To Have, To Hold, and To Leave: A Bryce Hall FanFiction «completed»

18

-about a week later-

"Alright, kiddos. I'll see you next weekend," Bryce told the kids on the front porch, hugging them tightly. Watching him be such a great dad made it even harder to get over him. I started to push the door close behind the kids, but Bryce stopped me. "Hey, Kate, can we talk for a second?" 
"Sure," I replied, reopening the door. "What's up?"

"Um, well, Christmas is coming up soon," he mumbled, putting a hand behind his head awkwardly. 
"Oh, shit. We agreed to talk about it when it got here, and I guess that I just never really expected it to," I sighed. "Your mom is coming to LA this year, right?" 
Bryce nodded. "She is. I was hoping that we could do Christmas Eve with her. Is that okay?" 
"My family lives across the country, and I haven't talked to them in almost twenty years. I don't really think that I have any Christmas plans."
"No, I mean, my mom wants you to come to Christmas, too," Bryce clarified. 
I was shocked. "Huh? Your mom wants me to be at Christmas with her, you, your girlfriend, and our kids?"
"She loves you. Hell, she probably loves you more than she loves me," he joked. "I was thinking maybe you could do your gifts with the kids on the twenty-third, and then we'll do the thing with my mom on the twenty-fourth, and then, Addison and I will take the kids to her parents on the twenty-fifth, and we'll do our gifts with them on the twenty-sixth."
"Wow. It sounds like you've got it all figured out. Why did you even bother asking me what I thought?" I was being kind of shitty, but I was angry. We were in the process of not being married anymore, but that didn't mean that we weren't co-parents anymore. 

"It was just a suggestion, Kate. I wasn't saying that we needed to do exactly that. Please don't bite my head off on this."
"Fine. We'll do whatever you want to do. I, uh, I don't know if I can swing the whole Christmas Eve with your mom and your girlfriend thing, but I'll keep you updated."
He let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I'll see you at the appointment next week?" 
I nodded, finally closing the door. I couldn't decide if it was weird for him to invite me to Christmas with his mom, but I really didn't have time to overthink it. 

"Alright, guys! Can we please get pajamas on? You guys have school in the morning!" I yelled out, unsure of where they had all disappeared to. 
I heard them all running down the stairs, and they appeared in front of me in their pajamas. "Good night, Mommy," Annalisa said, running over to hug me. 
Owen and Isaiah joined the hug, and an overwhelming sense of how lucky I was overcame me. "Good night, my loves. I love you," I whispered, squeezing them tightly. "I love you guys."

The next morning, I got the kids to school before taking Owen to Jaden's house with me. "Good morning," I greeted Jaden, closing his front door behind me. 
"Hey, Kate. Hello, Mr. Owen," he greeted us in return, picking Owen up. "How are you doing today, buddy?" 
"I'm good, Uncle Jay," Owen murmured.  
Jaden set him back down before turning his attention back to me. "Alright, Kate. You look like you're going through it. Spill." 
I recounted the story of the night before, and Jaden looked like he had an idea. "Why don't you host Christmas Eve at your house? My parents are coming back to LA for Christmas, and they have gifts for you and the kids. That can kind of get rid of the awkwardness with Lisa and Addison, right?"
"Damn it, Jaden," I sighed. 
"Sorry. Didn't mean to upset you," he replied.
I shook my head. "That's not even it. I'm kind of pissed that I didn't think of that idea first. Let me run it past Bryce, but I think that we might be on for that."

We sat in silence for a little while, watching Owen play with his toy car on the rug in front of us. "Can I ask you something?" Jaden finally asked, breaking the silence. I nodded, and Jaden took a deep breath before speaking. "Um, your anniversary is coming up soon."
Damn it. I had avoided thinking about it. "Yeah, I suppose it is. What about it?" I asked. 
"I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. I know that this year hasn't been very easy for you. You're like my little sister, and the only thing that I want in this world is to make sure that you're doing okay. That's what an older brother's job is, right?" 
I nodded, and he wrapped me in a hug. "Thank you, Jaden. You have helped me in the past seventeen years in more ways than I can even begin to articulate."

We sat for a few more minutes before I pulled out of the hug. "Alright, Jay. I've got some errands to run today. I just really needed to see an adult. I feel like the only people that I see lately are my kids, and I refuse to put them in the middle of all of the mess with Bryce," I said, standing up. 
"I'm only a phone call away, Kate. You know that. I'll see you later," he replied, following Owen and me to the front door. 
"Bye, Uncle Jay," Owen said, hugging Jaden's legs. 
"Bye, kiddo."

Owen sang one of Jaden's songs to himself as I drove. I looked at him in the rearview mirror, and I felt the surge of luck again. My marriage may have ended in disaster, but four amazing things had come out of it: Isaiah, Annalisa, Owen, and Everleigh.
Owen and I went inside, and I watched him play in the living room. As I sat there, my head began to pound, and my vision went fuzzy. I somehow managed to dial my phone.
"Bryce, there's something wrong."