Beyond the Family Ties

Part 11

A knock on the door tore Becky away from the stacks of papers and the dozens of sites open on her laptop. She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair needed to be washed, the apartment wasn't messy, but it definitely needed tidying up, and she wasn't in the mood for any visitors that didn't already have a key. Still, she shoved the papers aside, slammed her laptop screen down and ran a hand through her dishevelled hair. Wearing the same pyjamas she'd worn for the past two days, she padded barefoot over to the door, peering through the peephole. Burning anger swept through her at the sight of the elegant, polished woman waiting in the hallway. Becky couldn't tear the door open fast enough, her fingers fumbling on the chain and the locks.

"How dare you come here," she hissed, seething with rage as she stepped out into the hallway to confront her mother.

"May I come in?"

Spluttering, Becky threw a hand out to bar Lillian's way, the older woman looking down on her with a mild reproving look on her face. "No! No, you may not."

"Please, Becky. I'd like to talk."

"There's nothing you can say to me."

Disregarding her words, Lillian pushed past her arm, walking into the messy apartment as Becky scrambled after her, her protests dying on her tongue as her mother intruded. Casting a contemptuous look around the room, taking in Freen's bulky paramedic coat draped over the back of a bar stool pushed in against the island counters, the toy truck abandoned in the middle of the hardwood floors, the huge pile of case files and papers on the kitchen table where Becky had been working on them. She turned and gave Becky an almost mocking look.

"Well ... this is cozy."

"What do you want?"

"To talk about the case."

Becky let out a cold laugh, gritting her teeth as she let her gaze wander. She'd spent the past two weeks stressing about the case. Angel had come over as soon as Freen called her after Becky had been served with the papers, briskly explaining things to Becky, her attitude all business and her demeanour calm. The rest of the time was spent with Becky spending her every waking minute researching old custody battles, reading up on laws and terminology as she tried to make sense of things. Mostly, they revolved around divorced parents, but she found a few where grandparents had fought for custody. Nothing she read had made her feel better. All it did was make her angrier, more stressed, hating her family just that little bit more.

"The case? You came here to talk about you want to steal my daughter from me? And for what? Because Sunny asked you to?"

"Yes."

"Why? You don't want her. You didn't even want me when you were young enough to raise your own kids. Why would you agree to do this for him?"

Lillian tutted, rolling her eyes, "because he asked me to. That's what family does , Becky. We do favours for each other, we protect each other, we do things we don't want to for them. I get it, you don't want to come home, but for your daughter's sake, do it. Now, I don't want to take her from you-"

"Then don't."

"But if you don't give him what he wants, I'll do it. Family belongs together. Our family has always been loyal to each other. Come home, take your place at you brother's side. You'll have the whole city in the palm of your hand again. There's nothing your daughter will ever want for."

"Laurel. Her name is Laurel," Becky tightly replied, her cheeks warm as a red flush crept down her neck and turned her ears pink. "And I won't let her anywhere near him. You promised me no more games. You promised . What about your loyalty to me, huh? He asked you to do this for him? Well I'm asking you not to. I'm asking you to please put me first. For once in your life, put me first."