"Daddy? What's this for?" A seven year old girl with brown hair and striking, adorable, beautiful blue eyes looked up at her father as she pointed to the three words written on his arm. A tatoo, he had gotten as a reminder.
It's not as if she was asking anything too personal, but it did strike a nerve within him. He didn't like to think of where that came from, it was more of who they were for. The three words, 'I love you, written on his arm were for the only woman who held his heart.
He ruffled the girls hair and smiled. "Mommy."
"Mommy? But why, daddy?" The girl asked, her face scrunching up as she stared at him, confused.
"Avery, sweetheart, some things are best left unsaid." Her father said quietly, as he drew his daughter into his arms and sat her on his lap.
"But daddy! I wanna know! Please?" She pouted and for a half second, it struck him with a feeling so familiar it was agonizingly painful.
Her mother.
She looked so much like her. Her brown hair, her eyes, her nose, and even her ears. Everything was so much like her mother that he felt as if he wanted to hug her so close to him and never let her go. Never. He may have lost her but he wouldn't lose his little girl. She was his.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. There was no point in lying to her. She didn't know her mother, but she'd ask questions about her sooner rather than later, so telling her the truth was probably the best he could do.
"It all started 11 years ago....."
"Chelsea! Wait up!" A young boy, as the age of 16 called out as he tried desperately to catch up with his best friend, Chelsea.
Chelsea, a petite brown haired girl, with eyes as cold as ice, turned around and offered him a small smile. The thing about, Chelsea, was that she never spoke. She was mute. She'd never said a word since she was at the age of 9 and after that, she refused to talk. No one knew why, except for Chelsea, who refused to tell anyone. Even her best friend.
"Hey, you never texted me back," her best friend, who's name was, Tyler, said softly as he looked down at her, his eyes ploring. He wanted to know the truth to her silence
, but he would never know. He wouldn't understand. He'd think her..... Silly.
Chelsea shrugged and tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. There wasn't any point in replying to his text messages, when she knew she would see him in less than an hour, anyways.
Tyler frowned as he watched her facial expressions, his eyes boring into hers. He wanted to know what kept her silent. He wanted to know what kept him from hearing her beautiful voice. He wanted to know who had hurt her so much that she'd resorted to silence. But he would have to just wait it out. He would eventually get it out of her. Eventually.
"Well, anyhow, you will never believe what my little brother did yesterday. Considering it was April fools, he thought it would be funny to superglue the toilet seat, so that when our dad came home, he'd be glued to the seat. Needless to say, he was grounded for two months AND he had to spend the rest of his afternoon unsupergluing my dad from the seat. Brilliant kid, isn't he?" Tyler laughed, shaking his head.
Chelsea grinned. She always knew Jack, his younger brother, had a nack for troublemaking. It had only been a matter of time until they realized it. She'd been the brunt of a lot of his stunts and she enjoyed every moment of it. She had always felt herself with Tyler and his family. They never probed her to speak and she always reveled in that. Her parents were differente. They blamed themselves for her silence and in reality it wasn't their fault. It was hers. All hers.
