Love Costs

•Blame•

Haileys pov
"Isaacs outside I'll see you guys later" I said "okay be careful" "I will" I said before I left.

We drove for almost 45 minutes before he parked. It wasn't a very nice area and the houses were sort of decent, more so on the run down side of things. Who would he have to see here. He grabbed the gun out of the glove compartment and we got out. He grabbed my hand as we walked and I tried to keep up with his strides. We turned the corner and walked two houses down. We went to the lower level of the brownstone where he knocked twice then used the key to go inside.

"Syd. You home" he shouted through the house and a few seconds later a woman appeared. She was fairly tall, with brown hair and a nice body and she looked in her early twenty's.

"Isaac you're back" she said as he hugged her "yea got back a few days ago. My father came" he asked "yea he did he stopped by for a little bit" she said before a little boy appeared and Isaac lifted him up "hey little man how are you" "good" "how's school" "We played soccer today and it was fun so mom said I can start playing" "I'm glad you liked it" he said "uncle Isaac you were gone for so long" "yea but I'm back now okay" "good" the boy said smiling before he rested his head on Isaacs chest.

"This is Hailey" Isaac said turning to me "hi I'm Sydney really nice to meet you. You're his girlfriend" she asked "yea I am it's nice to meet you" "that's Jack. You both sit down let me get you something" she said as Isaac and I sat down on the couch with Jack on his lap.

"So have you been to see Anthony recently" he asked her when she cane back with some drinks "uh no I haven't had time. I had to pick up a few more shifts to keep Jack in daycare" "a few how much is that" "just two" "two whole shifts. Syd cmon you don't need to do that. You know I would-" "you would buy us the world if I let you. I know, you say it every time, but I really don't want you to. Everything you do for us is enough" "please if you have to pick up another shift or anything happens call me" "I will. Have you seen Anthony" "uh the last time I went to see him he was in isolation" "for what" "he got in a fight" he said as she sighed "so what, more time" "I don't think so. He just needs to watch himself" "okay good" "he's gonna be okay Syd" "I know it's just hard" "I know like I said if you need anything at all just call me and I'll be here, I owe you everything" "no you don't Isaac we're family. Anyways what about you how are you feeling" "pretty good just still trying to heal up" "yea that must've been rough. Well I talked to your dad you know he was really worried about you, we all were" "well I'm fine" "thankfully".

"Alright Jack bedtime" she said "can uncle Isaac put me to sleep" "if he doesn't mind" "of course I don't cmon buddy" he said lifting him up as Jack started to clap.

"Jack and Isaac are really close" I said "yea. Well Isaacs been really good to us the past few years, other than myself, he's basically raised him" "really" "yea" "can I just ask. If Isaac offers to give you everything why do you live here" "because I want to provide for my son as much as I can I don't want handouts. Besides if I let him give me everything it'll only make him think he's to blame" "but what about Jacks grandparents" "they don't exactly approve of me being with Anthony. And I know what you're thinking. Some white girl got knocked up by her mobster boyfriend and now she wants money" "no no, I'm not Italian either, or part of the mob" "really I'm sorry" "no it's okay. I swear I wasn't judging you or your situation I was just asking. I can tell Isaac really cares about you both" "yea he's sweet. We wanted to make him Jacks godfather but he said if something happened to him he wouldn't want Jack to lose another father so he just wanted to be here for him" "oh" "how long have you been with Isaac" "about two and a half months" "okay. Well you're cute together and I think you're good for him" "yea I really like him" "good. I'm glad he's happy he deserves it" "yea".

"He's down" Isaac said returning to the living room a while later "thank you. He missed you last week. Asked when you were coming back the whole time" "what did you tell him" "that you were on a trip. I don't know I thought it was too soon" "no I get it, I was just asking" "oh okay. So how's your mom and Dixie" "pretty good. Well Dixies still the same but I guess she's good too" "she'll grow out of it, I was the same way for a while" "yea hopefully. You've been to see your parents recently" "no, if they don't want to see me I don't need to beg" "Syd at least try to reach out" "I guess I could but I'm not going to beg Isaac" "okay I won't force you, you still have me" "I know" "good. Well we're gonna head out call if you need anything" "I will, it was nice to meet you Hailey" "you too Sydney" "I'll see you later then" Isaac said "yea love you Isaac" "love you Syd and if I hear from Anthony I'll let you know" "thank you. Goodnight guys" "goodnight".

"Who's Anthony" I asked when we got back to the car "my cousin" "where is he" "Rikers" "Sydney mentioned something about you blaming yourself" "oh" "well what did she mean and you also said you owed her everything" "Anthony is in Rikers because of me" "how" "well when I was 15 I was at a meeting with Anthony and Ricky. Something went wrong uh he ended up killing someone to save me. Basically they got him for that and they were able to connect him to a lot of other stuff. I wanted him to tell them it was because of me but he said he knew if he did I would get arrested too and he wouldn't want that. I do owe them everything I took her life from her and now she lives here and Jack grows up without a father" "how old was Jack when he was arrested" " a couple months old" "has he ever seen Anthony" "yea a couple of times. He knows that's his dad but he doesn't know him I just feel guilty" "well you shouldn't. I know he wouldn't do anything differently to save you and since you can't change it all you can do is be there for Jack and Sydney like you do" "yea I guess" "how hold is Anthony now" "22" "well when does he get out" "don't know. It was supposed to be 10 years but he's not exactly a model inmate so as of now it's 12 and 8 months" "oh".

"How often do you go over there" I asked "every week if I can" "you know they're really lucky to have you" "maybe. I just try to do anything to help" "well you are helping" "thanks Hails" "yea".

The drive was silent but peaceful and by the time we got to my house it was almost midnight.
"Thanks for taking me" I said "yea I'm glad you came" "me too. Goodnight Isaac" "night Hails".

"How was it" mom asked when I got inside "good we saw his cousins girlfriend" "oh okay. Well I left a plate in the microwave for you. I'll see you in the morning" "thanks mom, goodnight" I said as she got up to go to her room "goodnight hon".