Love Runs Out

Chapter Two

I never thought for a second I would be this nervous, it came on all of a sudden the closer we got to meeting Auntie Gen, we were walking through the airport scanning faces. Mandy had suggested Gen should wear something blue...every freaking person in the airport was wearing something blue...maybe orange or yellow would have been a better colour I tell her as we look around.

As soon as I saw Auntie Gen's face realised she didn't need a specific colour, looking at her was like looking at a fresher, less messed up version of my mother. The likeness was breathtaking, there she was standing in front of us smiling weakly. I took a deep breath as Mandy dragged me towards her. My Mom was right about Auntie Gen, she had flawless fashion sense 'Hallelujah' I praised silently, no more crappy shirts for me. As we got closer it was then I noticed the blue stroller she was leaning her hand on, the other hand was nervously waving at us "Gen hi" Mandy broke the ice by hugging Gen "This is Mia"

"Yeah I remember" Auntie Gen smiled "Hello Mia"

"Hi" she obviously felt as nervous and uncomfortable as I did "Was your flight ok?"

"Yeah, until he tried to land" I exhaled causing Mandy to frown at me, it was ok though I was minding my cursing "Where's Uncle Ryan?" I wondered when I looked around and couldn't see him.

"Oh he's in California honey, he touring with the band. They have a show tonight so he couldn't come back with me, I'm sorry" her apology was just further confirmation of how quickly this decision had been made, they were already having to make sacrifices for me. There was a bit of an awkward silence until Auntie Gen spoke again.

"So Mia shall we collect your luggage from..." I decide to stop her before his gets too embarrassing.

"I don't have any, just this bag" how tragic I must sound, living out of a rucksack and not owning the clothes I am standing here in.

"Oh ok" She smiles "Well maybe we should go to the car then, I managed to park in the drop off point just outside" she turns and puts both hands on the stroller handle. As I walk beside I look into the baby car seat she has clipped into the wheel frame, it looks like one of those expensive travel systems all the posh Mom's have. I have no idea what my stroller looked like, I was probably lucky if my Mom had a wheelbarrow or grocery store cart to push me around in. That's only considering she had it long enough without selling it for food, or electric, or drugs.

Anyway back to this tiny bundle wrapped in a blue blanket, his tuft of light hair poking through under his little blue hat "This is Copeland" Auntie Gen continues toward beside me.

"He's lovely" I'm not really sure if that's the right thing to say about a baby, I hadn't had much practice "How old is he?"

"He's 6 months old today" Gen beams proudly, I can't help but feel a little jealous of the way she talks about him. This is what a mother should be, unfortunately my mother was the complete opposite. Right ok here we are, I watch as Gen points the car key at a brand new Black Dodge Charger.

"Wow" it was a beautiful beast of a machine "That's insane" I regretted my outburst instantly when I felt a sharp nudge from Mandy "I mean in a good way though" I correct myself. I didn't want her to think I was being rude. I was just simply very impressed with her choice of car.

"Don't worry it's fine" Gen half disappeared in the back of the car as she clipped Copeland's baby car seat, into the pod that was installed in the back seat "Ryan insisted in getting this after Copeland was born, apparently an Audi R8 is not the place for a baby" she continued when she reappeared.

"Why the hell not?" I said causing her to laugh, I watched curiously as she fixed her hair in the car door window.

"I know right" Oh my god she actually agreed with me, that soon wiped the frown off Mandy's face "I feel like I have been somewhat downgraded" Gen was growing on me a little more now. I was starting to think maybe we had more in common than I thought.

X-x-x

I had slowly started to regret my first thoughts about Gen, I assumed she would be just your average glamorous rockstar wife. Granted she was glamorous and a rock stars wife...my first judgement couldn't have been further from the truth. She was sweet, kind, funny and understanding. It was obvious to me why Ryan had married her, and also becoming much more obvious why the authorities thought I should be placed with her. The awkwardness between us had faded on the way back and I felt like I had always known her by the time we got to the house. Again I was left stunned by the beautiful picturesque property, how could my Mom's sister live in such a parallel universe to my Mom. After getting out of the car I just stood and stared at the house, Gen came and got Copeland out of the car and carried his Baby car seat to the house "Do you not have a butler? Or security gates" I ask I look behind me and notice the open driveway.

"I'm married to Ryan Tedder not Johnny Depp" Gen seemed amused by my comment.

"Just imagine though?" The thought of being married to Johnny Depp made me go weak at the knees. I heard Auntie Gen laughing.

"Come on inside, I will show you around" I followed her inside the house and waited for Mandy, before closing the door behind us. The house looked as amazing on the inside as it did on the outside. The walls were covered in art work and family photos, I studied each piece of artwork and that's when I saw it...a very familiar canvas, suddenly my mind flashed back to a few months previously when I was showcasing some of my work at a gallery in Ohio. My art teacher had entered my work in a competition and it won first prize, which was to have my art work displayed in an art gallery for a week. One of my pictures had been sold to a mystery buyer for $850, here I was staring at that particular picture.

I had no idea Gen was the mystery buyer, just like I guessed that she had no idea that her $850 kept a roof over mine and my Mom's heads for another month "I wondered if you would notice it" Auntie Gen's voice cut through my thoughts "Ryan saw it in an art gallery in Ohio, he fell in love with it instantly. It wasn't until he brought it home that we realised it was one of your paintings"

"So you didn't just buy it because I'm your niece?" I looked at Mandy who was shaking her head at me, I don't think she approved of my choice in conversation.

"No, Ryan has a soft spot for art, unfortunately this has proven to be very expensive over the years" Gen laughed as she gestured towards the paintings throughout the hallway "And as you can see we have many" I continued to look at the painting while Gen disappeared into the kitchen with Mandy. I followed them shortly after.

"It's a shame Ryan can't be here" Mandy sat on a chair at the long black glass table, which was centred in the area opposite the kitchen. Gen had taken Copeland out of his baby car seat now and had placed him in a cream and blue motorised baby swing, I thought of him getting sick as I watched him rock back and forth.

"He wishes he was here, but it was too late to cancel unfortunately" Gen spoke so softly and calmly, it was hard not to feel at ease in her company "So Mia I guess you would like me to show you to your room" I looked up and saw Gen was facing me. My room? I don't think I have ever had my own room. The squat was a studio apartment which my Mom and I shared with 3 other people Penny, Josh and Matt. They were all roughly the same age as my mom and had one thing in common, they were completely and utterly addicted to Heroin. The filthy evil drug that stole my life and my Mom away from me...