(18+)
"We shouldn't, your son is my fiancé." I whispered sounding unsure and very hostile.
He watched me carefully with his dark blue eyes before tilting his head gently to the right, the same blue eyes that had just watched me undress a couple minu...
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I stood outside the airport with my luggage gathered around my feet, the familiar Montana air filled my nose and a nostalgic feeling occurred within me. I was so lost here that everything around feels like a trigger, and my fingers tightened around my phone. Kaz is breathing in the same air as I am, he's under the same sky, feeling the same breeze, hearing the same sounds.
"Talitha." My brother's voice brought me back to reality, and my eyes locked on his.
"Tiago."
My suitcases fell as I sprinted over to him, leaping into his loving arms. His hand carefully held the back of my head as my arms tightened around the back of his neck, my body immediately felt calm again with just my brother's fatherly touch. Tears prickled at my eyes, he smelt like baby powder and oranges.
"Jesus, I've missed you, baby sister." He whispered against my head, his lips kissing the top of my forehead repeatedly.
"And I've missed you." I said while smiling.
We pulled away, he's gotten older and his hair is starting to turn a lighter black. There were bags under his eyes and his skin is very pale compared to the last time I saw him. His arm draped behind my neck as we both walked to his car, Tiago has been doing good and has been providing for his family in every way possible.
He has an office job and Jules gets to be a stay-at-home mom like she's always wanted to be, they've bought their own house and everything seems to be going great between them. We arrived at his house which looked nothing like our childhood house, their porch was covered in different colored flowers along with hummingbird feeders hanging around their tree in front.
I'm proud of him and everything they've accomplished together.
"Auntie tee-tee!"
My nephew greeted me at the door right before attacking me in a tight hug, my arms wrapped around his small body. His black, shoulder-length hair perfectly matched my brothers, and his little hands touched my shoulders. My hand held the back of his head making sure he couldn't pull away quite yet, I've missed them and especially my nephew.
Jules was leaning against the stair railing, she has on a long white summer dress with her hand gently touching her growing belly. Tiago told me about his little girl that was on her way, that was 7 months ago and I've bought a whole lot of pink things to celebrate. I walked over to her, her arms reaching around her son and me.
"Welcome home, Talitha." She said with a motherly smile laced on her mouth.
She looked different in a good way, her skin was glowing and there was a certain happiness to her. We pulled apart, I followed my brother to the guest room that was upstairs before he dropped my bags on the bed. My eyes fell on the open closet that was filled with my old clothes, my fingers ran along the white dress I had worn for dinner one night.
"Bodhi thought you'd want them back." My brother said.
I turned around, I haven't heard that name in years. "How is he?" I asked.
Did I want to know? No, but do I still care about him? Yes.
Tiago smiled a little, he walked closer to us. His hand softly touched my cheek, my nephew dug his head in between my neck and shoulder. I thought about calling him and just letting him know how sorry I was, and how it wasn't his fault but I was afraid if I'd hear his dad's name even once I'd come back running.
"He's okay and he's happy, he got help from a therapist a couple of years ago." He said. "He's actually married and is expecting a child with her."
I smiled I'm relieved, and my head fell against my brother's chest. "That's great, he's always wanted a family."
"He's changed a lot, and I've never seen anyone have that much of a redemption."
I'm so glad I asked about him, just because I left doesn't mean the guilt was no longer there. It was time, I needed to ask about the one person I'd been dying to see, to feel, to hear. What if Nyla was right? What if he moved on and is happy now? I would leave here not seeing him, he deserves to move on but it'll kill me inside.
"Hey, why don't you go help your mom set up the table." I told my nephew, and he was getting ready to fight it until my brother made a face and he knew to listen.
Enzo hopped out of my arms and raced out of the door, my brother walked to the door while quietly shutting it before turning back around to face me. He leaned against the door with his arms across his chest, he knew exactly what I was thinking about and I could see it in his eyes.
"Ask the real question you want to know." He said.
"I'm I that obvious?" I said.
"I'm your brother, I'll always know you better than you know yourself."
I exhaled, deeply before my mouth parted with familiar words. "Have you heard from Kaz?"
"I haven't, not since he gave me his job." He said, effortlessly.
My eyes widened slightly, did I hear him correctly? I stepped closer, my hand pressed against my chin trying to make sense of what he had just said.
"He what?"
"He was training me to eventually replace him on the board but it was sooner than I imagined." He said. "He wasn't doing well, he would show up to work drunk or angry."
I felt like my lungs stopped working and my breath got caught in the back of my throat, that last part made my stomach drop. "Drunk? He doesn't drink." I whispered, quietly.
"Talitha when you left, he lost everything."
My hand fell to my chest, I turned my back to him not being able to stare at him any longer. Alcohol was one thing I was so sure he wouldn't turn to.
"Have you heard anything from him, recently?" I asked.
"Not directly but I've heard that he spends most of his time at a strip bar in the city, called Lani's House."
Great, a strip bar. Here I was gazing up at the stars while he threw his money at naked women, that's just terrific. I broke him while trying to fix myself, I wrecked his family and his entire life. I've been finding myself in Seattle not thinking about the storm I left here, I'm so selfish.
"It's not your fault." My brother said.
"Are you sure? Because it sure feels like it." It was hard to breathe, my chest was physically hurting.
"Look at me." He says, softly. I turned back around to face him, he reached his hand against my cheek lifting my eyes to meet his. "You needed help, and you got it. Maybe now, you can help him."
I swallowed a huge knot in my thought, fear is what always keeps us apart. "What if he doesn't want my help? What if he never wants to see me again?"
"Then he's an idiot, but Kaz Rhodes is everything but an idiot." He says, carefully. His thumb stroked my cheek as my head slowly nodded, he was right. "You are everything he needs. You are everything anyone ever needs."
I smiled, and all that worry and fear disappeared in an instant. My brother has a way of always making me feel better, and the fact that he's never wrong makes me feel a whole lot better about everything. My face pushed past his hand into his shoulder where I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck, his arms circled me.
Tomorrow is a new day, and tomorrow I'll try to fix everything but tonight I just need to be with my family.
