Page 181 of Five Summers

“I want you off this property immediately, or I’ll call the cops,” she says to Xander, still refusing to acknowledge my presence.

“Mom!“ I shout, desperate for her to stop this behavior right now.

Xander is my future, and she needs to accept that we're a family now. I haven't had a chance to let her know that Xander didn't know about Alex, because I want to talk to her first about what she's done and how it's impacted my life. If I go into all thespecifics, I'll completely lose it with her, and I don't wanna risk that, especially if Alex can hear us. That's why I think we should discuss this in private.

"It's all good," Xander says, turning to me and planting a kiss on my cheek. “I’ll wait by the car.”

“But-”

“Don’t worry, Princess. Just come back out when you're ready to go.” He gives my hand a comforting squeeze, then he walks down the path and exits through the gate.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I can’t believe my mother could treat Xander that way. I move forward up the steps, passing my mother. Her habit of demeaning him, and disregarding his importance, infuriates me more than anything. It wouldn’t kill her to treat him with some respect.

She follows me into the house, complaining all the way.

“Why is he here? Has he pulled the wool over your eyes again? I thought you were smarter than that after what happened last time.“

I stop and face her. She's so close, I almost hit her. “You’re the reason he left last time?” I spit, my anger making my words loud and forceful. “Why didn't you tell me he came back that morning?” She stays silent, but the look on her face says it all. “Oh yeah, I know all about that and the nasty things you said to him.”

All of a sudden, the back door screen bangs shut, and tiny footsteps echo through the house.

“Mommy! Mommy!“ Alex sprints ahead and jumps into my embrace, tightly wrapping his small arms around my neck and drawing me near. As his cheek presses against mine, I can feel the coarse texture of sand sticking to his damp skin. Leaning back, a broad smile spreads across his face, and I can’t help but be reminded of Xander by the striking resemblance.

He then looks around the room. “Did Daddy come too?” he asks, his voice filled with hope. It's baffling how my mother can still have a problem with Xander being here, even after witnessing moments like this.

“He’s out the front,” I tell him.

Alex wriggles free from my arms. As soon as his feet touch the floor, he bolts towards the front door.

“Don’t go onto the road!” I shout before he bolts through the front door. When I hear the screen door slam, I turn back to face my mother. I’m ready now to have the conversation I’ve been longing for ever since I found out Xander had returned that morning.

“I can’t believe you lied to me. All these years, you made me think I didn’t matter to him. But the truth is, he came back here that morning to tell you how he felt about me. He was even planning to ask me to go with him when he left.”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe this. So, if you meant something to him, where has he been all these years?”

I don’t appreciate her harsh tone, so I respond in a similar manner. “He didn’t know about Alex.”

“Oh, don’t be so foolish. I never raised you to be that way.”

“There is no way you could ever understand what we have,” I spit, turning and making my way down the hall to grabAlex’s things so we can get out of here.

My mother follows, but I have no clue where Alex has been sleeping. So I head straight to my room.

“You’re making a huge mistake!” She shouts, behind me.

“No, the biggest mistake I made was listening to you and letting you fuck up my life.”

“And what happens when he leaves you again? I won't be there this time.”

“You were never there for me, anyway.”

Opening my bedroom door, I see Alex's bag on my bed. His neatly folded clothes sit on the dresser next to it.

“You're constantly pointing the finger at me for everything that's gone wrong.”

I suddenly stop and face her head-on. “That’s because you're the one to blame for most of the things, especially this. Every time I don’t go along with what you want, you get all mad and start telling me what to do. I thought distance would fix things, but it just made me realize that nothing will ever change between us.”

I make my way over to the dresser, collecting Alex’s clothes and neatly packing them into his bag.

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