Mafia's Baby

Chapter 13: Joycelyn

Annika had calm down in my arms, doing her breathing techniques. Frost stared at us. His head tilted as if trying to read us.

Almost like a curious dog.

His father told him something in Spanish. The only thing I understood was, 'she has something, something you' and 'ice cream.' Whatever it was, Julian told his son got him an annoyed eye roll from Frost. It got the other brothers started enjoying in.

They spoke fast, so I couldn't follow everything they were saying. I do know the topic at hand was Annika and her outburst.

“I know what would make you feel better,” Brandon says. Annika buries her face in the crook of my neck, her arms tightened. Brandon holds out his hand, a silent way of asking me to follow him. He led us into the living room. It’s more like a mini-theater.

I wonder...

Brandon turns on the television, various apps popping on the screen. He chooses one, soon Moana starts playing. Annika’s headshots up, and she looks at the screen wide-eyed. One minute into the start of the movie and she slips out of my embrace onto the plushy couch.

That's one way to buy her over.

The TV screen made everything seem so real that it reeled me into the movie. Luckily I was saved. A tap on my shoulder pulled me out, and I turned to see who it was. Julian gestures with his hands towards the kitchen. Do they have a hand thing going on?

I followed him back into the kitchen where all the brothers were standing next to one another; Frost stood in the middle. It felt like I was walking into a fight club or some s**t. “I’ll get straight to it,” Julian takes the lead. The funny thing about this is, all five brothers had the same stances. I don’t know if it was planned but, it's f*****g working. The intimidation was suffocating.

“Though my son, Yu-” Frost cuts him off when he coughs loudly. Julian rolled his eyes. “Frost kidnapped you, in some sort of way. We still have the matter of finding out the truth,” He points to Annika. Right. “We have our doctor coming to take samples from him and her,” Right. I nod my head, not knowing what I could say. I’m not going to deny the man wanting to know if she was his daughter or not.

“What will you tell her?” Julian asked me. I hadn’t thought about that. It’s not like she hasn’t asked me about who her dad is. I told her the truth that I was careless and didn’t know who he could be. I looked over at Frost, his expression was void of emotion, and I wondered what he could be thinking.

“I will tell her the truth, just as before,” I spoke directly to Frost. He continued to stare at me, and I wondered if he trained himself to go so long without blinking. The doorbell rang out, and Julio left to go answer it. Are they going to stand like that the entire time? They haven’t broken their intimidation stance since the start of this conversation. If they did plan this routine, s**t, they’re committed.

I don't even know why I'm so imitated by them. I've been around worse. I guess I've been out of the game for a long time.

“The doc is here,” Julio announced. I look to see that a slender, deep dark brown woman enters the kitchen. She had a bright smile on her face as she greeted each brother. All, finally, broke their stance except for one. You guessed it. Frost. It did not stop her from hugging him. “So where’s the little big boss? Ohh. Hi! I’m Whitney,” She notices me and beams. She sticks her hand out, and I take it giving her a friendly handshake. “Hi, Joycelyn, Joycelyn Jones,” She gave me a bright smile before putting her bag on the table.

I went to get Annika. I sat her down in the dining chair at the end of the table. I looked around for a moment, wishing some of them could leave, but it was clear that they weren’t going anywhere. I went on my knee in front of Annika taking her hands in mine.

“I have to ask you about something you once asked me,” Annika’s eyes grew wide. “Are we getting a puppy!?” She asked loudly. “No,” she gasps. “A birdy!” “What on earth made you think... Never mind, you’re not getting a pet,” I said, poking her stomach, making her giggle.

“You once asked how come you didn’t have a daddy. And I told you I was careless and didn’t know who your dad was. Well, I met Frost,” “Mr. Meany?” I nodded at her. “A few years ago. we were behaving very badly,” She gasps. “He might be your dad, but to find that out, Whitney has to take your spit and his own and see if they match each other or not,” I watch as she thought over my words. Annika made a few remarks about giving Whitney her spit. She even spits in her hand, extending it to Whitney. Annika's action made everyone laugh.

After doing it the proper way, Annika grew quiet, and I knew what she was thinking. Every girl wants a dad. I shouldn’t have been so careless.