This Is Us - Chapter 38: Chapter 38
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MATTY POV
"Mommy, this jacket is really hot,"
A few days after Christmas, I zipped up a dark blue Patagonia winter jacket on Jaydean. She waved out the insulated sleeved like with an odd expression on her face since she never had to wear a winter jacket before.
"It's supposed to be Jayde. It's going to be really cold in New York City and I don't need you getting sick," I explained, holding her out at arm's length so I could examine the fit.
"What do you think?" I turned to her uncle and the head of our security detail, Wyatt Anderson, and he looks her up and down.
"For the chill on a New Years Eve night in New York? I think it needs to be a lot longer and more insulated," He suggests and I scratch my chin.
"She's mostly going to be in a warm green room with Luca, but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. Especially since she's not used to the cold." I take his suggestion and release my daughter from the jackets insulating grips. She lets out a happy sigh of release until I pull another one off the rack and get down on one knee again.
"Mommy, you're just torturing me now," She groaned as I slipped a black jacket over her scrawny shoulders and she winced. When she flinched, I stopped what I was doing and quickly tugged at the shoulder of the jacket and her collar, revealing a rather large black and blue bruise on her frail collar.
She yelped when I touched it and all of my maternal alarms started going berserk.
"Where is this bruise from?" I asked her, but she only shrugged.
"I dunno, I get a lot of bruises from playing and taking care of my animals," She explains and there wasn't a hint of her lying tone in her voice which only left me more confused.
"So you don't know where this huge bruise came from?" I asked her once more to confirm. The black and blue mark was roughly larger than my hand but it wasn't hand shaped which made me think that maybe something fell on her.
"No, I don't have time to keep track of all my bruises," She says and I slowly peel her shirt back to where it was. Biting my lip and looking into her innocent blue eyes, still not sensing the lie.
"Hmm, you need to be careful with the animals baby. If not, you'll end up with a broken leg like your Papa," I chastised her and she nodded in understanding.
I decided to let it go, for now, keeping it in the back of my mind that we would have to be careful with her clothing selections, otherwise people are going to think we abuse her.
I picked the black coat that went down to her knees with a fur hood that would keep her cozy for our wild five day stay in the city. Of course, we stopped by the men's section, where I picked up three very different sized coats for the three of us, which Jaydean insisted on being black so we could all match.
After leaving Patagonia, I text our personal assistant who had been assigned to help us prep for the trip and be our guide once we reached the big apple. I told Lexi that I for the flight we were about to undergo within the next two hours. I needed a decaf cappuccino with hazelnut and vanilla, a venti dark roast with cream, sugar, with three shots of espresso, a grande caramel brulee latte, and a tall hot chocolate from Starbucks. I always enjoyed my pre-flight cappuccino to calm me down, but it would suck to go without caffeine thanks to the four avocados. No one wants to see Thomas without coffee. And of course, Jayde and Luca needed their fix too.
I put Jayde and the coats in the Tesla as our bodyguards led us out of the mall, refusing to let any pictures be taken of us as we passed. When I got into the car I called Thomas to ask him if he was going to meet me at the airport or needed me to come home.
He answered with a small pant as if he ran a mile and cleared his throat.
"What's up?" He asked and I took the phone off speaker.
"Are you guys at the airport?" I asked him, knowing they weren't since I couldn't hear the bustling of people in the background, only silence.
"Yeah...no." He confessed and I rolled my eyes.
"Just meet us there, I've got Jayde. Make sure you bring the lambie," I reminded him an Jayde chanted from the back seat.
"Don't forget Hana either!" She called out and there was a small thud on Thomas' side.
"I won't forget. I'll see you soon," He said and hung up. I tossed my phone to the seat beside me and rubbed my chest, trying to ignore the pain in my heart as I recalled every word and every sound. Knowing exactly what was happening in a way that wasn't behind my back but wasn't out in the open either.
And it didn't feel as great as I thought it would.
