Awkwardness

Jackson's hand searched his bed for his phone as he slowly raised his eyelids, and blinked his eyelashes to adjust his vision to the bright sunlight glowing in his room.

Once he got a hold of his phone, he sat up in bed and unlocked it, then a frown settled on his lip as he stared at the fifty missed calls notifications on his screen.

Sighing heavily, Jackson slowly scrolled through his call log and stopped at the number of the only person he knew who wouldn't give him a morning headache.

Then he called it, patiently waited, and after a few seconds, he said, "Good Morning, Chris. Is there something wrong? Out of fifty missed calls, three of them were from you. What's going on?"

"Dude, I should be asking you if something is wrong with you. Since we spoke on the phone yesterday, I haven't been able to reach you." Chris's voice echoed from the speakers with the voice of others in the background.

Feeling frustrated, Jackson slightly rubbed his temper to relieve the stress building up in him. Then he sighed and said, "My phone has been on silent since yesterday. Wait, is Steven with you?"

"Yes, so is your entire family. We are standing in front of your gate." Chris's voice flowed into Jackson's ear.

"What? Why are you guys here!!"

"Well, everyone was worried because the last time you ignored all of our calls like this ended with you being in a one-year coma."

"Tell them to go home. I am fine."

"Dude, you have to do that yourself. I don't think I want to be the one to tell your mother that her son wants her to leave after all she had done since yesterday was worry."

As Jackson's index finger gently rubbed against his eyelid, he frowned and mumbled, "I will be with you guys in a sec."

Afterward, he tossed the phone on the comforter and got out of bed. Then he wore something comfy before heading out of his house.

When Jackson got to the gate, he exhaled deeply as he pressed the button and watched the gate slide open.

"Chris wasn't kidding. It's all of them. Seriously…" Jackson cried as he worriedly stared at Mr. and Mrs. Harper, then at Chris, Steven, Jennie, Julie, before blankly gazing at his mother.

"Son, what's wrong with your phone?" Rose asked when she met up with Jackson.

"Nothing… My phone is working properly." Jackson replied, feeling completely helpless now that everyone had surrounded him.

Out of anger, Rose slightly hit her son against his chest and shouted, "Then why didn't you answer!"

"I was busy, mom. I am not a kid, you know."

"And the last time I checked, I am still your mother!"

"I am sorry for causing a panic. But as you guys can see, I am fine. You all don't have to worry about me. Well, I was planning to sleep in today and rest, so…"

A frown settled on Steven's face as he angrily stared at Jackson and shouted, "You evil jerk! Are you trying to send us home after we have driven all the way here for you?"

"No, of course not. Please come in." Jackson half-heartedly said with a forced smile on his face when he saw the doubtful look everyone was given him.

Then all of them walked past him without uttering a word, and Jackson stood still for a second, feeling stress mounting up inside of him. Then he followed them into the house, hoping that chaos was not waiting for him inside.

When he arrived at the entrance of the living room, everyone had already made themselves comfortable on his couch and when their eyes met with his, Jackson stiffly smile. Then he slowly advanced further into the room.

"So what made you so busy that you missed your suit fitting?" Steven asked with a hint of anger in his tone.

"Well, personal stuff." Jackson nervously mumbled.

As Steven opened his mouth to speak, Julie entangled her fingers with his and softly said, "babe, I am sure it had to be extremely urgent for him to cancel on you. So let's cut him some slice, okay?"

Afterward, Steven said no other word, and when Julie's eyes met with Jackson's gaze, she lightly winked, and he softly smiled as his way of saying 'thank you.'

"We baked your favorite donuts." Mrs. Harper sweetly said as she lifted the box.

While smiling with his eyes, Jackson walked over to Mrs. Harper and accepted the box. Then his sight rested on Jennie staring back at him, and they didn't take their gaze off each other for a few seconds.

However, when Jennie's eyes hastily swayed away from him, Jackson stared back at Mr. and Mrs. Harper and said, "Thank you." Then he turned around and in that instant, his heartbeat ceased for a moment as his eyes widened while he looked at Miya.

Suddenly the living room went cold and silent as awkwardness took over the atmosphere. No one spoke as they all stared at her in shock.

'I can't believe this is happening again.' Miya anxiously thought as she stared down at Jackson's big sweater and back at everyone's faces.

Then she bowed her head and focused her gaze on the tile while digging her nails into her palm.

It took Rose a while to get over her shock, and once she did, her angry eyes settled on her son's distressed expression.

Then she frowned and asked, "Son, what is going on? The last time I was here, you said that you were just helping her out and there's nothing going on between you guys. So why is she in your house and dressed like that again."

The words inside Jackson's mind got stuck there as he looked at Miya while wondering if she would be okay with him telling his family the truth. Even though his head was telling him that he didn't need her approval, his heart told him that he did, and for some reason, he was only listening to his heart.

'Well, I'll be damn.' Chris thought as he looked at Jackson with a mischievous grin on his face.

While holding back his chuckled, Mr. Harper smirked and slyly said, "No wonder he seemed hesitant to let us inside his home. His lady friend is here."

"Stop it, honey." Mrs. Harper mumbled as she gently slapped the back of her husband's hand.

The nervousness Miya felt slowly shifted into anger when her negative thoughts crowded her mind and had her in its control. Then she frowned at Jackson and said, "You are so unbelievable. I can't believe you would do something this low."

"Wait, I didn't call them here. They came on their own." Jackson said before realizing that he should have just kept silent because now, everyone was questionably staring at him in disbelief.

Even though Miya wanted to believe his words, her mind kept telling her that Jackson invited his family over to pressure her into giving her kids over to him and it only caused her rage to consumed her.

After staring at the faces in the room for a moment, Miya's fingers caressed through her hair. Then she took in a deep breath and said, "Excuse me."

"What's your relationship with my husband?" Jennie said with tension in her voice as she watched Miya turn around to leave.

Although she knew that she didn't have the right to have such a feeling, Jennie couldn't help feeling mad when she stared at the look in Jackson's eyes every time he glanced at Miya.

"Well, umm… she's…" Jackson stuttered while struggling to figure out the words to better explain Miya and his relationship.

"She has a mouth of her own to speak for herself!" Jennie shouted.

The room fell silent for a while. Then Miya faced Jennie, looked her directly in her eyes, and coldly said, "I am the mother of his kids."