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Willow

Eversincethattalk,Dylan has been asking me almost every day if I’ve found his dad. And every day, I feel ashamed to keep up with this lie. The truth is I haven’t found the courage to deal with the problem that is hisfather. Every day, he gets sad and disappointed. It hurts so damn much But I need time, time to find the courage and strength to face this because as soon as the Davis family knows about Dylan’s existence, I am in for onehellof a ride.

That’s a given.I know it.

And maybe Dylan doesn’t understand now why I did things the way I did, but I know that one day he will.

And to think, I thought life would be easier from here on out.Ugh!

I need to contact Liam; we both need closure. That’s a fact.

In the end, he is right. No matter what happened back then, I should have told him I was leaving instead of blindsiding him. But the trauma had distorted my mind; all my brain was telling me was to leave, in a fight or flight kind of state, and to do what was best for me.

It all came crashing down when, weeks into my bedroom seclusion, my parents didn’t stand by my decision to keep Dylan. Even with Nana’s words and Jake’s attempts to protect me, they were clear when they said that I either get rid of it or I had to get out.

At sixteen and pregnant, I made the decision that I thought was safest for us. How was I to trust Liam when the ones closest to me—supposed to protect and help me—let me down? Having to tell him the whole truth and going through the shame again? We were both kids, and putting a burden on him that was only mine to carry…it never felt right.

“Willow, darling, are you there?” My Nana’s frantic voice takes my focus away from a sleeping Dylan.

I walk out to the corridor, careful not to wake him, and answer a weak, “I’m coming” before heading downstairs.

On the ground floor, I find her sitting down on the sofa. She’s holding her cell phone tight in her hands and looking directly at the ground. Just the fact that she doesn’t look up at me when I arrive is enough for me to know something’s wrong.

“What’s wrong?”

She looks up at me with a sad expression and shiny eyes—are those tears?

I rush up to her side and hold her hands, repeating my previous question.

“Uncle Todd has passed away, darling.”

I gasp in shock. Uncle Todd was Nana’s youngest brother. He was the funniest and most relaxed one of them all, a lot like Nana but in more of a hippie kind of style. Nana has five siblings in total, and she’s the second oldest of them all. I can only imagine what she’s feeling; I’d be devastated if something had happened to Jake.

I hug her tight, and she immediately lets the tears fall freely. Her body seems frail through her soft cries as I wait for her to let it all out. We stay like this for a few minutes as I wait for her to calm down. After a while, her sobs stop a little, and for a split second, I hope that the comfort of the hug might have helped. Hers surely have helped me a lot through my toughest times.

“Dear, I don’t want to leave you unattended with Dylan, but I must go. I have to go say goodbye to my baby brother,” she finally says.

“Of course, Nana.” I don’t even hesitate to agree. “Go. Don’t worry about Dylan and me. I’ll ask Abby’s parents to take care of him while I go to work for the next few days.” I smile weakly at her in reassurance.

“Are you sure?” she presses, and I nod. “Okay, I am preparing a bag to go back to Lisbon for a few days.”

“Sure, Nana. I have to call Abby’s parents, so go do what you have to do.”

As she goes upstairs, I rush to call Abby’s mum. Work will start in just a couple of hours, and I know this is probably awful to ask of them since I only leave work around ten p.m., but I have no one else.

“Hello, Willow! How are you?” Nina answers the phone in a cheery voice.

“Hi, Nina. I’m so sorry for disturbing you, but I have a huge favour to ask,” I start. “My nana has to leave for a few days to help some family members, and I have no one to watch Dylan today or the next few days while I’m at work.” I ramble like a mad person. “Would you guys be able to watch over him? Even if it’s just for today; I’ll try to find someone for the next few days.”

Asking favours like these to otherwise strangers makes me uneasy, but it’s not like I have a choice.

“Calm down, darling,” she offers. “I don’t mind looking after him for the next few days at all! But today is impossible, sweety. I’m sorry. We are already at my parents’ for dinner, and it’s an hour and a half drive. Even if we wanted, we couldn’t make it there on time.”

I am so done.

“Of course. I understand,” I answer, defeated. “I am so sorry. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, darling. We’ll settle things tomorrow when we pick them up from school, alright?”

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