The Rookie and Me: Second Chances (COMPLETE)

Three Weeks Later

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thank you all so much for being so patient with me since finishing The Rookie and Me! Your support means the world to me. I hope you guys enjoy this story just as much as the first one! Ali and Tyler are very dear to my heart, being the very first characters I have ever created, and I hope you love them and their story just as much as I do. Happy reading! Enjoy!

-Lis

Three weeks... It has been three whole weeks since I packed up everything and left Tyler. I didn't have a plan, I didn't have much cash, but I knew I had to leave. I love him too much to continue to ruin his life with all of my baggage. He deserves better than what I can offer him, and as much as it hurts to think about, I really do hope he finds it. He deserves someone that will fit into his lifestyle much better than I ever could have. Someone who his family will love from the get go... not tear him apart from them.

I haven't heard his voice for three weeks... three whole weeks of complete silence. But it's not for lack of trying, on his end anyway. He tried calling me and texting me multiple times the first week I was gone, I just never responded to him. I wanted to so fucking bad, but the only way for him to ever be able to move on is for me to completely disappear from his life. So I blocked his number. It's killing me. Every day that passes by that I don't hear his voice, my heart breaks a little more. It feels as if someone has ripped my heart right out of my chest and smashed it, over and over and over again. Will it ever feel normal again? Will I always hurt this much? 

Lost in thought, I didn't even notice Cameron calling out to me from across our motel room. "Mommy! Mommy! Can you hear me?!" He says as he gets up from the floor and runs over to me. He climbs into my lap and puts his little hands on my cheeks.

I look him in the eyes and say, "Sorry, bug. Mommy was just thinking for a minute. What's up?" 

He lowers his hands and snuggles into my chest, "How long are we going to be here, mommy?"

I breathe in deep, "Um, I'm not sure. Mommy has to make some money before we can go anywhere else."

"Can we go home now?" He says as he looks up at me with his big, sad eyes.

Once again, my heart is ripped from my chest and smashed onto the ground. Over and over and over again...

Fighting back the tears, I clear my throat and say, "That isn't our home anymore, bug. I'm sorry. We have to find a new home now."

Without saying a word, he crawls down from my lap and goes back to playing with his toys. I hear him sniffle to himself a couple times when his back is turned to me. I watch as he lifts his arm to his face and wipes his eyes with his sleeve. I walk over to him and sit on the floor beside him.

I wrap my arms around him and hold him tight as he continues to sniffle, "Baby, what's wrong?"

Through soft tears he says, "I miss my daddy."

I scrunch my brows, trying to figure out which "daddy" he is referring to, "You miss your daddy?"

He nods his head, "I miss playing football with him, and making eggs, and watching movies, and playing games."

Silent tears stream down my face as the words keep flowing out of his mouth. This is what I was afraid of... I knew he had grown attached to him, but what was I supposed to do? Tyler almost lost his job because of me. He has nearly lost his family because of me, multiple times. His teammates didn't seem to care too much for me, so God only knows how much shit they give him because of me. Was I just supposed to continue allowing him to suffer or did I do the right thing?