that can’t be. I mean, come on. You’re you…” I waved my hands up and down his body, “and, I’m… me .”
“Don’t ever say anything like that again. Ever.” His voice boomed and he gave my shoulders a shake. “You, my dear, need to remember who you are. Because, you, are fucking amazing and any jackass that doesn’t see that is a mother fucking blind son-of-a-bitch. You are your own worst enemy Kat and you need to cut that shit out. Who outscored every other person in the senior class on BOTH her SAT’s and the IQ test? Oh, and who won the President’s Medal of Achievement for Outstanding Accomplishments in the Arts?”
What the fuck? How would he know that shit?
“How do you know that?” I stared back at him in the mirror.
“Kent left me all your school awards, family photos, along with a small portfolio of investments he had started for you to go to college. The college thing is still waiting for you, when you’re ready. But, I gotta be honest. I took that money and made some investments with it. It is in your name held in trust, but I’m the executor. I can use it for your college, but when you turn thirty is was suppose to be yours.” He had a strange look in his eye and I was sure what was coming next was he was going to tell me he lost the money. It didn’t really matter, I mean, how much could it have been? Kent and I scraped by on barely a poverty level income.
“It’s okay Jesse. If the money’s gone, I understand. It probably wasn’t much anyway. I appreciate you saving all my school stuff. Kent must have known I would lose it along the way. “
I turned around, and looped my hands around his waist, my face resting just below his chest. I had to admit, there was a small sinking feeling in my stomach thinking maybe there was at least something out there for me financially. Something to give me a new start, but it was gone so it’s not like I had it and lost it. I just decided to pretend it never was there to begin with.
God damn it he’s tall. He’s even taller like this.
I heard Jesse take a deep breath and pushed my shoulders back to look up at his face.
“I didn’t lose the money Kat.”
“What? I’m not sure what you mean. So, I can go to college if I want?”
“Ummm, yep. You could go a couple times if you want.”
“Jesse, what’s the deal?” His eye twinkled.
“Look around. See this house?”
“Yeah…” I answered.
“It’s yours. When you turn 30 that is. Oh, and there’s more. A lot more. Like I bought into this little company called Facebook with the money about eight years ago.”
My face turned red and a wave of heat covered my body.
“What do you mean?”
“Kent didn’t leave that much money, but what he did leave I invested. One of the investments was Facebook shares and well, it’s done pretty well.”
“JESSE!! Really??!!”``
“No fucking joke.”
“So, it that how you started all your clubs?”
“No. That’s all me. I never took a dime out of your trust. Only to invest, like this house.”
Unbelievable. Really? Is this real?
“God Jesse. I’ll never be able to thank you.” My eyes got blurry and I bit my lip trying to not cry.
“Oh, I’ll think of a way. Or two. Or three.” The timbre of his voice suddenly thick and ripe with something more.
“So, can I stay here?” I wasn’t really sure what was next.
“Yep. It’s in the trust. When you’re thirty, you get to decide if I get to stay. But, we’ve got a few years for that. For now, it’s my turn to take care of you. And this, the dresses, the diapers, everything, it’s all part of it. When we’re here alone, you’re my baby girl and I’m your Daddy. But, when we’re out or with other people, we’ll both be big. Just trust me. I’ve never told anyone this, but my mom and dad have been married for 69 years and it’s worked for them.”
“Really? YOUR mom and dad? They were like this ?”
“Well, they weren’t like this all the time, but I caught
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