Under-going maintenance & extreme re-writing
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Helaina and Andrew were the power couple of high school. Not many high school relationships were destined to become more than that, but everyone expected Helaina and Andrew to get married and last for...
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Andrew has been home for roughly a month now, and he has been working very hard to rebuild all of the relationships he had destroyed 18 months ago when he walked out of my life and pretty much everyone else's for the most part. He had done a lot of people dirty by cutting them off the way he did -- with no warning and no explanation. It will continue to take a lot for Andrew to earn forgiveness from everyone that he was once close to, me included.
Although I know about his addiction now, it doesn't change the fact he walked out of my life when I needed him most. It is a versatile subject of whether or not a drunk father is better or worse than an absent father, I'm honestly not even sure I know where my opinion lies; what I do know is that Andrew and I had a very special relationship and a deep understanding of one another. I think if he had stuck around to tell me about his addiction, I could've helped him or tried to. I just didn't appreciate his decision to cut himself out of my life all on his own.
Since he has been back, I have allowed him to progressively spend more time with Hope, but only for a couple hours a day at max. I don't trust him enough yet to allow her to develop an attachment to him, if I don't even know if he is permanently sticking around. We've had some discussions and agreed his main focus right now should be staying sober and fixing his bonds with his family and friends. If he can fix those bonds, it gives me more hope that he will be staying.
The dinner with our two families was roughly two weeks ago, meaning it has been two weeks since Brennan blew up at Andrew while sitting at the dining room table at my parents house. In the moment, everyone was emotional and distressed, it has been proven to be beneficial in Andrew's life. He'd taken Brennan's abrupt words to heart and has used them to push through the addiction he fights everyday and will continue to for the rest of his life. It hasn't been easy, but Brennan has worked toward forgiving him and has been making significant effort to give Andrew the benefit of the doubt, which I appreciate immensely.
"Hey," Brennan greeted me as he walked into my bedroom with Hope on his hip. She had her head laying on his shoulder with a pacifier in her mouth. I tell Brennan all of the time to not give her the pacifier too often because I don't want her dependent on it, but it is his favorite method to keep her from crying. "Doing school work?"
"Yeah, I have a ton of finals prep to do." And so little time, considering I'm a single mother. My family can only help so much to the point it won't interfere with their typical day-to-day lives. For example, Brennan has been watching Hope for the past two hours, but he has an abundance of his own work to attend to, plus he is going out with Leah tonight.
"I wish I could help, but..." Brennan trailed off. The way he trailed off gave me the vibe he was going to suggest something very arguable. "Maybe ask Andrew?"
He's kidding. "You're kidding."
"No, listen, Helaina." Brennan and Andrew have been working toward getting to be on better terms, but there's no way he, of all people, is suggesting I leave Hope with Andrew. "He is been doing great with Hope, and you can't even argue she is growing a liking toward him. He knows how to take care of her overnight, and it would give you time to study and sleep."
