"Hard to forgive" ᵉⱽᵃⁿˢˢᵒⁿ ᵗʷⁱⁿˢ

ix. "truth"

Cecilia's P.O.V.:

I looked uncertainly at my friends who were just following Robbie out of the corridors. Then my eyes wandered to Scarlett and Chris who were staring expectantly at Felix and me. We should go in.
I took a deep breath and then entered the room, followed by Felix. I took a seat at the edge of the sofa closest to the door and then looked indecisively at the celebrities. Felix dropped into the soft cushion about 10cm to my left.

"It's so good to have you here," Elizabeth said, standing up. She walked towards a folding table and grabbed two glasses of orange liquid from it. Orange juice, presumably. With a broad smile, she handed us the glasses and then sat back in her chair. With a silent nod, I thanked her and set the glass down on my knees without letting go of it.

"You're probably wondering why we wanted to talk to you and the whole story is actually very complicated so please let us tell you everything, no matter how angry you will be," Scarlett looked at my brother and me in turn. Colin took his wife's hand in his as she let out slightly shaky gasps. I looked at the actress indecisively. Was Felix perhaps not so wrong with his suspicions after all? But why were Chris and Elizabeth here?

"We're listening to you, it's all good," my brother assured me and took a sip from his glass.

"You've probably already noticed, but I'm pregnant and expecting a child," she continued. She gave Chris a quick sideways glance and then continued. "I have a daughter named Rose, as you may also know. But it's like this..."

"Rose her pregnancy was not my first pregnancy," she hesitated and it dawned on me too that my brother must be right. She was more than just related to us. In fact, it seems she was our birth mother. Except that we actually had one. It felt like a lump was stuck in my throat. I quickly took a sip of the orange juice.

"You're saying you're our mother, aren't you? Why else would you tell us all this?", Felix spoke quietly and tears gathered in Scarlett's eyes. Silently she nodded and squeezed her husband's hand a little tighter. I breathed in and out silently. My gaze wandered to dm of my brother, but his expression was hard to define. He was right, and actually he always rubs such things in my face with a sense of victory, but this situation here was different.

"I was really young when I got pregnant with you and-" Scarlett continued to speak, but I interrupted her a little harshly.

"Why are you telling us this?", I asked coolly, clutching the glass a little tighter. My gaze was fixed on her.

"We have been looking for you! For a very long time and now you are finally here, it's unbelievable. As if fate wanted this to happen", Chris spoke and in his eyes I could see a sparkle that was very familiar. Felix always had those sparkling eyes when he had something to tell that fascinated him.

"You say you were looking for us. Does that mean you are our father?", I asked Chris and he nodded in agreement.

"Why didn't we live with you?", Felix now asked a question and all pairs of eyes moved back to Scarlett. She looked at us uneasily and sipped briefly at her glass before lowering it and starting to speak. "Chris and I were very young. Too young when we had you. Don't get me wrong. From the first second, we fell in love with you. You were so beautiful and you still are! But I wasn't up to the responsibility neither was Chris. I knew I loved you and you meant so much to me, to us! But we wanted to give you the best life we could and we couldn't do this at that time," she explained, sobbing over and over. Colin pulled her into his arms for a moment.

"We really wanted the best for you. But we were at the beginning of our careers and under enormous pressure. We couldn't take care of you, we weren't ready," Chris continued.

"And now? Do you think your life is passable enough for us now and we fit in?", I asked, looking at her and Chris with mixed emotions. I snorted. Surely our present life would not have been better in any universe or parallel universe than the life we have now. Her reasoning was nonsensical, but on the other hand, they didn't know anything about our lives, which is why it seemed to make so much sense to them.

"That was what we hoped, anyway," she murmured softly. I bit my lip and avoided her further glances.

"How can you be so sure that we are your children?" asked Felix, although it was clear to everyone present that this question had been more than unnecessary, anyone with two functioning eyes could see that Scarlett and I shared an intangible resemblance. A little unsettled, Scarlett looked at him and then pointed at me.

"We can do a DNA test if you want, but the resemblance speaks for itself, don't you think? Besides, you look a lot like me and Chris too," she then replied quietly. Mutely, Felix nodded and then looked at me.

"And what is your plan now, Mrs Johansson, Mr Evans?", I looked at them doubtfully. Scarlett's eyes darkened for a second. Probably because I addressed her as 'Mrs Johansson' and not 'Scarlett' or even 'Mum'.

"We would love to have you stay with us," Colin Jost answered the question for his wife, rubbing her wrist tenderly with his thumb.

"You could always switch between Scarlett's and Colin's house and then back to me. Of course we would also do things together", Chris explained.

"We have lives and they are here in England, here in Cambridge. How do you imagine that? We have a family," I continued talking, clutching the glass tighter and tighter.

"We'd sort all that out, I promise. You could come and visit your friends or invite them to stay with us. I would just really love to meet you both, we all would," Scarlett spoke softly.

Felix nudged me from the side. Presumably he wanted to know what I thought of the whole thing. I was also keenly interested in his opinion. I shook my head barely perceptibly to let him know that I didn't want to run straight into Scarlett's and Chris' arms and new life and he nodded silently at me.