"YOU CHEATED!" SHE whined and folded her arms over her chest as she looked away. A faux frown on her face. "It's not fair, Daddy."

"How can I cheat at Monopoly?" Ryker laughed which earned him another glare from the blue eyed girl that was his own. Rain didn't speak, she continued to frown and turned away from him. Ryker, who was laying on his stomach, sat up and tried to reach for his daughter but she moved away. "Alright, how about we have ice cream?"

Rain's face lit up as she pounced into her father's laps. "Do you have the strawberry flavoured one?"

"Yes but..." he warned. "Just one scoop. I don't want your mom to know about this. She had already scolded me for taking you out to dinner last week."

"Mom is bad!"

"Why would you say that?" Rain remained quiet, getting cosy in Ryker's embrace while he began reaching out for the Monopoly cards and the dice to put it back in the box. "Rain, c'mon. Tell me."

"I don't know." Rain snuggled into his arms. "She doesn't let me eat chocolate cake. Laavanya is nice! She let me have her cake too that day. Where is she, daddy? I want to meet her again."

"She is uh..."

Laavanya had extended her one week of working from home to two weeks and he wasn't sure if she would come back or extend for another week. He hadn't seen her at all since he dropped her at her apartment. Everytime Ryker called for an update on their current project (he just wanted a reason to hear her voice), she would send him to voicemail and then communicate with him via email. He didn't know what exactly happened at the party but he guessed that Cameron and Laavanya broke up. It should've relieved him for his own selfish reasons but he didn't feel anything remotely positive.

Laavanya was hurting.

And that could never make him happy.

"She is sick," he said. "Okay, now. Get up. Start packing this while I get us some ice cream." He picked Rain up and softly put her down. He stood up to walk into the kitchen when the doorbell rang. He ruffled his daughter's hair on the way to the door.

"Hey," she said. "I got you something."

"Julie? Wha—" He furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you doing here so late?"

"Jeez, cousin. That's how you welcome me?" Julie smirked but Ryker remained silent, not letting her in.When he didn't budge or speak a word, Julie scoffed. "God, you are so annoying. Laavanya made you some cupcakes and wanted me to deliver them to you because she is occupied. Here, take this." She shoved the box into his hands. "She wanted to thank you for being a kind boss."

Ryker took the box in his hands and opened it. There were eight cupcakes inside, each one spelling the word thank you and the last one had a smile on it. His face quickly lit up with a smile. He took the T cupcake in his hand and took a bite. As soon as he did, the strawberry flavoured jelly oozed out.

"Dad, is it Laavanya?" Rain's voice echoed from the living room.

"Dad–? Wh–" Julie stopped speaking when the little girl came running towards the door. When her eyes met Julie's, she frowned and hid behind Ryker. "Is–is she your d—? Am I an aun—"

There was no way out of this now.

"Come in, Jules." Ryker closed the door as Julie walked inside, her eyes focussed on the blonde girl. "This is, um...my daughter Rain and Rain..." He pulled her up into his arms after putting the box on a table. "This is your aunt Jules."

"She has your eyes," Julie said, stunned. "How old is she?"

"I am right here," Rain said. Her voice was low. "You can ask me. I am six years old. My name is Rain Julie Smith-Morris."

"Julie?" She turned her head towards Ryker. He put his daughter down and asked her to go into the bedroom. She frowned but took the box of cupcakes from the table and gleefully rushed inside. Ryker ushered his cousin towards the couch and they sat on it on adjacent seats. "You have been hiding her all along?"

"I know you have a lot of questions but I can't answer them right now."

"She is the reason why you stopped coming, isn't she? I thought I lost my favourite cousin but you—" She bit her nails. "I don't understand."

"I am sorry I have been so guarded. I just wanted to keep her safe."

"Safe from who?"

He sighed and got up. He folded his arms over his chest and walked away. His back was facing her because he knew that if he looked into her eyes, he would fall apart. Laavanya had already waltzed through his walls without even trying; he couldn't let another person see the ruination the Morris family had scarred him with too."Our family."

"What are you talking about?"

"You are not ready for the truth yet. And I am not destroying you by it."

"For fuck's sake, Ryker." She scoffed. "I am not a baby anymore. Stop trying to protect me. That is not your job."

"I am your cousin. I have given my daughter your name. Don't you dare tell me it's not my job to keep you safe." All the blood was rushing to the back of his neck as he temper grew. He was close to lashing out but he kept his voice low. He didn't want his daughter to hear him or feel scared of his anger.

Not like he was afraid of his father.

"Yeah?" Julie said sarcastically, her voice raising. "What's the point when I didn't even know she existed?"

He spun on his heel, his face was hot with anger. He stepped closer. "Keep your voice down." He said it through his teeth, controlling his own anger. "You may be my favourite cousin too, Jules, but I will not let your loud voice lead my daughter into thinking that we are fighting because of her. I will pick her over anything in a heartbeat. Even if that means having to keep a secret from everyone I have ever loved."

Julie recoiled as if his words had physically impacted her. She sunk into his couch as her gaze dropped to the floor. "Does Laavanya know?"

At the mere mention of her name, his heart began to soften the rapid beating. "What?"

"Rain–" Julie murmured. "She mentioned her."

"Yes, she knows."

"Is it because she is not family?"

"No." He looked away. "It's because—" He gulped. Why? Why was he willing to tell her everything? If Rain hadn't been under the same roof as they were, he was sure he would have told her everything. She hadn't even asked. She never expected him to put his mask off but for her, he was willing to get naked and show her everything he had to hide. It wasn't the same with her anymore. Seven years ago, he would do everything to not let Laavanya in but he wasn't so sure about that now. "I don't know. It slipped out."

Julie laughed but she had no humour in her voice. "All these secrets," she muttered, talking to herself more than him. "Yet a terrible liar. It's written all over your face. You like her. You've liked her for a long time." This caught Ryker's undivided attention. He looked back at her, eyes balling out. "Look at you. You are so whipped and you hate that. You hate that she is not yours."

"Stop talking."

"Well, she will never be yours if you keep your guard up."

"Julie, stop."

"No, Ryker. I will not. I don't know what's going on between you two. I know you have all these secrets that you won't share and she recently broke up with Cameron but guess what, there are always highs and lows. That is life. Darkness, sunshine, butterflies and pain. All of that is life. But if you find someone whom you are willing to share all of that with then you can't give up. There is no right time but you can always wait. It's not too late to give up on hope. Even if it takes a lifetime."

"She is vulnerable right now. I don't want to take advantage of her."

"You are such a fool," she chuckled. "That girl spent half her day digging up strawberry flavoured jelly just because she saw a photo frame of you in a strawberry farm. And then spent the rest of the day making the cupcakes. Do you know what that means?"

"No."

"It means she wants you to be there!" She playfully jabbed his arm. "She must have mentioned over a million times how grateful she is to have you as her boss. You dropped her home just because you didn't want her to be alone. She wants you and she doesn't even know it. And neither do you. Such idiots." She shook her head.

"So, what should I do?"

"Give her a call. Ask her to come back to work. I don't know. Figure it out yourself." She rose up from her seat. "Now let me tell my goddaughter some embarrassing stories about you." She fled towards the bedroom.

"Jules, don't you dare!"

julie.

that's it.

that's all i have to say.