Coming Home For Christmas
Chapter 93

Lacey's PO.V. "Hey, kid"

I turned around and my heart skipped a nervous beat when I saw my brother standing there with his girlfriend and their daughter who looked super excited to see us. "Liam"

I don't know what came over me but as soon as I saw my big brother, I immediately rushed over to him and hugged him for the first time in six years.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and buried his face in my hair. "I've missed you so much, princess"

Liam said as his hold on me felt tight and secure like he was afraid I was gonna disappear on him.

"I've missed you too, Liam"

I said with a whimper and I swear I felt Liam smile against my head as he kissed my temple.

"Daddy, that's the man who was at our house last night"

"Yes, it is, son"

I hear Logan and our son talking and my eyes narrowed in confusion.

How does Logan Junior know that Liam was at our house last night?.

I wanted to ask my son this question but before I could, a giant oaf named Justin jumped on Liam and me and he wrapped his arms around the both of us. "FAMILY HUG!!"

Justin shouted and Liam and I chuckled as did everyone else at our i***t big brother's actions.

"I'm so happy you all have settled your differences and we can be a family again"

Justin said as he pretended to wipe away his non-existent tears.

"You're such a goofball, Justin"

"And I love you too, princess"

Justin said with a smile before clapping his hands.

"So, now that we're all here, are we ready to have some fun?" "YEAH!!"

All of the kids shouted and we smiled at how excited they were.

"Ok then, well, let's go"

We all grab our kids and make sure they're safely with all of us.

I was holding Dayton and Logan Junior's hands while my little princess Teddy was being held by her dad.

We walked around the market and made a few purchases before getting something to eat.

I got way more food than the rest which earned me quite a few comments from my family but I just ignored them because I've always loved food, especially greasy street food.

The McAddams family were also having a lot of fun but while we were walking around, I noticed that they weren't buying anything and I even overheard them telling the kids 'maybe next time when money isn't tight' when they would ask for something from one of the stalls.

I knew Michael and Grace weren't gonna accept any money from us unless they've earned it and I know this because they're both very proud people.

I mean, we're talking about two elderly people who are so proud that they refused to accept any welfare cheques, as well as refused to ask their own daughter for child support and preferred to work several jobs just so that they could make ends meet. Anyway because I knew they weren't going to accept any money from us, I made sure to pull a couple of my security guards aside before we came here and I gave them a card and told them to buy whatever the McAddams family wanted but aren't willing to buy for themselves.

This included all of the things Chloe and Alex picked out which wasn't a lot, unlike my kids who wanted everything they set their sights on.

"Hey Lace, look...I got you a present"

Liam says excitedly as he hands me a little gift bag.

"Aww, you shouldn't have Liam"

I say as I take the bag from him and pull out the contents and my eyes immediately watered when I saw what it was.

It was a crystal clear ornament of four penguins stacked on top of each other starting with the biggest on the bottom and ending with the baby on the top, it was so clear it looked like an ice sculpture. "Do you like it? it's supposed to resemble all of us as siblings"

He says as he lets out a sigh.

"I tried looking for one with only three penguins on it but the vendor was sold out"

"It's ok, I love it"

I say whilst kissing his cheek and hugging him.

"It kind of reminds me of the one I had in my room when I was a teenager, you know the one that was smashed by our family dog

I said as I briefly looked up at Liam but had to do a double take when I saw the look on his face.

"What? what's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just...our dog wasn't the one who smashed your ornament, Lace"

He says shocking me.

"It wasn't, then who broke it?... it had to be someone because ornaments don't just fly off shelves, Liam"

I say sounding annoyed and frustrated while Liam lets out a breath as he runs a hand through his hair.

"It was dad...dad broke your ornament"

"What?"

I ask shocked.

I shouldn't be this shocked but I am.

"Why would he do that? he knew how much I loved that ornament"

I ask and Liam rolls his eyes.

"Because he's a jackass, Lace, a jackass who was throwing a tantrum one day and wanted to break something or

someone but didn't want to do it with or to something or someone he loves wholeheartedly so he picked something of yours instead" Urgh!!.

******g asshole.

Wait.

"How do you know he was the one who did it?"

I ask suspiciously.

"Because I witnessed him do it and he was the one who told me to lie to you and tell you it was the dog"

What?.

"God, he's such a d**k"

I say while shaking my head.

"You can say that again, kid...anyway, do you wanna come and get some hot chocolate with me? we need to talk and it's best we do it away from the kids" "Sure"

Liam and I headed towards one of the food vendors and got ourselves a hot chocolate each and some Christmas cookies before sitting down at one of the tables.

I was feeling anxious to have this chat with my brother but I knew that it needed to be done so that we could move on and start afresh with each other.

"So...what did you wanna talk about?"

I ask feeling awkward.

"Well, first and foremost Lace, I wanna apologise to you, I know I've already done this in my letter but I wanted to do it face to face so that you can see in my eyes how truly sorry I am which I honestly am, kid" He says as he grabs hold of my hand.

