Fragile (Always Be My Never)

Chapter 13 | The Missing Piece

June 1, 2017

Rossie was standing in front of her parents' home in North Carolina for the first time in the past 6 years. She was nervous during the flight, imagining the worst thing that could happen; they would reject her again.

She rubbed her stomach gently. In her heart, she was praying that her baby wouldn't have to face a hard time as she did in her life. Rossie wasn't religious, to say. She only went to church once a year, on Christmas nights, but last year she skipped it because Josh had made her completely forget about that.

Maybe this was God's way of punishing her.

She took a deep breath, trying to get rid of the thoughts about Josh, and knocked on the main door twice. A few minutes later, her mother's head popped up from behind the door. She was older than Ross remembered, with eye bags and wrinkles on her face, she looked old enough to become a grandmother.

"Mom," Rossie mumbled. She stood still, with one hand holding her luggage handle.

She could tell that her presence was unexpected from the way her mother looked at her. But where else should she go now? She certainly couldn't stay in her rent house back in Greenville, not if she wanted to forget all of the memories about Josh.

This was supposed to be a part of her life when she would say something like "this is when her life truly begins" or anything that showed that the rebirth was imminent.

"Rossie?" Camilla extended one hand to reach her daughter's cheek. "You're back."

Rossie smiled and nodded. This was better than she'd expected, but she knew it wouldn't last long. Any minutes now Camilla would find out that she was pregnant with a man who had dumped her.

"Come in." Camilla opened the door wider and helped Ross moved her luggage.

That was when she realized that Rossie was pregnant. She didn't say anything, just stared at her daughter's belly and then Rossie's eyes, as if she was gesturing Ross to tell her what had happened.

Ross was afraid. Back then, when she was only twelve years old, she could tell Camilla about everything. But now that she had spent six years apart from her, even though Camilla was her biological mother who brought her to this cruel world, she was almost like a stranger to Ross.

Ross expected a slap from her mother, but it didn't occur now. So she put her courage altogether and opened her mouth. She told Camilla about the man she loved, how they met, and how she felt about him. It felt strange how words could slide easily from her tongue, as the urge to tell everything that happened to her in the last six years was huge.

She thought Camilla would tell her to leave their house once again, but she didn't. Instead, she said sorry for the things she did to Ross, for ditching her and telling her to live on her own.

"It's okay, Mom." Ross pulled Camilla closer and pulled her into a hug. She rubbed Camilla's back subtly and let her cry on her shoulder. "Mom, where is Dad?"

Camilla's face hardened once the question slipped out from Rossie's mouth. There was a long silence before she finally spoke up, "We agreed to divorce once you'd gone."

Rossie's eyes went blank. "What? But why? Did he cheat on you?" A bunch of questions popped up in her head and pushed her to say all of it.

"We were in a huge fight that day. I thought he was out of control and he was furious. He snapped at me for not taking better care of you, and I thought his boss scolded him that day. You know how scary your father could be when he was angry, right?" Camilla rose to her feet and walked to the kitchen. "Do you want some coffee?"