Page 10 of One Last Chance

“What should I say?” Mom’s words are short and sharp. “You keep wanting me to respect that…the person you called a wife. Even with all the horrible, vile things she puts in her own daughter’s head about you. About your father. I-I won’t tolerate it.” Her voice keeps pulsing with rage, so much so that it sends shivers down my back.

Dear god…not this again.

Exhaling, I roll my head back and tiredly rest against the island.Goddammit, Hope.

“She should not even have visits with those kids. She shouldn’t be—”

“Mom…” She finally turns to me and sees my warning glance in Mac’s direction. He’s pretending to be completely engrossed in the TV, but I know he’s listening to everything we say. “Please, not in front of him,” I whisper tensely. Hope is still their mother, whether I like it or not.

Like there’s so much emotion she just cannot let it go, Mother steps toward me, so only I can hear her. “What are you going to do whenoneof those kids turns out to be a venus?” she pushes those words through her teeth, firmly looking me in the eye.

“They had their exams…”

“Oh, come on,” she snorts. “You’re an alpha—there is no way not at least one of these kids is something besides a beta. Shawn might be in the clear, but what if the little one presents? Do you really think she won’t cast him aside like he is some monster, just like she believes the rest of you are?”

I clench my teeth until they feel close to cracking from the pressure. I want to look away, to close my ears to the painfultruth, though I know she’s right. Still, a part of me refuses to believe Hope would stop loving her own child if they turned out to be alpha or omega, no matter her bigoted, extremist views. Surely, not even that bastard ‘beta rights activist’ husband of hers could convince her to bethatheartless.

“Are you really that content with your daughter hating you?” My heart aches hearing the agony seeping through my mother's voice. “Look how she poisoned her mind already. She’ll do the same with the little one and—”

“I can’t stop them from seeing their mom,” I firmly interrupt her, but the words don’t flow from me as easily as I would’ve liked, and they hurt, like my mouth is filled with broken glass. “Hope wasn’t always like this. She’ll see through her mistakes at some point, and so will Mina. She’s just a tween, struggling with…with the separation, with school and her friends and…” The pain is a little too much, so I draw in a trembling breath and close my eyes, trying to compose myself.

Mother touches my hand and squeezes it, but her warm touch only makes me want to lose it and fold like I am a kid again.

I can’t. I know I can’t. I have to be an adult. I have to keep myself above the water. Right now, the waves are still high, crashing into me mercilessly, but I know that one day, they will settle. Mina will let her love for me through the brainwashing bull Hope has been feeding her, and Hope will realize her bastard of a husband is a bigger monster than he claims people like me are. It will all be okay, at some point. That is what Dad would say.

“It breaks my heart seeing you so hurt and alone,” Mom whispers, and I pull her into a tight hug before the stupid tears can come out. “That is why I’ve been trying to find someone for you. It doesn’t matter who they are, just… Being so alone is a terrible thing.”

“I know,” I murmur into her hair. She’s trembling. “I miss him too.”

The rest of the day passes by in a quiet blur. Mother stays for lunch—we order a pizza. I leave a plate in front of Mina’s door, and by the time Mother leaves, it’s back where I left it empty. I sit with Mac after watching movies, and then we go to the park for a while. The sun is out, and it’s warm.

It makes me miss the times when things were alright.

I nod off on the couch after dinner, and so does Mac. After waking up past midnight, I take him to his room and tuck him into bed. He murmurs a sweet little ‘daddy’ as he makes himself comfortable, making me smile. Light is still coming from under Mina’s bedroom door, but I leave her alone. There's been enough fighting for one day.

Dreading the possible emails I missed by not checking up on work all day, I try not to even look at the office door and head right into the bedroom. For some reason, the room is quieter and colder than usual. Quiet in a…unsettling way. Like a tomb.

I check my phone—there are zero messages from Riley, which is good. That means nothing is falling apart at the company for once.

No messages fromhim, either…

Resting the phone on my chest, I stare at the ceiling. Mother’s words echo in my mind. The raw worry and desperation in them intensify. I imagine she came home into her own tomb, ornate with thousands of little reminders of Dad to haunt her.

What haunts me is only the silence. Absence.

I close my eyes, trying to talk my heart out of reaching for the phone again. Rationally, I know it would be selfish to drag another person into this mess. How could I? How could I ask anyone to deal with this? Why would anyone want to?

But…I can’t say Mother wasn’t right. I desperately miss having a warm body next to me in bed. Waking up to someone’s embrace. Having a kindred soul to confide in. To hold. To touch.

My eyes sting once I open them again. The text on my screen is blurred until I blink a few times, and the words come together. I have his number—Mother gave it to me before the date in case something came up at work or I was late.

I don’t even know if he has mine.

Hey…this is Rowland, from the blind date. I hope you got home alright last night.

The more I write, the more I don’t care. I allow myself to be honest, without worrying, just like I was at that dinner. I didn’t have to worry about presenting my better self, or being the person others need me to be. A father, a leader, a good alpha, or a good man.

I wanted to say, again, that I enjoyed the date. We could meet again, I’d like that, or you could simply ignore my texts. Either way, I hope you find what you’re looking for.

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