Selena eased out of the embrace of her sleeping children, almost forgetting where she was until she seen Cinderella painted on the wall. She picked up Dylan and took him into his own room and tucked him in, letting him get an extra hour of sleep in.
After everything last night, Selena wanted nothing more than to just sleep and drift off into her dreams. She fell asleep in Naomi's bed as she read them a story, keeping them company like Jack had promised to do.
But now since she woke up, she didn't feel any better, in fact, she felt worse. Even after everything he did to her and put her through, what she did, didn't sit right with her.
Even though Selena told him to stop, she should've never let Adam go down on her. When she told him to stop, he did and when she went in the bathroom to get her head straight, she heard him pick up the phone and everything went downhill from there.
But that wouldn't matter to Jack, and she wasn't gonna force him to forgive her either.
Selena opened the door to her bedroom to see Jack lying on top of the bed, eyes fixed on the wall and on his side.
"Hey." She mumbled. "I didn't know you came back last night...Are you okay?"
"I'm okay." He responded lowly and unconvincingly, not moving his eyes from the wall.
Selena took a few steps forward, wanting to touch him, but to afraid too. "Do you still want to get a divorce?"
Jack shrugged. "Don't know."
Selena nodded and faked a smile even though he wasn't paying attention. "Oh, okay... I guess I'll go take a shower then cook for you guys."
She didn't wait for a response and went into the bathroom, undressing for her shower. As she let the hot water hit her skin, she waited for Jack to join her, but he never came and she knew that this was different, and nothing was okay.
She wished it was easy to tell him about her disease, but how? It hasn't even fully registered in her own head that she had it, now she had to say it out loud? No matter how she felt now, she should've never lied about being pregnant and she knew that she shouldn't have even had Adam in the house.
But, Selena had to live with it. The guilt gnawed like a worm at the core of an apple and regret hit her like a bus. Time was a bitch though, and the only thing she could do now is try to fix everything and keep moving forward.
After she got out the shower, she put on a blue off-shoulder jacket and matching pants before she flat ironed her hair, then exited the bathroom and into the bedroom.
It's been fifteen minutes and Jack hadn't moved an inch. Selena only ignored it and went downstairs and into the kitchen.
She started cooking pancakes and bacon, waking the kids up with the scent of maple. They ran into the kitchen and hopped up on the seats at the counter. "Morning Mom." They greeted in unison.
"Good morning." Selena smiled as she placed pieces of pancakes on each of their plates before turning around to finish cooking the bacon. "Don't put a lot of syrup on those pancakes, Nye."
She heard a small whine come from her daughter then a "ding" rang throughout the house.
"Dylan, you better not answer that door." She warned, setting the spatula down and turning around to see Dylan sliding back onto his seat.
Shaking her head, she went down the corridor and opened the front door where a girl with green eyes and dark long braids stood with a small smile.
"Uh, hey...Can I help you?" Selena asked, confused as to why Kiana was standing in front of her at her house.
"Jack left this at the studio last night." She held up a small notebook that contained every lyric that Jack had written. "Here." She said, handing it over to Selena.
"Thanks." Selena began to shut the door that was stopped by Kiana's hand. Selena's left brow arched. "Excuse you."
"I have to talk to him." Kiana told her, her eyes almost pleading, which didn't make Selena feel any kind of remorse for her.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
Shaking her head, Kiana dismissed Selena's assumptions. "It's not what you think. It's about my album. Strictly about my album. It was supposed to drop tomorrow, but he hasn't finished helping with it and since he probably won't, I need all the advice I can get."
Selena's limbs relaxed and she let out a huff, nodding her head. "Okay." She opened the door, letting her come in. "You have five minutes. He's upstairs."
A smile tugs at Kiana's plump lips. "Thank you." She then walks up the stairs and disappears into the bedroom.
Selena walked back into the kitchen where a minor argument was going on.
"Superman is better than Wonder Woman because he's a man, duh." Dylan stated obviously with his mouth full.
"A man that wears his underwear over his tights? Nope, I don't think so." Naomi quipped with a giggle.
Selena finished the rest of the food then slowly made her way upstairs, not sure what she was going to walk into. But when she got to the doorway, everything was okay.
Jack's back was against the headboard and Kiana was sitting on the edge of the bed next to his legs, facing him. They were in the middle of a low conversation that Selena quickly interrupted.
