"Oh, nothing, haha." I wiped it away as Aunt Grace came to sit next to me. She rubs my back.
"Do you feel bad?"
"To be honest with you Aunt Grace, no. I don't because I have a good purpose for that money and it's mine. It was risky but I truly feel confident with the plan I had executed. I'm sorry for putting you all in that situation."
"Well of course we were nervous but we trusted you. You were telling me about the time you and Caiden's gang literally evaded the cops with over fifty grand or something. Now that's balls." I chuckled through my tears. "It may not seem like it but I was just as badass as you were at your age. I've robbed countless stores with my friends and I used to get into fights - physical punch-up fights." I gasped. What?! Aunt Grace?!
"Oh my. That's shocking, Aunt Grace."
"I know, I know. I haven't always been the traditional-Portuguese-food-cookin' mommy that I am now." We chuckled. "In fact, your Uncle Jericho over there, was my partner in crime." She sighed. "I fell in love. I was convinced that I was a tomboy but...I fell in love. And no matter the front you both try to put up or the the distance between you, it will come and you can't stop it." She shrugged her shoulders. I was utterly speechless. "I came from a pretty well-off family who really disliked him. At that time, Jericho was already sent off to Lisbon to work. But do you ever just get that feeling where you have a strong desire to be somewhere you're not supposed to be? And I'm sure you can tell how that ended." I froze.
"A-a-and are you happy?"
"More than anything." She smiles. I took a deep breath and looked into the ocean, feeling a clump grow in my throat. "And so I know you didn't feel bad about the stunt you just pulled off. But I do know that it made you realise something."
...
I looked at her, my breath coming to a complete halt. I knew what she meant. "Oh, I don't know, Aunt Grace. It'd be so selfish of me. I'm in a place where it's safe, you guys are so kind to me, Lisbon is beautiful, your home is beautiful, and not to mention, I already love your children! I-I-I can't." I shook my head, looking down. "It's too selfish."
She then holds my my arms so that I was facing her. She proceeds to holding my hands. At this point, we were both cross-legged, facing each other.
"And we are thrilled to have you, Alexa. You have saved us so much money in the past few days alone by taking care of the kids and we are forever grateful. The kids love you and it's so nice to have some one-on-one girl talk every now and then." She chuckles. "But I can't help really seeing myself in you. I know how you feel. I had everything going perfectly fine too. Except, the most important thing was missing."
...
Another tear fell out of my eye. ... "Aunt Grace, I'm not even sure what that is."
"That's what you have to find out for yourself, sweetheart." I sighed. "Caiden's gang business is not safe for you, you know that. Hell, we tried to talk him out of it for the longest time but you know how he is. He just feels so obligated and so there he is. He can't imagine himself anywhere else but constantly being on the frontline of danger. You are so lucky to have a choice, Alexa. I was too. I'm not going to sway your options. I'm just opening them up to you because everyone's path is different. Just know that no matter what, you'll always be family and a part of us now." She smiled, clutching my hands in hers.
I closed my eyes.
...
***************
They both gave me a big embrace.
YOU ARE READING
Imagine Us
Romance✅ ||| Alexandria Delavine is a shy, quiet and reserved young girl who lives a life of complacency and solitude. Her family is extremely wealthy and it seems as if she had everything at her feet. But on the eve of her beginning Senior Year, her entir...
