You might be surprised with what happens in this chapter…
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Tori's POV
Even though I had a life out in LA, I wanted Shayla to stay in contact with Caleb's side of the family, because they were some of the greatest people I knew. So every few months, Andre and I would pack up and take the kids up to New York for four or five days. We brought Branson most of the time, but sometimes, he would be with Libby. When Branson was seven, Libby was officially allowed to be with Branson alone again and Branson was perfectly okay with that. But he only stayed with Libby every other weekend. It took a long time, but Andre had finally gained full trust of Libby again.
Shayla thoroughly enjoyed spending her time with her paternal grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. Each time she visited them, they would all have a special get together just so they could spend time with me and Shayla. Also, each time she visited, they would make sure that Caleb had no idea she was there. They were determined to not make Shayla face her biological dad ever again.
There was one particular weekend, though, when Shayla was ten years old that everyone except Jenna and her mother was busy, so Shayla just spent the full day with them at Michael and Joanie's (Caleb and Jenna's parents) apartment. Things didn't go so well.
…
Jenna's POV
My mom, Shayla, and I were having the best time. Since it was just us three girls, it was a girl's day. Tori would have been here and I wanted her to be with us, but she wanted to give us our own time with Shayla, which my mom and I weren't complaining about. We adored Shayla and are so grateful that Tori is letting us continue to see her.
Everything was going smoothly until the door opened and closed. I turned around and saw Caleb. My eyes widened at the same time he looked at me. "Hey sis," he said with a smile. "Watch out, your eyes are gonna fall out of your head."
"Crap," said my mom and I at the same time. I looked at Shayla. She was looking around confused. "Look down," I said in an anxious whisper to Shayla. When Caleb was almost right behind me and Shayla still hadn't looked down, I gave her a glare and she immediately looked at the ground and was able to hide her face from Caleb.
I stood up and got in Caleb's line of walk before he could get to Shayla. "Hi Caleb. Uh…what are you doing here?"
"Just came to visit my parents," he said. "Is that a bad thing?"
I gulped. "No, but…um…you should have called. And besides…Dad isn't here." Dear God, how could we forget to tell Caleb we were doing something today?
"Didn't think I had to call to come visit," he said as if he was confused. "Besides, Kaylee took Aliyah to Central Park, so I was at home by myself and thought that I would come here." Kaylee was his wife and Aliyah was his two-year-old daughter and I can guarantee you that he treated them right. We all kept a close eye on them when they visited and they all appeared very happy. Now that I think about it, Tori had a fake smile plastered across her face when she, Caleb, and Shayla visited us. Caleb had grown up in the last six years and he was a lot more mature. We never told Tori about Kaylee or Aliyah, because we didn't want to upset her. But it seemed like she would find out now with Shayla most likely listening to every word.
"Yeah, well um…" I started off, but Caleb interrupted me.
"Hey, who's that?" he said, trying to look around me.
I stood in his line of view and tried not to make it look so suspicious. "Oh, um…" I couldn't finish talking, because Caleb walked around me and stood next to Shayla, who had her eyes locked on the ground.
"Hey," he said.
"Hi," said Shayla, barely audible. She's not stupid; she knew who it was.
"What's your name?"
"Samantha," blurted out my mom. She stood behind Shayla and put her hands on her shoulders. "This is Samantha and…she's one of my new students this year." I let out a long sigh of relief. I momentarily forgot that my mom was a fifth grade teacher.
Caleb made a weird face. "But school hasn't even started yet. There's still like another week left of summer break."
My mom raised her eyebrows. "Do you have a problem with a teacher trying to get to know her students ahead of time?"
"Hmm," said Caleb. "Well…I guess not. It's still weird."
"Hey, I don't tell you how to mechanic." said my mom. "You just do you and I'll do me."
He gave her a thumbs up. "Got it," He looked at Shayla. "Nice to meet you," He turned around told me that he would go ahead and go to the park so he could see Kaylee and Aliyah. Then he left.
As soon as the door shut behind Caleb, Shayla burst into the tears. "Oh, my gosh," she mumbled with her hands covering her face. "Why was he here?"
"Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry." said my mom while sitting in a chair next to her and giving her a hug. "I feel awful, honey. We neglected to tell him that we were busy today. I'm so sorry."
When she somewhat recovered and could talk again, she said in between sobs, "Who are Kaylee and Aliyah?"
My mom and I glanced at each other. I sighed and sat down in a chair next to her. "Kaylee is his wife and….Aliyah is his two-year-old daughter."
Shayla shot her head up and looked up at me. She didn't even care about the tears that were stained on her cheeks. "You mean to say he has a wife and child when he physically abused me and my mom once upon a time?"
"Yeah," I said quietly. "But…he's changed. He treats them right."
I didn't know the right words to say, but apparently, those words weren't right either. Shayla became flaming mad. She stood up and exclaimed, "So if he treats his new wife and kid right, what did me and my mom do wrong? What did we do to deserve the abuse that we got?"
I didn't know what to say or do, so I looked to my mom and she cleared her throat, stood up, and grabbed Shayla's hands so she could look her in the eye. "Shayla, you and your mother didn't do anything wrong. Caleb is the one that was messed up. He's just grown and matured over the last six years."
Shayla yanked out of her grip. "I don't wanna be here right now." She turned around and walked past me and my mom. "I'm calling my mom and telling her about this."
"No, Shayla!" said my mom and she caught up to her before she could leave the apartment. "Please, don't do that. We can just–"
"Just what?" snapped Shayla. "Lie to my mom? Just like you've been doing ever since you knew he had a wife? Yeah, well, maybe you can lie to my mom, but I can't." She turned around and walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. I could hear her running down the hallway.
Oh boy.