Moments In Between ( Book 2)

Chapter 14: kiss Your Tears Away

I walk into the kitchen, spotting Mom. I kiss her cheek. She frowns at me in return.

"So, now you want to show your face." She spits.

I had that coming. "Good morning to you, too, Mom."

"Jared..."

I hug her. "I'm, really, really sorry, Mom."

She sighs and looks at me. "I just wanted to help you, Jared. Do you know how that made me feel?"

"I know, that's kinda why I avoided you. I wanted to decide what to do on my own."

"Sometimes I forget that you are grown enough to handle yourself."

"Thanks for noticing."

"Will you talk to me now?"

"I have two kids, it's so unbelievable. I was just so mad, two years..." Realisation slaps me, and I swallow my words because my mother knew exactly how it felt to be absent in her kid's life. I am so stupid sometimes. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, honey, you don't have to feel guilty."

I have some major kissing up to do. My mother missed five years of my life and I was acting like my problems were the end of the world.

"What have you decided to do?"

"I forgave her. It's pointless not to."

"And?"

"I love her mom. I always have. I want to be with her, and now I can be."

She narrows her eyes at me, shaking her head. Oh boy, what did I do now? "And sometimes you need a good smack across your head."

I rub the back of my head at the thought and grin. "What for?"

"What for?" Hands placed on her hips. Oh no. "What about Angelica?"

"What about her?"

She looks at me in shock. "Jared, are you gonna sit there and pretend that she is not carrying your baby?"

I groan. I will never be free from Angelica, will I? For once, I would like to be told that she is playing me rather than hear everyone tell me that the baby is mine. I was the one with her; I should know whether the baby is mine. "Ma.."

"No, Jared... Listen to me. Angelica is not trying to sabotage you. A mistake was made, and it takes two to get the job done. You can't just shrug off your responsibility as a lie, do you understand me?"

I thought we already went through this Angelica drama. "Don't you think I had the common sense to use protection, ma?"

"What happened with Shanaé says otherwise..."

"Ma, that was different," I whine. "We knew what we were doing. We knew the risks, and she had contraceptives. They didn't work."

"And what if they did not work for Angelica?"

Why in the world is she so concerned about Angelica? I already told her how things went between her and me. Why is all this still an issue? Unless. "Mom, you're helping her, how could you?"

"Jared, you need to understand that abandoning your child is something I would never do to you. This baby needs to be loved and cared for, Angelica...."

I cut her off. "Mom, I told you she was lying. I can't believe this. How much money do you give her?"

"It does not matter."

"Mom, it's not my baby, and you need to stop giving her money."

"Jared Anthony Warren, stop it. She did not ask for this. You may not want to be with her, but she is carrying your baby, and you need to step out of this denial stage now."