Yours Truly

28. Family is Forever

"Do you love him?" Her mother suddenly asked from where she was at the sink.

"Huh?" 

Her mother smiled warmly again, "You seem like you do." 

Sera fidgeted in her spot, "He is the backbone I never got to have." She muttered. 

Her mother's smile vanished. 

"Sera." Her voice came out squeaky and Sera noticed her swallowing the lump in her throat.

"I never expected things to end that way, when your father-..."

"You abandoned me." Sera cut her off, "And you left me alone and didn't believe me when I needed you most." Tears burned in her eyes, and she felt the same volcano erupt in her chest again.

"You know how your father is-..."

"Nothing you say would ever make it better." She shook her head. Surprisingly despite the tears running down her face, she was calm. An absolute contrast to how she felt inside. 

Her mother looked down, her tears falling on the floor in front of her.

"I'm sorry, my child." She whispered. "I will never forgive myself." 

Sera blinked as she felt a low sob escape her. 

"I only came this time because I wanted to avoid problems, once I graduate I won't be coming back." She turned around and left. 

Her chest felt heavy and her cheeks felt like they were lava as they came down her face. She was hurting so much that she felt like she was about to die. Despite wanting to scream and throw a tantrum like a little kid, she wiped her tears away, fixed her makeup in the bathroom, and went back out.

She was planning on going to sit with the rest of her family in the living room but on the way there, she changed her mind. As soon as they came into view she said "Love, should we get going?" She plastered a smile on her face and went to stand close to his sitting figure with her hands on his shoulders.

Sera was sure that if she stayed here one more minute, she would break down crying. She couldn't do it. Rowan looked up into her eyes and she tried conveying that to him through them. Somehow, Rowan understood and immediately got up. 

"Of course." He put his glass on the table. None of the other people said anything about them leaving too soon. 

"I do not approve of this relationship, Sera." Her father's calm voice came just as they started leaving.

They both looked back at him. 

Saving the best for last as usual, I see.

"I feel like you have a problem with dating men quite older than you. Maybe you should seek some type of help, I don't know-..."

"I don't remember asking for your approval." Sera suddenly cut him off. "You turned your back on me, all of you." She looked at everyone sitting there. "You don't get to remember that you're my family now and try to dictate how I live my life. Family is forever, you don't get to turn a blind eye when you feel like it. You guys abandoned me on the first problem I went through, I don't see why I should listen to anything you have to say now." 

"And no, Dad, I don't think I have a problem. Eight years is not that big of a deal. I feel like you have a problem with parenthood, maybe you should seek help for how sick in the head you are." Sera took Rowan's hand and walked to the front door. 

She heard footsteps behind them as they put their coats on.

"If this is still about Dave, then you are delusional." Her father harshly said.

Sera only looked at him as she fixed her coat, not saying anything as more tears pricked her eyes.

There was no answer for that, she thought. It's pointless.

She felt Rowan move closer to her dad suddenly as if he was about to say or do something but she quickly held him back. Rowan kept glaring at him but let Sera drag him away. 

"Let's just go, okay?" She tried to smile.

From the corner of her eye, she saw her mother go up to her father and say something which resulted in him shouting at her but Sera closed the door behind them so quickly that she couldn't see or hear. She prayed for her mother to free herself from Ronald's shackles, but she knew it would be hard. 

Sera knew that in order to heal completely from this trauma, she would have to forgive them. All of them. But she also knew that she didn't find it in her heart to do so right now. Maybe in the future, but not now. And that was completely okay.