Chapter Thirteen

~Charmaine~

I had finished the party preparations, as Nicolae slept on the couch. Yazoo had already shown up as he helped me hang things I couldn't reach, the two of us were quiet. The sound of rushing feet came from the stairs, I looked as Aria ran to Yazoo, a picture in her hand, Yazoo looked down at the child, who held a drawing up to him. "What do you think?"

Yazoo looked at the drawing, then at the child, then back at the paper. "Think about what?" Was the teen's only response, a response of genuine confusion at the small child's question.

"My picture, I made it for daddy for his birthday, do you think he will like it?" Aria's green eyes beamed with excitement as Yazoo, looked at her.

"I'm sure he will, Aria. You made it, since when has he hated things you have made for him?" The teen looked at the child, as he went back to hanging the colorful string above the doorway leading to the kitchen.

Aria looked at me. "Momma, can I wake daddy up? I wanna play with him before the party. I wanna show him my picture."

I looked at the child. "You should let your daddy rest, Aria. He'll play with you later. Why don't you go outside and play, I'm sure you will find someone to play with and I'm sure you will find someone to show your picture to."

The child looked up at me with a smile. "Okay, momma." Aria ran back upstairs, as I looked in the living room to see that Nicolae was still sleeping soundly on the couch, I sighed.

"He's fine, Charmaine. Don't worry about him." The teen had said but his gaze was still on his task.

"Am I that obvious? Sorry." I found my seat at the table, looking around the decorative kitchen.

Yazoo sighed, taking the seat across from mine once he finished hanging the decoration. "You've looked into the living room every five minutes and sighed every five seconds, so something has got to be bothering you, and considering you watching big brother like a hawk, it's not that hard to figure out where your mind is and what you are worried about."

I leaned back into my chair, playing with a decorative napkin with a sigh. "Does he always sleep like this?"

Yazoo looked at me with a shrug, "I don't know, I always come later in the day."

The door opened as I heard laughter from Loz, the set of footsteps heavy as they came into the kitchen, Kadaj had a small, silver-wrapped present and Loz had a small, but longer present wrapped in green paper. "Where do you want these?" Kadaj asked with a sigh.

"I guess you can put them in the living room, on the table. That's where Yazoo put his."

The teen walked from the room, with the larger brother behind him. Moments later the two of them came back into the kitchen taking their seats at the table, Kadaj leaned back into his seat with a yawn, and Loz leaned forward with his elbows on the table, of the three teenagers, Loz seemed to be the only one that was excited to be here, the other two looked like this was the last place they wanted to be.

"So, Kadaj, Yazoo. Do you guys like birthday parties? Loz seems thrilled, but you two, you seem like you don't want to be here."

The two teens looked at me. Kadaj shrugged, as Yazoo didn't respond at all. "They are sticks in the mud, Charmaine. Don't worry about them, let's get the party started." Loz responded, to get looks from his brothers.

"We don't want to be here, Nicolae hates us, so what's the point in us showing up. He kicks us out of the house every time we try to come and see him." Kadaj stated.

"Kadaj, this isn't necessary, you can't blame Charmaine for Nicolae hating us, she did after all invite us," Loz said, looking at his brother, this caused Yazoo to sigh.

"What's your point Loz? Just because one person wants us around you come to their defense?" Kadaj spat, looking at Yazoo who looked at the two of them. "I'm not staying here, you can come to Yazoo, but I'm not staying where I'm not welcome."

Kadaj stood up and walked from the house, slamming the door behind him. Yazoo sighed once more, looking at me, leaning back in his seat. "You're wanting to leave too, aren't you, Yazoo?"

The teen looked at me. "Well, Kadaj isn't wrong in anything that he said. Nicolae doesn't treat the three of us like he wants us around." He sighed, but something he saw on my face caused him to sigh again in defeat. "But, no, I don't want to leave. I'll just endure this."

"You don't have to do this; I understand if you want to leave. If you feel unwelcome, I wouldn't stay someplace where someone didn't want me around either. I don't want you to stay because you feel like it would hurt my feelings if you walked out."

The teen looked at me, then with a sigh. "I'm not staying here because of your feelings Charmaine, I don't even know you, I'm enduring this because of Aria. She has never treated me like I wasn't welcome, I don't want to hurt Aria's feelings. I will not punish the only friend I have because of certain adults in the room. I care too much for that child to hurt her like that."

I leaned back further into my seat as the atmosphere in the room was tense, the sound of rushed footsteps ran down the stairs as Aria came into the kitchen looking at Yazoo, a frown on her small face. "Is Kadaj not coming? Or is he going to be late?" The three of us looked at her, as she ran to the door, opened it, then walked back inside with a downed head. "His motorcycle isn't outside; I had a bracelet I made for him." She sighed, walking back upstairs defeated.

Yazoo watched the child, then looked at the table when she was out of sight, and he looked at me. "That's why I won't leave this party, Charmaine. Despite Nicolae's ugly attitude towards me, Aria has been nothing but light in my world. When I'm feeling horrible or worthless, I can come here, and though Nicolae drives the nail deeper into the horrible and worthless feelings, Aria makes me believe I belong in this world, rather that be true or not."

"Is that true, Yazoo?"

The three of us looked to see Nicolae standing at the doorway of the kitchen, a sad expression on his face, the hint of an unshed tear in his eyes.