Before Sixteen

30 Talking it Out

30 TALKING IT OUT.

I'd never known the definition of 'awkward' until Sebastian got home from the hospital. He wasn't talking to me and he had outrightly behaved like I'd sold one of his kidney without his consent. The fact that he was angry with and wouldn't let me help him with anything since he was in that chair was also not making things easier.

As though my issues with my brother wasn't enough, Jay kept asking if I knew what was going on with his mother and I kept resisting the urge to tell him why he's mother was obviously looking worse day after day. I knew Jay would be angry with me just like Sebastian if he happened to find out I knew all these while but I still had to respect Mrs. Jacobs' decision and wait till we we're done with the whole adoption process which I was still yet to inform my little brother about.

"Sebastian, we need to talk." I knocked on the door of his new room which was now downstairs next to the kitchen because he couldn't possibly climb the stairs with wheels. "Please, open the door."

I sighed in relief after I heard him unlocking the door. I opened the door to see him wheeling back to his bedside.

"What do you want?" asked Sebastian with his bitter tone.

"There's something important I want to tell you. I don't want to keep anything from you anymore." I explained.

"It's about time." he murmured before struggling to climb unto his bed and before I could help him, he'd gotten on the bed safely. "What do you want to tell me?"

I hesitated before finding the voice to continue, "Mrs. J wants to adopt us?"

Sebastian was mute for awhile with a look of confusion, "And you agreed?"

"Why wouldn't I?" I was confused as to why he asked that question.

"After you received a letter from your grandfather saying he wants to take care of you and take you to one of the most outstanding universities in the world, you still want to be adopted by-"

"Adopted by who?" I cut him off out of anger. "May I remind you that the woman you're talking about is the person that gave you a home when you had nowhere to go. She protected us and treated us like her own kids and this is how you want to repay her? By leaving her?"

"Rachael, are you even listening to yourself?" he sat up, "Why stay here and be more of a burden to her when you could go back to your family and shower her with good things? You'll not only be doing yourself good by going with grandpa but you'll be doing Jay and his mother a great deal."

"Sebastian, you don't even know this man. He disowned our dad and you can't just believe he will take care of us through a bunch of letters." I argued.

"I already talked with him on the phone." my brother dropped a bomb on me. "He's a good man."

"I cannot believe this." I muttered.

"Why are you being so stubborn?!" yelled Sebastian.

"She has cancer!" I yelled back almost immediately. "She has cancer, Sebastian."

"W-what?" he murmured while looking down at the ground.

"She needs us more than ever. This woman has been my second mother and my saviour for the past couple of months and I'm not going to leave her just because I got an offer to go to Harvard from a man who didn't care all these years."

"Oh God! I didn't know." Sebastian's voice was indistinct as he covered his face with his palms.

"Jay doesn't know." I sat next to Sebastian on the bed. "She doesn't want to tell him till we're legally her children."