Hey guys. Don't forget to check out my blog. Here's chapter 2. And thanks to my editor Mococoa :)
**LilMami07**
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"What's the matter with you?" Ashley asked while fishing through the fridge for something to hold her over until dinner.
"Nothing. Why are you here?" Brian asked frustrated. It's not that he didn't love his sister, because he did. Something about her just irked his short nerves.
"Well dearest brother, I just so happen to live here too," she said matter-of-factly.
"I know, but why are you here? Don't you have somewhere to be?"
"Jeez. Someone's crabby today. What's your deal?"
Brian waved her off and went down the hall to his bedroom. He plopped down lazily on his bed and let his eyes close so that he was greeted with darkness. The only thing he kept seeing was the hurt on his Giselle's face when he questioned her about the baby. Their baby. He felt like such a douche. God knows what she must feel like trying to deal with this alone.
He'd known Giselle for a really long time, and she was one of his best friends. If she said she was pregnant, she was. She wouldn't lie about that. She never lied about anything. The thought of fatherhood at such a young age terrified him. There was so much more he wanted to do. To become.
He loved Giselle, but they weren't in a relationship. She felt it was best that way. But she promised him that even if he wasn't exclusive with her, he would be her only. She had too much respect for herself to sleep around. He'd never thought about having kids, but he knew Giselle would make a good mother. He watched her help raise her brothers. She was good with them.
She gave him the cold shoulder at school and didn't want him around. But he couldn't just walk away. He made a promise to Josiah and Isaiah that he'd always be the big brother they never had. He took them to their football practice and games throughout the week. Sometimes their mother had to work and Giselle was trying hard to juggle them, school full-time and a part-time job, so he stepped in. They needed a man in their lives, and he wanted to be a positive role model to them. He wished his own dad had a more active role in his life.
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Giselle walked into the house and watched her brothers trample around in the living room as her mother finished getting dressed for work.
"Guys, Brian said he's gonna be a little late. He has more important things to do," she said slamming the paper, the mail and her things down onto the kitchen table.
"Ahh man," Josiah whined. "We wanted to get there early so we could beat Michael. He's always first."
"Well I could take y'all," she offered.
"Hell no," Isaiah insisted. "I don't want everybody to see you take us there. You're a girl."
"Boy you better watch your mouth!" their mother yelled from the back room. "I'll have it so you don't go to football practice for a week!"
Giselle laughed as Isaiah stuck his tongue at his mother.
"And you better not be making faces at me neither."
"I'm not," Isaiah lied.
"So either I can take you and you'll be early, or you can wait around for him," Giselle offered. Isaiah made a disgusted face.
"We'll wait, Giselle," Josiah said.
"Okay," Giselle said smiling at him. He was always the good one. Isaiah was the devil. She shrugged and went to her room.
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Giselle half-heartedly flipped through the pages in her yellow legal pad full of confessions, secrets, and thoughts. She hadn't written in it in months. She'd been too wrapped and tied up in her and Brian's hump fest to write. But now she had to vent or she'd explode. Certain things she couldn't talk to Ashley about. Like fucking her brother and winding up pregnant.
October 3rd
What a blah day. I hate that bitch Victoria. If I could strap her to a rocket and blast her ass to Mars I would. She's just trying to get next to Brian. He's probably fucked her already. Ughhh. I'm tired of it all. I'm a mess; an emotional wreck. I didn't know being pregnant could make you feel like this. On top of that, I'm on my own with this. Why doesn't Brian believe me? He's the only guy I've ever slept with. I don't know what I'm gonna do. Ashley's gonna flip out once she finds out her brother's the father of my baby. She's going to hate me and resent my baby, and then I'm gonna be friendless. She'll probably tell Victoria all my secrets, so she'll have more shit to embarrass me about. Life was so much simpler when I was a kid. Broken bones, cuts and scrapes hurt a lot less than a broken heart. Loneliness is about the scariest thing there is.
The sound of a door slamming shut obstructed her train of thought. Giselle sighed and closed her pad and went to look out her window. She saw him standing outside hugging her mom, and Isaiah and Josiah ran up to him. Giselle rolled her eyes and plopped back down on her bed. Maybe if she closed her eyes and counted down from 100 he'd disappear.
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Giselle found herself sitting beside the little dark-haired, grey-eyed girl Mrs. Graham referred to as Ashley. Giselle would sit by herself like she always did and watch on as the girl harassed the other third grade classmates. She'd just reach over and grab Giselle's markers if she laid them down. She picked on one girl about her lunchbox and another boy about his glasses. She threatened to call her mother on the teacher because she was told she would have to miss recess for her behavior.
One day, Ashley sauntered over to the raven-haired silent Giselle and began playing with her pigtails. Giselle looked at the girl out of the corner of her eye before turning toward her.
