Seeds of Jealousy

Brianna



I open my eyes to find we’re all still in the car. Looking over at my mom who is feeding the twins, I sit up.



“Mom, what is going on? Why are we still in the car? I thought we were just taking the twins for a drive.” I take one of the twins to help her out.



“Brianna, we aren’t going back. Justin wants full custody and I can’t give them up. Not to anyone, but especially not to him,” she informs me.



“Mom, you could have just talked to them. I know Justin would have listened if you told him things have changed. Besides, Justin said he wanted joint custody,” I tell her, yawning.



“The papers say full, and he didn’t say joint.”



“Mom, he did but I guess you weren’t listening,” I try to reason with her.



“I never should have let my guard down,” she says angrily. “I knew I couldn’t trust him. He looked so smug, thinking that he’d won. He thinks he’s got Brian and now he thinks he can have my kids.”



“They’re his kids too, Mom,” I point out quietly.



“Through no choice of mine,” she huffs. “The only reason I agreed to let him see them at all is because that’s the only way to keep Brian in my life. I would have gone along with it for a while, but I know Brian would have eventually realized that we’re a family. It was only a matter of time and Justin even took that from me.”



She’s starting to scare me a little. I never really knew she disliked Justin that much. I don’t want to run away from my dads and the new family we’ve found. “Mom, I want to go back.” I start to cry.



“Brianna, you know we can’t. Justin will take them away from me, and just for the hell of it, he will have Brian take you from me, too. Is that what you want?” she asks sternly.



“No, they wouldn’t…” I try to say but she stops me.



“Don’t say ‘they’,” she cuts me off. “Your father’s not the one to blame here. It’s Justin. He’s blinded Brian to what’s right so now we can’t trust either of them.” She touches my cheek, her voice softening slightly at the sight of my tears. “It will be OK. We did fine without them for ten years and we will be fine for a while longer until your daddy finally sees the truth.” She lays Justine in her car seat as I place Aidan in his.



Sitting back in the seat I look out the window, silently crying to go back home.



“Honey, listen to me. It’s better this way. We can’t trust Justin. It will all work out, you’ll see.”



I just nod my head.



Dee



I can’t believe that little weasel thought he could get away with this. I look in the back and see my sleeping babies and can’t help but smile.



“Mom, where are we going?” Brianna asks me.



“I don’t know yet. Just relax. Your sketch book is in the bag,” I reply, never taking my eyes off the road.



We have been driving a total of eight hours. Would have been more, but I have to stop and feed the twins and stop for Brianna and I to eat, plus gas. Thankfully, the twins are young enough that they’ve slept through most of it.



Seeing that Brianna is tired after the long hours on the road, I pull up to the first hotel I see.



“We’ll get a room for the night, here. Grab your brother.” Getting out of the car, I help Brianna with Aidan as I get Justine. Justine. Christ, I can’t wait to change that.



As we walk into the hotel, the man behind the counter looks up. “How may I help you?” he asks, smiling at the kids.



“We need a room. Two beds, please.” I smile back at him.



“Yes ma’am.” As he’s getting the paper work ready, I smile down at the twins. “Ms?”



“Mrs. Kinney. Mrs. Brian Kinney.” I smile at the young man.



“Okay, Mrs. Kinney. You have three beautiful children, there.”



“Thank you. Their father, Brian, just adores them.”



He smiles and pushes the registration form toward me. “Sign here and you will be all set. I will need to see some ID, though.”



“Here you go.” I hand him the ID I had done a long time ago with Brian’s last name. I always knew this was how it would be someday.



“Thank you. Here’s the key to your room. If there is anything I can help with, let me know.”



Smiling, I take the key as Brianna and I take the twins to the room.



After setting up the portable crib, we place the twins in it, letting them sleep.



“Mom, why did you tell him your name was Kinney?” Brianna asks me.



“It’s the way it should be. The way it will be.” I smile at her.



“No, Mom, he’s gay and he has Justin,” she says, looking at me.



“That’s temporary. I tolerated him far too long for Brian’s sake. He will never hold on to Brian.”



She looks at me with disappointment. “This is wrong, Mom.”



“Brianna, listen to me. Are you listening? Good. I know you think you like Justin, but he’s not what he seems to be. He tricked you just like he tried to trick me and like he had Lindsay try to trick me.”



“Justin wouldn’t do that,” she practically pouts.



“He would and he did. He only pretended to like you because of Brian. That’s the kind of person he is. Now, there will be no more talk about that fucking blond in my presence, do you understand me? You can talk about your dad all you want, but Justin’s name will not be mentioned. As for Justine, her name will be changed just as soon as I have time to think of one. Right now I need a shower and a nap. We will head back out later tonight or in the morning. Watch your brother and sister.” I head into the bathroom to take a much-needed bath.



After my bath we have dinner and play with the twins. We feed them, bathe them. It’s good to see her like this with her brother and sister. Brian would be so proud of her.



Before we know it, it’s time for bed. I watch Brianna say her prayers and then climb into bed. I get as much sleep as I can between feeding the twins and thinking about our current predicament. All I need is to keep them away from Brian long enough and he’ll come looking for me, I know he will. His kids are more important than some piece of blond boy ass.



At seven the next morning I wake up my precious daughter so we can head off again.



After everyone is fed, we head out to the car. I buckle the kids in, then get behind the wheel.



“Mom, I know Dad and Justin are probably worried,” Brianna says. “You wouldn’t want Dad to worry, would you?”



Looking at her, I smile. “There is no way I am going to call them to let Justin know the kids are okay. He has no right to know. As for your father, let him worry a little more. It’s only a matter of time before he realizes that it’s Justin’s fault he no longer has his kids close. Until he does, there is no fucking way we’re calling. I wouldn’t give that blond fucker the satisfaction. He doesn’t deserve to know.” I take a deep breath and look at her again. “No way in Hell. Not in this lifetime, not even in the next. Justin will never see them again.”



I see a look of panic on Brianna’s face as she screams “MOM, LOOK OUT!”



I look back to the road just in time to see the bus before it slams into us. “My babies,” I mumble as everything goes black.