They Don't Know (BOOK TWO)

Chapter 7

After not seeing her mother for months, mixed emotions wash over Aubrey making her feel sick to her stomach. A part of her wants to ignore her mother, push her back out the door and yell at her to go back to Florida and let them enjoy their Christmas. Another part of her wants to hug her mother and apologize for everything she did before leaving Florida. Feeling conflicted and confused, Aubrey slowly gets up from the floor and sits down on the couch. Victoria joins her, looking back and forth between her sister and mother as she takes off her coat and walks farther into the room.

"It's a surprise seeing you Sheila. I haven't seen you since Daniel passed away." Their aunt Janet says, following their mom into the living room. Aubrey can see that bringing up the topic of her deceased older brother is hard for her.

Their mom nods, "I know and I'm sorry. After he passed I just...fell apart. I shouldn't have lost contact with you." She gives her a brief hug and their aunt pats her back.

"It's alright, just don't go back to Florida and forget about me. Their dads side of the family won't be happy if you do." Janet warns, sitting down on the smaller couch opposite of Victoria and Aubrey.

Their mother takes a seat in the arm chair and clasps her hands together. She takes a breath to say something but Aubrey cuts in. "Before we start with the heartfelt apologies, I just want to say something first." She says looking around at her sister and aunt before landing on her mom. "I know that when I was living in Florida I was out of control. I was defiant, hard headed and wild. I was jealous of Victoria, I was still heartbroken about losing dad and I didn't want to talk about my feelings to anyone. Party and acting out was my release." She looks down at her lap and sighs. "I've changed since I got here ma, I've gotten better for myself and for my baby. I think I've really matured since coming here and I just want to thank you for sending me here. Thank you auntie for taking me in even if I acted ungrateful and bratty in the beginning."

There's silence for a minute before her mother speaks. "Baby that's all I wanted. I didn't send you here as a punishment, I sent you here to learn a lesson and discover yourself. Of course getting pregnant may have been the extra push you needed but I don't want you to think that I did this out of anger. I wanted to help you and I'm glad I did. I'm even happier that you and Victoria reconnected, it was hard having two daughters who nearly hated eachother. And I promise everything is going to be ok, we've had some tough times but we're gonna have even better ones to come."

A flash goes off and everyone looks at Aunt Janet who is holding up her camera. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist, this was such a nice moment." She says snapping another picture. They all laugh and Janet puts her camera down. "Now that it's no longer awkward in here, how about we open some presents."

"Oh I brought some presents too. They're out in my car." Sheila says.

"I'll get them!" Victoria says, jumping up from couch and grabbing the keys from her mother. She leaves the living room as her mother starts talking about her drive up here. Once she gets outside and grabs the presents from the trunk of her moms car, Victoria starts walking back up the walkway when a voice calls out to her. She turns around to see a car pulling into the driveway, she watches as it stops behind her moms and the door swings open. Keenan steps out with a red and green gift bag in his hand. "Merry Christmas," He says to her.

"Merry Christmas to you too," Victoria says politely. She hasn't spoken to Keenan much since he was released from prison so they aren't on comfortable terms just yet. He walks up the path, glancing at the car that he's never seen before. "You guys have vistors over?" He asks.

Victoria nods. "My mom came back to patch things up with us. Everyone's all happy and stuff now."

"Oh, family bonding huh?" Keenan shifts from one foot to the other. "So should I come back later or something?" He asks. The truth is Keenan is terrified about meeting Aubrey's mother. He never met her when he was in Florida and he doesn't think she'll be too pleased about him knocking up her daugher and them leaving.