Kai stroked the back of Jessie’s hand while he tried to think of a good way to open the conversation. His grandmother watched the movement with furrowed brows, but then her expression shifted to concern. “Kai, dear, are you all right? What you learned about your life, couldn’t have been easy for you. It’s been difficult…for everyone involved.”
Kai had to agree with her assessment. This sham, this lie…it had stressed his relationship with his father, caused him to doubt his mother, and made him think for a long time that Mason hated him. He glanced at Jessie before answering his grandmother. She was the only bright spot to come out of it, and it was bright enough to shove the dark spots so far into the background, they didn’t hurt him nearly as much as they should. Returning his eyes to Gran, he calmly said, “Honestly, I’m fine, Gran.” He frowned as he considered that she wasn’t really his grandmother. “Do I still call you Grandma?”
Reaching over, she swatted his knee just as she’d swatted his bottom when he was a toddler. “Of course you do. Who fathered you doesn’t change the fact that we’re family.” Her aged eyes shifted from Kai to Jessie. “We are all still family.”
Jessie bit her lip, and she and Kai locked gazes. Kai knew just what she was thinking, since he was thinking it too. They had to tell her, and she’d just given them an opening. When they both looked back at her, Gran was clearly stumped over their silent conversation. Kai cleared his throat. “Um…Gran.” He worried his lip for a moment, unsure how to proceed. How did he explain that he was in love with the woman he’d been told was his cousin? “I…well, we…” He indicated Jessie with his free hand while simultaneously lifting their joined fingers. “We’ve decided…not to be family.”
Gran bunched her brows, deeply confused. Then her expression turned fiery. “Now listen here, Kai Harper, you can’t just decide something like that. You are family, regardless of what your blood says, and I won’t allow the two of you to think otherwise. You don’t abandon family, and you can’t choose to not be connected anymore. It doesn’t work that way.”
Kai grinned and a nervous laugh escaped him. “Well, no, we’re still going to be connected, Gran. Deeply connected…just not in a family sort of way.”
Still not understanding, Gran shook her head. Kai was about to try and explain further, when Jessie laughed and looped her arms around his body. Snuggling into his side, she said, “What he’s trying to say is that we’re dating. We’re boyfriend and girlfriend.” She turned to him and smiled so brightly, Kai felt it all the way to his toes. “We’re in love with each other.”
Kai peeked at his grandmother, to see her reaction. Many things fluttered across her face. Understanding, compassion, clarity, and curiosity. “Oh…I see,” she whispered. She seemed paler than before, and definitely shocked. She hadn’t seen that coming. Kai hoped the news didn’t send the ambulance back here.
While she looked like she was struggling with something more profound to say, Kai’s eyes narrowed in concern. “Are you…okay?”
He searched her for any sign of heart trouble, and she immediately snorted in irritation. “Well, of course I’m fine with it. Love is always a good thing.” She pointedly raised an eyebrow. “The world could use more of it.” Shaking her head, she added, “I will need a minute to adjust to the idea though. But…Kai isn’t blood family, so…I guess, I’ll get there. Eventually.”
Feeling more relieved than he ever thought possible, Kai leaned over and placed a hand on her knee. “Thank you, for understanding. Your support means the world to us.”
His grandmother was silent as she studied Kai and Jessie. She seemed to be gauging their happiness, and deciding what she could really be okay with. Kai tensed while he waited for her to change her mind, but then her expression softened and she patted his hand. “I always knew the two of you were good for each other…I just never imagined that you’d be good together in that way. But you are a perfect match, even I can’t deny that, and I’m thrilled to see you both so happy.”
Her absolute acceptance dissolved the lingering tension in his body. But his grandmother’s smile shifted into concern as Kai removed his hand and leaned back on the couch. “Do you understand, Kai?” When it was clear he wasn’t following her, she added, “Do you understand why I couldn’t tell you about your real father? Why I never wanted you to know?”
The smile fell off Kai’s face as his grandmother unknowingly battered his heart with a sledgehammer. “No, I don’t. Why would you hide the truth from me?”
She sighed as she adjusted her sore hip. “I suppose I was trying to protect you. In my head, Nate will always be your father. I didn’t see the point of you knowing, since the truth would only bring you pain.” Her lips twisted into a wry smile as she watched Jessie watching Kai. “I certainly never saw what a benefit the truth could be to you.”