Spitting Image • TFC 3.0 • l.t. au

Chapter Seventy

70

For 15 years, I've had this weight on my shoulders. A weight that I believed I had to carry on my own. I had gone to so many extents to ignore it and push it aside and it did work. But at the back of my mind, I knew it was just temporary unless I confront it like I'm supposed to.

Losing my dad when I was a young girl really impacted my life. It was not a very good change, as most of you know. I've been so detached to the world and I have become a monster I soon regretted. I become the living nightmare of my mother and a burden to everyone around me.

And when I did finally accept and change the way I was, I was happy for a while. A happiness that was just temporary as I was faced with another horrible truth that my father was in fact alive and was hiding. He came back and had a new family.

That tore me apart. It tore me to pieces and hurt me more than I could say. To tie it down, I've been hurt by a lot of things in my life; my mother's abandonment, the lies my father fed me, the twist and turns my marriage threw at me, seeing my sister helplessly trying to raise her first child alone and the worst is seeing my own daughter fight for her life and lost. Those are just to name a few.

But then again, everything that happened led me to where I am and what I have now; I'm in good terms with my father and his second family and same case with my mum's, i have a great stable job, I'm happily married, I have four beautiful unique children and a precious little angel looking down on us, I'm surrounded by wonderful friends and family and, of course, that one and only man who has loved me through all the rainstorms and the rainbows.

Just like they say, "If you want the rainbow, you have to deal with the rain." And I can happily say that all the rain showers I went through was all worth it for the rainbows that followed after.

My mother in law used to tell me that everything happens for a reason. Especially when we lost our daughter, she keeps convincing us that this is one of those bumps in the road that will make us stronger as individuals and as a family. And she was right.

It's been so long since our family was actually happy. We've all been through a lot but then again, who hasn't? This is just a beginning, even for us. And as long as we're there for each other, no rainstorm or thunderstorm can tear us apart.

~~~

As I look around, I can't help but smile. The whole family has come together for this beautiful event. It's been a long time since this happened and I'm very happy it did.

"Meg!" I turn around and come face to face with Rick. "It's so good to see you when you're not working!" Rick tells me, making me laugh a bit.

"Of course I wouldn't miss this," I tell them, turning to the newly weds at the table. "Holly looks so happy tonight, Rick." I say. He smiles and turns to the pair.

"It's difficult to give her away. But I trust that man to watch over her at all costs," he says in a voice that's so longing. "That's my little girl. She looks so much like her mum right now."

I turn to Holly's direction and I can really tell the similarities. Holly once showed a photo of her mother and looking at her now, Rick is a hundred percent correct. "I think Hannah's happy about this," I assure him. "Anyway, any mother would only want to see their children happy."

"Yes, that is definitely true," he says, turning to me. "You really have grown, Meg. If it counts, I'm really proud of the woman you've become."

As he said that, I felt a smile creep on my face. "Oh it means a lot more than you think," I say. He laughs and nods at me. "Thank you, Rick."

Before he can say anything, Emily has already interjected and tells Rick a couple of friends are looking for him. He waves at me before walking away. That's when Emily takes a seat beside me at the table.