"I'm so sorry, Lace, I'm sorry for being a massive failure to you"

"You're not a failure, Liam"

"I didn't protect you, Lacey...it's literally in my job description as your big brother to look after you and protect you and I failed, so yes, I'm a failure"

Liam said as he looked down in shame.

"It's ok, Liam"

I say as I place my hand on top of our entwined ones.

"It's normal for guys to put their fathers on a pedestal and see them as their heroes who can do no wrong"

"But that's the thing though, Lace....dad was never my hero, he was never someone who I saw myself emulating...even when I had Jade, I knew I wanted to be different from him in every way possible because I knew he was reserved and hostile with you and I didn't want to be like that with my own daughter"

"Did you know how dad really felt about me?"

I ask him and he shakes his head.

"No...I really didn't"

He said honestly and I believed him.

"I mean, I knew he wasn't happy that you were a girl because he always bitched about this topic way into your teens...wel

up until you started Dylan that is and that's when you became in his words 'useful' but even despite all of that and I'm not defending him when I say this, Lace...dad did love you and he was always so proud of you"

Liam says and I scoff.

"He had a funny way of showing it, Li"

"I know...I guess dad just didn't know what to do with a girl"

"You think?"

I say with a slight chuckle.

"For my fifth birthday, he bought me tickets to see the Knicks, instead of getting me the Barbie doll that I begged him for'

I tell him and we both chuckle.

Now it's funny but when you're a five-year-old girl, it's devastating.

"So... why do you feel this way about dad?...something tells me that the reason why you dislike or resent him so much no isn't just because of how he treated me?"

"And you're right"

Liam said with a sigh as he looked down at his drink.

"I mean, the way he treated you is one thing but the fact that he treated me like a king when I got a girl pregnant and he treated you like a w***e is just crazy...he's always been so proud of the fact that we were all 'practising chastity' but we weren't, well, I guess Justin was since Sab is the only one he's ever been with and as far as I know you've only ever been with Logan but the rest of us"

He said while shaking his head.

"What about Luca?"

I ask and he looks at me like really, sis?.

"Princess, Luca is the president of the any hole is a goal club"

Eww!!.

"That's disgusting"

"But true"

Liam said while laughing.

"Do you remember that girl he dated in high school?"

"Yeah"

I said confused.

Where's he going with this?.

"Well, they lost their virginities to each other and after that, Luca started to cheat on her with anyone that would pay him even the slightest bit of attention, it didn't matter if they were packing or not or if they were single or not, he still f****d them and he didn't care one bit if it was hurting his girlfriend's feelings while he did it"

"So being a cheating slut has always been in his nature then?"

I ask and Liam chuckles as he nods his head.

"Pretty much...anyway, it always irked me how he treated you after you'd slept with Logan because he knew how much Logan adored you and that it wouldn't damage his reputation at all if you guys became a thing, not to mention the bastar knew that I had conceived Jade through a one-night stand and all I got from him was a shake of his head and him telling me that I'd better look after the mother of my child which I did...I treated her like a queen who was carrying my prince or my princess" He says with a smile.

"Yeah you did...it's just a shame she died whilst giving birth because she missed out on raising one hell of a kid"

I say with a smile which quickly drops when I see the look on Liam's face.

"What's wrong, Liam?"

He didn't answer me at first but when he did, what he said to me shocked me to my very core.

"She's not dead"

"What? what are you talking about, Liam?"

"Jade's mom"

He says while looking me deep in my eyes.

"She's not dead, Lace, she's very much alive"

What the f**k?.

"She's alive?"

I ask sounding gobsmacked and Liam nods his head.

"So, why would you tell me and the world that she died during childbirth if she didn't?"

I ask and Liam shakes his head.

"I never said she died, princess"

"Well, who did then?"

I ask feeling annoyed but that annoyance quickly changed to shock when I realised that I already knew the answer. "It was dad...dad was the one who broke the news that she'd died"

"That's right"

"But why?"

Liam lets out a sigh and runs a hand through his hair as he explains everything to me.

"Jade's mom and I we erm...we weren't in a relationship, we were friends with benefits I guess, we were young and just interested in having fun...but then she fell pregnant, she didn't want to have a baby and I had heard through our friends tl she was planning on having an abortion but I quickly put a stop to that and I begged her to keep the child and carry her a a surrogate for me"

"But...why didn't she want Jade?"

I ask shocked.

Jade is a beautiful, sweet little girl, why wouldn't she want her?.

"It's not that she didn't want Jade, Lacey, it's that she just didn't wanna be a mom, she said she lacked the maternal instinct to be one"

"So, she was happy to carry a child and hand her over to you?"

I ask and he nods his head.

