Lana Pipes

"Dad?" I worded, grabbing his attention.

"Yes, Lan. What is it?" He replied, pulling his eyes up and down towards a file. He looks very invested on it.

"Are you busy? If so we can have a chat later," I shook my shoulders.

"Oh no, baby. It's just a case. My colleagues are ruling it out as a suicide but-, but it just doesn't feel right. I think it might be a homicide. Anyways, work is not for home," He closed the file, glancing at me. "So, what do you wanna talk about?" His ocean blue eyes questioned.

"I just had this question from a really long time. How did you meet Mom?" I said, taking a seat beside him on the sofa.

"So you wanna hear it like how I met your Mother?" He joked. "Well, I and Michelle met in a bakery. She was so young and beautiful. She had this appealing face on her," He blushed.

"She bought a chocolate cake and a few blue berry muffins. She was in a rush. She picked her blue berry muffins and forgot to take chocolate cake. I chased her and gave it to her. Oh, god if she hadn't forgotten her cake. We wouldn't had talked and married," He reminisced.

"That's so sweet. Is that why you always bake cakes for her?" I smirked.

"Yes. Michelle adored cakes. Especially made by me. Even when she was in college I used to bake cakes and deliver it to her. She used to come and meet me in my office," He chatted. "It was 2002 new year eve when we met, she was in her college 1st year, just 20. I already was a cop and 23. We went on a few dates and got the feeling that we must spend the rest of our lives together and got married after her studies in the year 2004," He grinned.

And I was born on 2006 and Ben on 2016.

"So, did no one from Mom's side of family attend the wedding?" I questioned.

"Nope. She gets all cramped up talking about her family. Her parents died at a young age in an accident. Maybe that's the reason she mingled very well with my side of family. She showered affection on my Mom and Dad the day she met them and you see, she is like a daughter to them. She's close with my younger brother Hunter and his wife Mal. Everyone thinks Michelle and Mal are own sisters from their bond," He puffed a laugh.

"So, you don't even know her parent's names?"

"Well, she never really liked to disclose it and I didn't wanna dig on her. I loved her and she loved me and we got married," He concluded.

He should have dug on her, then he would have found grotesque verity about her and her lineage.

"So it was a happy marriage," I said and was ready to leave for my room.

"Nope, Layla had her objections. She thought Michelle was mysterious," He sniffled.

"I am the one to blame. She supplicated me to find her sister, Mary. It had already had been 6 months since she disappeared. I searched everywhere and there were no leads. All her classmates had already moved and scattered to different places by then and Mary had a thing for running away. I thought she would show up eventually. Michelle came to my life at that moment and I was so preoccupied with her that I-, I didn't take it seriously. That was the only case in my life that was left unsolved," He bowed his head down.

Holy shit. Why do everything connects to Michelle?

......

"Holy Jesus," Jaro choked.

"Yeah," I whimpered, coming out of High-Hill church. "I guess now you understand why I wanted to visit you in a holy place, thought I could use some spiritual healing," I added.

"What you just told me was-" Jaro rubbed a hand over his raven hair. We started to move to High-Hill park. "How did you even process all this? You are so tranquil. Even I, myself am stunned. 4 generations linked to crime? Unbelievable," Jaro folded his arms.

"5. 5 generations. Don't forget even I almost killed Roger and had to pay a visit behind the bars. I was dazed to hear it too. I almost broke down but then grandpa kinda consoled me. Now I see why my mommy dear is so devoted to her dad. He is so benevolent," I said tugging a strand of my brown curly hair behind my ear.

"Well, baby cakes, you know, you have me by your side. I got your back," He said walking towards the park. He looked exquisite as always but today the black T-shirt he wore brought an extra sparkle of attraction.

"Oh dear, you even got my heart," I whispered filling the gap between us.

"And you got mine," He gently placed a kiss on my hand.

That left me insatiable. I leaned forward and dragged him into a passionate series of snogs and smooches. "Woah, baby cakes. We are in public," He reminded me.

"You wanna go somewhere private? How about I show you my heart and you show me yours in detail?" I suggested.

"When did I agree to tutor you biology?" He smirked.

"Since our chemistry is so good, why don't we switch to biology for a bit?" I encouraged.

He gave me a devilish grin.

.....

"You embellished the house with more paintings," I pointed towards his enchanting paintings which he added. "I see you have been painting a lot lately," I turned around cherishing them.

"Don't you like it?" He crossed his arms.

"Is my inclination of appreciation invisible to you?" I pouted.

"Oh, please. Don't pout. You look so winsome when you pout," He pulled me into a tight kiss. I leaned towards it. I led him to the bedroom. His hands were painting gentle strokes on my body, every touch caressing, comforting.

He drew his lips to my neck, making me giggle. I pushed him into the bed guffawing. He dragged me with him. I am on top of him. My hands still lingered on him. I indolently moved my hands to his shirt, trying to taking it off of him. I already am famished to have him.

"Baby cakes," He halted. Protesting me from making him shirtless. "You are still a minor," He drawled.

"I won't be in like 2 weeks," I shuttered in confusion.

"Exactly, until then, this stuff can wait," He said shyly.

"You do know that, I am not a virgin right?" I puffed a laugh. "I have done this before," I declared.

"I am sorry, I really am sorry. I do want to have you too. It's-, it's just, you are still a kid and there's this huge age gap between us," He stated.

"Do I remind you of her?"

"What the-? No, of course not. Lana, come here," He pulled me into a hug, reassuring. "I love you, baby cakes. I love you like a painting. Without you I am just a paint brush without paint. You are the paint to my brush," He confessed, sinking his beautiful raven eyes deeply into mine.

"You are the swing, I wanna swing on. I love you Jaro Briggs," I replied.

"You look so beautiful Lana, you always have. God, I love your hair," He breathed, taking a strand of my brown curls. "And there is this perfect little nose of yours," He touched my nose. "The eyes, resembling the deepness of oceans. I wish I could swim in them," He uttered.

"The artist becomes the poet?" I mocked.

"Poetry was never my cup of tea but, but you make me wanna say all these," He smiled. It was a very beautiful smile. "Maybe, I can't swim in your pretty little eyes but I can surely paint them. Don't move," He ordered me and left to find his paints.

I stared around and looked myself in the mirror. What does he even see in me? All I saw was a reflection of a goofy teenager with average figure. Maybe it's the dress why I looked alluring to him. I wore a pretty white satin frock.

"Did you just get more prettier when I left to grab my paints?" He winked.

"Oh, stop with your lies," I blushed.

"I merely am stating the facts," He said, dipping his brush into the paints. "Stay still," He worded.

I slouched myself in the same position for nearly 20 minutes and he finally said he finished.

I scampered to peek at the painting.

It's-, it's delectable. It's a beautiful oil painting of me. It looked so real as if I am starring myself at the mirror.

"This definitely is the most remarkable work of mine. Look how spellbinding you look, baby cakes," He mesmerized.

I don't know what to say. I am filled with this intense felicity, words blocked their way out from my eloquence.

Jaro's phone rang breaking this artistic atmosphere. He picked it up real quick.

"Hello. Yes, what? Is-, is she really?" He didn't finish the sentence looking at me. He rushed to another room.

Q/A

Q. Do you prefer talking on text or call?

A-

Q. Who do you think called Jaro?

A-

Author's Note:

Next chapter is gonna be about Jaro's past with Mary. Don't miss out the fun, stay tuned and let me know your thoughts.

👻