One Week Later

Nate is putting his bags into the car with Jai's help. There's a bag sitting by the door and I know that's the last bag that needs to be packed before he leaves.

I am in the kitchen putting together a few snacks for him while he's on the road. He has a long drive ahead of him and I don't want him to keep stopping at service stations to buy junk. Once I have everything packed I walk to the living room with four containers and I place them on the table.

Teresa walks through the door. She walks over to me."Thanks for letting me stay with Nate until school starts. If my parents found out about this I'm sure they will have a heart attack."

"I'm not your mother Teresa, but as Nate's older sister I'm going to say. If you're going to have sex with my brother use protection. I'm sure he wouldn't want to knock someone up and ruin his football career before it even started."

She looks down at her hands. "I don't really feel comfortable with this topic, but sitting here with someone close to my age is a little help. I haven't slept with anyone. If I did it would be your brother."

Gross! I hope I don't have to hear too much about her and my brother.

I point to the bag next to her. "Can you pass me the bag?" She passes me the bag and I pull out a box. I hand it to her. "Practise safe sex."

Her face turns red and she puts it straight into her bag as Jai and Nate walk into the kitchen. "Thanks,"

Nate sits next to her and he puts his arm around her shoulder. "Are you ready to go, princess?" He sees the containers and he puts them into a plastic bag.

Teresa rises. "Yes, I am." She puts her bag over her shoulder. "Bye, Chloe and Jai. It was good seeing you both again." She walks out holding Nate's hand.

Nate opens the passenger side door for her and shuts it once she's seated. He puts his last bag into the trunk. "I'm going to miss you, Chloe." He walks over to me and hugs me. "Thanks for everything you've done. I'm going to remember it for the rest of my life. I can't wait to see you in a couple of months time when the football season starts."

"I'm going to miss you, Nate. Behave yourself at school. I won't be able to get you out of trouble on campus. Also, keep an eye on Teresa she's going to need you."

A smile spreads across his face. "I'm going to need her. I may be a big flirt, but I never let anything get too far. Now, that I'm in College. Things are going to be different and I don't want to hurt my chances at true happiness." He points to the car. "She's the only one that can bring me that. She's been there for me through so much..." He pauses. "She was one of three people I confided in when Mom and Dad were murdered. She didn't know what to say. She gave me a shoulder to cry on and she listened while I tried to deal with the pain of losing Mom and Dad." He wipes away the tears. "I could have confided in you, but you had to be there for Aleysa. Jai came at the perfect time. It was like fate brought you together. The two of you should never have been apart."

Jai shakes Nate's hand. "If you need someone to train with until football season starts, give Jeremiah Collins a call." He gives a piece of paper to Nate.

Nate frowns. "He lives in Los Angeles. He's not going to travel where I am."

"Jeremiah brought a place close to the campus. He heard you were going to play College ball and he didn't want to miss any of your games."

"Does he still play ball or is he a recruiter?"

Jai looks at me and I nod. "Jeremiah is now a recruiter. He's going to pursue a few guys and you from the team. If he does I want you to call me so I can fly out and overlook the contract. I know what things should be in there and what shouldn't. Please, trust me when it comes to the contracts. I will do everything I can to get you what you deserve playing pro ball."

"I'm not going to go pro until I graduate college. I think it's a good thing to have a backup plan. You can't play pro ball forever. There's a chance I might get hurt like Jai and I don't want to go back to college to study something else. So, I'm going to spend four years furthering my education. I'm going to need help from you."

"I will help you with whatever you decide for your future. You will have to live by whatever you do. Just remember we all make mistakes and we learn from them."

I'm going to miss him.

Nate gives me another hug. "Thanks for the snacks. You always know how to make the best muffins, big sis. I hope Teresa will like them." He kisses my cheek before he walks to the car. He puts the bag in the backseat and climbs into the driver's seat. He pulls out of the driveway. I wave at him as he pulls away.

What am I going to do now that my siblings don't need me to take care of them anymore?

Jai and I stand in the same spot for a few minutes. He turns towards me. "What do you want to do since we're alone?"

I don't know what I want to do, but I will think of something.

I take his hand and pull him inside. I head to the lounge room and I push him onto the lounge. I sit on his lap and start kissing him.

At least no one will walk in on us now.

Jai deepens the kiss and he wraps my arms behind his neck. "I love you, Chloe." He smiles. "I have been waiting for the day we are by ourselves." He reaches over the side of the lounge and pulls out a small box.

I take it from him and inside is a pair of keys. "What are these for?"

Jai gives me another and I open it. Inside is a bracelet. He says. "The keys are for the bracelet. The four together represents your old family. The two together represent us and the last one is our baby. When you look at the bracelet everyone you love is on here."

I hug him. "Thank you, Jai. It's beautiful."

"Just like you." He kisses me again. "I'm going to bed for a while. Will you join me?"

I would love too.

He holds my hand and we make our way up to the bedroom. He shuts the door and starts stripping before he climbs into bed.

I leave my clothes on and climb into bed with him. I lie my head on his chest and fall asleep.

***