Chapter 4

Jaemi POV

            I sat on the steps of the deck alone; I was extremely confused by what Kai had told me.  What did he mean by ‘I wasn’t fifteen, and I was married before Minah was conceived’?

            He had to have been fifteen when she was born, but that would mean that he was married when he was fourteen…what the hell?

            And then he told me that he couldn’t tell me what he meant!  He’s hiding something…something big, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what it was that he and the other boys were hiding.

            By the time Minah had tired herself out, the sun was starting to go down.

            I heard the door behind me open and out walked Kris.

            “May I sit with you?” he asked.

            “Of course,” I responded motioning to the spot next to me.

            “It’s a beautiful evening, isn’t it?”

            “It is,” I smiled, “I’m sorry I’m intruding on your household.”

            “You’re not intruding at all.  We don’t get many guests, we’re happy to have you.”

            “I don’t think Kai is very fond of me,” I sighed.

            “He isn’t very fond of anyone, not since ChoHee…”

            “Is ChoHee his wife?”

            Kris nodded, “so he told you…”

            “Yeah, Minah did too…he refuses to tell Minah what happened to her, I think its wrong of him to keep that from his daughter.”

            “You wouldn’t think it’s wrong if you knew what happened.”

            “It’s that bad?”

            He nodded, “I’d tell you myself, but it isn’t my place to do so.”

            “I understand.”

            Kris crossed his arms and leaned against the railing to the steps.  We continued to watch Kai and Sehun pick the leaves out of theirs and Minah’s hair and clothing.

            “He’s really good with her,” I said, “even if he is very young.”

            “Yeah, he does well for a single father.  I’m proud of him.”

            She laughed, “You sound like you’re his father.”

            He grinned, “I’d say I’m more of an older brother figure.”

            “Are none of you blood related?”

            “No one other than Kai and Minah,” he stated.

            “Then, how do you all know each other?”

            “All different ways…if you’re looking for a straight answer, you should narrow it down to one of them.”

            “Alright, then, how do you know Kai?” I asked.

            “He was a student at the Middle School I teach at, so was Sehun.”

            “So you were his teacher?  Isn’t that a little strange to be living with an old student?”

            “It’s not the only reason I know him.”

            “What is the other reason?”

            “All I can tell you is that I was assigned by his mother and father to keep an eye on him.”

            “Kris, why doesn’t he trust me?  Is it just because I’m a stranger?”

            “He’ll say that’s why, but it isn’t the reason…Kai doesn’t trust anyone aside from us, especially if Minah is involved.  Also, you look a lot like ChoHee, and that probably freaks him out.”

            “I look like Kai’s wife?” I was surprised.

            He nodded, “the only physical appearance you share with her are the eyes.  When I say that you look like her, I mean, your energy’s the same, and your eyes say the same things hers did, if that makes sense.”

            “It does,” I assured, “So he doesn’t trust me because I look like his wife…I guess I can understand that.”

            I heard the door behind us open again, and out walked the boy with the pale blonde hair and the doe eyes.

            “What’s up, Luhan?” asked Kris.

            “Dinner’s ready.”

            “Perfect!”  He stood up and called out the Kai, Minah and Sehun.

            We all followed Luhan into the house.

Kai POV

            After dinner, it was time to get Minah ready for bed.  I took her upstairs, gave her a bath, and got her into her pajamas.

            “Brush your teeth, okay Peanut?  I need to talk to Kris for a minute.”

            She nodded and got out her tooth brush.

            I stepped out of the bathroom and into the hallways where Kris was waiting for me.

            “What did you need to ask me?” I said quietly.

            “With Jaemi staying here, she needs cloths.  So I wanted to ask you if it would be okay if Kyungsoo and Xiumin brought up ChoHee’s things from the basement.”

            My eyes widened slightly.

            “If you’re not comfortable with it, we can find her something else to wear.”

            I mulled the thought of someone else wearing my mate’s cloths over in my head, “No…its fine…I’ll be fine…”

            “You’re sure?”

            I nodded, “If it gets to be too much, I’ll talk to you about it.”

            “Please do,” he turned to leave.

            I knocked on the bathroom door, “Minah, are you finished?”

            She opened the door, a tooth brush still hanging from .

            I laughed, “Minah, you’ve been brushing long enough, you can spit now.”

            “Okay,” she mumbled with a mouth full of tooth paste.

            After was rinsed, she reached her arms up, motioning for me to pick her up.

            I obliged and carried her to her room to retrieve her baby blanket and favorite stuffed animal.

            “You’re going to sleep in my room tonight, okay?”

            “How come?” she asked sleepily.

            “I just don’t want you sleeping alone tonight, okay?”

            “Because of Jaemi?” she asked.

            Minah really was smart, “Yes, because of Jaemi.”

            “She isn’t bad, daddy.  I’ll be okay in my room if you don’t want me to sleep with you.”

            “I want you to sleep with me.”

            She yawned, “Okay.”

            I carried her into my room and laid her on the bed and got under the blankets with her.

            I rubbed her back until she was asleep.  I kissed her goodnight and got out of bed.  I walked around to the other side and tucked the blankets around her small body, then went back downstairs.

            “She asleep?” asked Sehun when I sat down next to him on the couch in the living room.

            “Yup.”

            “Shhh!” we were shushed by Chanyeol.  His favorite show was on, after all.

            Jaemi say awkwardly on the recliner on the other side of the room.  I could tell she was struggling to stay awake.

            “Xiumin, did you bring up the stuff from the basement?”

            “Yeah,” he answered, “It’s all in the guest room.”

            “Jaemi, come with me,” I said making my way across the living room to the stairs.

            I brought her up to the guest room and opened one of the boxes labeled ‘pajamas’.

            Right one top, was ChoHee’s favorite night gown, “here,” I threw it at Jaemi.

            She caught it, “thanks…but if these are ChoHee’s, I don’t want to cause you pain by me wearing her cloths…”

            “It doesn’t matter, I’ll be fine…I’ll turn around so you can change.”

            I turned and stared at the boxes in front of me.  I couldn’t let myself get emotional; it’s been four years since ChoHee was killed.

            “I’m finished,” she said interrupting my thoughts.

            I turned to face the human girl.  She really looked like ChoHee in that night gown.

            “Are you okay?” she asked, “I can take it off if it’s too much…”

            “No, its fine…you just…look a lot like her in that.”

            “Oh…”

            We stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes, until I broke it, “Well, this is your room while you stay with us…all the toiletries you’ll need are in the bathroom,” I pointed to the door that led to the guest bathroom.

            “Thank you Kai.”

            I nodded and left for my room.

            I crawled into bed next to Minah and pulled her close.