All Around Us

Chapter Ten

The end of summer vacation, something that children await just as anxiously as they do the beginning of it. Going back home meant I had leave Clio, Aunt and Mell behind, which was only fair since I had also left dad a while ago and it was high time I got reunited with him. I'd missed him dearly. And I promised him we would go on a fishing trip together...I actually wanted to use this time to clear up on somethings.

"Dad, I'm home!", I called up twice but he was nowhere to be found. Where could he have gone?...he knew that I was coming today. Well, maybe he's still at work, let me take my bags up to my room and freshen up. I finished bathing, yet he was nowhere to be found. I really needed to rest, the ride from aunt's place was quite long.

"Liss!", he called to me as he stepped inside the house. "Dad!", I called back running to him for a hug. "Sorry got caught up in traffic, turns out you weren't the only one coming back from summer vacation", he added with a laugh.

"Well, things surely are changing this side- look whose socializing", I said smirking. "What do you mean?" he responded. "Isn't that your friends car that dropped you off just now?", I said to him and he started blushing. "Did you eat, we are about to go out", he asked casually changing the topic.

"I can find some food on the way it's fine-I'm not in the mood for home made food" I responded with a chuckle, waving my hand dismissively. "Fancè", he replied teasingly. Going on this trip was not in the highest of my favours but, it was worth spending time with the old man.

•••●•••

Dad liked Aunt Rosa and she liked him back, but the funny thing was they were both to shy to come clean with each other. So I had to give my dad a pep talk, which was funny since he usually gave me those. He really was a stubborn fella, you couldn't get honesty out of him if you used the old subtle methods. So I exchanged his secret for a fake boyfriend's name I made up.

"Do you like Aunt Rosa", I asked. "No." he replied but his unstable eyes were selling him out, so he confessed the moment he noticed that I wasn't buying It. "I like her, but If I confess I don't know If we will get married". "Is that a bad thing?" I replied. "Well...no," he mumbled, then countiued to say "It's about time I tell you a story about your mom." I began to wonder why he looked so sad...then he continued "your mom didn't die of cancer she died giving birth to you.

I had a friend of mine whom I took in after your mother died because I wanted her to fill in for your mom so that you wouldn't grow up without a mother. When she died from cancer I realised love and commitment weren't for me and since then I have been afraid to lose yet another person that I love."

The news left me shattered, Who else was hiding something from me?. He could see that I was angry so he tried talking to me "li-" I interupted him as I turned the boat angrily towards the shore. The ride back home was very tense and quiet, and when I got home I went to my room and cried myself to sleep. We didn't even talk for the rest of that week because my mind constantly reminded me of what he had told me.