My Brother, My Wife, and Their Son novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: The Boy in Her Arms
At Sunday dinner Cedric learns his wife has a seven-year-old son with his brother; he walks out with his bleeding daughter and Regina texts that Maisie should apologise.
Regina walked into my parents' dining room carrying a seven-year-old boy, and nobody at the table looked surprised.
I was holding my daughter on my lap, halfway through cutting her chicken.
Maisie was four and had mashed potato on her chin.
Regina's text had come in while we were parked outside the house.
"Whatever they say tonight, I'm on your side. Trust me."
I had thought it was a strange thing to send before a Sunday dinner.
Now she stood in the doorway with the boy's arms around her neck.
He had sandy hair and pale skin.
He did not look at me once.
I put down the knife.
"Whose child is that?"
Dad sat at the head of the table with his hand flat on the cloth.
"Cedric, don't hold it against Regina. Your mother and I decided together not to tell you."
Mom folded her napkin into a smaller square.
"Sit still and let her explain."
Regina lowered the boy to his feet but kept a hand on his shoulder.
"Do you remember why I pushed our wedding back?" she asked.
Her voice was light, almost friendly.
"I was pregnant, and I couldn't marry you like that. So I told you I had business trips."
I did remember.
She had been gone for most of a year.
"His name is Jasper," she said. "He was born overseas. By birth order, he is Maisie's older brother."
Maisie leaned against my chest and looked up at me.
"Daddy, am I getting a brother?"
I put both hands over her ears and kept them there.
Then I looked at the four people across from me.
"Why tonight?"
"We didn't want to do it either," Mom said. "But Jasper is seven now. We can't keep him away forever."
Before I could answer, my brother Colby slid off his chair and dropped to his knees on the rug in front of me.
He had come home from abroad two weeks ago.
I had thought he was back for good, and glad of it.
"Cedric, if you're going to blame someone, blame me," he said. "We'd both been drinking. Regina mistook me for you."
He bowed his head until his forehead was almost on my shoe.
"Jasper didn't ask for any of it. He was born early and he's never been strong. All he wants is his mother."
My hands had gone numb on Maisie's ears.
"Colby," I said. "Have you no shame?"
His eyes went red at once.
Dad slammed his glass onto the table.
It broke, and pieces skidded across the cloth and onto the floor.
"Enough! Is that how you talk to your own brother?"
Mom pulled Colby up by the arm and glared at me.
"What's done is done. We sent him overseas for seven years to make up for it. What more do you want?"
I tightened my hold on Maisie's small hand.
"What about Maisie? Where does she fit in this?"
Regina blinked at me.
She had plainly forgotten for a moment that she had a daughter.
Maisie pulled at her sleeve and said softly, "Mommy."
Jasper stepped forward and slapped Maisie's hand away.
"That's my mommy! You've had her all this time. Give her back!"
The slap rang out.
The back of Maisie's hand went red, and she started to cry and swing at him.
Jasper clutched his chest and gasped for air.
Regina, Mom and Dad all rushed at once.
Regina reached us first and shoved Maisie off my lap.
Maisie landed on the floor, right where the glass had fallen.
She stared up at her mother, too shocked to cry.
I dropped beside her and turned her hand over.
Blood was running from her palm into the cuff of her sleeve.
"Maisie is being completely unreasonable," Mom said behind me.
She had not even looked down.
"Jasper has a heart condition. What if something happens to him?"
I looked up for Regina.
She did not look at either of us.
Colby held Jasper's hand and stared at me over the boy's head.
"You've gone too far, Cedric. I know I wronged you, but you can't let Maisie hit him."
Regina picked up Jasper.
"Let's get to the hospital. I'm worried about his heart."
They went out together, all of them, and the front door swung shut.
The house was quiet.
Maisie was still on the floor, holding her cut hand in her other one.
"Daddy, do Grandpa and Grandma not like me anymore?"
I wrapped my napkin around her palm and picked her up.
In the hallway the family photos hung in a long row.
They started at the top with Colby as a newborn in a hospital blanket.
Mine began lower down, where I was two years old and sitting on a tricycle.
I had walked past them every Sunday of my life.
Nobody in that house was going to look after her, so I took my daughter and left.
I buckled her into the car and drove for the nearest emergency room.
At the first red light my phone lit up on the seat.
It was Regina.
"Bring Maisie to Jasper's hospital. She needs to say sorry to him."
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend