Chapter twenty six Happy Birthday

Martin was in the kitchen having breakfast when his wife walk in. "Hi, sweetheart." He greeted her with a smile. "Hi, honey." "Is everything alright? You look upset." He said observing her frown. "I'm upset Martin because we're Christians now and I'm really considering dropping Kayla as my friend. I can't tolerate her behavior anymore."

"What happened; did you two have another quarrel?" He asks putting the dishes in the sink. "Why waste my breath, every time I see that girl she's with a different man and still she is asking me to talk to Tyler for her, why should I? She's obviously isn't going to be faithful to him. She'll never change." Susan said pouring a glass of juice. "She is almost four months pregnant, sleeping with all those men could hurt the child; seriously what is she thinking?"

"She's two weeks away from that mark but you're right, she could still cause the fetus harm but in all honesty, I think she's acting out because of what Tyler did to her." Susan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Alright we both know that what Tyler did was wrong but for crying out loud, how long is she going to use that as an excuse to act like an animal in heat?" Susan asks with disgust.

"Come on sweetheart that comment aren't fair, Tyler has already abandoned her and as much as she doesn't appreciate it, we're all she has left." He said taking her hands and leading her from the kitchen.

"We're the only people apart from her mom whom she hates for some reason who really and truly care about her. The men she's now running around with don't and Tyler clearly doesn't anymore so how can we honestly walk away from her now and still call ourselves Christians?" He asks heading into the bathroom.

A few minutes later he came back out and taking up his jacket put it on then took up his bag. "You can hold off on the talking to Ty bit but just be a little more patient with Kayla okay, she'll come around, now I've to leave for work, I love you." 'I love you too baby." She said kissing him passionately.

I was almost to my vehicle Friday morning when I saw Kayla leaning against it, my heartache with how much I miss her, how disappointed and angry I was at her, and most of all how much I still love her, yeah as much pain as I was in because of what she did to me, a part of me still loves her.

She was a vision of beauty; her hair flowed over her shoulders in dark luscious waves, her skin glowed radiantly in the morning sun, she still had her amazing curves even though her stomach had gotten a little bigger since the last time I saw her. She was twisting her hands nervously as she watched me walk towards her.

I stops in front of her but said nothing. "Please don't be angry at me for coming, it's just that I really miss you and I just wanted to see you." She said without looking at me. I wanted so much to be angry at her but for some reason, I just couldn't find the energy.

"Did you get any of my messages?" She asked with her head down. "I got all of them, how are you feeling?" I ask looking at her stomach. "We're okay." She answered massaging her stomach. "He's growing." She said taking my hand and putting it on her belly.

"He?" I ask, raising my brow. "Yes, can't you tell, it's a boy." She said placing her hand over mine. "Can you feel him moving?" She asks. "I think it's a little too early for that. Have you had breakfast?" I ask moving my hand over her belly. "No, not yet." "Would you like to join me?" "I would love to." She replied with a very bright smile. "Okay then gets in your car and follows me."

I was on my way back to my car when my phone rang; I checked it but didn't recognize the number. "Hello." "Hi, Tyler it's Susan." "What can I do for you Susan?" "Um…. Kayla had asked me to talk to you but before I do, I think there's something you need to know..." "No need." I snap cutting her off. "We just had breakfast and she's on her way home but I can understand why you feel obligated to plead her case seeing as though you were the one that encouraged her to cheat on me," I said coldly into the phone.

"Wait….What….Me…No. Tyler I didn't….. why would you say something like that?" "That's what she told me more than once; if she wasn't hanging out with you then she wouldn't have been tempted to cheat on me and now that she has gotten hooked she is finding it hard to stop and return to being a normal."

"Tyler no…I've never cheated on Martin ever….I....can't believe she would say that…I …." Susan's mind was spinning as she tried to come to grips with what Tyler just said. "You know what, don't sweat it, I'm not judging you, what's done is done and what you do is your own business, anyway I've to go," I said flatly. "Okay." She sobs before ending the call.

I was about to enter my vehicle when a man's voice behind me stop me. "Exactly who are you to Kayla?" He asks. I turn around slowly and look at the person walking towards me. "Who's asking?" I ask anger rising inside me.

"Kayla told me you are her brother but what I just saw between you two didn't look very brotherly to me, so just who the hell are you?" He demands. "Again, who is asking?" I repeat. "I'm Kayla's Fiancé." He said folding his arms across his chest. "Well up until a few weeks ago I was Kayla's Fiancé, I moved out of the house when I caught her in our bed going down on another man that wasn't you, by the way," I said with a snort.

"You must be the guy my brothers saw when they were moving my stuff," I said. "Yes I was but she said that you put them up to that." "Yeah, she also has the habit of going around telling people that I'm her brother but I can prove to you that I'm not," I said taking out my phone.

Janice hummed to herself as she placed a slice of cheesecake on a plate and cover it with a mesh; she then began washing up the last of the dishes and baking containers that were in the sink. Today was her birthday and so far she was having a wonderful day. She had entered the kitchen earlier to see Mrs. Melissa and Miss Mona rushing around the kitchen like busy bees and seeing how many things they were doing at once she had offered to help which they gladly accepted, so washing her hands she had then began packing pastries in boxes and then she helped the ladies to pack them in Mrs. Melissa's vehicle which took a while because there was so many. After the ladies left Janice went back to the kitchen to tidy up and eat a snack.

