The Tree That Stood Alone

Chapter 9

Kyle Charles, or Dad, walks over and says" Hi young miss. Why are you here and who are you?" I hear the children go back to their coloring and Ethan isn't far behind me now.

"My name is Taylor Shaw and I'm your daughter. I'm here to discuss with you why you abandoned my mom and I." I try to make myself brave even though I'm beyond scared. I see Mrs. Charles signal the kids to follow her and they all leave the room, shutting the door behind them. Kyle sits on the couch and I sit in the chair that's across from him, Ethan standing behind the chair."Why did you abandon my mom and I?"

He shifts in his chair, looking a bit uneasy. "I wasn't ready for kids then and we weren't even married so I didn't want to bring a child into a life like that. I thought that after I left her she would have given you up for adoption after you were born." I feel Ethan go tense, same with me.

"But she didn't give me up and she raised me well. She did the best she could as a single mother with two jobs. But you went and lived your pretty little blissful life as an actor. Did you ever wonder what happened to Sharon Shaw and her little baby? I'm going to guess no, since you were already all over in your new acting job. Yeah, my life was wonderful going through life without a dad and not being able to afford school lunches. Even better, I have to move to my Aunt Rose's-"

Kyle interrupts "Did you say 'Rose'? And why are you calling her your aunt?"This comes to a bit of a surprise to me since I was adopted by a woman who isn't even my aunt! Ethan is even caught off guard by this.

"What do you mean Kyle? Are you saying that Taylor was put in the hands of a complete stranger and the foster care office didn't catch this? I think your lying." This was the first time Ethan talked and I'm sure he isn't done yet. I sat straight up in my chair.

"If she isn't my aunt then who is she? Some family friend?" I'm curious about what dad has to say to this since there are many questions and a thousand possible answers. I can tell Kyle is trying to find a way to explain, or lie, his way out of this.

"Well,"Kyle starts with a sigh," she is the reason Sharon, your mom, is dead. Rose was your mom's friend  and she was like an aunt to you, but then Rose was found plotting to kidnap you when you were born. She was shut out and a week later I left. Rose knew I would leave but your mom protected you, until Rose eliminated her from the equation. And yet you still get away from Rose. What about you boy? Why are you near my daughter?" It really hurt when he said daughter, he never bothered to be there for me but I'm still his daughter. What about what the little girl said? Does Kyle still continue to lie?