“Who was she?”
“Her name was Hattie, and she was a substance abuse social worker. After we talked for several hours, she convinced me to get into a treatment program in Maine. She bought my plane ticket, helped me pack my things and sent me on my way. I had never been so grateful to anyone in my life. I felt like God sent her to me as my guardian angel.”
“And?” I spoke in a stern voice.
“I got the help I needed, met and married an amazing man, and I’ve been clean for over four years. I went back to college, finished the classes I needed and got my degree in marketing.”
“Good for you. Why are you here? Why now?”
“Because I want to see her, Stefan. I want to see the little girl you raised.”
“Then you should have thought about that six years ago before you decided to choose some loser and drugs over her,” I spoke through gritted teeth.
“I’ve made mistakes, terrible mistakes. But I have never once forgotten about her. I think about her every single day.”
“Okay. Like I said, why now?”
“Because I wanted to get my life together before I saw her again, and I’ve done just that. I’m her mother, Stefan.”
“NO, YOU’RE NOT!” I jammed my finger into the table as I raised my voice.
“Hey, bro. Let’s keep this civil,” Sebastian said as he walked over. “We don’t want to disturb the other customers.”
“Do me a favor and go get Alex.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m sure.” I looked up at him.
Chapter 44
Alex
“Hey.” Sebastian walked up to the bar and placed his hand on my back. “Stefan needs you. I’ll get Samantha to cover. It’s slow tonight anyway.”
“Is Monica still here?”
“Yeah, and things are getting a little heated.”
I took in a deep breath, walked over to the table and placed my hand on Stefan’s back.
“See this woman right here? This is Lily’s mother. You are only the woman who gave birth to her, nothing more.”
Oh boy.
“Hi. I’m Alex.” I extended my hand as I sat down next to Stefan.
“I’m Monica. How far along are you?”
“Twenty weeks.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
I couldn’t believe how much Lily looked like her.
“Let’s go, Alex. I’m telling Sebastian your shift is over.” He stood up from his chair. “We’re done here, Monica.”
“Please, Stefan. You don’t even have to tell her who I am. Just let me see her and talk to her.”
“No. You are not coming here and disrupting my daughter’s life.” He walked away. Sam and Simon got up and followed Stefan out of the restaurant.
I stared at Monica as tears streamed down her face. Being pregnant, I felt for her. Pulling a pen from my pocket, I handed it to her and slid a napkin across the table.
“Hurry up and write down your number. Let me talk to him and I’ll call you.”
She quickly wrote down her number and handed me the napkin.
“Thank you, Alex. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll be in touch.” I got up from my seat.
Walking behind the bar, I grabbed my purse.
“I’m sorry,” I said to Sebastian.
“Don’t be. You go and be with him. He needs you. I’m just finishing up here, and I’ll come over after.”
When we climbed in the car, I reached over, grabbed his hand and gripped it tight.
“I know you’re upset, but when we get home, we’re going to talk about it.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. She’s not seeing Lily. End of discussion, Alex.” He pulled away from the curb. “She was going on about how she met this guy. He got her hooked-on coke and he almost beat her to death. Then she overdosed and almost died, but now she’s been clean for four years, met and married some guy and got her degree in marketing.”
“Sounds to me like she put her life back together. I understand your hesitation, but you have to think about Lily.”
“Excuse me?” He glanced over at me. “I am thinking about my daughter!” he shouted.
“Oh hell no. You’re not going to shout at me, Stefan Kind.”
“I’m sorry. I love you.”
“I know and I love you. That’s why we’re going to talk about this calmly.”
We went into the house, and Stefan grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. Simon and Sam followed us inside.
“We can go if you don’t want us here,” Sam spoke.
“No. It’s fine. You heard everything she said, right?”
“Yeah. We heard,” Simon said. “Unfortunately, I see that shit every day. Don’t think I’m defending her, bro, but she seems to have turned her life around.”
“Simon is right, Stefan.” I placed my hand on his arm as he leaned against the counter. “You have to look at this situation in a different perspective.”
“Really, Alex? Why don’t you tell me how I need to see this?”
“I’m going to.” I smiled. “But I’m going to wait until you calm the hell down first.”
“I am calm.”
“No, you’re not. I know when you’re all worked up. That little vein in your forehead pulsates like you’re going to explode.”
“She’s right,” Sam said.
“Shut up, bro.”
He took his beer outside on the patio, and I asked Sam and Simon if they could leave us alone. After they left, I grabbed a blanket and stepped outside. Taking his hand, I led him down to the beach, spread the blanket out by the shoreline and made him sit down.
“You said you’re thinking about Lily, but you’re not. You’re thinking about yourself.”
“What? How can you say that?”
“You may think you’re protecting her, but you’re not. Your actions right now will come back to bite you in the ass when Lily get older. She may even hate you for it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Monica is her mother, whether you like it or not. She’s her biological mother, and Lily will be curious about her. It’s natural, Stefan. And what are you going to tell her when she asks? Are you going to lie to her to protect yourself?”
“The truth. I’m going to tell her that she left her for some abusive guy and that he and drugs were more important to her than she was.”
“And you don’t think that’s going to hurt her? What about when she finds out she wanted to see her, and you wouldn’t let her?”
“She won’t.”
“Yes, she will. She will eventually find out when she decides she wants to find her. Monica will tell her what happened here tonight, and Lily will hate you for it.”
“So, what you’re saying is that I should let Monica see her after everything she’s done to her?”
“You need to let Lily make that decision. It’s not for us to make. It’s her decision.”