Skyline

Chapter 24: Meet my mom

CHAPTERTWENTYFOURCHAPTERTWENTYFOURCHAPTERTWENTYFOURCHAPTERTWENTYFOUR

Colleen's P.O.V.

"Colleen! Hurry up!" I heard my dad shout from downstairs.

"I'm coming!" I shouted back, running down the stairs quickly before making my way to the foyer. I froze when I saw my friends standing there, waiting.

"Finally! You never take long dressing up. What makes today any different?" asked my dad.

"I was looking for mom's necklace. Why are they here?" I said, pointing to my friends.

"I invited them. I want your mom to meet your friends. Glad to finally say that word. Friends! Let's go." My dad lead the way to the car as we all follow and Alexei walked beside me.

"Why didn't you tell me it was your mother's death anniversary today?" he asked with a pout.

"Sorry. I guess I'm used to only my dad, my aunt and I coming together. My grandparents have their fair share in England."

"Alright, you're forgiven," he said with ease then kisses the top of my nose, surprising me. My cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

"What the heck was that for?"

"You just looked cute." He smirked.

I would have retorted if my dad hadn't butted in and said: "Alexei, if you want to harass my daughter with your advances, please do so in the car. It's getting rather chilly."

Alexei, the idiot, laughs and replies with a "Yes, sir." before tugging at my hand and ushering me in the car.

It's November 22nd and it's been twelve years since my mom died. We're on our way to the place where we stored her ashes. It's not actually that far by car but it is by foot. It's in the forest behind the house, which was still my dad's property. It's in a cabin at the heart of the forest – it's my mom's. It's where she used to go to paint or when she likes to be with nature. I made a mental note to tell my mom about her shared love of nature with Alexei when I talk to her later.

Through the five-minute car ride, Lou has whispered to me that Beau had asked him out while Arianne told me she got the internship in my grandma's clothing line and is ecstatic about it. All the while, Alexei never let go of my hand making me feel warm.

The car stopped and we poured out, careful of the rough forest terrain. My dad opened the cabin and started with the greetings.

"Hi honey, you're looking wonderful as ever. We're all here to visit."

"Hey soul sister, what's up?" greeted Aunt Skye while taking off her coat.

Then it's my turn and greeted her as with my usual "Kon'nichiwa, okaasan" before continuing, "Um, hi mom, I-I brought my friends today. You already know Arianne,"

"Hello there, Mrs. E," Arianne said while arranging the flowers.

"-and this is her boyfriend, Julian."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. E."

"-and Lou, of course, who is now a blonde."

"Hi, auntie."

"and Lou's boyfriend, who's pants are cool. May I remind you about Lou, I told you so." I said with a smirk, making Lou shot me a dirty look.

"Hello, ma'am. I'm Beau," said Beau politely.

"That's right sister! My son's gay! Dreams do come true," Aunt Skye piped in, clasping her hands together with a dreamy look on her face.

"And-and..." I trailed off, reaching for Alexei who has been silent the whole time. "This is Alexei...my... boyfriend." I looked up at Alexei who smirked at me with a proud expression. I elbowed him. He cleared his throat.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Edwards. Thank you for bringing Colleen into this world. You saved me."

"Don't worry, honey. I've given him 'the talk'. He promised not to harm our baby girl." Dad assured, making me blush madly.

"Oh what's that, Mrs. Edwards? You approve of such a charming and handsome young man like me? Thank you, ma'am." We all laugh at Alexei and his antics.

"Alright, alright. Enough of the introductions. It's time for alone time. I want a word alone with my sister." Aunt Skye scolded, shooing us all out.

While we talked to my mom alone one by one, my friends patiently waited outside by the bonfire that my dad instructed Pietro, his assistant-slash-guard, to make.

It was my turn and so I left Alexei's side and went in. The first words I said were: "Look at this mom. I have friends!"

"As you probably know," I continued. "for a while I had a hard time finding one – except for Arianne, of course I love that girl – and now I have them and it had made me so happy that I feel like crying when I think of what could possibly happen if I hadn't met them or if something happen now and I lost them."

I didn't realize I was crying until I felt a tear fall. I wiped the tears with my gloves. My dad had told me when I was younger that I shouldn't cry when I talk to my mom because she might get sad while in the skies and even though I had a moment after everything that happened with Seth, Bianca, and Chelle before, I promised myself never to do so again.

"Don't worry mom these are happy tears." I said, sniffing.

"Anyway, so it started when..." I narrated everything that happened since the school year began: the Senior Friendship Bonanza that started it all, the five-day trip we had, the RED Gala, the day that Alexei comforted me from the thunderstorm, the unforgettable trip to Paris, meeting the Clarkes, and the occasional sleep over. "This is what it means to have friends huh mom?"

And even though I can't see her, I know that she's nodding at me as she brushes my hair. My eyes burned. I miss her. I mean, Aunt Skye did her best but she's my aunt. Grandma did her best but she's my grandma. And I love my dad for doing his best but I still miss my mom. I missed everything that has to do with mother-daughter bonding time. Sometimes, I even catch myself feeling jealous because other girls have their moms cheer them on during piano recitals, accompany them to the spa, help bake a cake together, or even do the simple girl talk. But anyways, I can try, right?

"Hey mom, I introduced you to Alexei earlier." I said in a shy voice because I'm still talking to my mom. "To be honest with you, I like him too much it hurts. I like him more than I felt for Seth. It's just that he gave me the right push to do something about myself. He's like... He's the Kou to my Yoshioka of Ao Haru Ride. He's the short-tempered Natsume to my Mikan. He's the persistently charming Kazehaya to my innocently weird Sawako. He's my endearingly popular Yamato to my anti-social Mei." I bit my lip to keep the tears from falling.

"You get it, right mom?"

Suddenly, my mom's words from the letter she left that my dad gave me on my eighteenth birthday echoed in my mind.

Somewhere in this world, there is someone – whether a he or a she. And for that someone, you are perfect. You just have to wait for the right moment.

With those words in mind, I exited the cabin and saw that they're starting to pack up. Alexei walked towards me, a curious expression on his face. He enveloped me in a warm hug before keeping me at arms' length. He cupped my face with one hand and wiped my drying tears with the other.

"My mom left me so early," I said softly.

"Don't worry. You have me. I promise I won't leave you."

He held his pinky finger at me and I reached for it with my own pinky finger. It's a promise.

A/N: Because I felt bad for forgetting to update last time (and because I think I won't have time on Friday to update), here's another chapter. It sucks that I had to manually separate paragraphs because wattpad changed its format on writing a story again though. Anyway, thanks for reading! The song is You can finally meet my mom by Train. :3