She was amazed at how loving they were to her. Tyler had literally picked her up from the side of the road and now they have practically made her a part of their family. Anna treated her like a sister and the men of the family treated her as if she was a precious egg that would break at any minute.

Tyler who in her opinion is very handsome with his incredibly well-shaped physique, short dark hair and very adorable dimples came into her room yesterday evening carrying two big shopping bags, he gave them to her and told her to look inside, she did and saw that one was filled with clothes and other things for Faith and on top of the other was a big note saying happy birthday when it arrives, he did that because he was working nights and wouldn't be here in the morning and he wanted to give her presents early.

She removed the note and under it was a black box; she opened it and gasped at the sight of an exquisite digital camera. "Happy birthday." He said with a smile as her mouth dropped open in shock. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen but that was only the first item in the bag; not in her wildest imagination could she have guessed what was still in the bag and as she lift-out box after box, she found it extremely hard to hide her excitement.

Along with the digital camera, she got an iPod and a laptop. He had then taken her and Faith for their walk outside while giving her juicy details about his work like she had begged him to do whenever she was around him.

The Jackson's had six dogs, two German Sheppard, two Pit bulls, and two Rottweiler and just the size of the six beasts scared her half to death. The first time he took her outside he had told the two German Sheppard that was named Prince and Hailey to protect her and Faith 'His exact word were, 'Protect.' He then let them smell her and Faith and ever since then whenever she stepped outside, no matter what they were doing the two beasts would stop and follow her.

It amazed her how well they followed orders and if she was honest with herself she would've to admit that she felt a lot safer with them around; because the last thing she wanted was for her nightmares of Leon finding her and hurting her and her daughter to come true.

Memories of her parents flashed through her mind as she sat down. She placed the plate before her and was about to take a bite when Caleb entered the kitchen. "Happy Birthday to you." He sang sitting down beside her. "Thank you Caleb." She said softly.

"Alright leave that piece of cake for dessert because I brought you a birthday lunch among other things." He said putting a bag in front of her. The thank-you he got was so soft and full of gratitude that he wished he had brought a lot more than he had but she was going to love the handbag and the watch he had gotten her.

"So, Ty told me you were an SDA." "What's a SDA?" She asks softly. "A Seven day Adventist." He laughs. "Yes I was but I left my church to be with Leon and that was the biggest mistake of my life." "I know what you mean, I guess Ty could relate, he too left the church to be with Kayla, and look how that turned out." He said taking a bite of his sandwich.

"So I guess you'll be attending church with my mom and sister tomorrow?" "No, no, I can't leave this house. He's out there; you know that, I can't go out there…." She said hyperventilating. "Hey, hey calm down, you don't have to, I'm sorry I mention it," I said soothingly. "Well maybe he can go with mom, it may take his mind off of you know who." "Okay, that may be a good idea but I can't go, I can't ever leave this house." She said taking another small bite of her sandwich.

"I don't wish to spoil your birthday but I think it was because that Leon guy knew that you didn't have any family why he treated you the way he did," Caleb said leaning back in the chair.

"He knew you didn't have any one to come to your defense, well until now that is." Caleb snorts angrily. "Until now?" She asks with a puzzled look on her face. "Yes because I dare a man to lay a hand on you again without your permission, I dare him and I know you keep saying that you don't want this Leon guy to find you…." He stops and took a deep breath.

"But I'm praying that he does Janice because I'm literally itching to get my hands on this man, see how well he can handle someone his own size." He said folding his fingers in a fist. "So where is my little brother?" He asks looking behind him.

"The last time I checked he was sleeping." "And where's little Faith?" She's also sleeping and Miss Alice is ironing." "Alright then; my mom ask me to cut some fresh flowers from the garden for the living room, want to come with me?" she nods her head yes. "Okay we'll go get them as soon as we're finished."

Janice studied the man next to her; he had a hostile temper and spends most of his time in a very bad mood. She noticed also that where Tyler had cute dimples Caleb had more of a straight face with strong cheekbones and a nerve that twitches at the side of his cheeks whenever he was in one of his moods, which was very often; his eyes were so dark they often send chills down her spine.

Fabian also had dark eyes but nowhere as menacing as Caleb's and minus the temper. Fabian was more of an easy going kind of guy even though he didn't look like it. Her eyes moved down to his muscles that flexed as he move his arms up and down, his biceps were huge but they went with his big broad shoulders and his muscular body.

He reminded her not only of Leon but one of those bouncers that usually stand at the door of nightclubs as she usually sees in movies. As thick as Leon was he was no match for this guy.

Caleb smiled to himself as he watched her eyes roam over him. "What do you think? I can take him right?" His question made her realized just how intently she was staring at him and she could feel her cheeks getting hot. She immediately held her head down while nodding yes. Caleb chuckled deep in his throat as an image of a timid child that was caught doing something wrong cross his mind.

Thank you all for reading

Food for thought

Pray for several people or families near you and ask God to love them through you, and without nagging, invite them to church. We're to be channels of God's truth not reservoirs.