*Peyton*
"Did you bring in the drinks?" I asked Ray,who was dancing around,goofing off. Shad jumped around happily with him, and Vick sat and chuckled at them both.
"Yea, on the counter." He said,winking at me. I walked back in the kitchen and finished helping them set the table for our "family dinner" that Kenya had put together.
"Wait Amaya I think you put down too many plates." I said, counting the chairs and plates. "And chairs too.." I added.
"Oh I just always put an extra in case I forgot someone." She chuckled nervously,and I shrugged it off. Kenya sat all the pasta and other food in the middle of the table. Soon we were all seated,ready to dig in. A few seconds later the doorbell rang, and Amaya looked suddenly at Jacob,who raised his eyebrows and nodded. She stood up and went to the front door and a few long seconds later walked in with a lady. She was really pretty,and had long curly hair, and was dressed to impress. I only had one question.
"Who is that?" Ray whispered in my ear. I shrugged and watched Amaya nervously look at all of us,along with the woman.
"Um,this is Malina Turner.. I met her at the grocery store earlier today.. And she claims she is our mother." She blurted out,smiling nervously. The whole table sat frozen, and my eyes could not move from the lady. No one said anything.
"I know this must be weird for you.. But let me explain myself." Malina spoke confidently.
"When I was young,very dumb,and clearly not the woman I am today, I made awful mistakes. I'd ran off from home at an early age, thought the world could be mine, met a few young men that used and abused me, had you guys with little to no financial support. Excuse me for saying that like I'm sure,but I have a good feeling I am. We lived in a one bedroom apartment, I did drugs continuously and don't make me mention the drinking. But it was all out of stress. I hated what I became, and I couldn't take it anymore,which is why I'd walked out on you guys. It was a very horrible decision and it was in no form right. I beat myself up about it til the point I'd tried to commit suicide. I took a whole bottle of pills, downed it with alcohol, and woke up a few days later in the hospital. There was a man with me.. A very rich man. He had helped me back to health and pushed me to get my life right,so I did. I'm now married to him. I don't want you guys to think I forgot about you for even a moment, because my past has been haunting me for my whole life." She was in tears now, but I still sat there frozen. "I tried for years to find my children but I had no luck.. Until now. I understand if you hate me, I hate myself for what I've done. But I really hope you find it in your heart to forgive me." No one said anything still,but Ray grabbed my hand reassuringly. She stood for a minute,then dropped her head.
"I'm so sorry this is stupid,I should go." She turned around and started walking.
"Wait." Kenya's voice cracked and her eyes filled with tears. Melina stopped and turned around,wiping her eyes also. "Have a seat. Join us." Kenya said, surprising me. I looked at her and she glanced at me, nodding. Shad whined impatiently because he was ready to eat,and Ray fixed his plate. No one else ate.
"Well,since we're all here.. We might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Chresanto." He did a small wave. "I'm Jacob." "I'm Yasmine." We went around the whole table,but she of course knew the names of me,Kenya,and Amaya. We told her Penny was out on a graduation trip,but showed her a picture instead. She wiped tear after tear.
"I'm just so sorry I've missed out on your lives. Everyday I though-"
"It's fine." Kenya said softly,cutting her off. We all sat and listened to Malina go on and on about her life and what she did when she left. Kenya told her about us,too,leaving out the major parts for some odd reason. After dinner,Malina prepared to leave after she'd invited us to a grand dinner at her house on Saturday. She said she really wanted to get back into our lives if we let her,so we agreed. She left,and we all sat around in silence.
"Well,that was unexpected." Vick said jokingly.
"I don't trust her." I said softly.
"What's not to trust? She looks just like you guys." Chresanto said.
"But you can never be too sure. You remember what happened last time." Kenya added. I nodded in agreement.
"So what are we going to do about Saturday?" Ray asked.
"We'll go. Out of kindness. But don't get too comfortable. Stay alert." Amaya said,looking at us.
We all agreed.
"Well,she looks like she's lived a pretty good life. And I'm surprisingly not mad at her. At all." Kenya chuckled,which turned into a loud laughter. We all joined,kind of confused as to why we were laughing.
"She wouldn't be where she if if she didn't leave us,just like we wouldn't be where we are. Isn't it crazy how things work out in the end?" She said after her laughter had calmed down a bit. We all soaked in those words. She was right. If Malina had never left us,we would've never met the boys. Our lives would probably be much worse that it is right now.
