Forever & Always

13: Heartbreak

Edited: 01/07/2022

Walking into the kitchen, I was surprised to find Julie standing near the stove watching the bacon sizzle.

Not wanting to scare her, I cleared my throat before saying good morning.

"Oh, good morning sweetie, I did not see you" she smiled, pulling me in for a hug.

"That is okay, I only just got here."

A comfortable silence filled the air as I set up the table for the two of us. Caleb and Tori both left about thirty minutes ago to take Tori to swimming lessons.

Looking at the relationship that Caleb and Tori had made me think back to Mike and my relationship at that age. The age difference between Tori and Caleb is identical to the age difference between Mike and I. Mike always used to take me to my swimming lessons with Dad as well. We would ride our bikes down to this little pond down the street before going to the pool. It became a regular occurrence to go down to the pond, even when swimming was not on, to feed the ducks.

I remember going home and googling what food was healthy for them and eventually discovered that oats were the way to go.

One day, I had filled my pockets up with oats and road all the way to the pond and all the way home with Mike. Little did I know that the oats had left a trail going the entire way home. Before we knew it, we had several ducks at our front door quacking because they wanted more food.

Smiling at the memory, I picked up our plates and sat them on the table before fetching us a glass of juice each.

"Thank you honey."

Julie grabbed my hands and gave them a tight squeeze, "Bianca, I just wanted you to know that these past couple of weeks have been amazing, you are family, and I would hate for you to stay anywhere else but right here with us."

"You are so amazing" I laughed, trying to blink the tears away.

"You are so incredibly kind and generous for taking me in and I just wanted to say thank you and that I appreciate everything that you are doing for me."

The rest of breakfast went by fast. Julie and I spoke for an awfully long time, well at least until Tori and Caleb arrived home a few hours later.

Running towards them, I picked up Tori and spun her around in the air.

"How was your swimming lesson, you little mermaid" I asked, smiling at her contagious giggles.

Once I put her down, Caleb wrapped one arm around my thighs and another around my waist. Before I could tell him to put me down, he started spinning while Tori tickled my side asking how I like it.

"Stop, STOP! I... cannot... breath...arghhh" I yelled, as I squirmed in Caleb's arms as Tori found my ticklish spots.

"Okay, okay. I think we got her good" Caleb laughed, putting me back down on my feet.

I punched Caleb in the arm for being the ringleader in that situation, "you suck" I laughed.

Times like that, really made me miss my Mum. Thinking about Mum honestly made me so angry. I find it funny how she had time to call and message Mike yet I have not heard from her.

"I am just going to go and call Mum, I will talk to you guys soon" I smiled, winking at Tori, and sticking my tongue out at Caleb as I walked past.

The phone rang a few times before I finally heard her voice.

"Hey Bianca, now is not really a suitable time" she muttered.

Rolling my eyes and biting my tongue in annoyance, "hi, it feels like it is never a good time".