Lahat ng Kabanata ng Mommy, I found us a Daddy for Christmas : Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

I could feel the tension in the house, thick and suffocating. Every time I looked at Jaxon, it was like we were both walking on eggshells, barely holding it together. He was trying to shield me from the reality of it all, but Lauren's threats were growing more dangerous by the day, and it was only a matter of time before they would come crashing down on all of us.We sat at the kitchen table, me half-staring at the cup of coffee in front of me, Jaxon tapping his fingers against the edge. I knew what he was thinking-he was worried. I could see it in the way his eyes kept darting to the door, like he expected Lauren to show up any minute.I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this up, Isabel," he said, his voice low, almost as if he was trying to keep the weight of the words from suffocating him. "I've tried everything to keep her away from you and Hazel, but she's relentless.I didn't know what to say. It had all spiralled so fast with Lauren-the whole situation just seemed to conti

"Can you pass me the bottle?" I asked, not looking at Jaxon as I reached for the ketchup on the table. We sat in the kitchen quietly eating, the clink of cutlery and the hum of the refrigerator the only sounds filling the air between us. It was this way for quite a while: moments of equilibrium, only to be cut short by tensions that seemed to hover over everything we were doing. Co-parenting was getting easier, but this. this unease was another kind of challenge altogether.He passed the bottle in silence; his movements deliberate as if not to touch me. Every touch now felt charged, even the slightest gesture that quickened my heartbeat and swirled my mind with memories that I was not ready to relive."Thanks," I muttered, unscrewing the cap and squeezing out the ketchup onto my plate.Jaxon didn't respond. He just kept eating his own meal, his eyes darting over to me every now and then before quickly looking away. We'd had this dance for weeks, trying to stay civil, attempting not to

I had finally begun to doze off, my body only now relaxing after the chaos of the last few days. Hazel had been sleeping for hours, curled up in her room just down the hall. The house was quiet-almost too quiet.Then, I heard it-an unmistakable sound, a soft creak from downstairs. In an instant, my heart slammed in my chest, and I was frozen in place. Next to me, Jaxon stirred, sensing that something was wrong before even I could react."Isabel?" His voice was low, groggy, but laced with that edge. "Did you hear that?"I nodded, catching my breath. "Yeah… I don't know. I thought it was nothing."But then, the other sound was louder this time. A slow, deliberate, heavy step-that was unmistakable. There was someone in the house. My heart leaped, and I bolted upright."Stay here," I whispered, but Jaxon was one step ahead. He didn't need a second longer, and that was one of the things I loved most about him. He never ran from anything that got in his way, let alone protecting anyone who

I really couldn't remember when this argument started, but what I knew was that it was one of those moments, you know-when everything breaks. Jaxon was red from his anger, with his tightly clenched jaw, throwing accusation after accusation at me. My temper was just as short, and it was like we went to war—every word from him a grenade, every word from me a bullet. I don't even remember what it was about anymore. Maybe it was the constant tension, maybe the trust issues we're still dancing around, but tonight, everything boiled over.Why do you always do this, Isabel?" Jaxon's voice was tight, his hands balled into fists at his sides. "You push me away every time things get tough.""I'm not pushing you away," I spat, my chest rising and falling with each breath, my heart pounding."From me?" he snapped back, his expression twisted with disbelief. "I'm not your enemy!"I never said you were," I snapped back, my voice raised. "But you can't keep doing this to me, Jaxon. You can't keep pu

There was silence in that room, even thick, inescapably more than common. I'm just standing, my eyes off out the kitchen window, those pale shades slanted across the floor. Fingers wrapped with cold coffee already for a pretty while. Every inch of bearing upon me came up to something hardly bearable; the previous few days served just to push everything over a very steeply raised edge.Jaxon hadn't come home yet, but I could feel him coming-my presence looming, even before the door creaked open."Isabel," his voice broke through my thoughts, soft, as if he wasn't quite sure whether to disturb me or not. I turned around, but my eyes didn't meet his. I couldn't. Not yet."What is it, Jaxon?" My voice sounded a little more distant than I meant it to.He took a deep breath, and I felt the hesitation in him, weighing each word before he set it free. "I found something," he said low, as if it was some sort of secret.I lifted an eyebrow, curiosity warring with wariness. "What are you talking