Unconditional Love

Chapter Thirty-Two - Aiden

I've known Lay longer than Ken and Tiff. Ry'lo being one of my close friends, we grew up together in Florida. Lay lived in Hawaii with Kino but she visited her cousins often. The twins have a vacation home there as well so Maize was like the mother of the neighborhood when she was there. Always cooking and having parties for the kids. I thought it was to make sure Lay had friends but after getting to really know them, they are just nice people.

Someone is always watching Lay, Tiff and even Keisha. Even though our dad's have done everything to make sure our identities are kept secret to almost everyone in the game, we aren't taking any chances with our loved ones. I'm usually Lays travel buddy when Ken is too busy or Tiff is tied up. I don't have to worry when she's with her family though. While we were traveling we got close and formed a bond. Nothing romantic. She is my sister even though we don't share blood. Seeing her today made me feel helpless. She's afraid of losing herself like Maize did.

She said she never heard any voices but she idolized her mom so much that she's exactly like her. Lay said the first time she witnessed Maize interact with the voices in her head she thought they would take her away because she was crazy. She already had a crazy aunt locked away somewhere. So she hid the truth from her dad. That was her way of protecting her mom, but in reality she probably caused more harm.

Kino had a room specially designed for Maize by her request to be able to have her moments in peace. It was soundproof. Lay had witnessed an altercation between Maize and her sister one night when she refused to give her money. When the sister left, Lay said that Maize ran to her room but didn't close the door and she had a meltdown. She talked to the voices in her head and kept repeating how her family didn't love her. Every time Maize visited that room after that day she would sit outside the door and just wait for her to get herself together. She didn't want her to be alone even if she didn't know she wasn't there.

Lay had her moments after she found out that Keisha was pregnant with Nya. We left to go back to Florida to deal with some issues at Platinum Dreams right after Ken had told her. On the jet she couldn't hide the heartbreak and just broke. She was afraid he didn't love her anymore and she lost him. She blamed herself for not having sex and making him wait until marriage. He was the one who fucked up but she put the blame on herself. She was a wreck on the plane, but by the time she stepped off the jet, it was like she didn't even care that he got Keisha pregnant. She was all business.

Ken can't leave Keisha. He's in love with her and got this stupid fucking attachment that's unbreakable. They have a whole family already and that's all he's ever wanted was a complete family. He hasn't said the words to me yet, but I know he's about to break Lay. We can't trust Keisha not to try to hurt Lay now, since she has been on some snake shit. The sad part is that if Keisha was his wife, she would never object to him fucking Lay on the side. She wouldn't even think twice about it. She's just mad because in theory, Lay out ranks her. He will let Lay go before he lets someone harm her.

He loves Lay but he's not in love with her. A blind man can see that. He cares for her and is protective but it's not true love. It's friendly at best. If he never slept with her, I would say he loves her like I love her, as a sister. She is going to take the hit pretty hard regardless. I know she can bounce back. I think it's best to go ahead and get it over with now. If he waits until the baby is born, then things are going to be worse for her.

"Let's go see that idiot brother of mine. I want to make sure he's okay and find out more information on Asia. I know he has a lot on his mind and he's going to try to focus on everything else to avoid thinking of his baby girl being sick."

"Yeah you are right. He's always trying to make sure they are healthy and happy, that he never even imagined that one of them could have a major illness. I know it'll be rough.