Forever (Epilouge)

43

"How are you holding up?" My dad asked as I helped him wash the dishes. My hands were shaking profusely but I was just trying to ignore it.

I had to be strong.

"Um...hanging in there." I mumbled as he cut off the water, "you're shaking like a leaf, squirt." He said as I nodded, "I do that sometimes." I said then turned the water back on and kept doing the dishes.

"Cora, please just talk to me..don't bottle it in." He begged as I shook my head, "I can't talk about it right now or I'll lose it. I can't lose it right now." I explained and scrubbed the plate I was holding in my hand.

"You're in a safe place, Cor...you know we will help you through it." Dad said as I slammed the plate down. "It doesn't matter! I can't lose it right now, dad! It's Christmas. It's a good day. Now stop it." I said as tears welled up in my eyes.

"Cora.." Dad said as my face scrunched up with emotion. "I can't do this right now." I whispered as Colby came into the room. I sniffled and turned towards the sink again.

"Why don't you two go upstairs for a minute so you can cool down." Dad said as I nodded and kept my head down as I quickly walked out of the room. "Cor, what's going on?" Colby asked as he followed me up the stairs.

I ignored him as I held the tears in, I had to wait to let them out. I continued to walk until I reached the guest bedroom. As soon as the door closed I let the tears fall, "woah, hey it's okay..shhh, you're okay." Colby soothed as I ran up to hug him.

"I'm scared." I blubbered out as he smoothed my hair down. "I know...I'm going to take care of you and the girls. They won't come near you guys." He said and tensed up. "Do you think Stephanie knows what he did? Do you think she brought him here on purpose?" I asked as he pulled away so he could wipe my tears.

"I do..I think she's a psycho crazy bitch that's weirdly obsessed with making your life hell. It's literally been five years and she still just can't let you be happy." Colby said as he clenched his jaw and took a deep breath.

"It's my fault." I whispered and shook my head as he breathed a small but angry laugh. "Don't say that. None of this is your fault. I bet that if she came here without Jason you would have been able to forgive and forget. You're the bigger person, Cor." He said as I chewed on my lip.

"I don't want them anywhere near the girls. Do you think they know where we live?" I asked nervously as I picked at my nails. "No baby girl, I don't think they do. I don't want you to worry about that though, I'm gonna take care of it." He assured and looked into my eyes as I sniffled.

"I'm sorry I ruined Christmas." I mumbled as he breathed a laugh, "you didn't ruin Christmas sweetheart. You didn't ruin anything." He said and kissed my forehead as I took a deep breath.

Just then the door opened causing me to flinch, "hey, Olivia is getting fussy I think she might need to eat." Tara said as she and Jake came in. "Okay, yeah...come here sweet pea." I said then took Olivia from Tara.

"How are you doing, Coraline?" Jake asked as I rocked Olivia. "Uh...my life feels like a joke but I guess I'm okay." I said and stood up, wiping the residual tears from my cheek so we could go downstairs to feed Olivia.

"I don't know how you do it, man. If I were you I would be running for the hills." Jake said as we slowly made our way downstairs. "I've tried to run before, it didn't work." I said with a slight laugh remembering the time I left LA to get away since I was having a mental breakdown. Colby literally got on a plane to find me at the top of McMillan.

Running didn't work.

When we got to the living room I went to the couch where Olivia's diaper bag was so I could feed her. She had calmed down a little bit since being in my arms but she was still fussing a little bit.