Forever ➳ O'Brien [3]

➳ Bonus Chapter #7

This picture was taken two years after Mrs. Daphne Mason became Ms. Daphne Brooks, two years after she changed her children's surnames because they deserved better; they deserved more than a surname from the man that walked out of their lives so unexpectedly.

Daphne's Mother, Harriet, had moved in with the family soon after Richard's departure, to not only help Daphne, but also protect herself from the loneliness of her own home. Daphne's Father had died just hours after Richard left, and it remains to this day one of the worst days of her life.

Cara had stopped asking questions about her Father that day, made a connection between mention of 'Daddy' and the look that flashed in her Mother's eyes; knew that it was something bad. So, she stopped asking, and made sure that Ollie and Luna knew not to ask anything, too. She was the more perceptive of the children, and often crawled into her Mother's bed in the dead of night to tell her that everything was okay.

[Daphne hated that her daughter had to do that, and so tried even harder not to show her pain in front of her children].

[Cara always knew that her Mother was hurting].

[Cara stopped mentioning her Father altogether, even to her siblings, that day].

---