The Nerd and the Jock (1st bk of Nerd Series)

Chapter 38- Bailey's POV

"So why did you kick out Blake and Sky, Bay?" Mimi asked from where she sat in front of the television with the rest of us sitting around and waiting for dinner to become ready as well. She folded her arms across her chest and pouted, furrowing her brows closer together. "I thought you liked Blake."

My cheeks turned a little red, and I cleared my throat while I shifted in my seat. "I mean, I do like Blake, Mimi," I said with a shake of my head, "and I did not tell him to leave, for he and his sister are more than welcome to stay here for as long as they want to stay. However, his mother called him and told him to go back to their house with Sky." I leaned back in my seat and moved a hand through my hair, biting back a tired sigh.

It had been a couple of hours since both Sky and Blake had left the safety of my house and went back to theirs to go back to their mom and see what she wanted. It had also been a while since I had last heard from him, only having him text me when he got home safely and would see me later with a stupid kissy emoji afterward.

"You could have fought and told him that he was staying over here," Mimi said, and her pout grew deeper. "I mean, Trevor is still over." She gestured to Trevor, who was pretending to be asleep on one of the couches but was basically listening to everything that we had to say.

"Uh yes, because Uncle Dalton knows me and knows that I will keep Trevor out of trouble if he is with me."

Trevor yawned and turned to look at us, opening his eyes with a small scowl on his face and amusement in his eyes. "Even though you are also the instigator and will be the one that gets me into trouble, Bailey," Trevor said, and his scowl grew deeper on his face. "Don't say that you don't because you know that you do." He flashed me a teasing wink, and I couldn't help but snort and roll my eyes.

I slowly nodded and bit back a small smirk because what he said was true; I was the instigator and would get us in trouble, even though Uncle Dalton normally "blamed" his son for what happened. "Anyway, have you asked your dad if he wanted to come over?" I asked, changing the subject and raising an eyebrow in question. "I know that he loves my cooking whenever it is in the slow cooker, and it has been a while since we had talked."

Trevor hesitated and shook his head with a small smile on his face. "Not yet," he said with another shake of his head. "I didn't think you would want him here when you are talking to Blake's mom..."

I shrugged and grimaced, pressing my lips into a thin line. "It wouldn't matter," I said coldly before I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat, growing increasingly nervous about the woman that we were going to have to face. "She still wouldn't like me."

"Are you sure?" Trevor asked and raised an eyebrow in question, looking shocked and impressed that I told him that Blake's mother wouldn't like me one way or the other. "I mean, why would you say that?"

I shrugged and grimaced again, sucking my lips closer together. "Because Blake hasn't texted me in a while, and he normally does when we are apart. I think he might be grounded."

"Well, the grounding might not be because of you," Trevor said and shook his head with a sad smile on his face. "It could be because of something else."

I didn't say a word and shrugged, pressing my lips into a thinner line while my heart started to ache. I leaned back in my seat and bit back a tired sigh, exhausted and wanting to go to bed but knowing that I couldn't, for I had to finish with dinner, eat, get the kids ready for bed, and make sure that everything was ready for school tomorrow before I would be able to do that.

Ryan paused from whatever it was he was doing and looked at me with a small frown on his face. "Wait, why would she not like you?" he asked and cocked his head while he studied me. He hesitated before he looked at his brothers and sisters before he looked at me with guilt filling his eyes. "Is it because of us?"

I wanted to shake my head no, but I couldn't help but shrug with a small frown on my face because I had no idea if that was true or not. "Even if it were, it still doesn't change the fact that I adopted you four and you are going to be stuck with me until the day that you die."

"And who says that we will die first?" Chrissy asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "I mean, you are older than us by a long while, so I think it would be you who dies before any of us." She gestured to the rest of her group, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes and bite the inside of my lip.

"I hope so," I said and bit back a small laugh while I slowly nodded, my heart aching with pain and sadness. "I hope that I am the one that dies first between any of you all and that means not doing what your mother has been doing. Is that understood?" I scowled and narrowed my eyes while I looked between the four of them.

Ryan bit back a small scoff and shook his head, rolling his eyes. "I mean, that's not going to be a problem," Ryan said. "We have all seen what could happen if we do that type of stuff."

"Have you heard from her?" Michael asked from where he was lying on the floor, looking like a starfish. "Is she coming home?" He looked at me with wide, innocent eyes.

"Wait, is she? Do we have to go back to her?" Mimi asked and lifted her head until she looked at me. Fear flashed through her eyes while she looked between her younger brother and then at me with a small pout on her face. "Please, I don't want to go back with her. I want to stay with you." She shook her head when she said that, her bottom lip quivering, and my heart broke.

I bit back a small smile and shook my head, and my heart started to ache. "You aren't going to go anywhere," I said. "We have made sure that you all will stay with me, no matter what happens." I looked at Mimi when I said that, pressing my lips into a thin line.

"Do you want us to call you Mom then?" Ryan asked and raised an eyebrow in question, and I scoffed a laugh before I rolled my eyes and set my jaw. He frowned and tucked his head closer to his chest, and I had a feeling that he didn't like me scoffing like that.

"If you want me to call me Mom, then you are able to call me Mom," I said and looked between the four of them before I solely looked at Ryan, since he was the one who had asked the question. I gave him a warm smile and tucked my head closer to my chest while I stared at him. "However, I will not push any of you to call me that. I have always been called your older sister, so I don't mind just being known as your older sister."

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief and slowly nodded. He laid his head back down and closed his eyes, and I knew that he was waiting for me to tell him everything that was going on but wouldn't push me to tell him.

Mimi looked at me with wide innocent eyes filled with curiosity and sadness. There were traces of hope that gleamed in her eyes, and I couldn't help but look at her instead, raising an eyebrow in question. "So you don't mind if we call you Mom or not?" Mimi asked.

I bit back a small smile and slowly shook my head. "I wouldn't mind it at all, Mimi," I said and shrugged, biting the inside of my lip. "If you don't want to, then you don't have to, but if you do, then I wouldn't mind it at all."

Mimi bit back a small smile and slowly nodded. She didn't say a word and turned her attention back to the game, and the smile grew larger when a happy thought crossed her mind.

I looked at my cousin to see that he was already staring at me, and we both shrugged without saying a word, turning our attention back to the television show that we were watching, even though we had no idea what was going on with that show, each one of us lost in our own thoughts.

Oh, God...