Yours Truly (Post Malone)

19

I flew back to Chicago with Winter. We had decided that she would come back with me instead of staying with Austin. Winter was insistent on seeing her friends and grandparents again before we made the move. I understood that and didn't argue with the change in plans. I was uprooting our lives and Winter wouldn't see many of these people for several months.

As soon as we had gotten to our apartment and we started packing. Winter had gotten her packing done in a few days and started to help around the house. My parents and Anmol's parents helped whenever they could. Jay even showed up a couple times and it was a tearful time. Jay was my best friend and I was leaving her.

It took a couple of weeks to get everything figured out. I had turned in my two weeks at the bar and was working my last shift. Winter was with both sets of her grandparents as we were leaving in a few days. I didn't want to be away from my parents either but I had to work one last shift before I had to leave.

During my shift, I helped a few young ladies and moved on to other patrons. The ladies kept looking at me and giggling. When I walked by, one of them, a blonde, waved me down.

"Excuse me, but are you dating Post Malone?" she asked.

"No," I denied. "I'm not seeing anyone right now."

"Really?" she asked, holding up her phone to show a picture. It was a picture of Austin and I when he visited a couple months ago but my face wasn't visible. "This looks like you."

"That girl's face isn't visible," I replied. "It's not me, honey."

The blonde frowned, looking at the picture. "It sure does look like you. I was just going to ask how he's like."

I shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Hope you guys have a nice night."

I didn't want to admit that I was dating Austin. But the fact that there were fans coming into the bar I worked at and were recognizing me. It was my last day and I didn't have to deal with any more people seeing me as Austin's girlfriend. I had seen how jealous some girls were being about how I was dating him and they weren't. Or people commenting on my appearance.

I brushed off most of the comments because I knew it came from a place of jealousy and hate in the other people's lives. It had nothing to do with my life and the fact that I was with Austin. It wasn't my fault they were unhappy with their lives.

After my shift, I returned home late. I was tired as hell from working late and from packing my house. I had a lot to do still and it was quite the load on my shoulders. I had help but it still felt like I had a lot to do. Most of the stuff was ready but I was tired of it. I wanted it to be over with but in order for that to happen, I needed to do it.

I crawled into bed, absolutely exhausted. My thoughts started running, as they usually do whenever I want to sleep but my mind hates me. Austin hadn't proposed to me yet but I had a feeling that he was going to do it. He was being secretive and I was sure that he had gotten Winter in on it. They were hiding something, I knew it. But I was sure it was going to be when I moved there.

In the morning, I woke up too early and got up. I made a quick breakfast for myself and then went to continue packing. Winter hadn't come back from her grandparents yet so the house was mostly quiet. The only sound was the music was playing in the background. I sang quietly to myself as I kept moving around.

Winter was dropped off in the early afternoon. My parents and Anmol's parents stayed to help pack. We were done with packing everything by the early afternoon. There were boxes everywhere and it all looked different. My house had been so full and homely. It looked empty and weird without everything. But we were moving on to a nicer place for our future.

We moved everything into moving containers and sent it to Austin's mansion. As we left the house, I looked back through the door before I closed it. We had spent so much time in that house and it had many memories in it. It was the first place that Anmol and I shared as we raised Winter.

I turned and walked down the front steps. I joined the others and left. We were spending the night at Anmol's parents' house so they could see her one last time. We were leaving the next day to fly to Austin's.

Later that night, I settled on the couch to get some sleep. Winter was in the guest room, already fast asleep. I was having trouble going to bed because my mind was racing. I was worried about a lot, like if everything was going to arrive safely and if my car was going to arrive on time. I was getting my car shipped and it was very special to me. I had gotten it as a present from my parents for my 18th birthday. I didn't want to get rid of it, even though I knew Austin had several cars. It was an old Chevy Impala that was beautiful. I didn't drive it often in the city because of how nice it was and how low the gas mileage was.

I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep until I was woken up by Winter. Her grandparents had made a big breakfast as our last one before our flight. I got up and joined them in the dining room. After breakfast, I made sure Winter and I had everything before we were driven to the airport. We said our last goodbyes and went through security. Winter had to be helped through the metal detector because she couldn't use her crutches. The TSA agent was very nice and helped Winter through. Sometimes I was surprised at how much Winter was capable of with only one leg. I had also raised her to be independent and not allow her disability to disable her. By raising her the way that I did, I had made her more able instead of disabled.

After getting through security, we got to our gate. Winter sat next to me, a smile on her face as she looked around the waiting area. 

After texting Austin that we were at the gate, I looked at her. "What's got you so happy?"

"We're going to live with Austin," Winter replied. "He's really cool and I can play my instruments more with him."

"Do you like Austin a lot?" I asked. "Is he good to you?"

Winter nodded. "Yeah. He treats me like I'm his daughter. He even said that he considers me his daughter, even though you two aren't married yet."

"Do you consider him your dad?"

Winter thought for a second. "Kinda, yeah. I don't remember my dad and I've always wanted one. Austin is the next best thing to my dad. I even consider him my dad now."

"Have you told him that?" I asked.

Winter shook her head. "No. I wanted to talk to you about it. I didn't know if you'd be mad at me if I called him Dad. He's the only dad I know, even though I know that I have a dad. Is it okay if I call Austin Dad? He's the closest one I know."

I nodded. "Yeah, of course you can call him that. I know it's been hard growing up the way that you have but you made it this far."

Winter rested her head against my shoulder. "I love you, Mom. I can't wait to go live with Austin."

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I love you too, kid. We're going to have a good life with Austin."