Page 20 of Reclaim

“I did.”

“You speak to him often?” I ask a little too harshly.

“Well now that you’re out, he can just talk to you directly anytime he wants.” I bite my tongue and taper down my jealousy. I have no claim to her, no matter how much I want it.

“So, do we just wait?”

She laughs at my question, and I turn to her perplexed.

“Yes, we do. It’s the least thought out part of this whole process.”

“I know they want people out of their hair, but this is weird.” Looking around at the sparse surroundings, I’m baffled at how many stops we have to take to get to the exit without instructions. It’s like being dropped in the middle of the ocean, with no life jacket and then left to drown.

“Lucky I’m here then, huh?” She elbows me lightly.

“You don’t even know.”

The unoiled door squeaks, and an exhausted-looking Hendrix half steps inside.

“Hey.” He tips his chin at both of us. He leans on the door jamb while his arm holds it open. “Walk faster please,” he says to someone outside.

“I’m coming.” A young girl’s voice travels through the room, and the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand up. I wasn’t expecting this.

Watching her step through the doorway, I feel the air leave my lungs. She looks exactly like Sasha did at her age, except she has my colouring. With darker eyes, thicker hair, and olive toned skin, she’s even more beautiful than the day she was born.

“Jagger,”Sasha calls out from the kitchen.

“Yeah.” I poke my head out of my bedroom door and see her balancing a sleeping Dakota and grocery bags in both hands. “Here, let me help you.”

“What did he want?”

“Who?” I ask, untangling Dakota from her arms.

“Don’t play dumb. I saw George reversing out of the driveway on my way in.” Sasha hates George, and I don’t blame her. The definition of scum, he’s a guy who’s loyalty lies with money and drugs. If he has to visit, I try to make sure it’s when Sasha and Dakota have left the house, but the more frequently he visits, the more impossible it is to hide.

“He was just asking if I needed a ride to work tonight,” I lie. “I’m going to put her to bed.”

She rolls her eyes at my dismissal but doesn’t say anything further. Sasha knows when I’m lying, but she’s intuitive enough to figure out the less she knows the better.

Walking down the hallway, I head into Sasha’s room, where Dakota sleeps. Starting off in her own bed, Dakota manages to find herself in either of our beds by morning. Kissing the top of her head, I make sure she’s tucked in and comfortable before I head back to Sasha.

“How was dinner?” I sit on the single recliner while she putters around in the kitchen.

“Good, My mum and your mum doted on her all evening, and I tried to cram some schoolwork in.”

“You see Drix?”

“Yeah. He was on his way out. Managed to play with Dakota for a bit, and ignored me. The usual.” I see how much the tension between the three of us weighs on her, and I wish it could at least be better between her and Hendrix. Their relationship is a once in a lifetime type of thing, and they’re throwing it all away.

“Soon enough he’s going to have to talk to us.”

“He forgave you. You’re the one that fucked it up again somehow, and you won’t tell me what happened. But he hasn’t spoken to me since the day I told him I was pregnant.”

“We hurt him, Sash.”

“You think I don’t know that?” she yells. “But what does he want from me? To regret Dakota? Because I won’t. That little girl in there is everything to me.” Her tone softens whenever she mentions our daughter, and It’s true, for both of us. We might’ve been young and dumb when we had her, but there is nothing in the world that could have me wishing I could turn back time.

It was rough at first. A huge adjustment, but Sasha and I had no issues with wanting to be parents. We struggled more with choices relating to finances and education. We put high expectations on ourselves as teenage parents. Me more so, trying not to repeat the same mistakes my father made.

---