The New Girl

Chapter 25

When they all got to Andrea's house Andrea invited Donner in for a hot cup of tea. Donner accepted and set down on the sofa, Andrea went to the kitchen to make the tea and Lyric headed for her bedroom. A few minutes later Andrea brought the tea in and set down next to Donner. Donner took a sip of his tea then said, “Thank you, this hit's the spot. So do you want to talk to her tonight?” Andrea sipped her tea and replied, “I think it's best because she is in her room now going through her keepsake box that I gave her. She doesn't know I know what she has in there, not because I went through it either.” Donner asked, “What does she have in it?” Andrea took a sigh and said, “A picture of you and her right before you left.”

Lyric set on her bed and pulled the box out from under her bed, opened it and retrieved the picture. If this is not Johnathan Donner then it is his twin, she thought to herself. She grabbed the picture and walked downstairs to the living room where her mother and Donner were. They all looked at each other as Lyric set down in the chair across from them. Lyric held the picture cupped inside her hand and looked at her mother then at Donner and said, “Who exactly are you?” Donner looked down and then at Andrea. Andrea started to say something but Donner interrupted her, “I used to be a very stupid young man that made a very stupid mistake. I wish that I could go back in time and redo some of the things I did but we all know that is impossible. I will understand and take whatever wrath you give me because I deserve it,” Donner then took a deep breath and added, “I'm your father, Lyric.”

Andrea started to speak but thought better of it because she knew Lyric was digesting this information inside her head and trying to figure out the best way to handle it. Lyric had been this way her whole life, if you pushed her before she had a chance to think about things all you got was a brick wall. On the other hand if you let her mull it over and give her the chance to really think then the outcome was very different. Donner went to speak but Andrea laid a hand on his arm to tell him not to, he remained silent. They both watched as Lyric brushed away a falling tear. They both knew that she was in pain and they both would have given anything to take that pain away but they knew they couldn't. They had to trust and respect her feelings and not treat her like a young child.

Lyric wiped another tear away and looked up at her parent's. She took a ragged deep sigh and said, “Part of me want's to be happy that I've finely found you and then another part of me want's to scream at you, why?,” Andrea started to speak but Lyric held up a hand to stop her, “Please don't say anything yet. I need to get this all out before either one of you start defending yourselves. For years I thought it was my fault, that I had done something that made you leave. I know I was only two when you left but I remembered loving you so much back then. I kept this picture of you and I hidden inside the keepsake box mom gave me when I was six. Mom didn't give me the picture though, I stole it out of the photo album that mom keeps tuck away inside her closet,” Lyric looked at her mom, “I'm sorry I took it mom.” Andrea had tears falling down her cheek she shook her head, smiled and said, “That's okay baby. You had every right to have it.”

All of them wiped at tears and shuddered deep ragged breaths. There was not a single person in that room that was not feeling their own pain, even Koda whined. Lyric continued, “Every card you ever sent me I did not open, I gave them to mom to do whatever she wanted to do with them. Knowing mom, she has them pack away somewhere in case some day I wanted to open them.” Lyric took another deep breath and leaned back in her chair. Then she stood up and walked to the kitchen where she grabbed a soda from the fridge and returned to the living room. She set down and popped the top on the soda and took a long drink then set the can on the end table. She looked at each of her parent's and saw that they were in as much pain as she was in.

Lyric looked away and said, “Right now, I don't know what or how to feel. I really want to be angry at you, she looked at Donner, but there's this little two year old girl inside me that want's to be so happy that your back in her life, that you came back to her. Right now I just don't know. Are you here to stay? Or are you going to leave again? Whatever you say won't make any difference because right now I don't trust you. That may sound bad but that is just how I feel and I really don't think anyone can blame me for feeling that way. I may have only been two when you left but I never forgot you. That is how much you impacted me, before you left and after.” Everything that Lyric said, even though through tears, was said calmly and rationally. Deep down she knew this was the only way she was going to get through this.