132 Claudia's Arrival

~Jacob~

It was hard to think of my problem surrounded by the Volkovs and the Stepanovs. They were a lively group of people to have. I would lie if I said my mother's confession did not gnaw at my soul occasionally. Still, there was always someone with a funny remark to pull me out of the depressive hole I was sinking into, like our eastern Leader, Erik Kozlov Stepanov. I did not know he was funny until now. He had a question for every sentence and every explanation Justin gave. And all his wife did was try to calm him down. It did not click that Noah and Sebastien were their grandchildren until Sebastien answered one of Erik's questions.

The twins snickered and chuckled at every question and every answer, even I couldn't help it. I laughed quietly, not wanting to get into the old man's bad books.

As funny as he sounded, I knew those were not his intentions. He genuinely was disappointed about the living arrangement as he was trying to create space for himself and his wife.

I knew when