Close As Lovers

Nine.

Song: Oh, Father- Madonna

When we arrived at the house after the fair, Wes had to carry me all the way to my room because I was in a deep sleep by the time we reached home. Could anyone blame me? Not only was I a nineteen year old with the metabolism of a five year old who could run for hours but would crash at the end, but the fair always wore me out.

And I was extremely hard to wake up once I was asleep, so that night had been the best night of sleep I had in a long time-- until someone started pounding on the front door, and I jumped out of my skin.

Wes groaned after I accidentally slapped him across the face from jumping, and even though I wanted to die at laughter (and honestly... after all those years of hell he put me through, he had it coming even if it was an accident), I apologized by pecking his lips. The two of us walked downstairs and as I pulled the door open, I froze in my tracks.

I swallowed hard, taking in a deep, unsteady breath. "Dad?"

"Hi, Molly." He greeted, smiling. "It's been a while."

On the outside, all I could do was stare, but on the inside, anger boiled in my veins, and I wanted to scream. He hadn't seen me or even bothered with me in seven years, and it bothered me that after all that time, that was all he could greet me with.

The man in front of me looked like an older version of my father. His once silky black hair was beginning to show tints of gray, his face sagged with wrinkles, and his lips looked as if they had been molded into a permanent frown. The only thing that still stood out was his icy blue eyes, which just so happened to be identical to mine. Even though his appearance had changed drastically, I could sense that his personality hadn't changed one bit.

"And Wes, it's good to see you again too." Wes nodded, but remained silent as he pulled me closer. My father sighed, looking at me again. "Listen, Molly. I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?"

I hesitated at first before moving to the side so he could walk in. His face lit up with shock as he walked into the entrance, glancing around every inch of the house. "This is your mom's house?"

"Yeah." I mumbled, crossing my arms over my chest. "Dad bought it for the three of us when we moved here."

He winced when I called David my dad, but I didn't care. The only thing I could remember about the "father" standing in front of me was all the times he let me down, all the memories that were burned into my mind of a scary man who forced mom and I to find peace somewhere else. The only thing I could truly remember about him was that no matter how many times I begged to have a family, for him to change, he never did. And it was because of him that I never truly knew what a family looked like until mom and I finally escaped to a better life. Because of mom's decision to move us away, I finally learned what a real father was.

The three of us walked into the living room. Wes and I occupied the love seat while dad sat in the chair across from the couch, his eyes continuing to roam around. All I could do was roll my eyes.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Well, it has been seven years since I last saw you, so I want to catch up before we talk about the rest." He folded his hands on his lap, and Wes' grip tightened on my hand as if to tell me it would be okay. My father smiled slightly. "How have you been, Molly?"

"I don't know, you tell me. Mom and I had to move to a whole new state because my 'father' walked out and could never act like a real man."

Sadness swept over his face as he sighed deeply. "I wish you could see this from my perspective. I was just hurting you and your mother by staying."