Kayden
"The truth is, I ca here because I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to et my other brother."
The words resounded in my head as I stared at Raymond. I wondered if he was frozen like that because he hadn’t expected things to turn out this way, or if he truly, genuinely wanted to be my brother.
"You are here to et ?" I asked him.
Raymond responded by rubbing his cheek, right where I had slapped him. Instinctively, a forced smile crossed my face as I rubbed my own hand—the one I had used to strike him. I had reacted blindly the mont those hurtful words had left his mouth.
"I am not going to apologize for hitting you," I said, keeping my voice steady. "Because if you truly ant what you said, then you shouldn’t have talked to like that. You should have approached the way a good brother would."
"I..." Raymond sighed, lowering his head. "I... I just wanted to see your reaction."
Rhys scoffed bitterly. "And now that you have, kindly be on your way and stop bothering us," he said, his tone cutting through the room like ice.
"I... I am sorry," Raymond apologized imdiately. He raised his head to face us, tears welling up in his eyes. "I truly ant it when I said I wanted to et Kayden. I am sorry if my words sounded bad, and I..." He paused, slowly standing up from the couch. "I should be on my way now. I am sorry for disrupting your sleep."
He turned and started walking out.
I watched his retreating figure head closer to the door, letting out a soft sigh. His words sounded sincere. I had heard the raw emotion in his voice, and it really didn’t seem like he bore any malice. That realization made stop him before he could push the door open.
"Wait, Raymond," I called out.
He stopped instantly, turning around to face with a faint, hopeful smile breaking through his tears.
Rhys imdiately turned toward , his brow furrowing with a heavy, questioning look. "You are not actually considering this, are you?"
I nodded. I was considering it. If Raymond had truly co all this way just to et his other brother, then I had no issues with him.
The only person I actually had an issue with was Linda.
"I..." I tried to speak, but the words caught in my throat.
Suddenly, a violent wave of lightheadedness crashed over , accompanied by a sharp, suffocating surge of nausea. The room took a sudden, violent tilt.
My head started spinning erratically, and I blinked rapidly, trying desperately to keep my vision from blurring into complete darkness, but I couldn’t steady it.
A bitter, hot taste of bile rushed up the back of my throat, and a cold sweat broke out across my skin.
I knew exactly what was coming.
Clamping a hand over my mouth, I clamped my teeth together to hold it back. I lunged forward, rushing past them into the bedroom and tearing into the bathroom.
I barely made it to the sink before I collapsed against the porcelain, my body heaving violently as I threw up.
A few seconds later, Rhys appeared by my side. His warm hand imdiately pressed against my back, rubbing soothing circles between my shoulder blades as he tried to anchor .
"Kayden," he murmured, his voice tight with sheer panic. "Kayden, are you alright? Look at ."
I tried to reply, but the mont I opened my mouth, another violent heave racked my chest. I just ended up throwing up into the sink again, my shoulders trembling under the strain.
"I am going to call Leo and tell him you are throwing up," Rhys said, his voice rising in pitch as panic started to set in. "Are you supposed to be throwing up this much? Is this normal?"
I let out a miserable groan, gripping the edge of the counter. His barrage of questions was starting to get deeply irritating. "Shut up, Rhys," I snapped, my voice raspy. "How the hell am I suppose to know? I have never been pregnant before."
"Right, right, sorry," Rhys muttered, completely losing his usual cool. He hovered over , his hands twitching as if he wanted to touch but was terrified of breaking . He looked exactly like a panicked, clueless first-ti parent. "Are you feeling pain anywhere else? Does your chest hurt? Your stomach? Should I... should I rub your stomach? Will that help?"
I slowly turned my head and leveled him with a deadpan glare, my eyes watering from the vomiting.
Rhys imdiately held his hands up in defeat. "Okay, sorry. I’m sorry. I won’t touch it."
Taking a shaky breath, I shook my head. "There is no need to call Leo. It’s just what they call morning sickness."
