In The Blink Of An Eye

The Truth Will Set You Free

"Hi mom, thank you for coming to see me."

"Of course honey, thank you for inviting me."

"I just really needed to talk to you but I didn't want to do it over the phone."

"I understand. I'm just glad that you're giving me a chance to talk and for me to explain things."

"You're my mom. I can't stand being mad at you forever. After all, I understand that fear and the need to protect someone you love makes you do things you thought you'd never do. I hardly got to raise my daughter after Evan died. I was devastated after losing him and on top of that when I saw you and dad that day at the house, I knew that they would come after Lilli next and I couldn't allow that to happen. So I made sure to keep her safe even if that meant being away from her and missing watching her grow up."

"I never got to tell you how proud I am of you. I don't know how you handled all the stress and constant fear throughout all those years while remaining as strong as you did. I am so, so proud of you for the way you handled things."

"It's funny you say that because I feel like I could have handled things so much better than I did. I feel like I hurt too many people along the way and risked all of their lives. If it wasn't for me...well, Evan would still have been alive. You and dad wouldn't have had to do what you did. Because of me you and dad missed out on being with Liam and Aileen. I made my siblings go through hell thinking that I was dead. After they had lost both parents, I made them believe that I had died as well. What kind of person does that???"

"The kind of person that was thinking about everyone and anything else except for herself! Madi, you did what you had to do to survive. None of us knew the extent of things you were going through because of how strong you were. You hid things from everyone even when you had no need to. You didn't want anybody else to worry so you put our stress and worry on top of you despite all the things you were already going through."

"I don't know if you know this or not but when I lost you and dad...well when I thought I lost you guys, I was broken. I couldn't handle the pain, especially not after just losing Evan. I'm not as strong as you think mom. If it wasn't for Jake saving my life, I would have been dead a long time ago. I always had someone as my saving grace. When it wasn't Jake then it was Silas, when it wasn't Silas then it was Lilly and on top of that all of my friends and my siblings. Someone always saved me in some form of way."

"Except for your parents...we ran away."

"No mom, don't say that!!!"

"But it's true. We should have been there to help you. We should have done everything in our power to save you instead of trying to protect you by running away and causing even bigger pain in your life. Your dad and I, we..."

"Why did you and dad never tell us the truth? Is he the real father of any of us? I know that's why you and him both went your own separate ways after the incident at the house. Finally, you both felt like you could live your own lives that neither of you wanted for us kids to know and see."

"Madisyn...it's not like that honey. We never stopped loving each other, we just needed that time apart to try and focus on ourselves. Your dad will always be your father regardless of anything. He was there when we both needed him the most."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"Your real father walked out on me as soon as he found out that I was pregnant. We were both young and he was very irresponsible so he just left. I was so young and all alone, I didn't know what to do or where to go. I was so excited to become a mom but also so scared about losing you since I didn't have anything..."

"What about grandma and grandpa??"

"I never had a great relationship with them to begin with. It was always a challenge with them. But things got especially hard when they found out that I was pregnant. One fight after another, one argument after next and I got fed up and I left the house. They wanted me to have an abortion but I was never going to do that so I walked out and never looked back."