Page 17 of Wickedly Betrayed

“Mama,” he says quietly.

She turns her tear-stained face in his direction and launches herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Jaxon brings her in to his body and bends his head to the top of her. I hear him say softly, “I’m so sorry, Mama.”

She lifts her head and stares at him for a minute. She then brings her hand up to cup his face. “It’s okay, sweetie. I know you just want to look out for me. I’ve never been happier, Jaxon. Levi has done that for me.”

His gaze is soft when he replies, “I’m glad. I love you and want you to be happy. You deserve it and if he gives that to you, then you have my blessing. Besides, I think if I were to try to stop it, I would have a very pissed-off science teacher after me. I’m sure he has all kinds of chemicals and shit at his disposal and could come up with some pretty damn creative ways to make my life hell.”

We all join in with Lilly when she laughs at Jaxon’s joke, and the last bit of tension leaves the air.

I look over at Mia and see a soft expression on her face while she watches Jaxon and her mom. I miss those soft expressions. They are so few and far between that each time I see one it’s like glimpsing a piece of heaven. She must feel my gaze on her because she looks up at me and for a split second, I see heat enter her eyes before it is replaced with the disgust I know she feels for me.

I sigh and shake my head. I made a little headway in the hallway. At least she let me touch her without revulsion entering her face. After her reaction to me, now more than ever, I am determined to do whatever possible to get her to listen to me. It’s only a matter of time. I know I may not win back her heart and have her forgiveness, but I hope she’ll at least let go of some of the anger and pain.

7

Mia

Her lips…

“OUT! BOTH OF YOU, OUT!” I say to a hesitant Bailey and Jaxon.

They’ve just dropped off Amari and are having a hard time leaving. Geesh! They act as if they’re leaving for a month. I have Amari cradled in my arms and am shooing them both toward the door.

“We’ll both be fine. You two go have fun. I don’t want to hear from either of you until Sunday, you hear me?” My tone allows no argument and thankfully, they heed my warning.

At the doorway, Bailey comes to a stop and turns around. She walks up to me and coos over Amari for a few minutes until Jaxon pulls her back.

“Come on, angel. Amari will be alright. We’re going to miss our flight.” He pulls her back to his chest and bends to kiss Amari on her forehead, just as I’ve seen him do to Bailey a thousand times.

Jaxon looks up at me and says, “Take care of our baby. Call if you need us.”

“Oh ye of little faith, big brother. Now, go!”

He smirks at me and pulls Bailey through the door. Once outside, Bailey turns around and says, “Don’t forget, Amari likes to sleep on her right side. Oh, and her favorite binky is the blue one. And don’t forget to add a drop of the gas medicine to her formula at night or she’ll wake up with a terrible stomach ache.”

I laugh at her non-stop ramble. “Bailey, I got it the first ten times you told me, not to mention I have a list of fifty other things you told me. Please, just go so us girls can have our girly time.”

“Okay,” Bailey says, pouting and looking at Amari like it’s the last time she’ll see her. God, the woman is sad.

Closing the door on their retreating backs, I snuggle Amari a little closer to me and take in her fresh baby scent. I really can’t blame Bailey for not wanting to leave. Once upon a time, when I had dreams of my own, I wanted a family for myself. I was a naïve young girl, innocent to all the horrible things in the world. Mac was my whole world and I knew, I just knew, that we were going to be together forever. We were going to get married and have babies and live in a cute little house with a tree house in the backyard and a swing on the front porch. That dream was crushed into tiny little pieces that were scattered so far apart there was no way they could ever be put back together.

I pull myself from my pathetic pity party and look down at Amari. She has her two beautiful multicolored eyes on me, just staring as if I’m the most fascinating thing in the world to her right now. I kiss the tip of her nose.

“Come on, munchkin. Let’s go see what we can find for lunch.”

Walking over to the portable bassinet that Jaxon and Bailey dropped off, I wheel it into the kitchen. Once I secure it right inside the kitchen doorway, I gently place her inside. Opening up the fridge, I look inside to see what I have to eat.

“Okay, so we have bacon, bacon, and more bacon. Oh wait, there’s more bacon.” Pushing the carton of milk aside, I see a tomato and an almost-limp head of lettuce.

“Looks like we’ll be having a BLT then,” I tell Amari as I grab the ingredients out of the fridge.

“We seriously need to go shopping, girl. We need more food in this place,” I say, and hear a gurgle in response. I walk over to the bassinet and peek inside. Amari has her fist in her mouth, making cute little cooing sounds.

“Oh, you like that idea, huh? You’re going be just like your mama, aren’t you? Dragging your aunt Mia all over town to pick out one dress.” I reach inside and run my finger along her bare foot. She gives an almighty kick, making me laugh.

Leaving Amari to suck on her fist, I walk over to the stove and pull open the bottom drawer to get out a cast-iron frying pan. Setting the stove to medium, I open the bacon and plop a few pieces inside. While the bacon sizzles in the pan, I cut up the tomato and pick through the lettuce to find some still-crisp pieces. Once that’s done, I stick two slices of bread in the toaster. I hum a nonsensical tune while I prepare my food. The whole time I hear Amari cooing to her heart’s content.

Once I’ve finished, I plate my BLT, grab the bassinet and carefully roll it over to the island, where I sit on a stool. When I look down at Amari, I see her starting to squirm a little.

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