Falling Slowly

Part 38

The next morning I woke up feeling less depressed. The aromatic scent of raspberry pancakes convinced me to get out of bed. I peeked my head out the door and saw aunt May making breakfast. Daisy was sitting in front of the tv with her teddy bear in her hand. I tiptoed out the room and plopped down next to Daisy. She smiled at me and I smiled at her toothy grin. She was the most adorable 7 year old I've ever seen. Jack's little sister Isla was pretty cute too but let's not talk about Jack right now. 

"Vivi! I've missed you so much!" 

Vivi was what she called me when she was younger because she couldn't pronounce Genevie and it just stuck with her ever since. I hugged her back and she snuggled into my side. Caden walked into the living room , half asleep. His eyes weren't even open yet. Juliana came in on her phone but went straight to the kitchen when she smelled the raspberries. Archer was probably still asleep, he didn't sleep until 2 in the morning. 

" Kids! Come get your breakfast! It's raspberry pancakes with bacon and eggs." aunt May said as she put the plates on the table. Daisy rushed over to the table to get a seat where she could still see the tv. I laughed and sat down next to her. As if we didn't have enough, aunt May came over with more bacon and eggs. Once Archer was awake, he joined us in breakfast as well. I looked over the table and smiled. In this moment, everything felt okay, everything was normal, we were a loving family. It was a sick dream of mine, to have something like this. It was something that I would never have and I knew. As much as I wanted this to be my life, my life was already decided for me. 

After breakfast, we all took a walk in the woods to get some fresh air. It was very peaceful here, I can see why aunt May sprung to take the deal. Daisy was sitting on top of Archer's shoulders and Juliana had her arm wrapped around Caden. aunt May and I walked side by side, taking in the beautiful view.

" Genevie, I know that your pregnant." I paused and looked at her. She smiled softly and continued. " I heard you talking to Archer last night. I'm going to say this now, you have your whole life ahead of you, having a baby now is a disadvantage but that doesn't mean it's a burden. I was 18 when I was pregnant with Daisy, I know how you're feeling."

I nodded and we continued on until we came to a rushing waterfall. The misfits wasted no time in jumping in and playing in the water. Aunt May and I sat down on a tree trunk and continued our conversation.

" I'm not saying that what you did is okay but it's happened so we can't do anything about it. You can always come to me whenever you need help love. The baby doesn't need two parents because this baby will be loved by many to replace the parent that's not there. Forget about that Jack boy okay?" She said as she stroked my hair. I nodded and smiled softly. 

We went home the next day and when I had gotten home, I wasn't expecting to see Shea's parents there. As soon as I walked through the doors, they came up to me and hugged me tightly.

" We're so sorry for ever doubting you Genevie. Will you forgive us?"

I looked at my parents who had smiles on their faces. Riley came around the corner and smiled at me as well. 

" They found the person that killed Shea." He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly before placing a kiss on my forehead. 

I was right all along, I suspected that Emma had something to do with her sister's death and it was completely true. Emma had tipped off a few thugs to kidnap her sister after Shea had found out she had been dealing with drugs and making illegal transactions through her name. Killing Shea wasn't the plan but as she was getting pulled away, she banged her head against a blunt object and suffered head trauma. The most unbelievable thing out of all of that was Dillon being involved in this case. Riley explained that he was the one that kidnapped Shea and did Emma's dirty work. They found fingerprints that matched his from the jacket Shea was wearing that night. I was supposed to be happy that they found Shea's murderer but I wasn't. I trusted Dillon.