Page 57 of Fight for Me

“There you are! My God Jenny, don’t you look especially beautiful today.” She kisses me on the cheek and peruses me as usual in her motherly way. “You’re way too skinny, dear. But don’t you worry, there’s plenty of food to rectify that.”

“Where are my girls? I thought they’ll be waiting for their mama, tears in their eyes at the door,” Amelia asks Ruth, looking around.

“Oh, yeah. Where’s Sammy and Silvia?” I ask, only now noticing that they didn’t arrive with Amelia and Mark.

“We had a sleepover last night!” Ruth answers me excitedly, looking like a giddy little girl for a moment. “I don’t remember the last time I had so much fun. I can’t wait for Henry to get a bit bigger, and for you to pop me more of those grandchildren, so we could have more happy times like this. I swear, even my Frank stopped being an old grumpy fart for one evening.”

I choke on my own spit and start coughing as my eyes feel with tears.

“Jesus Christ, Ruth, that was so heavy-handed!” Amelia admonishes the older woman as she slaps me on the back.

Just as I start straightening, taking big gulps of air, the door opens and Mark walks in with a smiling Henry in his arms, and both girls trailing after him. When they notice their mom, they run over to her and squeeze each side of her giant stomach with happy squeals.

“So, you did miss me, huh? How was the slumber party at Aunt Ruth’s?” Amelia asks with a tender smile.

Both girls start to excitedly shout over each other to share their adventures, making the adults laugh, with me joining in when I finally manage to regulate my breath.

I take Henry from Mark and take a seat at the table, watching the happy family interact with each other. A wave of sadness crashes into me at the realization that I will never get to experience that.

“Alright, now that we’re all here, let’s eat!” Ruth exclaims and gets busy serving everyone.

I get lost in thought again, and rest my chin on Henry’s head, half-listening to the surrounding chatter, when Amelia’s whisper reaches my ear. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. Just tired,” I murmur back and pretend to get interested in what’s on my plate.

Truth be told, the food has been the last thing on my mind lately, but to avoid uncomfortable questions about my sour mood, I pretend to enjoy it. I smile throughout the dinner when everyone laughs, and nod when needed, but in reality I’m miles away.

I just finished feeding Henry, when Amelia stands up from her chair. “There’s... a thing I left upstairs the last time I was here. I need to get it. Jenny, would you be so kind and help me climb the stairs?” she asks with an innocent smile and rubs her ginormous belly.

Mark, who’s already getting up, starts, “I can...” but is quickly shut down when Amelia throws him a look and sits back down.

“Jenny will help me. Won’t you?” the small woman asks, but it’s not really a question. More like a command.

I glance down at Henry, then focus on Ruth, who’s already been watching me. Her expression switches from thoughtful to polite as soon as our eyes meet.

“Will you take him? It appears that I have been summoned,” I say, and hand him over. Then I follow after the heavily pregnant woman with my head hanging low.

I’m not even surprised when she starts easily climbing the steps without waiting for me. As soon as I hit the upper level, she drags me into a small room with cleaning supplies.

“Okay. Spill,” she demands.

“What do you mean?” I ask impatiently and cross my arms.

“Jenny, I’ve known you for a while now. I hope that you consider me your friend. At least that’s what you are to me,” Amelia responds, looking vulnerable.

“Of course, we’re friends,” I say right away.

She nods, and continues, “Then as your friend, it pains me to see you this miserable. I saw Brody two days ago, he wasn’t any better. What happened? Did you guys fight?” When she notices the expression on my face, her eyebrows lower in confusion. “I thought you two were pretty close. It can’t be that bad.”

I lick my lips and confess quietly, “We slept together.”

My cheeks hit involuntarily, and I rub them with a groan when Amelia grins. “Oh my God! When?”

“It was happening for like a week until he kicked me to the curb,” I admit.

My friend blinks at me slowly, and then asks with a skeptical face, “Damon? Kicked you to the curb? I don’t believe that.”

I roll my eyes and snort. “Well, he did. And now he doesn’t want to see me, which he made pretty obvious by not coming here today to see me wear fucking makeup especially for him, together with this stupid ridiculous dress that I bought with the money I don’t have. All because he thinks he wants to be with me and overcomplicate things between us with unnecessary feelings that could destroy something nice that we could have!” I almost yell out the last words and breathe harshly at the end of my tirade.

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