Who to trust

Chapter 20 Cradle

Mia sat at a coffee shop as she waited for her brother to arrive. She already ordered for the both of them.

After a couple of minutes, he arrived sitting at the chair across his sister.

"Hi, sorry for making you wait." Maven greeted.

"It's fine. I didn't wait that long. I already ordered you something, I hope you don't mind."

"Yeah, it's cool. I eat almost anything anyway." They laugh at Maven's remark.

"So, how have you been?" Mia asked, starting a serious conversation.

"Well, as you might have guessed, the house is a little more gloomy after you left. Not like it's been a bright and happy house anyway, but it's been worse." Mia could only stay quiet listening to the things her brother is saying. Again, she felt guilty for leaving him behind. "But I don't think it's exactly why you think it is." Mia looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"After you left, and after what I did that night, I kinda knew I wouldn't be able to stay in the house anymore. I disrespected dad, and I couldn't look at mom anymore. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I realized my actions had a lot of consequences."

"No. You did the right thing, it's me who was wrong. I shouldn't have left you there."

"No, I actually understand why you did it. You were hurt, and I was part of the reason why you were hurting. I won't even complain if you hate me too. I lied to you. Almost everyone did. You were at your weakest and you couldn't come to anyone because you didn't know who to trust. We thought we were fixing the family back together when we tried to erase half of the truth through you, but it only got messier.

"But Mia, that night, when I was supposed to leave the house too, dad stopped me. He told me to stay." Maven looked down, trying to stop the tears welling up in his eyes as the memories come back. "He didn't want me to leave, he was almost begging me to stay. He wasn't mad at me, in fact, he was saying sorry. He said he didn't want both of his children turning his back on him. He knows he's been a bastard, and he realized that his way of fixing the family was wrong.

"Shit, I'm talking too much. But all I'm trying to say is, we all learned our lesson, Mia. And dad is really trying to change for real." Mia cut Maven off.

"We've been through that shit many times before, Maven. Let's not fool ourselves. He's never going to change."

"The day you returned the car, he looked for you. He wanted to talk to you, Mia. When I told him you were gone and just handed back the keys he said how can you not return it to him directly when he was the owner of the car, but his shoulders were slumped and his eyes were sad despite his joke. The day after that I saw him crying late in the evening. He was murmuring things to himself, blaming himself for everything. He was holding a small toy in his hand. I'm guessing it was probably something he wanted to give to your baby." A tear escaped the corner of Mia's eyes. "Dad never cries, Mia. He repenting and learning from his mistakes. Give him one last chance."

Mia couldn't talk. She doesn't know what to say. Her heart and mind are still in battle whether to forgive or disown her father.

"Mom misses you. She sometimes she wanted to call you, but she's afraid you'd reject her call. She makes your favorite dishes even if you aren't there. The house has been sad and gloomy because everyone misses you, and everyone is blaming themselves for what happened to you. They need forgiveness, Mia. We all need it. We're not rushing you for it. But just let us prove ourselves to you. That we've learned our lesson. Let us regain your trust. And if we break it again then that's it. Just.. give this family one last chance. I'm not sure about this either, but I wanna take the risk."

Maven left after a few moments of silence. Mia told him she'd think about it, and it was better than a straight up 'no'.

Mia stayed for a few hours more, trying to be calm and reasonable. She thought about the things her dad had done to them. 

He had vices, he takes all their income to gables sometimes leaving them with nothing. He cheated on her mother, even took the girl home. He didn't like Alex because he was insecure of him, he almost brainwashed Mia into thinking he left her. He was also part of the reason how Mia got into the accident and lost her baby.

The last thought made Mia's heart swell. But the thought of him crying alone thinking about her baby was unbearable. He was really sorry about what happened. It's a shame that a life had to be taken before he could change.

Mia went home with a heavy heart. She took a cab home and went straight to their room when she arrived. She saw Alex sitting up on their bed with a laptop on his lap.

He stopped typing when she saw her come in, "Hey." He greeted with a concerned look seeing how Mia was dispirited.

Mia didn't say anything. Instead, she crawled next to him wrapping her arms around his waist.

Alex placed the laptop at the bedside to properly return Mia's hug. "Did something happen?" He asked.

Mia shook her head, hugging him closer.

She didn't say anything but Alex comforted her by stroking her back up and down, leaving light kisses on top of her head and holding her hand. He continued to do those things until he felt his shirt being damp.

"Hey," he whispered, "look at me." he shifted to make Mia look at him. She tried to avoid her face, but Alex held her chin and lightly tilted it to see her tear-stained face. His heart ached to see her cry.

He wiped her tears and immediately pulled her to cradle in his arms, pulling her legs and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Just cry. I'm here."