Lilly's POV…
Today I sat at the park in the very same spot that I first met Liam and Ashley at. Lifting my head towards the sky I thanked an invisible force for allowing me to meet this drop-dead gorgeous man and his beautiful, precocious little girl. Somehow these two have managed to do something that I once thought was impossible. They have caused me to open up my heart to love again and to also allow someone to love me back.
So much joy and happiness were flowing through me that it was becoming very hard to contain my excitement. I was so happy that I was completely oblivious to a tall dark and handsome older gentleman staring at me from a distance until a loud commotion in his direction garnered my attention. Off to the side of him were three young beautiful females that looked identical to each other. These women looked to be around my age. They were setting up a picnic area while three toddlers, two boys, and one girl chased each other.
My happiness began to fade away as I sat there watching him watching me. I began to feel a bit uneasy but not enough to cause me to leave. Something about this man looked oddly familiar to me. I couldn't for the life of me understand why I felt this strong urge that I somehow knew this man. I know for sure that I've never met him before today but this nagging feeling that I knew him propelled me to stare at his features closely.
His salt and pepper hair was cut into a neat fade and his dark skin complexion was that of a smooth Hershey chocolate bar. Those brown eyes of his looked cold and menacing as he glared at me. He had a short, slime round nose above thick lips. He had a neatly trimmed goatee that framed his strong board jawline nicely. Nervousness flared through me when he began to take small steps towards me.
Immediately began to pack up my things as fast as I could. I was dropping things left and right as I noticed him getting closer to me. The baby inside my stomach began to kick wildly as my nervousness began to spike even higher.
“Ms do you need any help?” I hear a deep, masculine voice behind me asked in a not so friendly tone. His tone of voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and a stinging pain to pass through my birthmark.
“No… umm… I got it.” I answered with a terrible stutter as I came face to face with the stranger. Up close, I could faintly see a long, deep old scar hidden underneath his goatee.
“Are you sure?” He asked while standing beside me both his hands tucked in his pants pockets.
“Aah...yeah… I got it.” I say again while struggling to squat to retrieve the few items that I had clumsily dropped in my haste to get away from the stranger that is currently talking to me.
“Here let me get that for you.” He offered after seeing me struggling to reach over my very pregnant belly trying to grab my car keys, and phone that had come out of my purse after it fell onto the ground.
“You look like someone I know.” He mentions out of the blue then passes me my things. I didn't know how to respond to his statement, so I just kept quiet. “Do you know someone named Carla Carmichael?” He then asked me.
Hearing the sudden mention of my dead mother's name falling from this man's mouth caught me completely off guard and sent warning bells sounding off in my head. “Umm… No, I don't know anyone by that name.” I lied then said goodbye in a rush.
I didn't wait for him to respond. Not only that, but I hurriedly walked towards the parking lot where my car was with my heart beating a mile a minute and tears threatening to fall from my eyes just from hearing a stranger saying my mom's names. It's been years since I've shed a tear for the woman who didn't think her daughter needed her more than her need to escape the pain and grief that she was feeling due to the loss of her best friend. Tear after tear poured from my eyes as I sat behind the steering wheel reliving my terrible past over again.
Mandy's POV…
Today I was feeling a bit more like myself. I've even felt like dressing up a little. Walking over to my walk-in closet I grabbed an orange and green kingdom heart hoodie and a green tank top. Rummaging through my top drawer I looked for my brand-new pair of black ripped jeans that my mom had brought for me three days ago while the two of us were out shopping at Forever 21.
For the past few months since my near life and death accident, she's been making a serious effort to stay clean. She has even kicked Eric out of the house after finally realizing that he was no good for her. I have yet to confide in her what has been going on with me during the last ten years of my life while she was stoned out of her mind on drugs. I didn't know if I should mention my problems to her just yet hell I wouldn't even know where to start. “Dammit I have yet to tell her about Kira, and she was a constant threat to my mom's well-being.”
“Don't dwell on anything but being happy today,” I say to myself when I feel my emotion begin to change from thinking about my problems. After finding my black jeans I grabbed a pair of pink panty and bra set along with white ankle socks out of the drawer.
I walked into the bathroom and stood under the lukewarm water and held my face up to the sprouting water. Even the soft pelting of the warm water on my face was exciting to me. It was like this was the first time in a long time that I was able to enjoy something as simple as this.
“Enjoy this small glimpse of happiness for now because it won't last long.” I hear Kira say in my head. Shaking my head vigorously from left to right I managed to get rid of Kira and her negative energy for the time being. I walked down the stairs into the kitchen after I finished getting dressed and grabbing my phone off of the nightstand. My mom was setting two bowls filled with bacon, eggs, and toast on the table for two. A glass of orange juice and a bowl of sliced apples set on the table beside each plate.
We've been eating breakfast and dinner together ever since she made the effort to stay clean and try to take better care of herself. “Good morning sweetheart.” She says when see me walking towards her with a smile on my face.
“Good morning mom,” I replied then hugged her gently with tears springing from my eyes.
“Is everything okay baby?” Mom asked while hugging me back for a few minutes then pulled back and lifted my face to look into my eyes.
“I just missed you so much,” I exclaim then lays my head on her shoulder and engulf her into a loving hug like I used to do a lifetime ago.
“I'm so sorry sweetie for neglecting you for all those years. There's no excuse for all the pain I've put you through, and I won't even try to make one. What I can tell you is that I will make every effort in the world to never fall victim to a man or drugs again. I've lost so much precious time with my beautiful daughter that I can never get back due to my selfishness. Thank you for allowing me this chance to be the mom that you deserve Mandy.” Mom says while crying herself.
We both stood there hugging each other and crying like babies for what seemed like hours. “Come on sweetie let's eat our breakfast before it gets colder than it already is.” She then tells me as she wiped my tears from my face then does the same thing to hers.
“What do you want to eat for dinner?” Mom asked me as I grabbed my book bag out of the closet by the front door.
“Surprise me,” I respond then turn and peck her on the jaw before walking out of the front door into the cool breeze.
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JJNiles...
YOU ARE READING
The Unexpected
RomanceLooking at myself in the mirror I began to trace the small outline of my birthmark with my fingers. Anxiety began to claw at the back of my mind because of the fear of the unknown. Some of us have many birthmarks and some of us only have one just li...