"Jack..." She said with two knocks on the door and a smile, hoping to get one in return from him.
Kiana's head turned towards Selena as Jack leaned his body a bit to see past her, his face remaining stone-still, causing Selena's smile to fall to the floor. "Your breakfast is ready."
Jack's eyes scanned her hard from head to toe, before just looking back at Kiana and continuing his conversation with her that Selena still couldn't make out.
Clearing her throat, she spoke up again. "Kiana, it's time to go." Ignoring another cold look from Jack, she shrugged and watched as Kiana gave him a small wave goodbye.
Selena then showed Kiana her way out, not sure if she was wearing a smile or scowl on her face.
When she heard slow footsteps coming down the stairs, she turned around and clasped her hands together. "You hungry?" She asked Jack.
Jack ignored her and walked into the kitchen where the kids greeted him. "Morning, Dad." They chirped.
"Morning." He gave them a faint smile and opened the refrigerator, grabbing the carton of orange juice. Pouring it into a glass, he seen a plate with pancakes and bacon land in front of him.
Jack didn't hesitate to slide it back towards Selena. "I'm not eating."
Selena's brows bumped into a frown as she leaned her side against the counter. "Jack, you haven't eaten since you got home."
"You probably said the same thing to Adam." He retorted roughly, putting the carton back into the fridge.
Selena cocked her head to the side as her eyes widened, taken by surprise and pissed that he said that in front of the kids.
She glanced over at the kids who seemed puzzled to the unfamiliar name. "Dylan, Naomi, your dad and I need to have a talk. Go clean up your rooms."
The two of them silently left the kitchen, leaving a strong tension between Jack and Selena.
"Okay, what the fuck? I better not hear you say anything like that in front of them again. I don't care how pissed you are, you don't talk like that in front of them." Selena scolded him as his eyes didn't move from the granite countertop. "Are you just going to ignore everything I say to you today?"
In response, Jack dumped his orange juice into the sink and grabbed his keys that were still on the counter from last night.
"Where are you going now?" She asked, not getting a reply. "Fine, don't answer me, but I have to work tonight and Cherry's out of town, so be back before eleven."
It's been over a week since what happened, and it was the same thing over and over for Selena, and she was getting exhausted with Jack's games.
Selena slid Tessa her second beer of the night across the counter before opening up a bottle of water for herself.
Tessa popped open her beer. "Why aren't you drinking with me?" She whined.
"Not in the mood for it." Selena lied when the real reason was because she couldn't. It was bad for her body with the disease spreading throughout her veins, she couldn't risk anything.
"You're just trying to get me drunk." Tessa teased, getting a chuckle out of Selena. "Where's your hubby?"
Selena shrugged. "Don't know. He's been doing this everyday. When he's here, he stays in bed and doesn't talk, and when he's gon-"
Selena's words were interrupted when she heard the front door open. She looked down the hallway and seen Jack glance at her for barley a second, then continue up the stairs.
Tessa leaned over the counter to try and get a peek down the hall, but failed. "Was that him?" She whispered.
Selena nodded then started whispering as well now that he's in the house. "And when he's gone, he's gone for hours and doesn't come back until late then it's the same thing over again, he's in bed and doesn't talk and barley leaves the room. When he leaves, he leaves."
Tessa shook her head then swallowed the hard brown liquor. "Do you guys sleep in the same bed?"
"If he's already asleep then yeah, I sleep in the bed, but if I'm asleep first, I'll wake up alone. It's like he refuses to acknowledge that I exist."
"All because of what happened with Adam?"
"I guess." Selena shrugged. "But I think it's more than that Tess."
"Like what?"
"He was in solitary confinement for a long time and he met his damn uncle in jail, and I don't know how that went, but he hated his real family...And ever since he's been out, he's different and quiet."
"So what does that tell you?"
"I don't wanna believe it, but being a doctor I pick up on this so quickly, but I was denying it for too long...I think he's depressed and I wouldn't be surprised, because he got depressed a few months after we started dating. It comes out of nowhere sometimes. But, the last time he was depressed was years ago."
"So, what are you gonna do?
"Don't know. I wanna help, but he doesn't want it. I'll try talking to him whenever I get the chance. If I try to help and he doesn't want It, then I don't know. You can't save someone who doesn't wanna be saved."