Chapter 9 - Jaylen’s MoneyMarcus looked at the brokerage statement for nearly a minute.
“When did you open this?”
“Three years ago.”
“For Jaylen?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Nia’s exhaustion turned defensive.
“Because I was putting my own money into it.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I didn’t think every decision needed permission.”
“Permission?”
Marcus set the paper down.
“Stop turning communication into control.”
Nia’s mouth closed.
He pointed at the account.
“I would have contributed.”
“I know.”
“Then why keep it secret?”
She sat.
“Because I wanted one thing for him that couldn’t disappear if our relationship did.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Again.
Every secret was built around the same imagined future.
The relationship ending.
Marcus leaving.
Nia being alone.
He sat opposite her.
“How much have you put in?”
“Around five thousand. The rest is growth.”
“That’s good.”
She looked surprised.
Marcus continued.
“Saving for him is good.”
“Then why are you angry?”
“Because you keep acting like I’m angry at the purpose.”
He tapped the page.
“I’m angry that I apparently live in a family full of contingency plans I was never allowed to know about.”
Nia’s face fell.
Marcus leaned back.
“Do you understand what this looks like from my side?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think you do.”
She waited.
“You were building a version of life where if I vanished tomorrow, you and Jaylen would continue without needing me.”
“I was trying to make sure we could.”
“Exactly.”
Nia’s voice sharpened.
“Is independence an insult to you?”
“No.”
“Then why does it bother you?”
“Because you weren’t building independence. You were building around my presumed betrayal.”
Silence.
Marcus softened slightly.
“If you had said, ‘Let’s create a college account for Jaylen,’ I would have celebrated.”
“I know.”
“If you had said, ‘I need personal savings because I gave up career time,’ I would have understood.”
“Would you?”
The question surprised him.
Nia held his eyes.
“Five years ago, would you really have understood?”
Marcus started to answer.
Then stopped.
Back then, he had been twenty-six.
Proud.
Exhausted.
Obsessed with proving he could provide.
He remembered Nia mentioning going back to work earlier.
He had told her, “Why? I got us.”
At the time it sounded loving.
Now he heard the other message.
You do not need your own financial position because I will be yours.
Marcus exhaled.
“Maybe not.”
Nia looked away.
“That matters.”
“It does.”
He paused.
“But people grow. You never gave me a chance to know what you needed now because you were still responding to who I was then.”
Nia nodded slowly.
That was fair.
Marcus picked up the brokerage statement.
“What type of account is this?”
“Custodial investment account.”
“Who gets control when he’s older?”
“Depends on state law and the account. The brokerage documentation explains it.”
Marcus nodded.
“I want to understand it.”
“Okay.”
“I want both of us involved going forward.”
Nia hesitated.
Marcus noticed.
“What?”
“It’s currently in my name as custodian.”
“I can read.”
“I’m saying changing things may require paperwork.”
“I didn’t ask you to change something tonight.”
Nia relaxed.
Marcus looked tired.
“I don’t want to punish good decisions because they were hidden inside bad communication.”
Nia’s eyes filled.
That sentence was kinder than she expected.
Later that day, Marcus met with Dana.
She reviewed his records.
“You have strong documentation of direct household support.”
“Does that mean the petition disappears?”
“Not necessarily.”
Dana folded her hands.
“If you remain together, you may decide to resolve the case by agreement, amendment, or another lawful route depending on the court. If you separate, support becomes a different conversation.”
Marcus looked at her.
“I don’t know what we are.”
“That may be the real case.”
He gave a tired smile.
Dana continued.
“Something else. Don’t assume financial contribution equals legal leverage over custody.”
“I don’t.”
“Good. Jaylen is not a receipt.”
Marcus nodded.
“I don’t want him in the middle.”
“Then both of you need discipline.”
That night, Marcus returned to the apartment and found Nia cooking.
Jaylen was coloring at the table.
For twenty minutes, the family functioned normally.
Then Jaylen looked up.
“Daddy, are you sleeping in the living room because Mommy snores?”
Marcus nearly choked.
Nia covered her mouth.
Despite everything, they both laughed.
Jaylen smiled proudly at having solved the mystery.
Marcus crouched beside him.
“Mommy doesn’t snore.”
Nia gave Marcus a look.
He added, “That much.”
“Marcus.”
Jaylen giggled.
For a moment the apartment felt like home again.
Then Nia’s phone rang.
Her mother.
Nia answered.
Her face changed within seconds.
“What?”
Marcus watched.
Nia turned pale.
“When did he call you?”
A pause.
“No, don’t give him my number.”
Marcus frowned.
Nia ended the call with shaking hands.
“Who?”
She stared at him.
“My father.”
Marcus knew she had not spoken to the man in almost twelve years.
“Why is he calling?”
Nia swallowed.
“He heard about the child-support case.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“How?”
Nia looked toward the hallway.
Aunt Yolanda.
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The circle of secrecy had just expanded into the one place Nia feared most.
Her past.
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