Growth | z.m.

Chapter 12

I exhaled slowly as I stood before my parents, the dreadful way they'd disowned me running through my mind. I kept my expression hard and emotionless.

"Hello." I responded, mirroring my mother's words.

There was a moment where it seemed no one really knew what to say next, so I took advantage of that time to say what I had to say.

"Look, I just came over to tell you to stay away from me, my fiancée, and my son. If you have a problem, I don't really care so please respect that and stay away. I don't want to see you, hear you, or be near you."

I began to turn on my heel to walk away when I heard my mum try to stop me. "Eve.."

Turning back around, I snapped at the cold hearted woman. "No! You made your choice to abandon me years ago and I will not let you anywhere near the people I love, and I will not torture myself by letting you near me. I needed you both and all you did was throw me out. Do you realize you abandoned a seventeen year old girl who had just found out she was pregnant? I had nowhere to go. Who knows what kind of life my son could've had! You weren't there for me but luckily someone was, but that doesn't make you any less shitty as parents."

Resentment seeped through the few tears that streamed down my cheeks. I watched my parents stand there with guilt written all over their faces. Maybe it was just the new wrinkles or slightly grayer hair but they appeared to be much more stressed than before.

It pained me to look at them for a long period of time, which is why I wiped my eyes and left them with those words to think about. I had nothing left to say to them and I was less than interested in what they might have to say.

Turning on my heel again, I walked away from them with what felt like massive weight lifted off of my shoulders. A weight that had developed over five years. I wasn't sure where I was headed considering there were loads of people everywhere in every direction. I spent ages looking for a familiar face that I longed to see.

There were people sitting at their assigned tables as well as on the dance floor or walking around like I was. One of those people happened to be the very person I was looking for.

"Eve." Zayn breathed in relief. "I went to the toilets and next thing I knew you were done talking to your parents and I couldn't find you."

"Here I am." I gave him a small smile despite the fact that there was still evidence of tears on my face.

"Are you alright?" He asked, bringing his hand to rest at my jaw and stroking my cheek with his thumb. His eyes burned into mine with worry.

I nodded. "I took care of it."

"What'd you say to them?" I knew Zayn walked on eggshells when it came to the subject of my parents but clearly the curiosity got to him.

"If you must know," I sighed, "I basically told them off. I laid the cards out on the table and left before they could ruin it for me."

Immediately, I was pulled into a tight hug that radiated love. Zayn didn't even need to say 'I love you' to say I love you.

The reception continued on for about an hour, the food served, dances danced, the cake cut, and now it was time for the speeches.

Andy took a comical approach at his speech, making each guest laugh and roll their eyes at his jokes. Sarah's speech was much more sweet and simple. Danielle smiled throughout the whole thing. A few more family members spoke before Liam decided to say a few words.

"I just want to thank everyone for coming to spend this special day with Danielle and I, first and foremost. This has been the best day of my life. I met Dani years ago when she was dancing for X Factor and I was performing with the boys. When I saw her I was in awe. She looked like my dream girl, and when I got to know her I realized she was my dream girl. She still is. The only thing that's changed is that now she's my reality. I have to be the luckiest lad in the world to get to have the most incredible family, friends, fans, and now the most incredible wife. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with this beautiful woman who has stuck by me through so many bumps in the road. There have been so many tests in our relationship and I think we aced every single one of them. It's the reason I'm so sure we were made for each other. Danielle, I love you so much."