Lahat ng Kabanata ng Mommy, I found us a Daddy for Christmas : Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 60

"Okay, close your eyes."I furrowed my brow and looked up at Jaxon, wondering if I'd heard him right. We'd just gotten in the car after leaving his mother's house, the tension still hanging in the air like thick fog, and now he was asking me to close my eyes?"Jaxon," I began, a little unsure. "What are you—?""Just trust me," he said, with that warm, playful grin that reassuringly made me feel everything was going to be OK. "It's a surprise."Sighing, I leaned back against the seat, deciding to play along. "You know, I'm still recovering from the disaster that was dinner. You owe me big time," I teased in a light-hearted way, but couldn't quite shake off residual discomfort from that evening.Oh, I know," Jaxon said amorously, his voice riveting into her very soul. "I got this. Now close your eyes.I hesitated for a beat before obeying, willing to let him have his moment. A few minutes of silence passed as the car hummed steadily along the road. I could feel my pulse quicken just a l

The hospital was quieter now. The frantic beeping of monitors, the murmur of nurses walking past the hallway, the occasional shuffle of footsteps in the sterile, gray hallways. But in the room where Hazel lay, everything felt too still. Too quiet. The lights above flickered dimly, casting shadows that seemed to stretch longer and longer as the hours passed.I sat next to Jaxon, my fingers nervously twisting at the edge of my sleeve. His eyes hadn't strayed from Hazel since we'd arrived. The only sign of life in the room was the steady rhythm of her breathing-slow but there. He hadn't moved, hadn't really spoken, except for the sporadic whisper to her, asking her to hold on.It was like she just wasn't answering. Probably could hear him; probably couldn't. I don't know, all I know is the weight in that room was a lot to take on. Difficult to breathe here, almost like the air was just way thick and strangling. This unknowing kept chewing at me and digging inside just like it had Jaxson.

It is so funny how it all changes in a split second. A blink of a second, one short second might just alter the air around to turn the familiar world into something different altogether.I hadn't planned on it, and hell, I don't think either of us did. There we were, both exhausted, hanging onto each other in the sterile quiet of the hospital waiting room-a place that felt more like a prison than a place of healing. The tension between us had been building, not just over the last few days, but longer-under the surface, always there, just waiting for the right moment.Jaxon's arms were still around me, his hands stroking the back of my neck in slow, soothing circles. It wasn't like he was trying to push anything on me; it was just. comforting. It felt like a lifeline in the midst of the chaos. He didn't need to say anything; his presence was enough."I just…" I started, my voice breaking. I didn't know what I was trying to say. I didn't know what I needed to say. The words were caught

I don't know what it was, but the moment I watched Hazel's eyes flicker open, something changed. The burden of the last few days felt lifted off my shoulders, like I could breathe again. Yet, there was one thing that hadn't changed, no matter how much the world seemed to right itself. Isabel.It wasn't that things were bad between us—far from it—but the tension which had been in the air prior to Hazel collapsing hadn't dissipated by that time, not by a long shot. I could still feel the walls she had built around herself, like she was holding herself back from something.So, when I decided to take her out to dinner to celebrate Hazel's recovery, I really wasn't expecting fireworks or confessions. Actually, all I wanted was to spend time with her, trying to break some of those walls down. Remind her that I was here. Not just for Hazel-but for her.I stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, waiting for Isabel to get ready. The apartment was quiet, and the air had that heavy fee

"Is this him?" Jaxon asked, sliding the photograph across the table.The dimly lit diner smelled of burnt coffee and old grease, the kind of place where secrets felt safe. Across from him, the private investigator, a wiry man with deep-set eyes and a two-day-old beard, tapped his fingers against the edge of the picture before nodding slightly."That's your guy," the PI muttered. "Name's Evan Carter. Ring any bells?"Jaxon's stomach twisted. The name meant nothing to him. That was the problem."No," he admitted. "Never heard of him."The investigator exhaled sharply, as if that complicated thing. "Huh. Well, he sure as hell knows you."Jaxon sat back in the booth, hard thinking. First, there were the threats-an anonymous text, not explicitly stated but unsettling; letters, handwritten, personal, like the sender knew too much. Isabel didn't know he was doing this, hell, she'd kill him if she knew, but Jaxon had just never been the guy to sit on his thumbs while waiting for trouble to fi