Heartless (Random Updates)

Chapter 19

"Alright, come along Max, keep up," Sean said as he stepped off the elevator while holding Jennifer's hand. He headed to his office and Max happily trotted along.

"Hey Max!" Many of the nurses smiled spotting the golden retriever. He never veered from Jennifer's side to go say hi to them, which Jennifer really appreciated, she felt better with him by her side.

"Go ahead and go into my office, Wife," Sean said as he placed a set of keys in her hand. "I need to get some supplies and equipment then I will be right there." He turned to face her before he spoke sternly, "lock the door behind you, my ID will unlock the door so no one can enter that isn't supposed to and you will know that it is me. These keys are the master set so only my mentor and I have the keys to this office and he is out of state at the moment so you don't have to worry about him. I will only be gone a couple of minutes and then we will have a completely truthful discussion, okay?"

"Yes Sir," she whispered as he wrapped her fingers around the keys. He kissed her forehead then pointed to his office. She walked over to the door and he went to get the ultrasound machine and a few other things.

Jennifer held the door open for Max to enter then shut it and automatically locked it like Sean told her to. Setting the keys on his desk, she looked around unsure about what she was supposed to do now. Seeing pictures on his desk, she bent down so she could look at them better. Her breath caught when the one right beside his computer was a picture of her with them in the living room. She was sitting in front of Gabriel while he combed her hair with everyone sitting around the room doing their own thing but when she picked it up to look at it better she could see that they were actually watching her and she had a relaxed smile on her face as she leaned against Gabe's leg. She realized that that was the first picture of her with all fourteen of them.

"What are you looking at, Pookie?" Sean's voice asked from behind her, making her jump in surprise and drop the picture.

"I'm sorry," she gasped as he quickly caught it. "I wasn't snooping," she tried to explain, "I...I..."

"I love this picture," he smiled as he sat it back down on his desk. "And how is it snooping when it's out in the open for everyone to see?"

"I didn't hear you come in," she whispered as she fisted the sides of her shirt.

"I can tell," he smiled as he took her hands from her shirt, "you seemed like you were thinking pretty hard, want to tell me what was on your mind?"

"How?" She asked nervously almost like she was unsure she could ask him questions, which infuriated him but he forced himself to remain calm.

"How I got this picture?" he asked and she nodded. He smirked, "we have cameras everywhere in the house, besides the bathrooms of course, and it was the first time you were completely relaxed around all of us so we wanted to capture that moment so we could look back at it. Corey pulled up the footage and Gabe printed it off for us. We all have it in our work offices since it's the first picture of you with all of us, we don't count the wedding one since it doesn't have all of us in it."

"You," she whispered looking up at him shocked, her breath caught as her mind spiraled, "you...wanted, actually wanted–"

"What are you trying to say, Jennifer?" Sean asked as he looked at her confused. "Just say it, Love."

She tensed and Sean watched as the mask dropped over her eyes, blanking the emotions from him. She took a step back from him and cleared her throat, "I was just surprised that you would choose to display a candid moment, that is all."

"No," he said sternly, pulling her back to him, "don't do that, Jennifer."

"Excuse me?" she asked, looking at him in confusion. "What am I doing wrong, Sir?"

"That for one thing," he said trying to keep his emotions in check as he led her over to the couch, "you are shutting down and masking your emotions and I do not like it. You can't be honest with me if you are trying to show me what you think I want to see and hear. Now stop it. You have to be honest with me Jennifer, no secrets and no lies, remember?"

She closed her eyes and pulled her hands out of his grasp. "I do not understand why you would want to have a candid picture of me on your desk," she whispered so softly that he almost didn't hear her. He briefly wondered if North would even be able to hear it since he was the one with the best hearing of the family.

"Because you are our wife," he said as if he was unsure how to react to that. "Why wouldn't we?"

Jennifer straightened her back and faced the wall behind him so she didn't have to look into his green eyes. "My role in life is to be the perfect trophy wife for my husbands," she said, void of any emotions. Sean held his breath as he waited for her to finish her automatic response, "My father will pick the perfect men for our family and I will never question my father's decisions for me. While my husbands will provide everything I need, they will never love me. Love is not real so I will never expect to receive it. I will always look perfect for my husbands so I will not bring dishonor upon them, nor will I ever question their decisions since they know what is best. I know that I am merely a trophy wife and they will never love me. I am meant to be seen and not heard and will always be perfect or I am not fulfilling my role as a good wife. A good wife means happy husbands and that is the ultimate fulfillment for a woman. A woman is meant to be the perfect wife for her husbands and nothing more."

"Fucking hell," Sean sighed as he took a couple of deep breaths then let them out. "Jennifer, look at me, please." It felt like eternity before she slowly turned her head to look at him, "That's not true, not one bit of it. Now I understand why you shut down when I called you Love. May I please call the rest of our husbands so they can be here to support you?"

She shook her head, "they are busy."

"You are more important," Sean corrected gently.

"This is one of those more than one kind of unlearning moments?" She asked, watching him closely.

He nodded, "Yes," he answered honestly.

She stared at him for a moment before answering, "if you think it's best."

"No," he shook his head. "My opinion doesn't matter right now. Do you want them here for support?" She looked down at her hands so Sean pulled his phone out and hit a button.

"Yes, Dr. Green?" Owen asked immediately.

"What's up Doc?" multiple men asked seconds later.

"Quick question, if our wife wanted you here–"

"We're on our way," Owen said right before he ended the group call.

Jennifer looked up at Sean in disbelief. He patted her hand and smiled gently, "It will be okay."