Undercover Bad Girl

Chapter 19

"So you guys dated through out college and then got married and started having babies?"

"Basically," I nodded, turning the key in the ignition.

"Wow." Ava whispered, her thinking face on.

I let her have her moment, not sure what was next because the whole point of telling my love story was to... I'm not even sure. Distract her?

My phone started ringing, "Aiden?"

"Mom?" Aiden sounded extremely uneasy.

"What happened?" I asked, my heart dropping and mind on red alert.

"Please come home, daddy's crying."

It was a good thing I was behind the wheel because I would've cussed Ava out for driving so slow. Jake was home. Jake was crying.

It meant one thing.

My grip on the wheel got so damn tight I felt like I might pop a blood vessel in my fingers. But I didn't care, Jake was crying. My husband, was crying!

I've only seen him cry twice, both times having to do with Pete and his estrangement and stuff. I just... I needed to be there for him. With him.

So I flew. And didn't stop until I was whipping into my driveway. Ava and I rushed out of the car and into the house. I found all my kids standing outside of my bedroom door, all in various states of distress.

"Did he say anything?" I asked, looking to Aiden and then JJ.

"Nothing, just came in, said hey, and then we heard something shatter and when we came to the door we heard him sobbing. I told them not to go in," JJ explained, holding both Jaden and Jada to his sides.

They all had tears in their eyes.

I held out the car keys, my fingers taking a moment to unclench them. "Go out and eat dinner." I told JJ, dropping the keys in his hand.

His eyebrows pinched, "But-"

"We'll be fine, I'll call you guys later." I told them, giving them each a kiss before ushering them on their way.

Ava was the last to head down the stairs, her eyes wide. "Mommy."

I smiled at her, "Marriage goes both ways. Love is a partnership. Partnership means a lot of things, the biggest is picking your partner up when they're down. Now go."

The tears brimming her eyes were fat, but her smile was wider. "I love you guys." She whispered before rushing down the stairs.

I turned to our bedroom door and then braced myself for what I was going to find.

When I walked in, my heart shattered because it wasn't at all what I was expecting. I took another step and the crunch of the shattered lamp pieces gave me pause. For a split second I considered cleaning that up but that thought flew away.

Jake. Jake was all that mattered in that moment. And in that moment, he was sitting on the floor, staring at the white sheer curtains of our window. It wasn't until I sat besides him that I saw the tears streaming down his face. It wasn't the right moment to speak, so I scooted a little closer and just sat with him.

We were breathing and he was crying and my heart just kept aching. I wasn't one hundred percent sure but I'm pretty positive I know what caused this.

When my butt started to ache, I decided it was time to move. So I stood and then stepped in front of him, not sure if he was seeing me but not caring. I grabbed both of his hands which were dangling between his knees and urged him to stand.