Full Speed Ahead (AQMA Sequel)

24 - You Are The Reason

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"Avery, there's a reason why I backed off." He spoke softly.

"There's so much that you don't know." He added.

"So, let me in. Tell me!" I begged softly. I wasn't going to make the same mistake I made last time, I needed to remain level headed. I knew this was going to be my only shot at getting my father to tell me the whole truth.

"I don't even know where to start." He said as he let out a sigh of frustration. I watched on as he looked straight ahead, I could tell he was trying to figure it out in his head. So, I sat there and waited patiently for him.

"You were right." He said

"Right about what?" I asked, creasing my eyebrows in confusion.

"I haven't been 100% honest about what happened." He responded almost instantly. My heart skipped a beat at the words. Was I supposed to say something? I didn't want to be premature with the words "I told you so" in case it would cause him to change his mind, so I sat there patiently as I watched him over.

"My world was shattered into a million pieces when I got the phone call, telling me your mum had moved away. I vowed to do everything in my power to find you girls and bring you back home."

"We both know how that turned out though." He added. I let out a sigh as he said those words.

"She went clean for a while, after she had moved away with you girls."

"I don't remember to be honest." I spoke as my face creased in confusion.

"That's because you hardly remember all the good when the bad triumphs over it." He spoke softly.

"This was back when she first started dating Henry. I found out where she moved and I knocked on her door, I wanted us to work it out, I still loved her."

"Weren't you cheating on her?" I asked, anger evident in my tone.

He let out a sigh as he rubbed his face with both hands, "It was a shitty mistake, one I never did again but I know- the damage was done."

"I wanted your mother back, I wanted to be a family again. We spent the entire day and night together. After that night, she said she wanted to go slow plus she wanted to break up with Henry gently. So I went at her pace. We spoke every day and it felt like we were finally on the right track."

I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach as he spoke the words, "What happened?" I asked.

"She fell pregnant."

"What?" I asked, leaning forward in shock.

"We found out she was pregnant and confirmed it was mine. We both knew at that point that we wanted to give our family a shot once more. She was determined to make it work with me, so we packed her things and she was going to tell Henry that night."

When he stopped I knew something had definitely gonna wrong. It was already obvious as to what happened, due to the fact that we don't have another sibling running around.

My focus redirected to him when I heard him take a deep breath before proceeding, "Henry didn't take it too well and your Mum ended up in hospital. I didn't find out until a few days later. As soon as I found out, I was by her side immediately, but the damage was already done. I have no idea what he told her but he managed to convince her that it was all my fault."