Rhys gave a deeply confused, questioning look. "Morning sickness? But it’s not even morning, Kayden. How does that make sense?"
I rolled my eyes slightly, trying to ignore his ignorance as I explained it to him. "It doesn’t matter what ti it is. It can happen at any ti of the day. It’s just a term."
Rhys nodded along, though he still looked completely baffled by the chanics of pregnancy.
"Besides," I added, leaning over to turn on the faucet, "calling Leo right now wouldn’t make sense anyway. I heard what happened last night between him and Miller. He has enough on his plate."
Rhys watched for a mont, the initial panic finally draining from his face, replaced by a more serious expression. "Why did you ask Raymond to stay behind?" he asked quietly.
I didn’t answer right away. I cupped so cold water in my hands, washing my face and rinsing out my mouth. Once the lingering taste of bile was gone, I patted my face dry and stared at my pale reflection in the mirror.
"Everyone except his parents deserves a second chance," I said softly, looking at Rhys through the glass. "Raymond hasn’t truly done anything wrong to . He was just being foolish."
I let out a heavy sigh, my hand instinctively dropping to rest against my flat stomach, gently rubbing it. "I don’t want to bring our child into a toxic life, Rhys. I don’t want them surrounded by endless hatred and grudges."
Rhys stepped closer, his expression softening as he looked at my hand on my stomach. "So, what do you plan to do?"
"I’m going to go back out there," I said, turning around to face him. "I’ll see what Raymond has to say, and I’ll judge his intentions after that. If he’s sincere, we’ll take it from there."
When we stepped back into the living room, I was surprised to find Miller and Raymond already engaging in a quiet conversation. The tension in the air was still thick, but seeing Miller there grounded a little.
I offered Miller a small wave, trying to force so normalcy into my voice. "Hey there. I... kind of woke up on the wrong side of the bed earlier and forgot to say hi."
Miller gave a long, questioning look, his eyes scanning my pale face as if trying to figure out exactly what had just happened in the bathroom. After a beat, he nodded. "Hi. How are you feeling?"
"I’m fine," I replied quickly, giving him a reassuring nod before turning my attention back toward Raymond.
But before I could even open my mouth to speak, Rhys cut in, his voice harsh and demanding. "What are you really doing here, Raymond? Did grandfather send you?"
Raymond imdiately shook his head, looking defensive and panicked. "No! No, he didn’t." He swallowed hard, his hands trembling. "I... I heard my mother and father arguing. That’s how I found out that Kayden was my brother. When I confronted my mother about it, she... she told everything. She said they abandoned him."
Without warning, Raymond burst into tears, his shoulders shaking violently as the emotions completely overtook him. "How..." he choked out, looking at with a mixture of horror and heartbreak. "How did you even survive all those years? After being abandoned just for... just for being an oga?"
Rhys and I exchanged a long, heavy look. The sheer shock of Raymond’s emotional outburst caught us both off guard. I subtly caught Rhys’s eye and mouthed, Is he okay?
Rhys just frowned deeply, shrugging his shoulders in response. He looked just as baffled by the sudden breakdown as I was.
Raymond wiped his wet face with the back of his hand, sniffling loudly as he tried to catch his breath. "I am so sorry," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I am so sorry for judging you before. And I... I heard about your father being in prison, too. The things he did to you,’’ he sniffled again. ’’ I just... I’m so proud of you, Kayden. I’m proud of you for growing up so strong after everything they did to you. I really want to get to know you. I want to know you as my brother."
Before either of us could say a word, Raymond suddenly panicked as if rembering sothing. "Which is why—just wait here! Please, hold up for a mont!"
Without waiting for an answer, he turned and rushed straight out the front door.
Rhys and I stared at the empty doorway, completely stunned.
A minute later, Raymond walked back inside, heavily breathing and dragging a large piece of luggage behind him. He set it down in the middle of the living room, looking at us with a determined, tear-stained face.
"I’m staying here with you guys," Raymond announced, adjusting his grip on the handle. "I want to make ands for all the bad tis."
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