Page 54 of Where You Should Be

As soon as I did, she grabbed my hand. “Chelsea, I am so sorry.” She closed her eyes. “He lied to me, and I don’t know if I could ever forgive him for that. I was under the impression that you didn’t want her. That made me angry that you could give her up then change your mind years later. There is nooo way I would have knowingly taken you through that after everything you’ve been through. I was aware that your brother was basically holding you hostage, but I was told that was only the case for the past three years.”

She shook her head then wiped her face. “I let him fucking convince me to file the restraining order and try to keep you away from your daughter. It was his idea to go this far. I’m not saying I’m blameless, but I trusted him. I felt like there was no reason to have to go behind his back to find out any information when he’d already told me. It was all lies, and I feel like a fool for the second fucking time in my life. I feel so bad. I couldn’t imagine my baby being stolen from me, and I come from a loving family. She was your ray of sunshine in a sea of darkness.”

The tears were falling from my eyes uncontrollably, and I could no longer be as petty as I wanted to be. “Thank you for telling her that I was her mother. Hearing her call me mom was so overwhelming. I thought this moment would be awkward, but it was just the opposite. For her to be so receptive, I know it was because the situation was explained well. You did an amazing job with her.”

“Thank you. She has always known that she was adopted. So it wasn’t as difficult to explain. She was sad that she would have to leave, but I truly believe that something inside of her wanted to meet you, especially after I told her someone stole her from you.” She slowly shook her head as she paused. “Well, I guess I should be going.”

“Stay for dinner. As much hate as I felt toward you and Seneca in that courtroom, today has proven that we all just love her. Give us a week or two to get used to each other, and we can share her… like having joint custody. She will go to school here, and every other weekend, she can spend it in Beaumont. You’re always welcome to come over and see her whenever you’re in the area.”

Kaysyn stood from her seat and practically yanked me from mine, hugging me tightly. “Baby girl is going to have quite a family. Thank you for being so forgiving and for not doing to me what we were trying to do to you. After knowing the truth about everything, I can barely look at myself in the mirror. Your story tears me up inside, and I’m sure I don’t know it all.”

“I’m sure you don’t know half of it, but that isn’t important now. What’s important is that we work together to make sure Jericka has the best we can all give her. She already has to change homes and schools, so I would like for everything else to remain constant. We will do our best to make it to Beaumont on Sundays.”

“I’ll stay for dinner.”

“So what will become of your relationship with Seneca?”

She lowered her head. “I don’t know. I’m so angry at him. He deceived me and had me looking like an insensitive fool.”

“Jungle helped me to understand him a little better today. I mean… I’m still pissed at him, but not to the point where I can’t eventually forgive him.”

She shook her head. “It’s gonna take a lot. What if the judge would have ruled against you? What if you weren’t as mentally strong as you are? Chelsea, I don’t know if I could handle being raped by my father and my brother. Then having a baby? No. I wouldn’t be any good, and I consider myself a strong woman. You are a fucking superhero. If you ever decide to empower women, please let me know. Knowing what you went through makes me feel like I can overcome anything. Not having Jericka with me full-time anymore will be hard, but you’ve gone without your flesh and blood for seven years. Thank you for the lifeline.”

“Jungle said that Seneca loves Jericka with everything in him.”

“He does, but this was bad. He called me Monday night, practically crying. I think he had an anxiety attack. His sister and I are best friends, but she hasn’t reached out. I can imagine that her plate is full, but I never assumed I was the bad guy in this situation between me and him. I was so scared of losing Jericka, I went with everything he said. He knew that I would because of how devastated I was. He took advantage of my vulnerability. I don’t know if I can marry someone like that. He proved to me that he can’t be trusted in stressful situations when our backs are against the wall. I’ve never been an insensitive person. I tried to make it work with a crackhead for years.”

She slid her hand over her face then continued. “I gave Seneca a tough time about committing to him, because he was a known fuckboy. He was childish, selfish, and a thug. His pants were always damn near to his knees and at the time, I was superintendent of a school district. I needed him to come correct. I refused to have him around my babies, because I didn’t trust him enough to be in a relationship. He was my sneaky link after things went bad with my husband. That was it. It took time for him to show me that I could trust him. So for him to lie to me and betray me this way is hard to excuse right now.”

“Just talk to him. He did something that convinced you he would be an amazing husband. That couldn’t have been an act.”

She lowered her head for a moment then nodded. I didn’t know if she did that to shut me up or if she actually would, but that was her business. I opened the door to join the rest of the family and saw Jericka running down the steps. “Mommy and Mom come see my room!”

Kaysyn smiled at me and grabbed my hand. We followed her upstairs to her room, and Kaysyn put her hand over her mouth as she looked around the room. “Mommy, these are the same pictures we were looking at online!”

Kaysyn nodded repeatedly. Turning to me, she said, “This is only confirmation that this is where she should be.”

The realization of that hit her, and she sat on the floor, releasing her emotions. I joined her and Jericka sat in her lap, hugging her tightly. “Mom, can I still see Mommy sometimes?”

“Of course, baby. I never wanted to alienate you from your family.”

She frowned slightly, so I said, “I never wanted to keep you away from them.”

She smiled and nodded. She looked so much like Jules. Although he did this in hatred, he was able to breed a love that I had never known. She was so innocent. As she hugged Kaysyn, I played in her afro puffs. They were so huge, just like mine used to be.

When Kaysyn got her emotions under control, she put one arm around me and another around Jericka. “We’re gonna be a huge family. I can’t wait to get to know you better, Chelsea.”

“I can’t wait either.”

We stood from the floor, and Jericka showed us how the guys arranged her things. I learned just that quickly that she liked to be organized, because she said she would have to do it all over again. I could only chuckle. She’d obviously gotten that from Kaysyn. “Jericka, did you get to meet my mother?”

She frowned slightly. “I met Uncle Jericho’s mother.”

“Jericho is my big brother. She’s my mother too.”

Her eyes brightened as her eyebrows lifted. “Oh!”

I giggled as she continued. “So, is Mr. Jungle your boyfriend?”

---