Delinquent Daisy (Book 5)

Chapter 14:

            “I’m talking about the fact that Daisy wants to adopt Noah!” Peter shouted at Amber.

            “Why shouldn’t I? He’s my brother! I have a right-”

            “Yes, you have a right to be concerned about him but you are not the best thing for Noah and deep down you know that. Daisy, if you go through with this it will be the most irresponsible thing you’ve ever done. You can’t raise a child.”

            “Why the hell not?” I demanded to know.

            “Because you are a child!” Peter shouted. “Whether you like it or not you are still a child!”
            “I’m twenty three years old for crying out loud! If I’m a child then you’re a teenager!” I retorted. “I can look after Noah! I’ve been doing it my whole life!”

            “You’ve been doing it up until you were sixteen! For the last seven years Jane and I have been there to protect him from your parents! Jane and I have been the ones to clean him up after he’s suffered a beating from your dad! Jane and I have been the ones to cheer him up when your mum tells him he’s a waste of space! Jane and I have been the ones to look after him whilst you’ve been god knows where! Jane and I have been there ever since he was born! He basically is our child!”

            “I’ve done the best I could by Noah!” I cried out. “I didn’t have a choice! My parents were going to kick me out if I didn’t do it! But they don’t get a say anymore so I’m quitting and I’ll look after Noah the way I was always meant to!”

            “Wait you want to quit your job?” Amber asked. “You can’t just do that Daisy! Your job is-”

            “Is what?” I demanded. “My job means nothing to me! I did it because I had to and no other reason! I would love nothing better than to leave it! Being a parent to Noah would be the best and easiest job in the world.”

            “And that right there is why you can’t be a parent! You’ve never been a parent! You don’t know the first thing about parenting! You think it’s easy! It is not easy!”

            “Daisy,” Amber approached me softly, “Peter is right. You can’t raise Noah. You aren’t ready. You need to live your life, fall in love and get married. You shouldn’t be tied down to parenting Noah for the rest of your life and I know you know deep down in your heart that you aren’t the best thing for Noah. You love him and he loves you and that won’t change. That will never change but I think it would be best if you didn’t blur the lines of sister and mother.”

            “I thought you supported me on this,” I said backing away. Whenever I told Amber of my plans to one day get Noah out of my parents hands she had always seemed supportive.

            “I supported you on getting Noah away from your parents but I never-”

            “Leave. Both of you. Leave,” I demanded. I stared at them and they stared at me. “LEAVE!”

            “Do what’s best for Noah,” Peter said before closing the door behind him.

I screamed. I just screamed. I had had a plan all my life and that plan was to someday get custody of Noah and now that I could do it people were telling me my plan wasn’t the best idea. That I wasn’t Noah’s best shot and that hurt because I wanted to be Noah’s best shot. I was his sister and I should’ve been his best shot. So that night I went to the mini fridge and pulled out the bottle of vodka that was in there. I poured myself a glass and sat on my bed and stared into nothing as I sipped my drink and tears fell down my face because despite the fact that I despised everything that Peter said, he was right about everything. My biggest fear was coming true. I wasn’t Noah’s best shot and I’d always known that deep down but I ignored it because other people had never said I wasn’t but now people had. I wasn’t Noah’s best shot.