Being the Baby Brother (ON HOLD)

Chapter 9

Noah's POV

I woke up to the sound of yelling coming from downstairs. I rolled out of bed and walked out of my room. I looked over the railing and saw Jackson, looking frustrated while yelling through the phone.

"You can't leave a child with no parents at all. I'm not his dad! You are!!!" He yells, he's talking to my dad.

"You know what! Don't come home! I can take care of your kids, don't worry about it" Jackson says, yelling at first but then his voice getting lower and shakier.

I think my dad was going to say something but Jackson hung up.

"FUCK!" He screams. I crouch down so he can't see me. I've never seen Jackson this mad, well I have once. Baylor flushed his goldfish down the toilet when he was 10 and Jackson knocked out Baylor's tooth.

I can't believe that Baylor hasn't woken up yet. Jackson begins to storm up the stairs, I try to scramble back to my room, but he was too fast and saw me.

"Noah?" He asks. I see tears on his cheeks, which is very odd because he like never cries.

"Sorry, it's just that you woke me up and then I- i- i- I'm so sorry it's none of my business" I stutter out.

"It's okay, I'm sorry you had to hear that" He tells me.

"Is daddy really not coming back" I ask him.

"I don't know." He says.

I couldn't stop, tears starting streaming down my face and sobs escaped my lips.

"They're gonna take me away from you if I don't have any parents" I choke out.

"I won't let that happen. I promise you that. I'll never let anyone take you from me" Jackson says while pulling me onto his lap. We were sitting on the floor in the middle of the hallway.

"I'm scared" I say and bury my head in Jackson's shoulder.

"Will they take away Baylor too?" I ask him.

"They won't take either of you" He reassures me.

"You need to get back to bed." Jackson tells me.

"Can I sleep with you?"

"Sure, come on" he says. We walk into his room and I climb in his bed.

"I love you buddy" he tells me and kisses my head. I fall asleep quickly after that.

The next morning

Jackson's POV

Last night I didn't sleep much, I was thinking about my dad. I can't afford to lose both parents, it would crush my brothers.

I tried to sneak out of my bed without waking up Noah, but failed.

"Hmm, no, stay" he whined.

"Can I take you to Baylor's room so you can lay with him?" I ask. He nods and puts his arms up. I lifted him up and he clung to me tight. I walked across the hallway and slowly opened Baylor's door. He was laying on his stomach with his blankets spread all over the place. I set Noah down and he climbed next to Baylor and laid next to him.

"Noah? What's wrong?" Baylor asked, rolling over.

"Nothing, he was sleeping with me but I got up so he's gonna lay with you, go back to sleep" I tell him. He wraps his arm around Noah and shuts his eyes. I leave his room and head downstairs. I check my phone and see 15 missed calls and 27 text messages from my dad.

All the texts are about how sorry he is and all that crap. Yeah sure, he's my dad and I love him, but he has been a real crappy dad. All he does is work and I appreciate all the things he buys us, but we would be just as happy if he would spend time with us.

The thing that angers me the most is that he starting working more and leaving at the worst time. He did it after my mom died. He left his 3 children alone to cope with everything. I had to be strong for my brothers when he should have been strong for all of us.

Of course I love my brothers, but I want to be their brother. I hate having to be their parent and punish them. I feel like I'll never get a chance to have fun with them because of it. Like Baylor never goes to the same parties as me because he doesn't want me there watching over him.

I know how hard it is, especially Noah. He thinks that dad doesn't love him, and feels responsible for dad being gone because he looks like our mom.

It is just a really bad situation.

I heard a car door shut outside. I thought maybe it was someone going to the neighbors or a salesman.

The door opened and my heart raced.

"Hello!?!?!" I yelled, no answer. I was scared it was a murderer.

The sound of footsteps got heavier and soon the person was in the living room, but I knew the person, it was my dad.

He stood in the archway for a minute before letting out a big breath.

"I had planned what I was going to say to you on the plane, but now I have no idea. All I know is that I'm sorry" he tells me.

I shake me head and say

"Yeah, I've heard that before. You tell us you're sorry that you couldn't make it to something important and buy us something to make up for it. Dad, I know you're deal"

"Jackson, please. I know I've put so much on your shoulders, but don't do this. I know you could if you wanted to because you are capable, but please. Please" my dad says with tears brimming his eyes.

"I could, and I want to so bad. I want to know that every decision regarding those amazing boys is in my hands. But I couldn't do that to them. I could handle losing you, but they couldn't. Noah would be heartbroken, and I just can't do that to him. I love them too much." I tell him. He sighs in relief.

"Thank you so much. I will try harder to see you guys more. I love you guys so much you don't even know." He explains.

"Yeah, we know that. Don't worry" I say.

"I have to go back tonight I'm so sorry, but I flew out in the middle of a trip. I'm missing a meeting and have to get back" He says.

"Go, go before Noah sees you. I don't want him getting excited for you just to leave." I say, I wasn't even trying to be mean, I really didn't want Noah to be sad.

"No, I can't come here and not see me kids." He argues.

"And you can't tell me what to do because I am your father" he says before I can say anything.

"What time is your flight?" I ask.

"8" he says. Right now it was 7 am.

"Okay. What do you want to do?" I asked.

"Go out to breakfast?" He poses. I nod.

"I'll go wake them up." I say. I head up the stairs and into Baylor's room.

"Come on guys, get up we're going to breakfast" I say, pulling the covers off of them.

"Where?" Baylor asks groggily.

"IHOP" I say. They both jump out of bed and change their clothes. I do too and then go downstairs. My dad was sitting on the couch and I was waiting for my brothers to come down. I know they'll be surprised to see him, and I'm kinda excited to see their reactions.