My Path To Serenity

Chapter twenty seven

I couldn't break my gaze from Tristian. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop staring at him.

He looks so different now. He has this glow to his aura that I've never seen before, and this twinkle to his deep ocean blue eyes that were once so piercing. His eyes met mine, and I watched his grin on his face grow even bigger. I didn't think twice, I just picked up my feet off the floor and dashed over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck as he kissed my lips over and over. "I can't believe you made it. How did you manage to pull this off?"

"Staff James let me out on a pass due to my good behavior. My father signed me out of there, but I have to be back at Meadow Falls by nine tonight. If I'm late, I get my privileges taken away.." "y-your father?" I asked, confused. "You mean- you reunited with your father after all of these years?" Allison rushed over to us beaming. She was just as shocked as I was.

"Please, sit down and get yourself situated. There's soda in this cooler here." He took up on Allison's offer and reached into the cooler and popped open a can of orange soda. "I haven't had carbonation in a long time, this tastes so weird to me." I let out a laugh. Allison shot the two of us a smile as she walked out of the party room to grab the rest of the decorations out of her car. "Oliver and I.. we really missed you," I pulled out a chair from across from him. "I'm so eager to hear the story with your dad. How did you connect with him? That's amazing, you know that, right Tristian?" "Well," he hesitated, "I actually invited my dad to the baby shower. I know I probably should've talked it up with you first, but I haven't been able to really contact you all that much- just that one phone call last week. Uh, he's parking the car now." Wow, Oliver is about to meet his grandfather for the first time today. I wonder what he's going to think. "That's awesome," I supported. "I'm thrilled to meet him." Allison came back in with more decorations, and Oliver tottered over to her to grab some things out of the box and help the best he could. "He is nothing like I remember," Tristian confessed. "It's still weird calling him my dad, you know? Because for so long I accepted I wasn't going to have one." I bit my lip nervously, "and where has he been all these years?"

All of the sudden, my attention was focused on the deep, firm, voice coming from the entrance of the room, mixed with the sound of jingling car keys and dress shoes tapping across the hardwood floor. "That's him," he looked over at him then back at me. His father had on a navy blue suit and a tie, over prepared for this situation in my opinion. Maybe this was his first baby shower. Tristian waved him over to our table. "Dad, this is my girlfriend, Charlotte." Oliver ran over to Tristian and Tristian set him on his lap. "And this is my son, Ollie. You're going to meet a lot of important people in my life tonight," he told his dad as Tristian gazed over at me. Tristian's father looked directly at me and reached out his hand, a bit shaky. "Nice to meet you," he had a tight, closed-lip smile. I could feel the pain behind his fake smile. I don't know where this guy has been all of these years, but wherever it was, it must have been traumatic.

"I'm Paul." I flashed a welcoming smile as I shook his hand.
Oliver laid his head on Tristian's shoulder, facing away. "He's shy around new people." Paul attempted to give Oliver a fist bump to put a smile on his face, and Oliver reached out his hand playfully and smiled before nuzzling his face into Tristian's chest again. He introduced his father to Allison and then Jasper once he arrived. Their reaction was the same as mine. Complete, utter shock. I anxiously checked the clock. A half hour until the shower starts. We continued to sit at the table while we watched Paul from a distance chatting amongst the family.

"So," he broke his gaze and his eyes locked mine. "How've you been doing without me?" I sat up in my chair. "It's been lonely without you, I'll admit." He bit his bottom lip and leaned in closer. "But I've sort of came to the conclusion that if you're going to come out of rehab, and get off of probation, and then continue to drink and make these bad decisions, I'd be better off on my own.. with Oliver." I paused before adding, "you know, for the sake of his mental health and mine." "No, no, Charlotte, you don't have to worry about that. Okay? Ive got a really good support system in there. I plan on staying sober."