"Mommy, this jacket is really hot,"
A few days after Christmas, I zipped up a dark blue Patagonia winter jacket on Jaydean. She waved out the insulated sleeved like with an odd expression on her face since she never had to wear a winter jacket before.
"It's supposed to be Jayde. It's going to be really cold in New York City and I don't need you getting sick," I explained, holding her out at arm's length so I could examine the fit.
"What do you think?" I turned to her uncle and the head of our security detail, Wyatt Anderson, and he looks her up and down.
"For the chill on a New Years Eve night in New York? I think it needs to be a lot longer and more insulated," He suggests and I scratch my chin.
"She's mostly going to be in a warm green room with Luca, but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. Especially since she's not used to the cold." I take his suggestion and release my daughter from the jackets insulating grips. She lets out a happy sigh of release until I pull another one off the rack and get down on one knee again.
"Mommy, you're just torturing me now," She groaned as I slipped a black jacket over her scrawny shoulders and she winced. When she flinched, I stopped what I was doing and quickly tugged at the shoulder of the jacket and her collar, revealing a rather large black and blue bruise on her frail collar.
She yelped when I touched it and all of my maternal alarms started going berserk.
"Where is this bruise from?" I asked her, but she only shrugged.
"I dunno, I get a lot of bruises from playing and taking care of my animals," She explains and there wasn't a hint of her lying tone in her voice which only left me more confused.
"So you don't know where this huge bruise came from?" I asked her once more to confirm. The black and blue mark was roughly larger than my hand but it wasn't hand shaped which made me think that maybe something fell on her.
"No, I don't have time to keep track of all my bruises," She says and I slowly peel her shirt back to where it was. Biting my lip and looking into her innocent blue eyes, still not sensing the lie.
"Hmm, you need to be careful with the animals baby. If not, you'll end up with a broken leg like your Papa," I chastised her and she nodded in understanding.
I decided to let it go, for now, keeping it in the back of my mind that we would have to be careful with her clothing selections, otherwise people are going to think we abuse her.
I picked the black coat that went down to her knees with a fur hood that would keep her cozy for our wild five day stay in the city. Of course, we stopped by the men's section, where I picked up three very different sized coats for the three of us, which Jaydean insisted on being black so we could all match.
After leaving Patagonia, I text our personal assistant who had been assigned to help us prep for the trip and be our guide once we reached the big apple. I told Lexi that I for the flight we were about to undergo within the next two hours. I needed a decaf cappuccino with hazelnut and vanilla, a venti dark roast with cream, sugar, with three shots of espresso, a grande caramel brulee latte, and a tall hot chocolate from Starbucks. I always enjoyed my pre-flight cappuccino to calm me down, but it would suck to go without caffeine thanks to the four avocados. No one wants to see Thomas without coffee. And of course, Jayde and Luca needed their fix too.
I put Jayde and the coats in the Tesla as our bodyguards led us out of the mall, refusing to let any pictures be taken of us as we passed. When I got into the car I called Thomas to ask him if he was going to meet me at the airport or needed me to come home.
He answered with a small pant as if he ran a mile and cleared his throat.
"What's up?" He asked and I took the phone off speaker.
"Are you guys at the airport?" I asked him, knowing they weren't since I couldn't hear the bustling of people in the background, only silence.
"Yeah...no." He confessed and I rolled my eyes.
"Just meet us there, I've got Jayde. Make sure you bring the lambie," I reminded him an Jayde chanted from the back seat.
"Don't forget Hana either!" She called out and there was a small thud on Thomas' side.
"I won't forget. I'll see you soon," He said and hung up. I tossed my phone to the seat beside me and rubbed my chest, trying to ignore the pain in my heart as I recalled every word and every sound. Knowing exactly what was happening in a way that wasn't behind my back but wasn't out in the open either.
And it didn't feel as great as I thought it would.
End of This Is Us Chapter 38. Continue reading Chapter 39 or return to This Is Us book page.