Carry Me Home

Forty-Five

Evelyn

Aunt Primrose convinced me to stay for dinner seeing as I hadn't been here for many months. After agreeing I immediately called Hayden to inform him of my plans just in case he'd begin worrying about me being late home. Rowan fell asleep again apparently and that lessened my own worrying knowing that he was okay. 

"Evie, we should go out one day. Just the two of us," Jason said abruptly. 

"Sure. Where to?"

"Let's go to the cinema and just pick a random film to watch like we used to," he said, excitement increasing within him by the second. Sometimes it was hard to believe that he was twenty-two.

"Just tell me the date and I'll be there, Jace."

Just as Jason was about to answer his phone rang. It was Aunty Claire just checking up on him but the conversation dragged on when she began to complain about her shopping adventures. I left Jace to it much to his dismay. 

I strolled into the kitchen to see Uncle Noah slicing a cucumber. I jumped onto the counter beside him and watched the way his hand speedily sliced through the vegetable without any sort of hesitation. As I became entranced by the movement of Uncle Noah's hand a thought suddenly popped into my mind. 

"Why does Aunty Claire hate me so much?" I asked, genuinely curious about how her lifelong hatred for me came to exist. 

Uncle Noah promptly stopped slicing the cucumber and looked towards me before sighing deeply. 

"She doesn't hate you, Evelyn," he said, sounding very certain.

"I'm pretty sure she does," I contradicted.

"Trust me when I say she does not hate you. She hates the situation." I furrowed my eyebrows on his last sentence, completely baffled by what he meant. 

"And what does that mean?" I asked, confusion written across my entire face. 

"Your aunt and I can't have children. By you being in our custody my sister feels as if everything I couldn't have was being flaunted in my face. She didn't understand how a married couple couldn't have children yet your mother got pregnant by her boyfriend who left her a month after your birth. Claire hated the fact that I couldn't have children of my own. She couldn't understand how I was even capable of raising someone who wasn't my own child." Uncle Noah explained, looking up at the ceiling throughout the entire explanation. 

"She hates the fact that you can't have children and then here I am being everything you want but can't have?" I asked, trying to summarise everything Uncle Noah just said. Uncle Noah stepped to the side and enclasped my hand in his. 

"Evie honey, you are my daughter. You will always be my daughter no matter what anyone says. When Claire said that I was raising someone who wasn't my child I completely disagreed because you are my child. You may not have my genes but you are my daughter and forever will be my daughter. You are certainly your mother's and father's daughter but you are also mine and Primrose's daughter as well. I love you, Evelyn." He kissed my forehead briefly and rubbed my shoulders. 

"I love you too," I said, a smile growing larger and larger on my face. 

I decided to leave as soon as dinner was over because I knew if I stayed any longer then I'd be too tired to drive my car. 

"Come visit sooner, Evelyn," Aunt Primrose said, hugging me tightly. 

"Don't make us wait another few months, Evie," Uncle Noah scolded jokingly. 

Jason pulled me into a tight bear hug and kissed my forehead longingly. "God knows when I'm going to see you next, Evie. Take care of yourself."

As I was driving back home I felt as if a massive burden had been lifted off me. The guilt of not meeting my family for so long magically disappeared and I felt so much lighter when arriving back home.