ESTELLE
“Oh, boy. What did he do this time?”
I smiled, even if it was forced. “Hey, Willa. How are you?” I didn’t know what I was even doing here. I felt like I needed to be around someone who knew Linden better.
“How are you? Oh, my God. My inner aunt is giggling.” She bent down to place her palm on my growing baby bump. “Hello, sweetheart. Aunt Willa can’t wait to hold you.”
“I think this kid is thrilled to see you.” I chuckled.
“I’m so excited. How’s the room decoration going on?”
“Still working on it.” I noticed a new painting. A mysterious woman on a beautiful landscape in the sunset. “That’s beautiful.”
“Really?” She blinked. I saw the gaiety in her eyes.
“Yeah. It’s the quietness, the contentment, and the beauty that is represented in the landscape and the sunset, of course. The woman is happy in her life.”
“That’s what exactly I’m trying to express.”
“What do you mean? I stared at her, and her face broke to smile. I took a closer look at the signature at the lower right corner of the painting. “Wow. You painted this?”
“I have a few, but I just don’t have that confidence to show them.”
“What changed?”
“You.”
“Me?” I pointed at myself. “What did I do?”
“Your life looks perfect from the stranger’s point of view, but it’s not. There’s chaos, doubts, and recklessness, but you have passion, confidence, and tenacity. Your compassion for people makes you a vulnerable woman but strong and steadfast. I realized I could have shown my art if I had just that one percent of you, of your tenacity and confidence.”
“You are stronger than you know. You have passion in your heart. Look at this.” I showed her the paintings on the walls of her gallery. “These wouldn’t be here. You don’t have an art gallery if you don’t have that passion and love for what you do. You even have a little confidence in yourself and believe in your talent. Also, life is unfair and cruel and filled with imperfections. You can be good now, but you can do it better the next time.”
She held my hand and let me follow her. We sat down, and I knew what came next.
“Now tell me, what’s going on?”
“Your brother.”
“Of course.” She rolled her eyes. “The moment you walked in, I knew you were carrying the pain in your chest. “My ever audacious annoying brother. God, what did he do this time?”
“You know that I love you and your family. I love your brother, but—”
“No, no. no.” She held my hand. “You can’t. I love you, Estelle. You don’t know how lucky and happy I am to have you as my sister. You can’t leave my brother. I know, sometimes he does stupid things, but if you do that, I might lose my brother for good.”
“Why’d you say that?” My heart nearly stopped.
“Sax and I met yesterday. He said I should talk to Gabe, and you both are not in a good place.”
“Yeah.” I looked at our hands. “I gave him a chance. He blew it big time.”
“Of course, that’s what relationships do. That’s how relationships should grow. You two are just perfect, like yin and yang. You’re good, and he’s terrible.” She chuckled. “But works perfectly together. You’re his soulmate, Estelle, and if you do this, you both will always feel empty. Do you mind if I say something?”
“Please.”
“My brother always takes risks. I feel like he became my father, my mother, and my brother at the same time when we were kids. Dad tried his best to make ends meet. When Dad was not around, Gabe took all that responsibility even if nobody asked him to. If you stop him from doing that, it’s like you stop yourself from doing what you love— it’s like ripping half of him out of himself. He wouldn’t be whole, and you wouldn’t like that. I know the risks, the idea of him getting hurt out there, but if you truly love my brother, you have to trust him that he will come back to you. That’s what I do every day. That’s who Gabe is.”
“He hurt me.”
“If you just think of the brighter side. I know it’s unfair, and I’m on my brother’s side right now because I love him with all my soul, but you also have to think of your baby. Estelle, I haven’t become a mother, but raising a child alone is hard. Even if you have money to buy everything they need, you can hire nannies, but the presence of a partner, a good partner, is more than a dozen nannies or a million worth of diapers. My brother would never let you do that alone. And you should know Jasper is more than just a friend or an employee. He saved my father’s life.”
“I know.” I almost forgot that.
“Take your time. Ignore him for days. You have the right to do that after what he put you through, but a marital split?” She shook her head. “That’s a little drastic.”
“Why did you get divorced? I’m sorry to ask.”
“He cheated on me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I gave him chances to change. We got back on track for a while, but he did it again. When I confronted him that I would divorce him if he wouldn’t change, he got physical. That was my last straw.”
I gasped. How Linden stared at me that night still lingered in my head. He was dark. I knew people had darkness in them, but that side of him still terrified me.
“Thanks for telling me.”
“Do whatever you’re gonna do for days, even months. He deserves it, but please don’t consider divorce. I really like you as my sister.”
“I like you, too, Willa.” I forced out a smile as I sighed deeply.
“Anyway, what happened to that woman on Tiktok?”
“I will officially file a complaint for the damages if she won’t apologize publicly.”
