Julia's POV:
I wrap my arms around me when I exit the house. The cold air bites my naked fingertips and I push my hands in to my pockets with the hope to get rid of the numbing cold pain. Stephanie exits the house soon after me and gives me an encouraging smile. I smile back at her, even though it isn't as encouraging.
"Are you ready to see your parents? Or do you want to do the dress fitting first?" I turn my head to look down the road as a car pass. Green. "No, then you will have to reschedule with the other bride maids as well." I smile politely at her when I face her again and she tilts her head slightly. "Are you sure?" I nod my head and she turns to the door when Tyler exits with a very happy Gabby.
"Are we going to dress up as princesses?" She squeal excitedly and Stephanie takes her into her arms. "Not quite yet." Gabby pouts adorably before smiling again, showing her pearly whites. She is such a friendly child. "Are we still going to dress up?" She asks with a happy pitch and I laugh slightly. "Yes, but a little bit later, darling." Steph kisses her cheek and the little girl is radiating happiness.
We greet Tyler who greets us back before we go our separate ways. "I hate not going to work." Steph tells me as she buckles Gabby into her car seat, "But I prefer being at home with Gabby until she can go to kindergarten." She turns to face me and smiles. "It makes me feel more like a mother." I nod my head, a smile on my face as well. Steph's parents weren't at home that much, so she didn't have one on one time with them that much.
We get in the car as well and she turns to face Gabby. "You good, goofball?" She smiles and Gabby nods her head. She looks at me, "Are you ready?" I nod my head as well. It will be the first time I see my parents, but they won't be the same as I left them. They are getting remarried, if not already married. I never got invitations so I can just believe what I know. I take deep breath and stare out the window, unconsciously searching for green cars.
There aren't much.
I take out my phone and check my texts messages. I have one from Justin, but he has been acting very weird these couple of days. I scroll down until I spot my mom's. I start to type a message, but erase it and start to type again. They don't even know that I am here.
"You know where they live, right?" Stephanie nods her head and takes a turn. "Yes, Tyler and I visited them a few times. We haven't been visiting much because of the wedding plans." She looks slightly disappointed in herself when she says that, but I am just surprise to know they visited. "Thank you." I smile at her and she smiles back. Of course she would. They are striving to be better people than their own parents.
She looks at me when she turns into another street, before coming to a halt. "Here we are." Gabby makes a small noise from the back. "We are visiting Auntie Anne?!" I smile at her excitement. So inconspicuous of the tense atmosphere in the car. I am nervous. I haven't seen her for a long while and I am honestly not sure how I feel about it. I take a deep breath and look at the house.
It is also small, but bigger than the previous house. It looks more decent as well. I open the door and slowly get out of the car. My heart is beating in my ears and my breathing feel heavy. It feels like I am going on my first date all over again. I close my eyes and take another breath in and out. You got this, Julia. You got this.
I walk around the car and it feels so slow. Like I am moving in slow motion. The door seems hours away even though I stopped in front of it in mere seconds. I lift my hand to knock and held my breath while I waited. When she opened the door I didn't recognize her. The fragile woman that I knew as my mother is replaced with a woman who looks healthy and strong. Her cheeks were glowing red, her body didn't look small and breakable and her smile was real.
It took us both a minute before we both burst into tears. "Julia?" She whispered as she took a small step closer. "Is-" She looks me up and down, "Is it really you?" She sucks in a breath as I nod my head. She pulled me into an embrace and I hugged her back, my body shaking as I try to keep my sobbing under control. "I missed you so much my darling." She sniffed near my ear and I sucked in a breath before talking, "I missed you too, momma."
We just stood like that for a good few minutes before a masculine voice spoke up. "Who is it, Annie?" We pull away and I get to look at the man who stole my mother's shattered heart and fixed it. He was tall. Taller than my dad. "Oh, hi." I greet and stretch my hand out. He takes it politely and I smile at him. "I am Julia," His eyes light up with excitement, "Anne's daughter! I've heard so much about you!" I peek at my mother who looks down shyly. "I'm Alexander."
"All good things I hope." I joke and he grins. "Of course good things, what else would there be? You sound like a such an amazing person and you look just like your mother." I laugh lightly and smile at my mom. "I will come visit another day for slightly longer, I need to go greet dad as well and then we are going to fit brides maid-dresses." My mom looks at me and I can see that she doesn't want me to go yet.
