He knew it was possible. He knew about how old Tony’s son should have been. He knew they’d be in school together. He did not anticipate this. He knew Aubrey had no idea why he was upset, and he didn’t blame her. Yet, somehow he expected this not to happen. Similarly to how things worked out after the tragedy, he thought things would continue working out for him. Like, maybe the Watcher would work in his favor so they wouldn’t meet. That was a pipe dream, and he knew it. Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. But, just in case he thought he could get away this time, his voice of reason was on her way to make it abundantly clear he could not escape this.
He was hurt, but he hurt his daughter too. Skyla sat and watched him for a few moments. He knew what she wanted to hear, but he couldn’t commit to the words. It felt like he was guilty and innocent at the same time, and he couldn’t make eye contact with her.
“You know it’s not her fault,” she said, finally.
“I know…. I’ll apologize to her later.”
He heard a loud sigh and knew what was coming next.
“Jonathan…please…just tell her. Both of them!”
He sighed this time.
“I know it’s unpleasant for you, but don’t you think they deserve to know what’s happened in their own family?”
He continued eating.
“They don’t know who they are! They should know the truth, and they need to hear it from you.”
She was right, but he couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t understand.
“It’s a miracle they haven’t figured it out yet. I understand why you don’t want to, but please…do it for them.”
“You don’t understand.”
Her eyes widened. She wasn’t expecting that. Neither was he.
“You can’t!” He was on the verge of tears. “You don’t have things in your life you’re ashamed of…that your children may look at you differently because of them. You don’t have to worry about losing their respect!”
Her eyes blinked a few times and her eyebrows moved toward each other. “Is that what this is really about? You’re worried they won’t look up to you? That they won’t love you anymore?”
He turned away from her.
“Jonathan…my love, do you realize how silly that sounds?” Her voice was so sweet. “Those girls are crazy about you!”
“You always wonder why they don’t tell you things like they tell me. It’s because they don’t want to disappoint you! They just want to please you…especially Aubrey. There’s nothing you can do to make them respect you less…”
A hint of a smile attempted to form. He knew it was silly to think he could jeopardize his daughters’ love, but it was a very real fear he had. How could he conquer it?
“But, maybe they should…”
“Should what?”
“Respect you less.”
He sighed. “Why?”
“Because…. You say you’re doing this to protect them, but you’re only trying to protect yourself. You’re not thinking about them at all. That’s pretty prideful and selfish. Do you think a person like that deserves the level of respect you get?”
Aubrey and Maya were so lucky to have her as a mother. Even in her moments of chastisement, she was still just as sweet and kind and loving as she always was. She had been harping on this for a long time, but he never listened. He forced her to bring out the big guns, and now he was wounded. But, Skyla loved him too, and she would dress his wounds, nurse him back to health, and help him prepare for the next battle. He didn’t think he would ever be ready for it, but just like every other area of his life, with her by his side, he could conquer anything. She was always right, but he hoped she was more than right this time.
Wow . She was really honest with him . I love that she holds him accountable .
Skyla is definitely not an enabler. That’s for sure! This is really important to her, and she won’t give up.
I thought it’s hard for him to talk about it because it still hurt. It didn’t occur to me he feared losing respect of his daughters. Well, at least he hadn’t lost his appetite completely. 😀
But wait a minute, aren’t Julio and Aubrey distant relatives? Tony said he was a son of some Pruett spare or something, didn’t he?
Yeah, it didn’t occur to me either until it did. 🙂 You know how comforting food is LOL.
I mean, the relational distance between them is like 400+ years LOL. For all intents and purposes they’re not related lol, but yes…their families are on the same tree…different branches 😛
So, there was Xavier, right? Xavier had Donovan. Donovan had Aidan and Thaddeus, the illegitimate son. Tony comes from Thaddeus, and Jonathan comes from Aidan.
Hey, I ship them, so if the blood relations are almost non-existent I couldn’t be more happy. :p
HA!
Rip the band-aid off. The girls deserve to know.
I wonder how the knowledge will affect Aubrey and Julio. I wonder how much he knows about what happened.
I wonder too lol. I do know that Julio knows nothing. His butler does though, but he was instructed not to tell him until after his YA birthday.
Really?? If they’re done with prom now, YA is coming soon. So Julio may learn the truth right after Aubrey does.
I hope they compare their fathers’ version of events!
I don’t recall how old she is. Seems like she’s 10-15 days from YA, but Julio is older than her! Oooh, I just remembered that. I need to consider this lol.
You’re welcome!