Graham Family Moments

Second Chances

Alyssa

“I said no.”

“Come on, Nathan. Can't she just have a chance?”

He gave me another disapproving look. I'd told Nathan that I had met with Jodie and what she wanted. It's safe to say that he was not happy.

“She does not deserve a chance. She left her son without any regard for his safety and you want me to let her back into his life? No.”

“You don't even know why she left.”

“But she left, that's all I need.”

I let out a frustrated sigh, deciding to reveal a bit of the story. “She had no choice, her whole family was going to abandon her if she didn't do what she did. What would you do in that situation?”

“Oliver was her family too. As much as I hate to say it, she is his mother. As a decent parent, in that situation, I would've chosen him just as Jodie should've.” He replied angrily.

“But…”

He cut me off. “Let's just go to sleep Alyssa.”

He turned away from me, pulling the covers over his shoulder. I decided to let it go for the time being so he'd have some time to think about it.

The next time I brought it up was three days later while Oliver was at a playdate with his friends. I paused the movie Nathan and I were watching and asked if he had thought about it.

His response was an eye roll and a hard. “No.”

“Why not?”

“I didn't say I was going to think about it. There's nothing to think about even. I'm not letting her into Oliver's life and that's that.”

“Why are you being so stubborn about this? You don't even understand what she went through.”

“I'm starting to think you don't understand what Oliver went through. It took me years before I could tell him why she wasn't in his life and he was heartbroken. Let's not forget how he was bullied because of her actions. Don't Tell me she didn't have a choice because from what I'm hearing, she had a lot of choices.”

“Well she felt like she didn't. Can't you just look at this from her point of view? I was either getting cut off from her family or let her son be raised in a stable home by his father. Don't you think it hurt her when she left?”

“If it really hurt her she would've been back four years ago.” With that, he got off the couch and started walking away.

I was beginning to think that there was more to his reasons for not letting Jodie see Oliver. It wasn't like we were going to leave her alone with him, of course, Nathan and I would be there to supervise and make sure nothing went wrong.

Maybe he just didn't want Jodie around him not Oliver.

“Do you still have feelings for her?” I dared to ask.

He stopped in his tracks, clenching his hands in an effort to calm his obvious anger. “No, I don't. I'm offended you'd even ask that.”

Maybe I'd gone too far. I took a few steps toward him, contemplating “I'm sorry, I just want to know, who don't you want to let her fix her mistakes.”

He finally turned to face me again and I could see his clear fury. “She can fix them by staying away.”

“You know she can't. What are you so afraid of?” I got closer to him and lifted his head so he could look me in the eye. “Please, tell me.”