Ruined (completed) ✔️

81

Calvin pulls the car in front of the hospital. He gives me a bottle of water. "Before you go in drink this. Mom doesn't need to smell the brewery coming from her son."

Taking it from him I start to drink the water. Once the bottle is empty I step out of the car. "Thanks, Calvin. I owe you for coming to get me."

He looks back at the car. "We're you going to spend the night in the car?"

"Yes," I take the keys from my brother and lock the door. "I was going to pull the seat back and sleep that way. I didn't want to put you out."

Calvin slaps me on the back of the head. "Austin, I've told you several times to call me if you were in trouble. My house is open for you."

Dad steps next to me and wraps his arms around me. "It's good to see you, son. Your mother is waiting for you."

Turning towards him I look at him and ask. "Is she still upset with me? The last time we saw each other she told me she was disappointed in me because I chose a woman over Eliza and my family."

"Your mother may be disappointed in you, but she would never wish what's happened to you to happen. She was upset when we couldn't find you tonight. She thought something bad happened when we couldn't get in touch with you. Don't ever pull a stunt like that with us again. We love you unconditionally, Austin. Even when we're mad at you." Dad leads the way to the hospital entrance.

Stopping I look at the building that changed my life on Friday night. "If anyone else gets sick. Please, don't come to this hospital. You know I hate this place."

Calvin pushes my back. "Man up, brother. It's Mom we're going to see. She's the one woman that has had our back since we were kids and she'll always have it. You're not going anywhere near the maternity wards. So, you don't need to worry about running into that whore ex of yours."

A smile spreads across my face. "I like the way you describe her. Let's get this over with." I start to follow Dad through the hospital. When we get to the room I enter it and see Mom hooked up to machines.

Mom holds her hand out to me. "Austin, I want you to sit next to me." she looks around the white room, with her family in it. "Can you please give me a couple of minutes with my son? There are a few things I want to talk to him about."

Dad, Calvin, Amara and the kids all walk out of the room, leaving me alone with my mother. As the door closes she clears her throat. "Austin, I'm sorry for the way I treated you."

Placing my hand in hers I say. "Don't be, Mom. I should be apologising to you for walking out of the house the way I did. However, I did mean what I said about Eliza. She can look after herself. Also, if she did get pregnant. I know that she'd do everything to keep that child safe and away from me. I saw her a couple of months ago and she has people standing in front of her the entire time I was there. She was keeping something from me and I know that the people closest to her is protecting her. Dad. Calvin and even you are protecting her. I'm not going to interfere with the child's life. If and when Eliza wants me to meet the child I will. Is she..."

"Eliza wants us to be part of her child's life. She's going to let her sleepover at our house when she's older."

A girl. Eliza's having my daughter.

"Austin, you're father and I are here for you. If anything happens and you need a place to come to, our house is open for you."

Hugging Mom I say. "Thank you. I'm sorry I worried you when I wasn't answering my phone. The truth is I didn't want to put anyone out by asking for help. I deserve to live it rough for a while. After I did destroy something was good for me.

Knock, knock.

"Come in," Mom calls out. The door opens and I see Katrina with her baby. "Katrina? What are you doing here?"

She walks into the room with her daughter. "I heard you were here and I wanted to see you. Knowing Eliza she'd come and visit you too, but not while..."

I'm here. Eliza's made it clear that she doesn't want to see me. I hope in the future that things will change.

Mom smiles at her. "That's not a problem. Who do we have here?"

Katrina walks over to the bed and hands her daughter over to Mom. "This is Luna May Vance."

"She's gorgeous, Katrina. Thanks for checking up on me and tell Eliza that she can come and see me. Austin will be leaving shortly with his brother and father."

"Mom?"

"No, Austin. You're leaving with your family. I'd like to spend time with Eliza while you're gone. She hasn't been home since she started working here." She looks over at Kat and says. "I heard your parents are moving to the City in a couple of weeks. Did she find a place?"

"Yes, it's close to mine. There's a separate place on the property for my parents. She's extremely close with our parents and I'm looking forward to seeing them more often with then moving here. How's the town looking now? I haven't been back in over six months."

"It's changed drastically. There's a huge mall that's opened and it's very busy. A new housing estate has been opened too. The town is getting more people visiting and there's a huge indoor and outdoor theatre."

"I should take my kids back there in the next couple of months and see all the changes. Maybe, even check out the outdoor theatre. I've wanted to see something like that for ages. Before I moved to the city my husband and I went to one while we were on our honeymoon, but haven't had a chance to go to another one."

Waaah,

The baby starts to cry and Katrina moves over to my mother and takes her daughter. "Shhh, Luna. Everything is okay. We'll go see Daddy in a minute."

Looking at the baby a smile spreads across my face. "She looks like you, Katrina. You're lucky to have her."

"I know." she starts to move towards the door. "Austin,"

"Don't, Kat. Go to your family. I know they want to see you and the little one. Send Eliza here. I know she'll want to see Mom." Standing up I kiss Mom's cheek and say. "I'll see you tomorrow." I walk out of the room and look for my family. When I find them it's close to the cafeteria. "What are you all doing here?"

"Getting something to eat. We didn't know how long you'd be with Mom. Did she get any visitors?" Calvin asks.

"Yes, Kat. I think she came down to make sure it was clear before Eliza went to see Mom."