Toto and the Boys III: Dannie

Chapter 26

A piece of the past...

The day she left home was the moment she finally gathered the courage to stand up against her mother. Jackie and his parents readily agreed to take her in. Her friends wouldn't allow her to stay one more day in that house with the woman who called herself Dannie's mother.

They had to be honest with Jackie's parents as well. Jackie's dad, Joseph, was more than horrified and angry that he told Dannie he had to report her mother to the proper authorities. Jackie mother cried and wouldn't let go of Dannie until Jackie's younger sister came home from school and she had to be a mother again.

The next days that followed was fast. A lot of things happened that Dannie barely had time to cope. Seeing Jackie's parents fight her fight for her gave her a sense of what a family should be. They made sure that the trial against her mother was kept out of public to protect Dannie's privacy. Jackie's father even stood outside the courtroom door to make sure that no one with a pen, paper and camera could enter.

The hardest part was to testify against her mother.

A big part of her didn't want things to end up the way they did, but whenever she thought of how things went for her and Tessa, she knew she was doing the right thing. When her mother was found guilty, she shouted at Dannie with rage, saying she regretted having them in the first place. She told Dannie in more ways than one how her children were the reason for her sufferings.

That was enough confirmation to her that she made the right choice. No one outside of that courtroom ever knew about it—not the school, not her other friends other than Jackie and George.

PRESENT DAY

After the airport, they decided to stop by for some brewed coffee at Sanders before going home to the apartment. They both needed a strong dose of caffeine if they wanted to survive the battle going on back there.

For Dannie, it was also her way to sort her thoughts and feelings. Her mind and heart were telling her different things. She needed more time away from the wedding drama. Troy offered the best company at the moment.

She found it funny though that he apparently became her source of comfort after all their years of bantering. He was always a friend to her and she couldn't deny that, despite how he had been such a pain in the ass in the past.

"What?" she asked with smile after taking a sip from her cup and caught him staring at her.

"Something changed. I just know it." The surprising thing for her was that he did not say it with a smug look on his face. He said it like he was talking about the weather outside.

She just shrugged her shoulders and leaned against her seat and slouched. She rarely did that in public because she thought she always had to show the best side of her all the time, probably as façade to mask any traces of her past. But now, she was doing it because she felt like lazing around. She had realized that most of the people around didn't even care and those who did have no hold on her. She was free to do whatever she wanted.

When he continued to just stare at her with amusement, she chuckled and said, "I was honestly expecting you to make a long speech about why I should choose you and the outside world over the convent."

His brows raised in wonder. "You did?" He shook his head after she answered with a nod. "Danica, I can tell you a long narrative of how I can share with you the happy moments of my past to help you forget yours." He was smiling at her without any hint of pain. He played with his cup as he continued, "I can make a long list of how I can definitely create more good ones for the future if you'll let me." He paused to look at her and let her know that what he was saying was the truth. "But I won't, because I won't beg though I wanted to weeks ago. I realized I don't want to wonder in the future whether or not you stayed because I went down on my knees for you to stay. I don't want you to feel you need me either because I want my woman to be with me because she wants to, not because she needs me. Likewise, I don't want to be in a relationship with someone who needs me to need her." She watched him take a breath and leaned against his chair to mirror her position. "If you stay, you stay. But it will not be entirely because of me and my promises. It will be because you see more possibility of happiness here with us."