Rejected, My Jaded Love
Episode 26

We pull up to the Ducati Dealership and my heart starts to beat faster. These are dream bikes. These aren’t just regular bikes. I have never even researched them, as I couldn’t afford to even think about getting one right now. I glance over at Tyler and see him smile at me, and I looked back at the third row when I hear a low laugh, I see Tate trying to hold his laughter in.

“You sure you don’t want in on the shopping today, Jade?” Tate teases me.

Tyler smacks his brother in the shoulder and says “You know she didn’t know that we were coming here today, Tate. Leave her alone”, as he glares at Tate

Tyler tells me that “I have already picked out a black Ducati Monster 821, and Tate Is getting a red one. We will help you make your choice today too.”

I smile at Jade as we park and exit the SUV, I know Jade is super excited as well.

“I have a bike; I don’t need a new one. Mine is still working and just fine to ride, so I am good. But I am super excited to see which one’s you guys get”. I tell them.

“No Jade, mom, and dad have already decided that you will be getting one today too, you may not “need” one, but you need a dependable ride, what if one of those idiots from Howling Wolf try to catch you again, you need to be able to get away from them. It is not just a birthday gift it is a safety issue for you. It has already been decided and we already know what we are getting so let us tell the salesman and get our test rides done, and then we will help you pick yours out too. Just look around and see what interests you. Let the bike choose you, Jade”. Tyler tells me.

I am blown away, a Ducati, I have never even dared to dream about getting one. I thought maybe after college, and after I had been working a few years, but not now, for my 18th birthday. I was so excited I started to shake.

I feel tears forming in my eyes and feel a comforting hand come across my shoulders. I look over and see Luna Joy with a smile on her face. She then leans towards my ear and says “please don’t take this away from your father. He feels so bad about us not knowing about you. Your life would have been totally different if she would have just left you with us. We would have loved and taken care of you, Jade. So, let’s just look around the showroom and see if we can’t find you a beautiful new bike. Also, this is the present from your father. We spoke and I wanted to get you something too, to kind of bridge the gap in you missing birthdays and Christmas with us, so we will have another stop after this one, and then we will take you home. Please try not to be overwhelmed. These gifts are what we want to do to keep you safe and let you know you mean the world to us. I may not have given birth to you, but I love you and I have always wanted a daughter, and here you are” Luna Joy is now tearing up and I am openly crying.

“Are you two, ok?” I hear my father ask from behind us. He was looking at us like he did not know what to do with two crying women.

“Yes, I am ok, these are tears of happiness, you defended me from Howling Moon, and accepting me was enough. You guys really didn’t have to do this, I cannot believe I am getting a new bike today. This is like a dream.” I tell him.

“Well, we do have one more stop, but your brothers are so excited about being able to do your first ride together on your new bikes, so get on out to the showroom floor and look around. Pick whichever bike you want, and it will be your birthday present. Just let us know which one you want.” Dad says. I get a hug from them both, and I walk out to look at the bikes on the showroom floor. I am overwhelmed as I look around and am glad that my brothers are there to help me make a good decision. Although it would be hard to not find a good bike here.

I ended up deciding on the same bike as my brother’s, except mine, which is black with red trim. Tyler’s was black and Tate’s was all red. I loved that mine was both their colors and that we all had Monster 821’s. We continued the theme with our new helmets and gloves. My helmet was black with red trim on it. It had a blacked-out face shield on it, which Tyler asked me to get, making it harder (with a jacket on) to tell that I am a girl. I got the Icon Airflite crosslink, and it is as beautiful as my bike is. Tyler’s helmet is exactly like mine with a blacked-out shield too and the helmet is all black too as he got the Icon Airflite MIPS Stealth. Tate’s helmet was the best, he is such a funny person and picked a red, black, and white helmet with a blacked-out shield with a little smiling mouth in black at the bottom of it right where his mouth would be. We got our gloves to match as well. What an amazing day. My dad and Joy walk up and ask us to follow them to the next place. We get on our bikes and take turns zooming forward as we follow them. I am not even paying attention to where we pull in, from messing and playing with my brothers and keeping an eye out on their SUV so I don’t get too close to it. I take my helmet off and look around and see we are at a Jeep Dealership, and I wonder what we are doing here?

Dad and Joy get out of the SUV and walk over to us.

“Jade, I want you to look around with your brothers at a Jeep for you, they can help you they pick one out, they have one at our house and they know a lot about them and can help you make a good choice”. Dad says to me.

Joy smiles at me and says “Remember I told you we had a second stop to make today. This is it. We want to get you this for when you come to visit us. We worry about you coming over on the bike without someone coming with you and the Jeep is an all-terrain that you can take off-road in case you need to. I see one over there that I love and would look good with a trailer hauling your bike to our house right now. Why don’t you and the boys go look at it while we speak to the salesman”.

I look over my shoulder at the most beautiful Jeeps I have ever seen. Joy was right, this was the ONE! She was red with black accents, 4-doors had already been taken off and black pads put on the top of the frame to protect your head from being jarred when off-roading. She had black and silver trimmed rims and I was in love. I run over to it and hop in the driver’s seat. My brothers look around it and check out the specs on the listing. The salesman walks over with the keys for me to do my test drive, with my brothers hopping into the back seat to go with me. I was in love with it, but when we got back, I felt I had to speak up.

“Dad, as much as I love it, you really do not have to get it. I feel spoiled with the Ducati. I don’t need the Jeep too. You have done enough for me today” I tell him.

“Jade, Joy, and I have already decided this. We have missed all your birthdays and Christmas’s. You have received nothing from us and WE, all four of us, want to get this for you. Consider it a gift from ALL of us, for everything we have missed until now. Additionally, anything that your scholarship doesn’t cover, Joy and I will take care of, we are adding you to our insurance, so you won’t have to worry about anything while you finish your Senior School year, and we will cover you through college. We want to do this for you, honey. We love you and want to take care of you. We will be doing the same for the boys, so just let us take care of you, and you just worry about your grades. Is that ok with you?” Dad says.

“Yes,” I sob out, “yes, that is totally ok with me. Thank you all so much.”