Her Reluctant Husband by Erica Marselas (books to read for 12 year olds .TXT) 📕

spend with my little Ju-Ju. Though she isn’t so little anymore.

As I head to the kitchen to grab a quick drink, I’m met with bellowing cries coming from down the hall. “Hello?” I call out, wondering what the hell is going on, and I know it’s not coming from the television. “June?” I call out. “Is that you?”

I make my way down the hall towards the depressing sounds that lead to the hall closet. “Ju?” I call again and I’m greeted by a whimper and fling open the door.

Inside, I find June’s curled up body huddled behind the winter jackets and the packed Christmas decorations.

"Ju Ju…what’s going on?” I get on my knees and crawl into the closet with her.

Her glassy eyes lift from her lap and she looks like sheer hell. I know she’s been going through a tough time since her father died last year and she has been drinking more to handle his death, but I didn’t expect to ever find her hiding in a closet, crying her eyes out.

"Alex, you’re home." She leaps into my arms, burying her face in my neck. 

"I am.” I pull her back and cup her face in my hand, gently brushing her tears away with my thumb. “What are you doing in the closet?"

“I just needed to be alone,” she mumbles as her eyes dart around the room.

“Alone?” I ask confused. “Ju-Ju there’s no one here. No need to hide in the closet.”

“I know. It’s just been a bad week and I wanted to hide away.”

“You could’ve called me or you could’ve called Deacon. He said he would check on you.” He’s about the only one I can trust to keep an eye on her.

“No,” she says sharply and her eyes dart around the room. “It’s just…” she bites her lip, “with Kathy and Liz gone the quiet was getting to me. I miss them...and you. I didn’t want to bother you with my problems. You’re so busy.” She frowns.

“Ju, I’m always here for you.”

“But you’re not,” she whispers and glances to her hands. Her words cut through me and I know I fucked up because I should’ve stood my ground harder and made her come stay with me while everyone is away. I shouldn’t have listened to her when she told me she didn’t want to. Telling me she would be fine.

“Listen, I’m fine. I’m just missing my dad tonight and this house is so empty. My mom…” She drifts off.

“What?” I pull her tighter into my lap. “Tell me.”

“She was too busy to come and get me. You’re too busy. Everyone is.”

“I’m sorry, Ju.”

“It’s okay.” She shakes her head and nuzzles her head against my chest. Her tears start to wet through my shirt. She smells of stale beer, but I can still make out the jasmine and vanilla in her hair.

“Have you been drinking?” I ask even though I know the answer… the smell is my answer. I just want to know if she'll be honest with me.

“Yes.”

“By yourself?”

“Who else am I going to drink with?” she snips. “And I need it.”

"The drinking is going to kill you, Ju-Ju."

Tears slip down her face and her eyes go bleak. "Would that be so bad?"

“It would be the worst thing ever.” Losing her would be like losing a part of me. I don’t know what I would do without her in my life.

“Alex,” she breathes, “I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

“Everything. I feel so trapped here. I can’t break out.”

“Have you been talking to the therapist?”

She grips the collar of my shirt and shakes her head. “I have, but he doesn’t get me. He thinks I’m overreacting and making up silly stories.”

“I think it’s time to get you to see someone else.”

“Who needs someone else? I have Jack and The Captain. They understand me.” She smirks.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

I scoop her up in my arms and carry her to my bedroom. I lay her down in my bed and pull the blanket up around her. “You need to try to sleep.”

“Can you lay with me?” She reaches out for me, with a pout on her face.

“Planning on it.” There was no way I was leaving her alone tonight. I kick off my shoes and take off my button down to get comfortable before slipping under the blanket with her. She curls herself into my arms, throwing her leg over mine.

I love this girl, more than I ever thought I could. For years, I thought of her the same way I think of Kathleen, like my little sister, but she’s stolen a piece of my heart. No other girl can hold a candle to the way June shines in my mind. She’s the only one who takes my shit and brings me down a peg. It’s just that she’s barely seventeen, going through a world of hurt, and I don’t think I can give her everything she needs. I work fifty to sixty hours a week at my job because I want to be able to provide for her and Kathleen one day. I can’t give her every second of me that she needs and deserves. She should be happy. Instead, she spends her days crying and drinking. I’m failing her and I’m failing her dad because I can’t break through to her. Even if all I want to do is take her away with me, show her how much she is loved.

For now, I pull her tighter to me, inhaling her sweet scent. I glide my hand under her shirt, dying to feel her bare skin and she hisses at my touch. “What happened?” I ask, lifting her shirt further, and she knocks my hand away, but