𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 • 𝘣𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴 [✔]

chapter one hundred twenty four.

Nate Stratford looked at his phone. It was filled with voicemails, text messages and missed calls from the same person, his daughter. He sighed heavily and placed the phone on top of the bar counter. He was back in Detroit. When Phil saw how miserable he looked, he placed a pint of beer in front of the man.

"She dump your ass?" Phil asked from behind the bar.

"It doesn't matter. They hate me." Nate replied.

"Yeah, you do have that effect on people. You and bitchy Lara. Total mood killers." Phil nodded, grabbing his own beer to drink.

"I forgot how much of an asshole you are."

"I never forget how much of a dumbass bitch you are."

Nate decided to change the subject from him to the bar. "How'd thing go? You lose any money?"

"Your money? A shit ton," Phil sighed. "Listen, Nathan, I've been thinking about this and now that you're here, I'm going to tell you what annoys me about you."

Nate didn't feel offended by Phil's choice of words.

"You fuck everything up because your own parents are the absolute worst people on earth. Think about it, things would've been different if you dropped your old man and your bitchy mom." Phil refilled his glass even though it wasn't anywhere near empty.

"I get it. You don't have to remind me. My own siblings don't even like me." Nate drank his beer.

"Can't say I'm surprised there, man, you Stratfords are insufferable."

Before Nate could respond, April and baby Tommy had arrived. Tommy was strapped in his stroller with a small box in his hands. At least April was nice enough to let both him and Lara back into her house. They did help with bills and babysitting Tommy when needed.

"Hey, boys," April greeted the them. "We have some mail for you, Nate. This just came in." She took the box from Tommy's hands and gave it to Nate.

"Hey, little guy! Please don't turn out like this one over here." Phil said in a high-pitched voice to entertain the baby.

Nate ignored Phil and used his key to open the taped up box. Once he opened it, he saw several envelopes and a red toy car. The same car Claudia used to play with as a kid. April noticed how quiet Nate had gotten as he stared at the plastic car. She excused herself and motioned for Phil to follow her to a table so they could leave Nate alone.

Aside from a bunch of envelopes and the car, he saw a red envelope with his name written in big letter. He set the box on the counter and took the envelope out. He noticed the small C.D initials on the bottom right. So here was Nate Stratford reading a note mailed to him by the person that should hate him.

Since you never really were apart of my life, I wanted to give you this. In a way, I could be part of yours. You didn't answer my calls or texts so this was my only option. I got your address from Lara. She was nice enough to leave her number too. I'm doing good. Mom is too. (If you were wondering.) What hurt me the most was you not saying goodbye. It made me feel awful.

So I gathered all my letters I used to write as a kid. I wrote these but never mailed them because i was scared mom would get mad that i was thinking about you. You can throw them away, read them, do whatever you want. I finally have the courage to give them to you. Just take care of the car for me. It's still valuable to me.

I'm getting married. I don't know if you're happy for me, but I'm in love and I feel like the most happiest woman on the planet. I don't have a date or even a venue yet.

Finally, I wanted to tell you that I got my job back. I have no idea how that even happened, but I can see my kids now. Whatever or whoever made the school board change their mind, I'll have to thank them until the day i die.