Forever N ever (Book 13 in the Forever Series)

Chapter 2

Mercy

I realized there wasn't much I could do, to change my mom's mind when she decided to divorce my dad, but I made up my mind that I would do whatever I could do, to get them back together. If I told my brother or my boyfriend or my friends, what I decided, they would think I was crazy, so I kept it to myself. I did tell Karleigh eventually & she was happy to hear it, even agreeing to help if she could. You see, Karleigh loves my parents as if they were her own.

When Karleigh was little, she became an orphan when her mother died when we were in kindergarten. Her dad died when she was a toddler, so she has lived with her grandparents for a long time, but she never thought of them as her parents. My parents were basically her parents & I think she felt that way from the beginning, especially after my dad stepped in as her dad to walk her to school when it was the dad walk. I also think this is the biggest reason Karleigh tries to deny she has feelings for my brother. If they broke up she thinks she would lose our whole family.

When my family was together for Avery's birthday, I did find an ally, that didn't think I was crazy for wanting to help my parents get back together. I was outside the house when Dad had come out to ask me about Mom & Wilmer. He must have seen something, but didn't tell me exactly what it was. Dad seemed convinced that Wilmer & Mom were back together, or were on their way back together. He even suggested that Wilmer broke up with Becky, so he could get back together with Mom. He asked me if I had seen them kiss or touch, but at that point I hadn't noticed anything, like that, between them. Dad believed me though, because he knew I'd be honest with him. After he walked back into the house, Aunt Blanda came out of the shadows, startling me.

"Mercy, you think your parents belong together don't you?" She asked in a low voice & I nodded. "Good. I do, too. In fact, I know your parents will end up back together one day... if your mom can stay single long enough, to realize the mistake she made."

For a moment, I was defensive of my mom. "She can't trust Dad, Aunt B. And she doesn't want to put our family through the heartache of them fighting & then it ending anyway." I took a bite of the cake I had been eating, to keep from saying anything else & making myself emotional.

Aunt Blanda nodded. "I know. But she will trust him again. She just needs time. You need to make sure your mom doesn't get serious with someone else."

"What am I supposed to do, Aunt B? How do I keep her from doing that?" I asked, chuckling, then I lifted my eyebrows, as I used the plastic utensil like a wand, insinuating I could perform magic.

"You're a smart girl. You can figure it out." Blanda winked at me, then put her arm around my shoulders. "If you need some inspiration think about maybe trying to make your mom believe your dad is moving on."

"I can definitely do that." I laughed then Blanda & I walked into the house.

It was nice seeing my parents be friends again & I was grateful to my brother, Jerry, for making it happen. When I heard they were going to a baseball game together I was thrilled, then when I saw Mom post a picture from the game on her Instagram I got hopeful. I read the comments from people wanting them back together & it made me smile.

I wasn't smiling, though, that afternoon after Mom got home, then invited Wilmer & the girls over to swim. It would have been fine except Wilmer was flirting with Mom & touching her. Now I understood why Dad was worried. I was sensing something going on between Mom & Wilmer & I was pissed.

Wilmer just broke up with Becky & Mom just broke up with Dad, so neither of them should be moving on this quickly. I was also pissed because my dad was Wilmer's friend so what the hell was he doing?