What Are The Chances?

Chapter 16: Ellis

That weekend, I met my mother. Me and my dad woke up early before the sun rose because she lives across town. He told me to put some gel on my hair and wear the shirt that my grandma bought me. It was a two hour drive and to kill the silence, I told him how I asked Phoenix to homecoming and we're going together.

I felt special, the way he listened to me and told me how proud he was of me. But once we got close to my mom's house, he said, "I don't want you to expect anything," he told me. I nodded and laughed nervously. "I don't even know what to expect."

He pulled into a small neighborhood with tiny, yet neat houses and my heart started to race a little, but out of excitement. I wasn't even nervous for once because I thought about her letter and how she had been dying to see me again. She seemed really nice and I know what I said about not having any expectations, but it's hard when you haven't seen her in years.

My dad got out of the car first and we parked in front of a blue house with plants on the front patio along with flower chairs. I followed behind him and he knocked on the door 3 times. He does some last touches on his hair before we hear footsteps and the door unlocking.

We all didn't say anything. I didn't know what to do. My mom was right in front of me and she still looked the same as she did in the photos. Her long brown hair is now short, but she still had the same green eyes and sharp cheekbones. And then a smile grew on her face. "Ellis?"

I nodded and she looked at the both of us and said, "Come in please."
My dad let me in first and she led us into the living room. The couches were a dark green, along with flower wallpaper. I realized that it was very old fashioned and then remembered how he used to tell me about how they always wanted to live in a house that reminds them of the 80s.

She had on jeans and a long gray sweatshirt. I also noticed that her English wasn't very good.
"Would you guys like some tea?" My dad looked at me and I looked at him and I said, "Um, yea sure. That'll be nice." She nodded and walked off down the hall. "Are you nervous now?" He asked me. "Very."
He shook my shoulders. "It's alright. Just try to relax."

It's hard to relax when you're sweating and your body is shaking all over. I'm more scared that I'll do or say something wrong or if I'm not what she even expected.

After a couple of minutes, my mom walked in with 2 cups of tea in a fancy tea cup. "Thanks," I whispered. She sat down across from us with her hands in her lap and nervously laughed. "I have a lot of things to say."

"We do too," said my dad.
"Well I'll go first because I know you have a lot of questions.."
I shook my head. "No, it's okay. I do have a lot of things that I've been wondering about you, but you don't have to talk about, you know..."

My dad cut me off. "How have you been?"
She looked over at him and smiled a little. "I've been good. I recently just moved her actually." He raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah. I moved to Germany so I could be with my family not long after rehab. I've always regretted doing that instead of meeting Ellis, but we were young, and I was scared."

I almost wanted to say something. She was the scared one? My dad had to take care of me on top of going to school and getting a job, and never complained about any of it. His friends used to help take care of me too. They would always check in on us and make sure that he had money and I had the clothes I needed, food, and diapers. It was all them, not her.

I sighed heavily.
"So where do you guys live?" She asked him.
"We live in Beverley Woods, across town." I took a sip out of my tea and it was really sweet but in a good way. It also tastes like there's a bit of cinnamon in it.

"Beverley Woods? Aren't those houses a little too big for just the two of you?"
My dad paused for a second. I could tell he wasn't ready to explain that he has a whole girlfriend and 2 kids.
"Well we don't live by ourselves. I have 2 younger kids. One is 3 and the other is 10, and my girlfriend stays with us."