Forever Yours (Book 4 of 4) (Justin Bieber Love Story) ✔️

Chapter 5: Shiner

SERRINA

I yawned loudly as the kids unloaded from the car and waved goodbye, running towards the school to meet with their friends. Even Amelia had made enough friends to love school so watching her run off with her sister was not as difficult as it had been the first few weeks.

I rubbed my eyes and put the car into drive, pulling it through the parking lot and turning the radio on. A song came on that I recognized from a new artist named Remi King. She was really pretty and barely 21 years old. She had a big fan base for having only been around for a few months. I quietly sang along as I drove and once it was over the radio station turned into a talk show. I listened then turned it off as I pulled into our driveway.

As I turned off the car and got out, I noticed that Justin car wasn't in the driveway. Had it been there when we left?

I shook my head and went to unlock the front door and stepped inside. I tossed the keys on the kitchen counter and kicked off my shoes, "Justin?" I called, hoping for a reply but not expecting one. He had been disappearing every morning for the last week or so without any warnings.

When I was met with silence I walked across the room and fell onto the couch, turning on reruns of Grey's Anatomy and doing my best not to fall asleep.

******

I had fallen asleep anyways and woke up just in time to go pick up the kids from school. I checked my phone and saw that I hadn't missed any calls, so whatever Justin was doing, he didn't have time to give me a call.

As much as it made me mad that he was vanishing with no explanation, he had dropped everything to help raise our kids and he was doing a hell of a job. He was always helping out when he could be out with friends and I really appreciated it.

He needed a break so I wasn't going to get angry, at least not yet.

If he kept being absent, that would change.

As I pushed myself off the couch, I straightened my top, slipped my feet into a pair of worn slippers and pulled a jacket over my body then paused when a dizzy wave rushed across my eyes. I gripped onto the back of the couch to brace myself as I slowly disappeared from my vision. I took a deep breath and blew it out, taking note to not get up the fast in the future.

The older I got the more I found I couldn't do things as quickly. I was only 26 but my body was aging fast. That was something I could blame on my children.

I grabbed the car keys and headed outside. The car was warm from sitting in the sun, but my hands and feet were still cold. I turned the heat on and began driving to the school.

By the time I got there my feet and hands were warm but the air was so hot it was hard to breathe. I put the car in park and tucked my legs under my butt and crossed my arms, waiting in the car. Today I was too cold to stand outside and wait.

I jumped when somebody tapped on my window and smiled when I spotted Ashley. I quickly rolled the glass down so I could say, "Contractions yet?"

She groaned, "Yeah," When I sat up straighter in excitement she shook her head, "They come and go. Not strong either."

I pouted my bottom lip, "That's shitty." Then I noticed her husband was nowhere in sight, "No Chaz today?"

She shook her head, "No. Apparently he's working overtime before the baby comes." As suspicion crossed my mind, she rolled her eyes and made me smile, "Whatever. As long as he's not out there cheating on me."

"Yeah right," I scoffed back, "He loves you too much."

I heard the car door open behind me and turned to see Braxton climbing into the car. I hadn't even heard the bell ring. I didn't even notice his eye until he looked at me straight on.

"Oh my god!" I gripped onto his chin and turned his head so I could get a better look at his bruising eye. It was turning light shades of purple all across his left cheekbone and eye socket, "What happened to you?"

From behind me I heard Ashley excuse herself and ignored it, too worried about my kid than saying goodbye.

"It's nothing mom," he shrugged me away but I turned him back to me, "I just fell."

I knew he was lying by the faint imprint of knuckles that were hidden in the bruise. He had been hit, but he obviously didn't want to talk about it. I slowly nodded and bit my bottom lip, "When we get home you've got to ice that, okay?"

He nodded as the back doors opened and Krystal and Amelia poured in. Immediately, his twin sister leaned into the he front seat to get a good look at his eye, "Good job." She said and patted his back. I wasn't sure if it was a sarcastic remark, but by the grin that appeared on his face I assumed it wasn't.

******

I slipped out from under Amelia's head and stood up from the couch. She had insisted on watching Frozen, again, and fell asleep during it. I didn't want to move her, so she'd have to sleep on the couch tonight.

I tip toed up the stairs and peeked my head into Krystal's room. When I saw that she was fast asleep, I quickly moved onto Braxton's room and pushed his door open. He turned and looked at me, his purple eye now getting puffy and swollen. His left eye was half the size of his right because of the swelling.

"Hey," I mumbled and slid onto his bed beside him, "How's your eye?"

He reached up to brush his fingers over it and winced, "Its sore."

I nodded and reached over to turn his head, "It's a good one," It almost hurt me to look at it, "Still don't want to tell me what happened?"

He bit his lip and shook his head a little. His eyes wouldn't meet mine and I knew he had something big to say, but he wasn't ready and I wasn't going to push.

I brushed his hair out of his eyes and ran my hand across his cheek, "I won't be mad even if you started it."

He looked at me and shook his head, "I didn't start it."

A smile grew on my lips and I bent over to kiss him forehead, "I didn't think so." I ran my hand over his head, "You need to go to sleep."

He nodded and put down the comic book he had been reading. With a final glance up at me, he smiled and reached over to give me a kiss on the cheek, "Goodnight, mom."

I stood up and pulled his covers up to his chest, "Goodnight, bud."

And as I left the room and moved down towards mine, I thought about Justin.

I thought about how Braxton told him everything, no matter how bad. It made me wonder if he would tell Justin now.

But Justin wasn't here, so Braxton had nobody to tell.

As I climbed into my bed, I began to cry and didn't stop until I fell asleep.