desertion

10

"Lydia. We need to get going." Dad says. We're having a birthday party for me at Athena and Bobby's. I told them I didn't want anything big, but they said we were having it anyway.

I get up from my bed and head to the living room. "Are you ready?" Dad asks. I nod my head. Dad helps Chris out of the house and I follow them, closing the door behind me and locking it.

I get in the truck and put my knees up to my chest, resting my head on them.

********

Athena opens the door and immediately pulls me inside. "Happy birthday!!" Athena says as she hugs me. "Thanks Athena." I say softly. She pulls away. "Everyone's in the kitchen.. including your friends." Athena says.

I smile at her before walking down the stairs. "There's the birthday girl." Buck says as Miles looks over at me. "Come sit." Miles says, him and Isabelle are sitting on the couch. I walk over and sit beside him. "Julian's in the bathroom." Isabelle says. I nod.

Isabelle and Miles start talking but I zone out. I've never really liked my birthday. It always reminded me how Mom isn't here anymore. The only reason I was reminded was because my grandparents never forgot to mention it. It got kind of annoying after a while, but I was never able to complain.

"Lydia! Are you listening to us??" Miles asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Sorry. What?" I ask. Miles and Isabelle look at each other. "Okay. Tell us what's up." Miles says. "Nothing." I say, shrugging my shoulders. "You're quiet and you're tapping a beat on your knee. You only do that when you're upset or when you're thinking about something." Miles says.

"So, tell us what's wrong." Miles says. "I looked through Dad's phone." I say softly. "Oh.. what did you find?" Isabelle asks. "He's been talking to my Mom again." I say. "I thought you said she never contacted him." Miles says. "That's what he told me. Hell, she could've been texting him all these years, I didn't look at the other texts." I say.

"Do you want to see her?" Miles asks. "Chris needs his mom back." I say. "I didn't ask what he needed, Lyds. I asked what you wanted." Miles says. "No, not really. But it's not up to me. It's up to Dad." I say.

"What will you do if she shows up tonight?" Isabelle asks. "I don't want to even think about that truly." I say. Isabelle sighs sadly, leaning her head on my shoulder. I lean my head on hers. "There's always a duo in a trio." Miles says jokingly. I laugh slightly. Julian comes out of the bathroom, walking over to us.

"There's your boyfriend!" I say with a laugh. "His what now?" Julian asks as he gets over to us. Me and Isabelle laugh as she sits back up. "You know you love me." Miles says. "Not like that." Julian says, shaking his head. "I've been rejected." Miles says.

"Come eat guys." I hear Bobby yell. Miles stands up and pulls me up with him. He wraps his arm around me and we walk to the kitchen. Julian and Isabelle behind us.

********

Everyone cleans up their dishes and I help Athena in the kitchen. "You don't have to do this. I can get someone else to help me, sweetheart." Athena says. "It's okay." I say with a small smile. Athena smiles at me before continuing to clean. I clean the dishes before laying them in the rack so they can dry.

"So.. tell me about you and Miles." Athena says. "What about us?" I ask. "His arm around you?" Maddie asks from behind us. "There's nothing to it. He was just being nice. I was upset." I say. Maddie walks over to us and starts helping. "You were upset? About what?" Maddie asks. I look around the corner and Dad is far enough away that he won't hear us.

"I may have.. uh went through Dad's phone." I say, scratching my arm nervously. "Why'd you do that?" Maddie asks, looking confused. "Because. Dad hasn't been acting the same. He's been acting weird. So, I was worried about him and I checked. He's been talking to my mom." I say.

"Oh." Maddie says, her eyebrows raised. "How long?" Maddie asks. "I don't know. I didn't look at the other messages. I didn't even look at them. I saw the contact." I say. Athena stops cleaning and turns around. "Does he know you know?" Athena asks, her eyebrows raised. "No. And I'd prefer to keep it that way." I say with a small smile as I look down.

"Lydia! Let us give you our present before we leave!" Miles yells from the stairs at the doorway. I smile softly at Maddie and Athena before walking over to the stairs.

"I told you guys you didn't have to get anything." I say. "Shut your trap." Isabelle says, handing me a small gift box. I open the box and there's a rose gold bracelet. "Wow.. it's gorgeous. Thank you." I say. "We all have one. Me and Julian have gold ones and you and Isabelle have rose gold ones." Miles says with a small smile.

Usually I'd think something like this is cheesy, okay, it kind of is, but it's nice. I smile at him. "Thank you guys. And thank you guys for coming." I say as I hug Isabelle. "Of course." Miles says as I hug him after pulling away from Isabelle. Julian joins our hug and so does Isabelle.

We pull away eventually, laughing as we do. "See you later, Lyds." Miles says as they go up the stairs and out the door. I smile softly before going back over to the kitchen where everyone is now standing.

"Thank you guys for this." I say with a small smile. "Of course." Athena says with a smile. "Ready to go home?" Dad asks. I nod. "Let's go then." Dad says as he ruffles up Chris's hair. I laugh slightly. "Thanks again." I say.

"Anytime." Bobby says as Me, Dad, and Chris head for the door.