"I promise to visit a while longer, maybe tomorrow or so?" She nods her head and smiles warmly. She really does look better than she had looked in years. She looks happy. "I am looking forward to it, Julie." She grins happily as Alexander wraps his arms around her waist and rests his chin on her shoulder. She looks so short compare to him. "See you soon, Julia." He greets and I wave as I head back to the car.
I get in and take a deep breath as Stephanie starts the car. "Well?" She asks as she makes a U-turn to leave the street. "She looks so happy." I murmur softly and Stephanie smiles, "She sure does." I look at her and she peeks at Gabby in the backseat. "Do you know this Alexander?" I ask her and she grins at me. "Of course I do!" I narrow my eyes at her. "I'm the reason they met." She looks so proud of herself. "How?! He is like thirty years older than you!?" I ask in disbelieve and she glares at me. "Keep it down, will ya?"
"Yes, he is older than me, but he is a friend of my boss. We took her along with us to a work party thing that my boss was hosting. He said we can invite anyone and I thought of your mother since she was lonely." She turns right down a street, "Alexander was there and they seemed to hit off." She looks at me quickly with a cat grin before looking back at the road. "Your mother couldn't be more happy." That I can see.
The drive to my dad's new house was about fifteen minutes away from my mom's. Or was it twenty? I didn't keep track of the time, but we were fast. I look at this house. It is completely different from my mom's a bit bigger. It's a two story house. "He lives with his new fiancee, it is her house." Ah, that explains it. "Does he at least have a job?" I ask lowly and Stephanie nods her head. "Yes, he finally opened his own business. It is a success." I smile softly. Maybe they weren't meant to be together at all.
I get out the car and it feels a little easier to go the door than it felt at my mom's. I reach the door and ring the bell. A sound comes from within the house and soon after I can hear footsteps. "Coming!" I hear a woman's voice. A tanned, long dark haired beauty opens the door. Her black curls were falling from shoulders and her brown eyes were rimmed with long lashes. She is gorgeous. "Uh, hi." I greet lowly and she smiles kindly, "Hi, who are you?" I just stare at her for a moment before answering.
"I am Julia-"
"Oh! Oh!" Her eyes widens with surprise. "You're Jack's daughter!" She grabs my hand and pulls me into a hug. "I am Emily, it is so nice to finally meet you." I hug her back awkwardly and she pulls away, calling my dad's name from inside the house. Before he arrives I instinctively search for any bruises on the woman's arms, face or neck. Nothing. A little bit of hope lingers inside of me.
"Yes, Em?" He stops dead in his tracks and stares at me for a few seconds before engulfing me into a hug. "My beautiful little girl!" He exclaims as he pushes me away slightly to look at me. His brown eyes fills with tears. "I missed you so much! Look how grown you are!" He takes a strand of blonde hair and smiles softly. "You look just like your mother with blonde hair." I smile at him and he hugs me again. "I missed you too, dad." I press my head against his shoulder and force myself not to cry.
He is also happier. He doesn't smell like alcohol anymore and he looks decent. He doesn't have a rough beard anymore and his hair is cut neatly. He smells like men cologne and his clothes looks clean. I look at Emily and smile at her. She will never know how thankful I am for this moment. How thankful I am to see both my parents very happy.
"We need to do some dress fitting, I will see you again. I am here for a while, so I hope to spend some time with you." I smile and he nods his head, "Yes! Of course! We can go eat ice cream or something." My smile broadens and I nod my head, "Yes, ice cream sounds good."
I head back to car after greeting them and spot another green car drive pass us. It wasn't so bad after all. I get in the car and Stephanie smiles at me. "Do you feel better now?" I nod my head. "I feel much better knowing both of them are very happy." She smiles and starts the car before pulling away from the house. I lean my head against the window with a small smile on my face. All my bad memories seems at peace now. The woman, Emily, looks very happy as well. Maybe she helped him through his alcohol problem and his anger issues.
"Are we still going to dress up as princesses?" A very small, sleepy voice speaks up from the back. "Yes, my little honey bee. We are heading that way now." Stephanie smiles at her little girl and I smile as well. Such a wonderful mother.
Authors Note:
Do you guys think Julia will handle it knowing about Hunter and Bianca's relationship? And what do you think is going on between Bianca and Hunter? What is it that Hunter shouldn't know about?
If this is your first time reading this book, I suggest reading the first one; "My "little" Secret is Out", in order to fully understand what has happened to our little Julie.