Because of that Night (Book1)

chapter 3: Lila

Lila squeezed Dylan's tiny hand twice, and he looked up at her expectantly. "What do you think, Dyl? Are you ready?"

Dylan looked a bit unsure. It was the first time Lila had seen anything but excitement from Dylan about the thoughts of starting preschool. Lila and Dylan had plenty of conversations about preschool – how fun it would be, how he would have new friends to meet and new toys to play with, but although all of the buildup had been fine, it seemed to Lila that this was the first moment where Dylan seemed more hesitant. He gripped Lila's hand a bit tighter, reaching up for Hunter's hand now as well.

After a day of reflection, Lila had changed her mind about Aunt Nova accompanying her and Hunter for the first drop off of Dylan. Lila's relationship with Hunter was nothing short of complicated, and sometimes those complications led to rash decision making that wasn't always all that fair.

"I have a right to invite whoever I want to Dylan's first day drop off," she had said to her aunt Nova on Wednesday evening while they finished up their final house cleaning. "If I wanted it to be just us, it would be just us, but I think it will be good to have you there, you know? You were there with my mom when it was with me."

Aunt Nova nodded, turning the lock to the beach house they were closing up for the summer. It belonged to the Demmingway family, who resided in Minnesota nine months out of the year but were always happy to come back to Borne for their extended vacations. They always threw big parties with family and friends, and more often than not, when Lila would take evening walks on the beach during the summer, they always had someone over who was having a drink on their back patio or playing a drinking game. Shrieks of laughter were prevalent from this house, and though Lila felt relief that so many tourists were gone, the Demmingways no longer felt like tourists to her. They had been coming to Borne for several summers now and had been loyal customers of Ambrose Maid Service for years. The quietness of their house now felt more eerie than it did calm.

"You have to do what's best for you sweets," Aunt Nova said quietly, dropping the house key into a padded envelope that was already signed and ready to be sent back to the Demmingways at their Minnesota address.

"You think I'm being unfair," Lila said knowingly, leaning against the front door as Aunt Nova turned to grab some of their supplies and head down to the van. Lila took the remainder of the supplies and followed closely behind her.

"I think you're twenty-three years old, and you're doing what you want to do."

"So, I'm being selfish," Lila finished.

Aunt Nova looked into Lila's eyes and smiled softly. "That isn't what I said, but this conversation makes me think that's how you feel about what you're doing to that boy."

Lila thought about this. Ever since that night at Louie's, Lila couldn't stop thinking about how discouraged Hunter had looked when she mentioned Aunt Nova joining them for the drop off. She hadn't expected him to look so disappointed. Aunt Nova had been there for most if not all of the big moments when it came to Dylan. She had been the only family member who had stuck around for Lila when she had first found out she was pregnant and was deciding what her next move was going to be. Even her mother had said to Lila that if she decided to move forward with the pregnancy, she could kiss any future plans she had for herself goodbye and that she shouldn't even bother coming back home.

Aunt Nova had been more gracious, allowing Lila to come live with her, even giving Lila a job at her cleaning service that she could work at through basically her entire pregnancy and afterwards. If Aunt Nova hadn't been there for Lila, she had no idea where she would be now.

"All I know," Aunt Nova said now, breaking Lila out of her trance. "Is that boy has done a lot for you. He's been more like a father than an uncle for Dylan, and he's done his best to be there for you too. So, if you think you're being selfish, well," Aunt Nova closed the doors of the van and brushed a few fly aways behind Lila's ear. "That's something you need to work through yourself, sweets."