What We Keep Hidden (Jai Brooks- Ariana Grande)

Turkey Day preperations

Three weeks later - two days before Thanksgiving..

Three weeks have gone by and Ariana was still avoiding Jai. How, she had no idea. He was in their house almost every day with Brandon. And he snuck into every play rehearsal. Their show was going to open December first, and she was a mess. It was only a week away. Not to mention the stress of Thanksgiving.

Ariana stood by her son, leaning against the supplies counter as he got his haircut for the big dinner on Thursday. The little boy was sucking on a lollipop as he clutched Ariana's hand tightly. She smiled at him and looked at the barber, asking him to not cut too much.

The barber smiled at the teenager and shook his head. "Don't worry. I'll make your brother the cutest kid out there."

Ariana's smile became a little stiff as she squeezed her sons hand. "He's my son."

The thirty year old paused his spraying of Brandon's hair to look at Ariana. "Oh. I'm sorry, you're just so young - I-"

She quickly shook her head, raising her palm. "No, it's okay. I get that a lot."

Frankie crossed the floor of the barbershop with a box in his hand, grinning like a little boy on Christmas morning. "Ari, check this out." He held up the box for her to read the label. It was a box of temporary pink hair dye that lasted a few days. "Wouldn't Bran look so cute with it?"

Ariana looked at it and raised her eyebrow, grinning. "You're joking, right? You do realize Nonna's coming to Thanksgiving dinner, don't you?"

Frankie frowned. "Yeah, so?"

"So I want my baby to look cute to impress her. She hasn't seen Brandon in almost a year. I know she won't care but I want him to look proper."

"So you're saying we can do it, just not for Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah. If Brandon wants." She turned back to look at her son and a huge smile appeared on her lips at the sight of him. The barber had shaved some hair off his sides and left a beautiful head of curls in the middle. "Oh my God, look at you, my little man!" She gushed, lifting his hand that was clasped in hers and kissed his palm. "It's perfect."

"Do you like it mommy?" Brandon asked with excitement, squeezing her hand.

"I love it!" Ariana exclaimed, leaning in and cupping his cheeks before giving him a kiss on his nose.

"She's a good mom," the barber said, sotto to Frankie as he reached past him for the comb.

Frankie smiled at the compliment as he slipped his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, she's amazing with him." He looked at the mother son interaction. Ariana was lovingly caressing his cheek as Brandon smiled in awe up at her. "He's very attached to her."

"I would be too if my mother looked like that." The brunette gave a pervy chuckle as he went to finish the child's hair.

Frankie's smile fell and he glared at the pervert.

xxxxxxx

"Baby, you're a mess." Ariana laughed as they sat in the ice cream parlor in the mall after his haircut. Her baby boys face was covered in chocolately goodness as he giggled happily. She picked up a napkin and wiped him down.

Brandon giggled as his mother cleaned him. "I love ice cream." He quipped then ate another spoonful.

"Yknow kid," Frankie commented as he wiped his own mouth and looked at his nephew. "You're real lucky to be having ice cream before dinner. Your grandma never let us have any."

Ariana laughed as she ate a scoop of her vanilla and strawberry mix. "Like that stopped us."

The two siblings laughed and joked about their childhood and Frankie told his nephew tons of stories of his sister when she was his age. They didn't notice the ice cream shop door open and the little boy's father walk in.

Jai heard Ariana's laughter and froze at the counter where he and his brothers stood. He turned slowly and saw the back of her head. God how he missed her. He hesitated and slowly walked over, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Hey."

Brandon looked up and smiled brightly. "Daddy!" He squealed, standing in his seat and throwing himself in his arms.

Jai smiled and hugged him tightly. "Hey buddy. Wow, you look great, did you get a haircut?" He looked at Ariana and smiled softly. "Hi Ari."

Ariana looked at him and didn't even bother faking a smile. "Jai." She responded coldly and turned away from him.

Jai sighed and looked at his son, smiling and kissing his head.

"Can you have ice cream with us, daddy?"

Before Jai could respond Ariana jumped in. "Baby boy, we don't have time to stay. We still need to go buy your outfit for dinner."

Brandon frowned and sighed. "Oh-kay.." He looked back at his father. "You're still coming over at nite-nite time?"

Jai smiled and gave him a kiss on the head. "Of course buddy." He went to ruffle his hair but caught the angry look on Ariana's face and stopped himself, instead caressing his face. "I'll see you tonight."

Ariana stood up and grabbed her bag before she picked up Brandon from his seat and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Cmon Frankie."

Frankie jumped up from his seat, giving Jai and his brothers a sympathetic look before following his sister and nephew out of the ice cream parlor.

Jai sighed, rubbing his face. "Damnit." He cursed, turning around and looking at Luke and Beau who were now standing directly behind him. "She hates me. I don't even know why."

"I know why." A small voice quipped from the counter where she was waiting for her cold treat. All three boys turned and looked at the small blonde who stared back at them.

"Analeigh?" Jai asked his ex girlfriends sister in confusion.

"Hi Jai," the little girl smiled as she crossed the floor and walked over to them. Her pretty yellow dress swayed as she moved towards them. "How ya been since you dumped my sister?" She asked with an eyebrow wiggle.

Jai cleared his throat and gave a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about that."

"Don't be. I don't blame you." Analeigh reached up and waved her hand, waving his apology away. "So you wanna know why your girlfriend is mad at you?"

The teenage boy sighed and rubbed his face. "She's not my girlfriend. But please tell me. I'm dying here."

"Here you go," the parlor employee leaned over the counter and handed the blonde her ice cream cone.

"Thank you." The eight year old smiled as she took it from him and turned back to Jai. "I can give you a hint. Ivy has something to do with it." She reached into her jean jacket pocket and pulled a piece of fabric out. "Does this look familiar?" She handed it to him.

Jai frowned and unfolded the shirt, surprised when he noticed it was Frankie's shirt he wore on Halloween. "Yeah. What does this have to do with anything?"

"Didn't you come over on Halloween? She took the shirt and made Ariana think you slept with her. And she's still giving her hints that you're still doing so."

"Wait you know what that means?" Luke jumped in, asking through a mouthful of ice cream.

"Are you kidding? I'm eight, not three." Analeigh raised her eyebrows at him then turned back to Jai. "I suggest you do some damage control. Because Ivy is messing with more then she knows. That poor kid shouldn't suffer." She took a lick of her ice cream and smiled at them. "See you!" She quipped and skipped out of the ice cream parlor.

The three Brooks boys watched her leave with perplexed expressions on two of their faces. Luke and Beau looked at each other then their extremely angry brother.