A Family Affair

7

"She actually said that?" Will asks, leaning his elbows against the kitchen island.

Will had come over to Jay's the day following the conversation that had gone on between Jay and Macie as he put her to bed the night before.

Jay nods, lifting the glass up to his lips, taking a sip before responding to his older brother's question as he dropped the glass back down on to the counter. "Yeah, she did."

"Wow." It's the only thing that exits Will mouth, still a little stunned over hearing about what his niece had told Jay about how she felt with everything going on.

"But what she said made me realize even more that I've got to do everything in my power to fix this," Jay says as he moves from the counter to put the palm of his hands against the marble top of the island, "Because this whole thing has made it so Mae has barely got a relationship with her cousin and that was the last thing I wanted."

Will just nods, showing his understanding in his brother's words without cutting him off.

"I've got to tell Livvy the truth, come clean about what really happened that day. Make her understand why I did what I did... I've just gotta pray it works, cause I've got nothing else." Jay sighs, finishing off the last of his drink at the bottom of his glass.

Over the last nine years, Jay had tried everything to get Olivia back on his side, starting off with coaxing her with candy when she was still a toddler and had just started turning against him before eventually having to bring out the bigger attempts as she got older - getting her tickets to see the Blackhawks for her birthday one year because he knew how much she loved watching the games with Will. Telling Olivia the truth had always been his last resort, but there wasn't anything else he could think of doing that would set things right, not right now anyway, so to say he was praying for it to work would be one hell of an understatement.

Will takes in the last of his drink too with a final swig, lowering the glass on top of the marble and giving his brother a slow nod. "I'm sure it will."

There's a quiet pause before a sudden realization hits over Jay, making him grumble under his breath and turn around, reaching to pour himself another drink - only a soda this time because he still would be running around after a nine-year-old for the next few hours. "How am I gonna tell her the truth? She hates even being in the same room as me."

Will slides his empty glass across the countertop, the sound of the glass scraping across the marble echoes throughout the room, as he gives his younger brother a smirk. Jay rolled his eyes and snatched the glass up, pouring Will a second drink per his very obvious request for one. Once Will has the drink back in his hand, he shrugs his shoulders once, offering up a suggestion. "What if you put together a family dinner or something this weekend? Olivia's over at Nat's this weekend, so if you invited her over as well so Livvy would be on her best behavior, wouldn't talk crap. That way she can't turn it down either."

Jay nods, perking his ears up in interest. He raises his index finger, pointing it toward Will. "That could work."

"Then why don't you do that? You could throw together some kinda barbecue or something."

The younger one scrunches his face up. "You do know it's like the middle of September, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Will asks. "Dad once did one at the beginning of December because we had been up at the cabin during the summer."

A flash of memory wipes over him, reminding him of one of the worst barbecues he had ever attended. It had already began snowing that year, covering the garden with a thin white sheet which made it unbelievably cold outside. Both Jay and Will, ten and seven years old, had stood close beside their dad, helping him with the food in the thickest bundle of clothes their mom had wrapped them up in just to keep them warm. The food had been really nice though, he gave his dad credit there.