Chapter Twenty Six
JC’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked to the clock. It had been several hours since his children had left the hospital and they’d yet to return or answer the telephone. He was getting worried. After what had to be about the tenth call in an hour, Jen spoke up. “Honey, why don’t you get Brandon to drop you off at the house?” She suggested, cradling Jack in her arms.
Looking over at her, he frowned. He hadn’t planned on leaving her side, but he knew it would be for the best. He was really beginning to worry about his children. “You don’t think he’d mind?”
“Not at all.”
“And you? Will you be okay?”
She offered him a soft smile. This was so like him. He was ridiculously worried, but he always put other people in front of himself. That was one of the reasons she loved him so much. “We’ll be fine. Now go on. Call me when you get to the house and find out what’s going on.”
A smile overtook his features as he leaned over the railing of the bed for a soft kiss to her lips, and then moved to kiss the top of Jack’s head gently. “Hey buddy… you be good for mommy, you hear? I’ll be back soon,” he said softly, careful not to wake the newborn. Pressing another kiss to his wife’s mouth, he pulled away and headed out of the room.
~*~
“Julie? Abbi?” JC called, kicking the door closed behind him. He deposited the house key onto the stand behind the door and looked around, frowning. Heading upstairs, he checked his youngest daughter’s bedroom and found her sound asleep in her bed. With a smile, he walked over to kiss her gently before pulling away and heading out to find his eldest daughter.
He poked his head into her bedroom, frowning when he didn’t find her on the bed. Her shower wasn’t running, so he knew she wasn’t in there. “Julie?” He called, a little louder. He hurried into the hallway, his heart pounding in his chest. Where could she be?
He heard what sounded like a strangled cry coming from his bedroom and a million scenarios raced through his mind as he rushed down the hall, throwing the door open. Out of all the things he’d expected, this was the very last.
His sixteen, almost seventeen year old daughter was curled up in the center of his bed, a beat up old teddy bear tucked under her arm. Her body shook as she cried, the sound of her sobs tugging at his heart. Within seconds, he’d crossed the room and was at her side.
“What’s the ma-“
“Nobody wants me!” The words tore from her throat, wounding JC more than she ever could have known. He had no idea what had happened in the mere hours since she’d left him at the hospital, but he made a silent vow to seek revenge on whoever had caused his daughter this kind of pain.
“What happened?” He asked softly, reaching over to rub her back gently. She shrank away from the touch, curling in on herself as she continued to weep bitterly. Never before had she had her heart broken. It was a vicious ache, one that almost made her physically sick. She couldn’t even catch her breath and she was terrifying JC.
“Honey… Julie… talk to me here,” he pleaded, “please. I don’t know how to fix it if you don-“
“You can’t fix it!” She sobbed. “I wi-wish you could b-b-because it hu-hurts so bad!” She cried. “I thought he was sincere! I thought that he really liked me and I liked him SO much,” she sobbed, hugging her bear against her chest.
“Are you… are you talking about Joel?” She cringed visibly at the name and a million thoughts raced through his head. What had he done to her? “Did he…do something to you?” He asked, instantly going into protective father mode. If that jerk had touched a single hair on his daughter’s head, he was going to”
“He was with her last night. Of all people to”“ she broke off, a new batch of tears falling down her cheeks at the thought of her first boyfriend with another girl.
JC’s brow furrowed in confusion. What on earth was she trying to say to him? “Julie, I’m not really following you…”
“Joel slept with Brianna at a party last night,” she managed to choke out. JC’s eyes widened. Brianna wasn’t exactly a saint but he’d never imagined her to be one of those… one of those ‘loose girls’. Did Joey know?
“How umm… how exactly do you know that?”
“He didn’t come out and say it,” she cried. “He didn’t have to. The look in his eyes when he told me, the way he was acting… I filled in the blanks. Why doesn’t anyone want me?”
He couldn’t say he was sorry that his daughter was no longer with that boy. Truthfully, JC wasn’t too happy to know that she’d acquired a boyfriend. However, he didn’t like to see his daughter in so much pain either. Was there no happy medium?
“Why would you say that, Julie? Plenty of people adore you,” he reminded her.
She wasn’t having any of his attempts to make her feel better. “My own mother didn’t want me,” she spat bitterly. “Have you forgotten that? Because I sure haven’t.” With a burst of energy, she pushed herself from his bed and practically sprinted to the door and down the hall to her room, leaving JC totally and utterly confused.
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