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My stomach flipped at the words that left Noah's mouth, and my head snapped back to the visibly intoxicated woman slouched against the wall.
She was his mother?
The more I looked at her, I saw a small resemblance. Her face had hardened lines showing years of stress, but if I really tried to imagine her as a younger woman, I think she probably used to be really pretty. I looked back to Noah with my heart breaking for him.
There she was.
His 'mom'.
Noah had spoken about her very little throughout our relationship and I couldn't say I blamed him. The only time he ever used to bring her up is when he would have a little too much to drink and would get into his own head. Sometimes, early on in our relationship, he would cry about her, telling me some of the awful things he remembered. It was truly exhausting for him to relive it, so he thought it was best to just mentally keep it on a shelf and not think about her.
Unfortunately, from what Noah had shared with me, she's always struggled with addiction, hence why his grandparents had to take over when he was little. And he was better off in more ways than one. She was rather neglectful. Noah told me sometimes they would go days without food in the house and often the lights would get shut off. Thankfully, his grandparents caught wind of it and officially took custody when he was 6. His grandparents were hard-working, religious people and did the best that they could with what they had.
The look on his face was hard to read as I squeezed his hand to comfort him.
"Baby should we leave?" I whispered, worried about him. He shook his head.
"You stay here, I'm gonna get her outside so she doesn't ruin this." He stood up and I saw him go over to her. Her eyes took a little while to focus then once she realized who it was, she reached out and touched his face. I saw Noah say something to her as he moved back a step, before she actually made contact. She started to wail all over again, but she ended up going outside with him. Everyone was watching, then turned back around as soon as they were out of sight. I sat there wondering if I should follow, but I felt I would be invading and I also kept in mind the service was almost over.
As soon as I could, I stood and I went briskly toward the front entrance. I saw Noah out in the parking lot, clearly arguing with his 'mother' and his face was red with distress. It made me feel awful, just wanting to hold him. Especially now that we were parents, the world was different for us and I was able to see things in a new light. I couldn't imagine ever neglecting Scarlett or this new baby...and my heart squeezed at the thought of a little Noah, hungry and probably scared. It was starting to put into perspective for me, the entire battle he had with all of his demons. And it all started with this woman that gave birth to him.
***Noah's POV***
I convinced her to come outside with me...my hands trembling at the sight of her. I hadn't seen her for at least ten years now...and reality was smacking me in the face. Her cheeks were sunken in, making her cheekbones appear sharper and I could tell in her eyes that she was not in good health. Honestly, some days I was surprised that she was still here with us considering the amount of poison she's been putting into her body since before I was even born.