"Pretty much...she treated it like one would a normal surrogacy, I looked after her and protected her during the entire pregnancy, I paid for all of her healthcare bills and after she had Jade, I gave her a cheque which was enough for her to get the hysterectomy she so badly wanted, as well as for her to go back to school and have some left over for anything else she wanted to spend it on"

"Wait, so she just walked away from her child like that? she just took the money and ran?"

I know there are people out there who don't want kids and that's fine, that's their choice, I'm just shocked that she could walk away from her own blood so easily like that, I mean, I could never.

"She didn't want kids, Lace and I wasn't gonna force her to be in Jade's life...I mean, I'd much rather my daughter have a mother who genuinely loves and cares for her and wants to be in her life than one who's only there because she's being forced to and she's got that mother in Rachel"

Hmm.

"I guess that makes sense...but that doesn't explain why dad lied about her dying and why didn't she come out and say st was alive and give her side of the story?"

"That's because she couldn't"

Liam says as he looks down guiltily.

"What do you mean?"

Liam looks up at me and I could tell from the look on his face and in his eyes that I wasn't gonna like what he was about to say.

"She couldn't speak up because before she left she was forced to sign an NDA by our dad so that she couldn't talk about this to anyone and he also made sure that she signed her rights away so that she couldn't come after Jade in the future i she suddenly changed her mind about being a mom"

Oh my god.

"And you agreed to all of this?"

"I had no choice"

He growled in frustration.

"You always have a choice, Liam"

I tell him angrily and he shakes his head as a glare appears on his face.

"Not when you're James Carpenter's son, kid, when you're James Carpenter's son, it's all about image and protecting that image at all cost...dad made a choice on behalf of Jade and I and I had no choice but to go along with it"

"You didn't even try and fight him?"

I ask shocked.

"I did...but it didn't end well for me"

Huh.

"What do you mean?"

I asked him and he was silent as he gently stroked his finger around the rim of his cup.

"Do you remember that night...the night you caught me sneaking in and I was covered in bruises?"

He asked me and I winced as I remembered that horrible night.

Some motherfucker had beaten my brother up so badly you would've thought Liam had killed his attacker's mother, that's how bad they had beaten him up.

"Yeah I do, you had a nasty cut to your lip and on your eyebrow which left you with scars and I think you had a couple of broken ribs as well but you never told me who did it"

"Actually I did, I told you I had got into a fight at a party...but that was a lie"

I should've known because Liam is a tough guy and can outfight anyone including Logan who's an experienced fighter. "Well, who hurt you then?"

I ask and Liam looks up at me with teary eyes.

"Who do you think?...I'll give you a hint, his baby girl wasn't the first kid he beat"

He says and I gasp.

"Dad beat you up?"

I ask and Liam nods his head as a couple of stray tears fall down his cheek.

"I didn't think it was necessary for my ex to sign an NDA or to sign her rights away because she was a nice girl whose onl crime was getting pregnant when she knew she didn't want kids but dad didn't care and when I fought him on it, dad attacked me and threatened to have Jade taken from me if I didn't comply with him"

Oh my god.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?"

I ask barely above a whisper and Liam takes a breath in as he wipes away his tears.

"Like I said he threatened me...I wanted to call Klayton but when he threatened me with my daughter, I knew I had to be careful and think of her over myself, so I let it go and allowed him to do whatever he wanted while I played the dutiful sor who obeyed his father...but if I had known that he was gonna hurt you, Lace... if I knew he was gonna put his hands on yc then I would've spoken up in a heartbeat and I would've called Klayton to protect us because nothing and I mean nothing means more to me than having my girls protected"

Liam whimpered and I immediately got up and wrapped my arms around him.

"It's ok, Liam... Jade and I are safe and so are you"

"But I could've prevented this though, Lace...I could've prevented you from being hurt"

"Yeah well, you've gotta look at the positives, Li...if dad never hit me then I wouldn't have found the courage to leave New York and build a life for myself somewhere else and instead of marrying the love of my life, I would've been stuck with Dylan"

I said while grimacing at the end.

་་།

guess so"

He said with a slight chuckle as his hold on me tightened just a little.

We then pulled apart from each other and Liam looked at me with a sad smile on his lips.

"I'm still really sorry though, Lace...for everything"

"I know you are and I'm sorry as well for slapping the restraining order on you"

I say and we both laugh.

"Speaking of which, are we even allow..."

I said as I stood up but drifted off when I suddenly felt faint again.

"Are you ok, kid?"

"I'm fine"

I say while shaking my head to clear the fogginess away.

"Anyway, are we allowed to be near each other if I've still got an RO out on you?"

"We're fine, that lawyer of yours was able to get it all sorted out"

Liam said whilst looking at me with a concerned gaze.

"Are you sure you're ok, Lace? you look really pale"

"I'm fine, Liam, I prom...I promise"

I said as my eyes rolled to the back of my head and I felt my body go limp.

"s**t, LACEY!!"

Liam's worried voice was the last thing I heard as I blacked out.