Reject Me (Kin #5)(25)
Author: Jennifer Foor

He held up his hands. “It’s fine.”

I put the frame down and moved over on the bed. Wayne sat down next to me and picked up the picture. “She was so beautiful. Even when she woke up after a rough night’s sleep, all I saw was perfection. I used to watch her sleeping. She was so peaceful. After she was diagnosed it was the only time that she seemed at peace. This picture was taken right before Abigail graced us with her presence. God, we were so happy back then.”

I could hear it in his voice that he was getting choked up. “Wayne, you don’t have to talk about it.”

“No, it’s okay. It helps.” He let out an attempt at a laugh. “You know, she made me promise that I’d find someone to live my life with. She was adamant about it, making me do this stupid pinky promise, like little children do. Even when I did it, I knew I’d never find someone like her. I miss her so much, Peyton, but every single day that I wake up and see our little girl I know I have a piece of her with me.” He put his hand on my leg, catching me off guard. “Breakfast is ready in the kitchen. Abigail helped me make you teddy bear shaped pancakes. They look like blobs, so just pretend that they’re perfectly shaped, so she can be proud.”

He stood up, disregarding the fact that he’d just broke down in front of me. I guess it was how he coped. It broke my heart. Before getting up out of the bed I looked back at that picture. The love he had for her was indescribable. I longed for that kind of devotion, and knew I was never going to have it with Jamey.

It’s what really helped me be sure about not calling him again. If love like Wayne’s really did exist than I wanted to find it. I owed it to myself to be strong and move on.

After a delicious breakfast, I spent the afternoon in the backyard with Abigail, while Wayne went to the bookstore. We played princesses, and pretended that her plastic playhouse was her castle, and the backyard her kingdom. It was fun, and even better than playing with my brother when we were younger. He’d always insist on being the prince, which would in turn mean that he would be crowned king, while I remained a princess. Abigail wasn’t like my twin brother, though. She’d been taught to share, and wanted us to be equals. I loved how beautiful she was, and the innocence that she carried with her.

As we were cleaning up she asked me a question that caught me off guard again. It was something that I was obviously not prepared for.

“Peyton, are you going to be my mommy now?”

Not only did it make me sad, but it also scared me. I didn’t want Wayne to get mad at however I was going to answer. “Your daddy and I are just friends, Abigail. That doesn’t mean that I don’t love you. In fact, you’re pretty much my best friend.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You are the only girl that I love spendin’ time with. You’re a true princess.”

She flipped her hair in a cute kind of way. “Daddy says that one day a prince will come for me. Do you think he will like cupcakes?”

“Who doesn’t like cupcakes?” I answered her with enthusiasm. She giggled, letting me know that I’d amused her.

“What about daddy?”

“He likes cupcakes.”

“No silly,” she corrected. “What about daddy finding a queen?”

I sighed, knowing that all I had was a head full of wrong answers. “You’ll have to be patient with daddy. One day he’ll find his queen. Right now he’s too busy raising the perfect princess.” I tickled her to get her to change topics, before I said something that would upset her, or Wayne. They meant a lot to me and I didn’t want to ruin that.

By the time Wayne walked in the door from work, Abigail was asleep on the couch with a animated movie playing in the background. To make the time go by faster I decided to clean the house, starting with the bathrooms. I was on the kitchen floor when I saw him step in front of me. “Hey, no footprints on the clean floor.”

“Why in the world are you cleaning my house?”

“I got bored.”

He grabbed my hand and lifted me to stand. “Please stop doing it. You’re our guest, Peyton.”

“It keeps my mind off of things.”

“Why don’t I drive you to your house to change your clothes and we can all go see a movie. You need to get out of the house, before you shine it to death.” His sarcasm lacked something, but I couldn’t ever put my finger exactly on it. For the most part he wasn’t that funny when it came to trying to cheer me up. I gave him an A for effort. His attempts kept me interested, and distracted.

“A movie sounds like a great idea.”

“It’s a date.” He froze in place and turned to face me. “Not that kind of date of course.”

I nodded, agreeing that a real date would be too awkward at the moment. He and I both knew I wasn’t ready for anything like that. His companionship was enough for me.

Thankfully, my brother, his wife, and the twins weren’t home when I stopped by to change. After ten minutes I was out the door with a fresh outfit, and my hair in a loose French braid. Abigail was wearing a matching one from when we’d played princesses. She giggled when I climbed into the car with mine. It was pleasing to hear her so happy.

We ended up seeing a new spin on a fairytale. Wayne and I sat on each side of Abigail. Her eyes were glued to the film, while mine wandered around the theater. It was full of families, all so seemingly happy that it was bittersweet. I was still young, had my whole life in front of me. Why was I so broken up over a little breakup with someone that I crushed over in my teens? It made me feel so immature.

When the movie was over we grabbed a bite to eat, and Wayne drove me to Jamey’s to pick up my car. I hated the idea of pulling up out in front of his house, but was relieved that he wasn’t there. By the time Wayne pulled away I was already crying again. Being alone was the trigger. I started my car and looked around at the empty driveway. Jamey’s whereabouts shouldn’t have been my concern, but curiosity got the best of me. I wondered if he’d run right to that bitch that had come between us. Maybe they’d been seeing each other the whole time he’d been seeing me. She obviously wasn’t from around. Maybe she’d moved closer to be with Jamey, and she’d finally gotten her wish.

My dinner came back up before I could pull away from the curb. I left the disgusting puddle of bile there hoping that Jamey would come home and find it, realizing that I wasn’t some toy he could toss around. He’d destroyed me, physically and emotionally. He deserved to have his dick chopped off and fed to piranhas. Wishing him death wasn’t going to give me closure, but it sure as hell made me feel better.