Pieces of Me by Pua Ramona (small books to read txt) 📕

wiping off the counters, I make myself useful by sweeping the floor. “Here, I’ll hold that for you.” She reaches for the dustpan but I stop her. We finish sweeping up as a little team. I walk to the sink to wash my hands and she passes me a beer.

“There you go,” she says. I take it from her as she picks up a cup of tea for herself. “Should I grab a jacket?” she asks.

“Let me grab you a blanket, or would you rather wear a jacket?” I ask.

“A blanket would be fine” she says. I fetch one from the hallway closet and walk back to where she’s waiting. I hand it to her then open the door so she can walk out first. “Oh my god! Eli, this is beautiful” she says looking around and taking in the scene. She sighs. My heart starts doing stupid funny shit. “I didn’t know that you had all of this back here.” She says.

I look at her and say “Well, now you do.”

She smiles and says “Do you mind if we move a couple of chairs by the water?”

“Here, you grab my beer and I’ll grab our chairs'' I say and she walks ahead of me and picks a spot under one of my favorite trees.

“Do you want to sit here, or should we be extra cool and sit on the dock?” she asks.

I start laughing. “If your ass falls in the water I’m not saving you.”

She flips me off and says, “The dock it is then.” I make sure our chairs aren’t too close, because the last thing I want her to think is that I’m trying to get into her pants.

I look back to the house and ask, “Is Emma going to be okay?” because I’m feeling nervous again and don’t know what to talk about next.

“Yeah, she’s out for the night plus I had checked on her before we came out here. She’ll be fine” she says. She hands me my beer then sits down on her chair. “It’s so peaceful out here,” she says quietly. “I’ve always wanted a house that had a lake in the backyard, with a dock,” she says. “All you’re missing in yours is a gazebo with little white lights all over. So when you turn them on at night it’ll look like you have baby stars and fireflies everywhere. Oh! And you also need a built in fire pit.” She closes her eyes and takes in the fresh air. “You know; this is probably the first time we’ve had an actual conversation without fighting, me crying or us having hate sex” she says with a light laugh.

I take a drink of my beer. “Can we start over again?” I ask.

She looks at me and smiles. “Hi, I’m Masiina Peterson,” she says.

I chuckle and reach for her hand. “Hi, I’m Elijah Hunter and I can be a dick sometimes.”

She laughs. “I heard, but I’ll be the judge of that.”

Before I let her hand go I say, “I’m sorry about Micah and Baby Eli, Sina.”

She takes a deep breath and says “Me too. I’m just glad that they have each other, and now they can be with Daddy.”

I give her hand a squeeze and say “And mine.”

She squeezes my hand and says “We’ll be okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” I let go of her and for some reason my gut is telling me that this is calm before the fucking storm.

Chapter Fifty

Sina

I don’t know how long we sat on the dock for but it didn’t matter because I needed this so bad. I was afraid that when everyone left that things were going to be weird between us, but it was the total opposite. Everything he’s done tonight was all for me and I couldn’t be angry with him anymore. He welcomed my family in his home and treated them as if they were his own family. To see how close and how at ease he was with them made my heart smile. I tried so hard to be angry with my family, but after Eli spoke to me in the room, I realized that he was right. I mean, we all had our reasons why we all kept my pregnancy and Micah’s cancer away from each other. And I know now that I would never keep anything important from them again. And I hoped they would do the same for me.

I need my family just as much as they need me right now, and shutting them out would cause too much drama and hurt.  Plus, I’m sure if Daddy were here he would have called a family meeting and called us out on everything. We are all hurting and the only way we can heal is by holding each other up the same way Daddy would have wanted us to. I’m still hurting, but being with my family, Reese, Leila, Marino, Mama Hunter and Eli helps a lot with the pain. Having Emma here with me helps a lot as well. Losing the baby isn’t something we were prepared for, but I know my little girl is hurting too so I need to suck it up and be there for her. It hurts my heart that she has to deal with this at a young age, but I know she’s going to be okay. Maybe not tomorrow or the next day, but I know she is a strong little girl.

I drink the rest of my tea and set it to the side of my chair. I look over at Eli, and he’s lost in his own thoughts, so I don’t say anything. We sit there in silence for a few minutes more until he says, “Dance with me.”

It wasn’t a question, but it wasn’t a demand either.

“Dance here?” I ask.

“Why not? I won’t let you fall Sina, I promise.” I believe him. I don’t know what changed, but I know Eli is being