Your silence speaks to me

Prologue

Growing up, I often wondered what life would have been like if I had both parents in my life. Would my mother be kind and loving? Would my dad help me face challenges in life? I often asked myself those same questions as a child.

I remember seeing kids at school with their families. Moms giving their kids hugs and kisses. Fathers playfully bear hugging their sons. I found myself wishing to experience that. But I knew that I never would. But at least I had a parent to raise and love me.

My grandmother, Cindy. 

She was pretty sweet and caring. However, she could be pretty scary when angered. That was especially true when it came to me.

See, I was born with badly developed vocal cords. While I can make sounds, I can't form words, no matter how hard I try. So I have to communicate through writing and sign language. This led to a lot of teasing and bullying at school and grown-ups criticizing me. 

And it wasn't just my lack of speech that gained me attention.

As I grew, my features became more feminine. So, I was often mistaken for a girl. I can't count how many times someone called me "young lady" "miss" or "little girl". It's quite funny when they find out I'm a guy.

Alongside my grandma, my aunt Tracy helps her out with me, as well. Well, she helps out financially. She's cold and hates me, but has to help because she owes grandma tons of money. She's got black hair and green eyes. 

She's my mother's younger sister of two years. She knew about my abandonment and didn't really care. Unfortunately, no one knew where my mom was. It's like she just disappeared off the face of the Earth.

Grandma had worked at a local bakery with some old friends. I met them when I was seven years old. Kai, one of  grandma's friends, taught me all about baking and cooking and helped out with homework if I had trouble. His husband, Matthew, was especially kind to me.

But things took a turn for the worse when I was ten. My grandmother was killed in the supermarket during a robbery. It absolutely broke me. I had no one to take me in. Matthew and Kai couldn't because they didn't have the finances. My aunt ghosted me, but still sent money to me to pay the dept she owed my grandma.

Matthew and Kai would spend time with me and make sure I was fed and cared for since I was only ten years old and living alone at the time. Once I turned 14, they were able to leave me alone more since they had to work a lot more.

It hurt alot. Becoming an orphan so suddenly and losing what you've known your whole life. But what I didn't know, was that my life would experience great changes. And they would come in the form of a tall, mysterious, and beautiful man.

My name is Nova Winters. And this is the story of how I found love through a world of challenges

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