Lights (2013)

62

ATTENTION! THIS IS CHAPTER 62, 61 IS AT THE VERY END OF THE LINE UP, SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION!

"Blair."

My father looks surprised to see me at the door, my bags in hand. I shift my weight from foot to foot.

"I didn't expect you," he says, stepping aside so I can walk inside.

"I told Jay I was coming," I tell him.

"Hmm."

"Blair," Jay says, smiling as she walks out of the kitchen. She wraps her arms around me in a short hug. "How are you?" She asks.

"Cold," I reply, laughing a bit.

"Oh, I know," she says. "It's brutal out there." She ushers me inside, past my father. "Come in, I'll make you some tea."

I follow her into the kitchen where she puts on a kettle of tea, the smell of pepperming soon filling the kitchen.

"The girls are still in school for today," Jay says. "Since it's Friday. Their vacation doesn't begin until tomorrow."

"Oh," I say. "I was wondering why it was so quiet around here."

Jay chuckles. "It's peaceful."

I laugh with her.

"So, how have you been?" Jay asks, pouring the tea into two mugs and sliding me one. "How's Niall."

"Oh...Niall's fine." I take a long sip of tea, trying to ignore how it's burning my tongue. "We're actually not together anymore."

Jay looks at me. "Oh, I'm sorry. What happened?"

"Nothing big," I say. "We ended on really good terms."

Jay's mouth turns up at the edges. "I see."

I stare at her. "What's funny?"

"Sometimes Harry drives by our house," she says, tracing the rim of her mug with her index finger. "And just looks up at your window."

I look into my tea. "Oh?"

"He thinks we don't see," she goes on. "Connor doesn't, and neither does Louis. But I do. And so do the girls."

I chew on my lip.

"I think I know why you and Niall ended," Jay says. "I've been your age before, Blair. I know what it's like."

She smiles at me and puts her hand over mine.

"It's one of those times you really need a maternal figure," she says.

I look into her eyes.

"You may not have a biological mother in your life anymore," Jay goes on. "But you always have me."

I bite my lip to keep from crying and embrace her tightly. I've always been wary of Jay, ever since she married my father. I now see that she finally knows she'll never replace the gap that my mother left in my life, but she can be the next best thing. I realize how glad I am my father married someone as gracious and kind as her, and even if she isn't my mother, she does love him and he loves her. And that's all I could really want.

We pull apart and Jay has tears in her eyes. She quickly wipes them and puts her hands around her mug of tea.

"Your father has been distressed," she says quietly. "About your last encounter."

I look down. "I'll talk to him," I say.

Jay pats my hand and gets up, putting her empty tea mug in the dishwasher. I hand her my own and smile. For the first time since I've known Jay, I feel that she truly is my stepmother.