Same Mistakes

Chapter Twenty Two

"Hey, Scoot." Scooter gave me a head nod as he and Justin got out of their black SUV. About two hours ago Justin's lawyer met with mine, who Kylie kindly helped me find and pay for on such short notice. They had sorted out how custody would be handled over the next few months while we waited for the court to sign off on everything. 

It was honestly a headache, and my hand and mind were numb from reading over every sheet of paper with my lawyer. It had taken all day to sort just this small part of the custody situation and I didn't want to be dealing with Justin right now. 

Somehow Scooter himself had convinced my lawyer to talk me into letting Justin take Jayce for the night, the only condition being that Tessa stay with them until bed. Jayce's sleeping body hugged my neck and I watched as the driver loaded his things into the SUV. 

Jayce slept in my arms which was a good and bad thing, bad for me. It made it to where Jayce wouldn't cry from leaving me, but I also couldn't get a proper goodbye this way. 

Justin, intelligently, waited for me to hand Jayce to him rather than trying to take him. I squeezed him in my arms as much as I could without waking him.

"I love you so, so much. God, I'm going to miss you." I gave him a hard kiss on the forehead before looking at Justin, "Justin, I want to trust you-"

"Then do." 

I sighed and felt a heavy feeling rise in my throat. Though it didn't seem like much, letting Jayce go with his father, it was. This was the first time he would be staying the night somewhere that wasn't with me or the babysitters.

"It's not that easy. You haven't spent time with him, Justin, there are things that you still don't know." My heart was pounding in my chest and surely Justin could hear it in my voice.

"You sent me everything I need to know, if you forgot anything just text me. I'm going to check up with you. This isn't my first time watching a kid, Nadia, I know what I'm doing." And I'm sure he was right. 

"This is your first time taking care of your kid though." His eyes shot me a look that read 'are we really going to start this again?'

"I'm sorry, but it's true." I sighed and the sudden realization of the time hit me. I could keep delaying this but that's not fair as hard as this is. I gently passed Jayce to Justin, but Jayce still began to rustle in his arms. I ran my hand over his back in soothing circles, "Shh, it's okay. Go back to sleep baby."

Looking back at Justin he was staring at me, "What?"

"Uh, nothing. We're gonna head out, I don't want to drag this on any longer and risk waking him up. Is there anything else before I go?"

I shook my head, "No, just call me if there's anything you need or something happens and also just call me. He will probably wake up in about an hour and should be ready to go to bed around ten tonight. Tessa will leave whenever he does go to bed."

As he said goodbye, I struggled to keep my tears from coming out. I did not think this would be happening this soon and my emotions were on a roller coaster right now. Going back up to the apartment I sat next to Ryan and Dani on the couch. 

"How was it?" Dani paused Friends to examine my face. I shrugged, "Hard."

"As expected, but listen it's hard now so that it can be easier in the future. This is good, Nadia. Head up and hey, kid free for once yeah?" Yeah and it's not as great as it sounds. I quickly attempted to distract myself by putting in Moana. I waited on the couch while Dani waited on the love seat for Ryan to finish making the popcorn. 

When he finally finished he sat at the end by my feet. Though this was meant to distract me it was doing a better job at reminding me of Jayce considering he loved this movie.

Justin's Pov

Scooter gave the room a once over before walking to the door, "Don't ruin this for yourself, Justin. She's being extremely nice by letting you have him tonight." I nodded and followed his eyes to Tessa, "Watch him. Justin not the kid."

"Trust me I will." I rolled my eyes and closed the door behind him. I only had about twenty minutes until Jayce was supposed to wake up although time meant nothing to a toddler. Tessa made herself comfortable on the couch while I set up the dining room table with finger paint an idea suggested by my mom. 

From the couch Tessa nodded in approval, "That's actually a good idea. Nadia said he loves things like that, especially play doh." I made sure to make note of that fact. Before I could finish opening all the paint there was a loud cry from the bedroom where Jayce's play pin sat with him inside. 

I slowly followed Tessa into the room, knowing that he would cry if I were to pick him up first. Tessa reached for him, "Hey buddy, wanna could to Aunt T?"

Through his tears he nodded. After she settled him down, she sat him down at the table with me to start painting. While he started I facetimed my mom.

When her smiling face popped up, Jayce immediately noticed, "Hey mom."

"Hi, is that him?" Even though that was a stupid question I nodded, "He looks just like you."

"I see Nadia." My mom disagreed with me and continued to talk to Tessa and I while I painted with Jayce. For him to only be a year and a half he was extremely smart, a quality he had certainly gotten from his mom along with his cheerful giggle. 

Once Jayce finished his painting that looked like nothing in particular, but was still perfect, I held it up for my mom to see. She smiled with a loving look at Jayce, "Will I get to meet him, Jay?"

"Soon, mama."

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Nadia's Pov

My phone loudly rang from the nightstand next to me causing not only me, but also Ryan to jump up in bed. Since we'd spent the entire night watching tv I offered Ryan to spend the night and even though he could have spelt on the couch I told him it didn't matter.

"Who is that?" I shook my head while I looked at my phone. Scooter's names flashed across the screen and I instantly was more away.

"Hello?" My voice wasn't quite panicked, but there was a hint of anxiety in it.

"Is that Nadia? Let me talk to her." Tessa's voice sounded in the background, frantic. Scooter ignored her request to talk to me and I quickly got out of bed to begin searching for clothes to wear. Next to me in the bed Ryan sat up, "Everything okay?"

"Scooter??" 

"Yeah, I'm here. You've talked to Justin, right?" He asked in a way that made it sound like he was sure I had, but I could tell from his tone that he was trying to come off as calm as possible.

I quickly slid on a hoodie, sweats, and started on my shoes, "No. What the hell is going on Scooter?"

"Shit. Fucking Justin, damn it." His voice was distant now as if he had pulled the phone away from his face and I heard whispers exchanged, "Tessa came to check on him and Jayce and he's not here. She called Hailey but she hasn't seen or heard from him either. We've called him but there was no answer, so did he say anything to you?"

I didn't answer his question before hanging up and grabbbing my keys. Ryan who had was now trying to frantically put on his shoes followed me out to my car. I had no idea where I needed to go, but I knew I needed to go somewhere.

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Whew. That was a long one but I feel like it was needed. Just Justin being sketchy what else is new?  😂😂