Dwayne was not that blind. He saw it in her. Those innocent yet cold eyes were just a facade, behind those eyes, clouded in fuzzy, was her fears and trepidation. She had tried to wade the fear off-better still try to rule over them, but somehow, they kept coming back to her; hurting her down.
If not that she was strong on her own, Dwayne, on the other hand, knows she would have broken down to her least -for long. Her little sister is strong, but not enough to fight off the trepidation that were slowly eating her up.
"Most times, I wish I never met him because I keep having this feeling that he only used me to his advantage." Her voice was at the verge of breaking, but she still managed to maintain her calm tone. "I was such a fool, right, Dwayne?" "Don't say that, little sister..."Dwayne cautioned her lightly, as he moved closer to her, holding her head unto his broad chest. "He did not use you, he may have tried, but look at you; you manage to slip off his grip when he least expected. To me, that's enough."
"I wish I could think positive as you, but..." She trailed off, unsure of what to say next. Instead, she forced herself to be calm against her brother's soothing scrutiny, his warmth was all she needed. She stayed calmed as she enjoys him stroking her hair, that was his own little way of comforting her since they were kids.
With her head against his chest, she listened keenly to his heartbeat, it was calm and steady. She loved it, she wished she could listen to it for as long as she can -she wished the short peaceful moment did not stop. She wished...she wished...
"So, what is your plan now? Is it the same decision, or you changed your decision as suggested?" She heard his deep voice, snapping her out of her calmed thoughts, suddenly breaking the quiet atmosphere that was starting to envelop them.
Ciara understood what her brother meant by his words, he has always asked her the same question over again. "It is the same decision as always, Dwayne. I'll keep the pregnancy away from him, even if he is the child's father, he has no right whatsoever to the child. And I'll make sure to keep the child away from him -if possible, forever."
"You can't do that, Ciara, that would be so cruel of you." Her brother reprimanded her decision. He had talked her out of it several times, hoping she would have a change, but at the end of each conversation, her decision was always the same -face it head on without involving the child's father.
Why -why? Yeah, because she insisted to find him unworthy of both herself and the baby too. Dwayne tried to think if there was another reason for her firm decision, but he could tell not, and this he was sure there was -she just decided not to talk about it. As the usual, Dwayne, he wouldn't pester her about it.
'It is her life to live, and the decision should be hers to make as well -I can't decide for her forever...' He had told himself, letting the fish off the hook.
"I've made my mind up, Dwayne. There is nothing that would change it-no matter how much you say." She said through gritted teeth, finality laced in her voice. Dwayne could feel her anger rising, so, he let the sleeping dog lie -he felt like he had talked her out of it enough.
Awkward ad thick silence hung in the air for quite a couple of minutes, changing the feel of the atmosphere. However, the two siblings did not bother to say a word to another, they both felt it was of no used -what else were they going to talk about anyway?
Unexpectedly, Ciara raised her head up, earning a questioning expression from Dwayne. "What...？" He asked, staring down at her.
"Ah -it almost skipped my memory." She uttered, her mood suddenly changed -to better. "I received a surprised and unexpected call earlier today when you were away. Did you tell uncle Kent about me?"
Dwayne nodded his head slowly before speaking. "Yeah, I did..."He admitted as quickly as the question came. "You know, he was worried about you being gone for months with no traces at all, so, I had to inform him of your arrival. Did you, maybe, find my action offensive?"
"Uh -not at all. In fact, it's a good thing you did." She said with a small smile. "I told him I'll be staying some months with him when he said he missed seeing me around -I'm only trying to fill up those months I was away with him, you know."
"Well, I'm not objecting to it. He is our uncle, after all, I see no reasons for objection." He told her in a plain tone.
"Yeah, I guess so, too." She nodded in agreement, before placing her head once again on him. "It's a good excuse to get away from these stuffing thoughts and memories, I will keep myself busy for as long as I can while I'm away."
"Hmm..."Dwayne only nodded as he hummed, seeing reasons with his sister. He had thought about the same thing too but was not really sure if she will like the idea, so, he kept his thought to himself.
Well, he should have thought as much, he should have known what his little sister would surely go for -Uncle Kent was the only one of their uncles that they were pretty closed to since they were kids.
He mostly visits them when they were younger and spent most of his time with them, creating a certain inseparable bond than the rest of their uncles -he is the only one they were supposed to see as the father's in their life in the first place.
If anyone could look after Ciara better and make her let go of her trepidation and fear; it should be no one else than him -their uncle Kent.
"When should I prepare to go, you know, I don't want to make it seem like I'm in a haste?" Ciara said, her voice reaching his thoughts and snapping him out of it as well.
"When should you go...？" He repeated her questions slowly, the words were steady on his lips as he looked down on his sister. "I think the best time for you to go is now..."