"My mom doesn't want people touching my hair," Giselle squeaked out. Honestly, she was a little frightened. She'd seen what Ashley was capable of, and Giselle was never good at confrontation.
"Oh," Ashley said flatly. She eyed the brown skin, raven-haired girl and gave her a big toothy smile. "Do you want to be friends?"
Giselle didn't know what to say. She looked around the class at the other students who never gave her the time of day. She eyed the fat boy in the corner who always teased her. If Ashley was her friend, no one would mess with her she thought before looking back into Ashley's large grey eyes and replied simply.
"Sure."
The two were best friends ever since. Neither was too good at making friends. Giselle was too bashful and meek while Ashley spoke her mind and didn't hesitate to hurt someone's feelings. But Ashley always treated Giselle kindly and had her back in any situation.
"Brian, this is my new best friend Giselle. Giselle, this is my doofus brother Brian," Ashley said the day her mom brought the two girls to her house after school.
Giselle blushed as she stared at Ashley's older brother. He was cute. Really cute. Everything about this family was beautiful, from their large house to the people.
"Cool name. Nice to meet you Giselle," he replied politely.
It was love at first sight for Giselle. She knew she didn't stand a chance though. She was 9 and he was 13. Ashley had said that Brian talked on the phone to girls, played sports and stayed up late. Giselle's mom didn't let her talk on the phone to boys, and she had to be in bed by 9 p.m. He was way too cool for her.
Over the years Brian had come to like Giselle. He knew she had a crush on him, but he didn't let that affect their friendship. She wasn't like his bratty sister. She was quiet, and he could actually hold a conversation with her. She became a permanent fixture in their lives and one of his best friends.
He met her mother and father. Eventually her father fell off the face of the earth and left Giselle's mom to raise three children by herself. Giselle was a good girl. She did whatever she could to help her mother. Even in her teenage years, on many occasions, she would pass up opportunities to hang out and stay home to watch her younger brothers. She even got a job at 16 to help out with the finances.
She'd always acted mature for her age, but once her body caught up with her mind, Brian noticed. He watched her transform from a shy pig-tail wearing little girl to a beautiful smart young woman.
He escorted the dateless Giselle to her senior prom against her will. It was Ashley's idea. He didn't mind, though. That way he could make Giselle's night special while keeping an eye on his sister, protecting her against and warning off all the jerks who looked in her direction.
That night was special all right.
The two families got along great, but Brian wasn't so sure how much they would react once news got out Giselle was pregnant with his baby.
He knew how his parents were. They were snooty as hell and were all about reputation. Knocking a girl up would not look good in their eyes, unless she was from a wealthy family. He just wouldn't tell them. It's not like they came around often enough to find out. That's how they were. They'd always been like that. Distant. So far away yet in the same house. His parents were a good support system financially. They bought him and Ashley things, but that was it. They weren't there emotionally. Giselle's mom was there for him though. She was his second mom. He could talk about anything with her, and she acted as if she actually cared. She wasn't rich, but she busted her ass to take care of what was hers and was very protective over her children. No matter how old they got, they would always be her babies. Who really cared what his parents would think about Giselle's pregnancy? It was her mom he was worried about disappointing.
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"Josiah made a touchdown today," Brian said between forkfuls of homemade mashed potatoes.
After the boys' football games, they had all sat down to the family's table and ate the late meal Giselle's mother had prepared. It was a routine thing for them. They ate together at least once a week. These people were Brian's second family.
"Good job baby. I'm proud of you."
Josiah gave a wide toothy grin to his mother across the dinner table.
"I tackled David today, and he's really big," Isaiah chimed, not wanting to be forgotten. Josiah always got attention.
"Yea," Brian chuckled, "right before you kicked him in the side and had to sit out for a quarter."
"Isaiah!" His mother exclaimed. "Now I done told you about that little temper of yours. You gon' mess around and get your ass beat one of these days."
"No I'm not. I'll knock 'em out, mama. I'm tough."
"Yea. Keep it up and see how tough you are. You better get that outta your system, boy. You ain't gonna turn out to be one of these little hard-headed trouble makers."
Isaiah sighed loudly and rolled his eyes at Brian.
"And don't get mad at Brian and act ashamed. He didn't tell you to kick that boy. I do too much to keep you on the right path for you to mess up. I'm tired of talkin' to you about it, too. Now you gonna straighten up or Imma pull you off that team, you hear me?"
"Yes ma'am," he pouted.
"You better," she said sternly before turning her attention to her daughter. "Giselle, baby. You're mighty quiet over there, and you barely touched your plate. What's the matter?"
Brian looked down at his plate and Giselle looked up at her mother.
"Nothing Mama. I'm just not really hungry, I guess," she shrugged.
"You feel okay?" she asked concerned.
