Her Secrets

28. Mother

As Asher and Mia's mother entered the room, he stood aside so Aniya could be the center of her daughters view.

She had medium length wavy brown hair and dark eyes. She and Mia shared the same sharp jawline and nose. It was almost as if Mia was looking at an older version of herself. It was odd. She had never given much thought to how different her features were compared to her so-called parents and siblings.

While they all had dark features, the thing that set her apart from the rest was her facial structure. She saw herself in her real mother. She couldn't say the same for her adoptive mother.

"Gabriella?" Her mother said as she approached Mia and embraced her in a gentle hug. "My sweet girl."

"My name is Mia." She whispered as tears threatened to fall.

"Oh of course it is. I don't know why I thought they'd keep the name I gave you." She said as she let Mia go and wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

"It's okay." She said.

"Did they treat you good?" She asked. "Your parents."

"My mom and brothers did. Up until now, so did my dad. Please don't ask me about him." She replied.

"Asher filled me in on some of the details. I won't ask you anything you don't want me to. You, on the other hand, can ask me anything at all. I'm just so sorry I wasn't here for you."

Mia glanced up at Asher who looked away and told his brothers, they should give the two privacy. Of course it took more than one statement to finally get Christian to listen but eventually he did.

"Why didn't you want me?" She asked.

The question was bleak and maybe a little unfair but she was determined to get the answers she needed.

"It's not that I didn't want you. I would've loved to have you in my life but it wasn't safe. It wasn't safe for me and it certainly wasn't safe for you. I needed to better myself before I had a child I needed to care for." She said.

Mia noticed she was avoidant of the mental institution subject so she was going to keep that quiet for now.

"Did you ever have anymore kids?" She asked afraid to know the answer. A selfish part of her didn't want her mother to have abandoned her yet care for her younger siblings.

"No, I spent all these years trying to heal. Trying to get better so I could have you in my life, if that's what you ever wanted." She said. "I didn't want to bring anymore kids into the world and risk them ending up in a bad home. The last thing my parents ever did for me was find an adoption agency and find a good, loving home for you. The night I had you and let you go was the last time I ever saw my parents. I knew if I had anymore kids I wouldn't be able to provide them with love and care that they needed."

"Why? Why couldn't you give me love and care? Christian, Benjamin, Camille, and Asher had nothing but love when their mom was alive. Why couldn't you give me that, too? What did I ever do to deserve eighteen years without knowing you? My real mom?" Mia asked as tears threatened to fall.

"Nothing, love, you did nothing to deserve me as your mother. If I could've, I would've given you the entire world."

"Why didn't you?" She pressed further.

She wanted to hear it from her mother. She wanted to know that Christian was telling her the truth when he explained to her the extent of her mothers mental health struggles. She needed to know. She wanted to know all about her mothers past and present.

"I couldn't because I wasn't healthy. I'm not sure you want to know everything." She said, a worried look on her face. "I've scared people away with this. I don't want to scare you off too."