Page 127 of Set the Moment
Cleo pulls me into a hug, kissing the top of my head. “Never do that again. I love you and I will always accept you and who you love…Even if it is my crazy ass best friend.”
Chuckling at her words, I hug her tightly.
“Now, what happened with that Aidan guy? I thought you were dating him and doing a project together,” she questions pulling back slightly as I give her a confused look.
Who the hell is Aidan?
“Girl, do you mean Aric? My date from the beginning of the semester?” I ask snorting as Cleo’s eyes widen.
“So let me get this straight: you’re not dating your dance partner?”
Rolling my eyes jokingly, I shake my head. “She’s a girl and not my type.”
“Then who’s Aidan?” Cleo furrows her brows as I laugh.
“I have no clue, but let’s check on the guys…I’m sure they might know who you’re talking about.”
“Come on! Christmas with the in-laws isn’tsobad, my parents love you!” Jace exclaims for the tenth time, walking back into the living room with a bowl of popcorn in his hands.
Sighing, I sit up from my spot on the couch and grab a hold of the buttery goods. “Jace can we please just watch the movie?” I ask for the second time.
Christmas is officially two weeks away, and the only thing on his mind is where we’re going. My parents had told me that they’d be here for Christmas and my birthday, so I’m putting my faith in them and not making plans.
“But babe, my momlovesyou, and Nonna wants to meet you! I can’t say no to my Nonna—you’ve met her. She’sscary!” he says with a shudder, and I laugh.
His nonna is an eighty-four-year-old badass who spends her days on yachts in the Amalfi coast with sangrias and her crochet needle—Scary.
“Heart.”
“Jones.” He raises a snarky brow at me as I gasp.
“Did you just—”
“I did, whatcha gonna do about it?” He smirks as I lean into him, kissing him silly. I’m about to deepen the kiss when my phone rings.
“Hold on…” I say, unlocking myself from him and jogging over to the device. My heart drops when the caller ID flashes my mother’s contact.
This can’t be good.
It’s never good when she calls.
“Honey, I’m so sorry—” Are the first words my mom says to me in months. I don’t need to hear the rest to know what’s next. It’s always the same with her: she’ll call and have some stupid apology before hanging up on me. I don’t get a word out before she does, and then the cycle repeats.
My dad doesn’t have to call me because he sends his wife to do it. I don’t think he and I have talked all year…
Sighing, I nod…I don’t deserve this and I never did. I’mtheirkid, not the other way around. The night they decided to have unprotected sex and then keep me was the night they became parents.
I’m an innocent in this equation, the fucking constant variable to their experiment. I didn’t ask to be born, or to be loved, and itshows.
“You know, Mom…I’mreallygetting tired of this shit. You call me once every blue moon to get my hopes up. You’ll say, ‘darling, we’re coming home!’ or ‘Si Si, we’re going to be there for you’ and yet you have yet to see meperform, you have yet to physically show up for me and you…you could care less about me, Mom.” My voice cracks as all of the unshed tears from my twenty years of life spill out.
“I have never—”
“I’mtalking now,” I cut her off. “I have worked endlessly for you to see me. I have broken myself daily to fit a mold of perfection, but you don’t even care tovisitme. The last time I saw you was a year ago! You don’t care that I was bullied relentlessly, or that I couldn’t look at myself for months because I wasn’t perfect enough for you.” I sniffle as Jace turns on the couch, a deep frown on his face as I continue to break.
“Mom, I am human. I am yourdaughter. You and Major are my parents, and yet I don’t evenknowyou. All of my life, I've had nannies and caregivers, but never a mother or a father. I set myself up to be perfect for you, and then you call to say that you can’t see me on my birthday and Christmas? Do you know how much I've struggled just to be seen by you? I needed a mother and got the one person who never deserved children.” My words hang in the air as my mother’s sobs echo through the line.
“Oh, Sienna…I’m so sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt—”
