I dropped my suitcase on the bed while Calum and Ashton threw theirs’ on the other bed.
“So, we have a day off?” I confirmed.
Calum nodded and sat on his bed, “What do you guys want to do?”
I thought for a moment, considering my options of what to do in Boston.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m skyping my family in a little, so I’ll be here for a while,” Ashton said.
“I might just go to the pool with Luke or Michael. Dalaiah, do you want to come?”
I smiled but shook my head, not comfortable with myself enough to be around them in a swimsuit, “I think I’ll walk around for a little and do some shopping.”
Half an hour later, Calum and I left the room while Ashton lay on the bed with his laptop, waiting for the video call.
I had text my mom before we left the room and invited her along. She responded saying to meet her in the lobby.
I waited by the revolving doors until I saw my mom’s familiar and smiling face coming into view.
“Hey,” I smiled, “Ready to go?”
She nodded and we pushed through the doors.
“Where do you want to go?” she asked.
I shrugged, “I don’t care. As long as I can just get into some open space.”
She laughed and nodded in agreement, “Tour can be fun, but the bus doesn’t have much room.”
For the next hour, we walked around the streets, going into various small shops and stores.
“Dalaiah, I need to talk to you about something. About your father,” my mom said, looking at her feet. We were about 10 minutes away from the hotel.
“What is it?” I asked her, adjusting the shopping bag I held in my hand.
“He called me again yesterday. I just haven’t told you what he said yet.”
“What did he tell you?” I asked, thinking through the possibilities in my head.
“The reason he wants to take you into custody so much… Dalaiah, you have a sister. A half sister. He married some girl after he got her pregnant a few years after you were born. He wants you two to just magically become best friends after never knowing each other, but he doesn’t want me in the picture.” I gulped and looked down at my feet, “What’s her name?”
“Katie. She’s 14, and in my opinion, a complete bitch. She’s snobby and a little brat. Just like her mom.”
I laughed slightly, my next words coming out with sarcasm just dripping from their roots, “She sounds lovely.”
My mom laughed, “Yeah, she’s a lovely snobby bitch.”
I couldn’t hold in my loud burst of laughter and I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to avoid embarrassment and strange looks. “You really hate her.”
She laughed and nodded, “I hate all three of them. And, even worse. She’s pregnant, not Katie, but Tiana, his wife."
I rolled my eyes, “Great. I’m going to have bitchy half-siblings.”
She nodded, “I know we both think it’s stupid he wants custody because you’re almost 18 and then you can move out, but if he gets what he wants, I will never be able to see you again. But he can’t win this fight. There’s no way.”
“Even worse, I might still have to live with him after I’m 18. I don’t have enough money to move out and knowing how much of a dick he is, he wouldn’t give me money to move out and I wouldn’t be allowed to take money from you. I’d be stuck with… with my dad.”
“Do you hate calling him ‘dad’?” my mom asked, looking at me cautiously.
I nodded, “I hate it.”
“Steven,” she said, “just call him Steven.”
~~~~~~
I opened up our hotel room and stepped in, seeing Ashton sitting at the desk in the room with his laptop, laughing along with someone else. He looked at me and smiled, waving me over. “Dalaiah, come meet my brother and sister,” he said.
I smiled and dropped my bags in the foyer of the room and walked over to him, standing next to Ashton and leaning down, looking at the screen.
A young girl with bright blue eyes and dark brown hair was on the screen along with a younger boys with curly blond hair and bright blue eyes.
Ashton scooted over on the chair slightly and I sat next to him on the same chair, looking at the screen.
“This is Lauren and Harry,” he said, “my mum should be back in a second.”
I smiled and waved shyly at them.
“Are you dating my brother?” Harry giggled adorably, leaning forward and getting closer to the screen.
I laughed and shook my head, “No. Definitely not.”
Ashton smiled and slung his arm around my shoulder, “Nah, she’s too weird.”
I scoffed and swatted his chest, “I’m normal.”
He raised an eyebrow and laughed, looking back at the screen.
“You guys are coming out here soon, right?”
My mind flashed back to the pages I had to flip through and highlight unusual events. ‘Irwins visit’ popped into my head immediately.
“Two more weeks," Lauren said, "we can't wait to see you."
I jumped as my phone rang. I picked it up to see an unknown number.
"I'll be right back," I said, standing up and grabbing my phone, leaving the hotel room.
I swiped the screen to answer.
"Hello?" I asked, leaning against the door in the hallway.
"Dalaiah? Is this you?" a man asked.
"Um, yes. Who is this?"
"Your father."