“Serves her right.”
“So as my father. He’s a dick.”
“What do you mean?” I was surprised nobody told her.
“Dad is behind it. He was mad at me for—”
“For you and Gabe?”
“Something like that.”
“Wow. Monster-in-laws do exist.”
“Yeah.”
“So, do you still stay at home?”
“In his house? No.”
“Oh. So where are we going to do the nursery?”
I stared at her. “I don’t know.”
“We’ll do it in your house.”
“Really? You’re up for it?”
“Yes. Definitely.”
***
“Surprise!”
I almost jumped. My hand was on my chest as I tried to calm my heart. I might have given birth right now if I was in full term.
“Happy birthday!”
I stared at everyone with my mouth open. Still, my heart was pumping so fast. And here I thought this was a Taco Saturday. I wasn’t really in the mood for any celebration, given that my marriage was on the verge of collapse right now.
“Happy birthday, honey.” Mom came first to greet me. She pulled me into a hug. “I love you, my baby girl.”
“I love you, too, mom.”
Then Micah, Willa, Sax, Striker and London, Mykel and his wife Adley, Cenric, and Sadie came next.
“Happy birthday, Estelle.”
“Thank you, Kye.” My reply was open-ended. I wanted to say something but didn’t know where to start.
“Happy birthday, sweetheart.” It was Moses. “I hope you don’t mind my surprise.”
“I love it. I already told my staff last week. No surprise birthday, or I will fire them all. Thank you.” I hugged Moses.
My father was always present on my birthday but wasn’t around this time. He escaped the moment he knew there was a complaint against him.
“Happy birthday, honey.” Jaymes was the last person to greet me. “I looked for him but didn’t know where he was. He hasn’t reported to work this week. The guys leave him alone. Maybe he needs some time.”
“Thank you, Pops.”
“Come on, girl. Make a wish.” Sax couldn’t wait. He had to take me to the table.
I laughed to see the cake design. A pregnant woman is holding her baby bump. “Wow. You gave some thought to this a lot, huh, Sax?”
“Make a wish,” Willa said excitedly with a clap.
I closed my eyes and wished inwardly. When I opened my eyes, I blew the candle. I never believed a birthday wish could come true, but I tried to believe it this time. We settled on the long table at Moses’ mansion.
Before the dinner began, Moses clicked his glass. “I just wanna wish our birthday girl. I wish you happiness, contentment, and peace in life, a healthy baby, even if you haven’t revealed the gender.” That gave laughs from everyone. “I know you will be a good and wonderful mother. Again, happy birthday, Estelle.”
After dinner, I went away from them for a while. I was entirely overwhelmed by their love and kindness despite Linden and I being in the middle of our marital challenges.
I tried to push away the thought in my head. I was happy these guys were around to lift me up on my birthday. I realized what family meant to these people, and they never ceased to amaze me how tight they were.
“Beck and his wife wish you a happy birthday.” Jasper didn’t come to greet me earlier, but I caught him looking at me a few times. “They’re sorry they can’t come. I’m sure Linden is thinking of you right now.”
“Thanks.”
“I know I’m the cause of all your pain. I let this happen. I’m so sorry, Estelle. I know it doesn’t mean anything, but I’m still sorry for the trouble I caused you and your husband.”
I turned my head to him. “How are you? I haven’t reached out to you since you came back.”
He wouldn’t look at me. “Linden paid the price when it should have been me.”
“As if you can stop him when he sets his mind. He cares about you. And it’s only about you saving his father. He looks at you as his brother, too. And any brother in his position will always take every risk to get you away from that place.”
“I know you know something. My father will get his early parole, but is it worth it? After what crimes he committed, I couldn’t help but think, did he deserve it? Linden made all the sacrifices. Even his marriage is in crisis because of me because I chose the shortcut.”
“It is.” I smiled. “Sometimes we do the wrong thing for the right reason. We still love our family despite who they are. We still believe in a second chance.”
“Do you really believe that?” His question caught me off guard because I knew what he wanted to convey.
“Yes.”
“Then Linden deserves that chance, Estelle. Hate me. I will take it wholeheartedly, but don’t hate him. Let me make it right. I am the reason why he’s not here. Ask me anything. I will do it. Just take him back.” I saw and felt the depth of his sincerity that really cared so much, so I had to test it.
“Even if I ask you to stay away from him?”
He blinked off the pain brewing in his eyes, but for a moment, I still caught it.
“If you promise me you will never give up on him. You and Linden will never divorce.”
“Why do you care?”
“Because he’s the reason why I am still here. He’s the reason why I have this life. When everyone never trusted me and looked at me as a criminal, he picked me up from that hellhole, took me to the light, and gave me a second chance.”
“Where is he?”
“I will find him for you.”
“Would you do that?”
“In a heartbeat.”