer and the kids are flying out tomorrow, and I'm going to fly out Saturday morning!"

"Like what you've done with my house." Spencer teases with a sleeping Grayson in his arms. "I'm gonna go lay him down in the playroom; looks like you two need a twin moment."

I set Aaliyah down, and Spencer takes her hand, leading her upstairs to their dedicated room. It's the least I could do, considering my sister did buy this house.

"How is she?" I ask Liv as she heads into my kitchen.

"You could just call—"

"No." I don't even let her finish that sentence.

"She wanted you, Jordan. You have to understand the position she was in."

"She could've had me, Liv. I told her the baby wasn't a deal breaker. She could've had me." I repeat, and my mind wanders back to that Tuesday night five months ago. The night I realized that sometimes your best still won't be enough.

K: omw

I stare at her text, my heart racing. This is it, my last chance to change her mind, and I'm determined to make sure that by the end of this talk, she changes her mind about the future of us.

The doorbell rings, and I jump up. The more time that passes, the more doubt settles in, and Kia already has enough doubt for both of us.

I open the door and take in her every feature. When my eyes find hers, it's like I know everything about her, and somehow she's a stranger at the same time.

My mouth goes dry as panic sets in. I want to say something, but I don't want to say the wrong thing. If we're going to do it all over, we need to do it right.

"Come in." I step aside, opening the door wider.

"Liv really gave you this place, huh?" She smiles.

"Well, it's not like her and Spencer we're doing anything with it. Plus, I'm paying them. They're probably ripping me off." I tease.

She steps closer, then pauses. Torment is painted all over her face. Her eyes lock on mine, and she gulps.

"I'm trying to quiet my mind. That's what happens when I look at you. Everything becomes peaceful in your eyes, and I feel in control of myself. Usually, it's chaos. It's always chaos."

"Kia." I breathe.

"I want to hug you." She sighs. "If you wrap your arms around me, it'll kill me when you let go. And we both know you'll have to let go."

"Or I won't." I counter.

Kia wants to focus on logic, but I want to focus on how the air changes when we're around one another. We feel fateful in so many ways, even when I couldn't see it before. Even when I answered my phone that night. I really wish I hadn't answered my phone that night.