Not a Reunion

Chapter 30

Mason

Did I seriously think that if I were to start getting close to Thea's family, she could automatically forgive me? I was really dumb for assuming that Thea was going to forget about our past as if it wasn't significant. It is. I can still feel the ache of it coming back to me all the time.

I'm not sure how I thought it was going to go. But not like this. Not like her telling her siblings that I would never see them anymore. Not like her siblings having the impression that we weren't friends. We weren't, but every single time someone mentioned it, it was a reality check all the time.

When her mom had yelled at me and then used the fact that I had hurt her heart against my claim, it had hurt. I felt as though her mom had very well punched me and left me bruised. I spent the whole day trying to forget it, but I couldn't. It was true; I had hurt Thea, and there was no way she would forgive me.

Even if she hears that I was hurt as well.

We flew out of the state a few hours later, so I was trying to spend as much time with the kids as I could. They were all sad at dinner because they had thought that I was going to leave and never come back. That may very well be true, but after I told them to enjoy the time we do have together, they had forgotten all about being sad.

I was playing with them in the front yard. Quincy had just walked inside the house a few minutes ago while I was in the middle of catching a ball. I wondered if the both of them had kept in touch, and if so, how close were they? It would be pretty close if Quincy had just gone into the house without even knocking.

Thomas pulls on my leg after growing tired of playing the same game all over again. His siblings had loved it. I learned that Nat was in soccer and that Harry had his eyes on a football he really wanted to buy. I knew that I shouldn't have done it, but as soon as he said that, I had it ordered to the house really quickly. It was going to come in right before I left, so I was excited to leave with a patting gift. I had gotten Thomas a new car, and of course Natalie deserved a sparkly soccer ball. I knew that she wouldn't be able to use it, but it was very nice to keep it for memories.

Memories.

I would keep this in my memory, never to forget.

I would remember the way the summer breeze felt on my face; I would feel the back of my neck needing more sunscreen with how high the UV was; and I would remember the easy smile on my face. I would remember the way the three kids looked at me. I would remember their grins and their everlasting trust in me. They had only known me for a few days, and yet they were easy to trust.

I knew that it would hurt to say goodbye to them, but that would be okay. At the very least, my book contained a few good cheaters. It was better than getting none of it. That's why I knew I had to look at life. That was okay. As long as I had the chance to make good memories, even if they wouldn't last for too long.

"Hi," Thomas says with a little smile. He tugs on my pant leg again, making me wonder if my pants were going to fall off my waist. It was hard to worry about anything else other than what the child wanted anyway. "Do you think maybe we can play a race?"

"What's that, buddy?"

"Oh yeah," Natalie shouts with a big grin. She pulls on Harry's hand, and the two of them then get off the ground that they both had dramatically sprawled onto. She moves her eyes up to mine and says, "You have to see if you can beat us in a running race."

I have a grin on my face as I take them up on the offer. I wink at them and then say, "Think someone as old as me can keep up with you guys?"

I wasn't too old, but to them, I may as well be ancient, something they may learn about in their history class.