"How do I look? Be honest." I asked my father.
"Dylan you look perfect." He said, obviously.
"No seriously Dad, are my bruises covered up well? I don't want to look crazy over there."
He laughed. "As I said, you're perfect. You did much more damage to the girl than she did to you. I can't even tell you've been fighting."
"Okay, good."
"But no more fighting, right?" He asked, his brows raised.
"Nope, but this one was a long time coming." I smirked.
"You know what, it really was." He laughed.
After my brawl with Mel, she was sent to Texas to live with her father and Justin. My dad told her that she couldn't stay with us anymore, and that she wasn't welcomed back. The only part of Eliza left in our house was my brother Spencer, and he certainly wasn't going anywhere.
Eliza was still in jail. Unable to pay her bail without my father's checkbook, she awaited trial behind bars.
Justin had come to get his sister, and profusely apologized for his mother's involvement in my kidnapping. I told him that it wasn't his place to apologize, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. Who knew that out of all people, Justin and I would be on good terms.
Tonight I was finally meeting the rest of my mother's family at my grandma Candace's birthday party. I was incredibly nervous, but having my cousins Nessa and Marcus there with me gave me some comfort.
"I wanted to talk to you about something before you go." My dad said.
"Okay Dad, but can it be quick, Nessa is already on her way." I said, sitting down.
"Well I know we haven't touched on this subject in a while, but we were meant to talk about it before everything happened. I promised you that we would discuss your mother and what happened with her and her family."
I nodded. "I just figured we'd talk about it eventually. It's not as much of a big deal to me as it was before. But since you're offering, yes, please tell me."
He cleared his throat and sat down awkwardly.
"So, when I met your mom I had just dropped out of college. Your grandparents had cut me off because of it, so I basically had to fend for myself, no trust fund, no anything. I was just starting out in real estate and barely making anything, when this stunning woman walks into the office I was working in at the time. Her and her fiancé were looking for a home for after they got married, and I was the one that had to find it for them. Not to go into detail, but the woman and I began and affair. That woman was your mom, Ava. A few weeks before her wedding to the other man she found out that she was pregnant, with you Dylan."
I gasped, in shock at this revelation.
"She called off the wedding, and her family was so angry at her. When they found out she was pregnant by me, this broke, college drop out, things got even worse. Her parents forbade her from marrying me, and wanted her to terminate the pregnancy and get back with her ex fiancé."
"What?" I said, my voice cracking.
He nodded. "After that, your mom left and didn't look back. We got married and my career started to take off. Eventually we moved here, to Montecito just before your mom gave birth to you. When you were around a month old, Candace contacted your mom and wanted to meet you."
"So what happened?" I asked.
"Your mom wanted nothing to do with them. I'm pretty sure that was the last time she spoke to her mother."
I blinked the tears away that had been building up.
"Should I... should I not go tonight?"
"Go Dylan, get to know your family. They can probably tell you more about your mom than I can. I only had seven years with her, they had more than two decades. I have a feeling that if Ava was still with us she would've reconciled with her family by now. She loved them, even through her anger and resentment, it was obvious that she still loved and missed her family."
I patted my cheeks to remove my tears. "God, now my make up is ruined."
"It's not." He laughed. "You look beautiful, you look like your mom."
I leaned over and hugged him tightly. "Thanks for telling me Dad."
"I'm only sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I just didn't want you to think of your mother differently."
I pulled away from him and shook my head. "Never. She was human after all, and you two loved one another. Even as a child I could see that."
"We did, but she loved you above everything. I just hope you know that."
"I do." I whispered, hugging him again.
"C'mon." He said, patting my back. "You should get going." He gestured to my vibrating cellphone.
"She's here." I said, reading a text from Nessa.
"Let me know how everything goes." He said to me, standing and holding out my purse.
"I will." I said, grabbing it. "See you later, Dad."
"See you then." He waved as I walked out the front door.
-
"Everyone's gonna love you Dylan, obviously." Nessa said, as we sat in the car in front of our grandma's house.
"L O L, sure they will." I rolled my eyes.
"Well you're never gonna find out if you sit in the car all night. Let's go." She said, unlocking the car.
I grunted and hesitantly opened the car door, stepping out.
"Geez, how many people were invited to this thing." I said, looking around at the plethora of cars surrounding the house.
"We have a large family." Nessa said, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the door.
She opened the front door with ease, not knocking, nor ringing the doorbell. As we walked into the house, different scents of delicious food overtook my senses. The house was small, but the amount of people in it made it feel gigantic. There were older people sitting on the couches talking lively, while some were dancing to the music playing from the television. They all looked up at Nessa and I when we walked in.
"Hey everybody. This is Dylan." Nessa said as she went around the living room hugging everyone individually.
"Hi." I waved at them, a polite smile on my face.
A swarm of people came to hug me, gushing over me and how much I looked like my mother. More people started to pour out of the kitchen and into the living room to greet me. I felt incredibly awkward, but I didn't let it show.
"Let her breathe people, geez. Besides, I would like to hug my granddaughter." Candace said, pushing her way through everyone to get to me.
"Happy birthday." I smiled at her, holding out a giftbag.
"Thank you." She smiled back, taking the gift and embracing me.
"Come you two, come and eat." She said to Nessa and I.
We both trailed behind her into the dining room, where I found Nessa's mom Tanya, my cousin Marcus, an older woman, and two older men eating at the table.
"Hey Mommy." Nessa said, hugging her mom.
"Hello." I waved at everyone that sat at the table.
Marcus got up and hugged me tightly. "What's up little cousin?"
"Nothing much." I laughed. "You?"
"Same, just chillin." He smirked, looking at me knowingly.
I smirked back, positive that he was giving me a look about my best friend Amy and their budding romance.
He introduced me to my aunt and uncles, most of which were tearing up, mainly about my mother and the fact that I was no longer a missing person.
As I sat down at the table to eat with them, my mother remained on my mind. These people, her family, they were treating me with goodness and kindness, yet that same grace was not granted to my late mother. Her cheating on her fiancé with my father and getting pregnant with me was enough for her whole family to give up on her. Being here with her own mother, her brothers and sisters, the same people that would have had me aborted, it all felt wrong.
My father may have thought that my mother would have forgiven her family, but in this moment I realize that I hadn't. Maybe I could one day, but not now.
"Dylan, are you listening? Auntie Jane wants to show you pictures of your mom from high school." Nessa said.
I looked up, realizing that I had been staring into space. I softly smiled at my Aunt Jane and said, "That sounds nice, but I think I should go."
Everyone at the table looked at me in confusion.
"I'm not feeling well." I turned to Nessa. "Could you take me home?"
She frowned and nodded. "Okay, are you alright though?"
"Yea, just a really bad migraine." I lied, standing up. "It was nice meeting you all. And happy birthday Candace."
I could see her body tense as I said her name, but she smiled nonetheless.
"Thank you sweetie, you are welcome back here anytime."
I nodded at her, before looking to Nessa.
"Okay, I'll be back in an hour." She said to her family, getting up from her chair.
Her and I walked out of the house in silence. I was unsure if I'd ever return here again.