Be My Forever [COMPLETE]

Chapter 123

Melissa stood before me, clad in a pair of leggings and a baggy sweatshirt. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

"I'm going to leave you two alone." He said, grabbing Claire and moving to the other room.

"Hi, Spencer." She said. Her voice was frail and small.

"Hello, Melissa. What are you doing here?"

"I didn't have anywhere else to go. I used the last of my money to come here, in hopes you'd forgive me."

"Forgive you?"

"For being a bitch. You didn't deserve what happened between you and me. I was in a bad place, but I'm getting better. I'm in a rehabilitation center now," She said.

"Rehab? For what?"

"Spencer," Melissa started, "after I had Henry, I had severe postpartum and depression. I felt so guilty for giving up my baby. I started taking painkillers, and I ended up using most of my money on them, hence the reason why the bank foreclosed on my house. I couldn't pay the bills."

Everything made sense now. The mood swings, the OCD, the depression, what a mess she was.

"I've been taking them for as long as I can remember. That's why mom and dad were always so focused on me. I've been doing this since I was about seventeen."

Melissa wasn't as perfect as I believed. But now she needed me. Here Melissa was: thirty-five and practically homeless. I needed to help her. I wasn't a desperate, bossy, twenty-five year old new mother anymore. I'm almost thirty. I'm more mature now than I was five years ago. If I give her a second chance, I'm doing the right thing.

"You can stay here. I know of a rehab center a few miles from here. Melissa, I don't want to see you get hurt. Neither do Valerie and Claire."

A few tears, like wax, fell from Melissa's eyes. She quickly wiped them away, then gave me a hug. "Thank you." She said.

-:-

I turned down the advancement for a second book. Writing was fun, but I wanted to go back to doing what I love: teaching.

I applied and got a job at Valerie and Claire's school, and I taught kindergarten. It wasn't a coincidence that I ended up teaching Claire's class. I made sure I got her class, to keep a close eye on her.

"Spence, I hate to ask so much of you, but I was wondering if we could go back to Rosewood." Toby asked me one day during dinner.

"To visit?"

"No, to live there. You're not working for Vogue anymore, and it's a lot safer there than here. I can find a job building and designing houses, and you can go back to teaching at the high school. I know you loved that job. Spencer, I've thought this through."

"I don't know Toby. Change might not be good for Valerie. Her sleep paralysis might come back, and-"

"Then we'll work through it until she's better again. Spence, I can't just watch as my childhood home gets destroyed."

Toby practically begged and pleaded for me to say yes. A part of me really did want to leave New York. And Rosewood did seem a lot safer for the girls.

"Alright." I said, smiling upon seeing Toby so happy.