“What’s wrong?”
“Amelia has a play tonight but she refuses to get on stage unless you are here to see her.” Melanie let out a huff and I could hear Amelia whining behind her about where I was.
“When is it?” I looked at the clock. It was only six.
“In an hour and a half.”
It’d take me about that long to get there but I’d make it.
“I’m leaving now. I might be a little late depending on traffic but I’ll be there.”
“Seriously?” The shock in Melanie’s voice set me back. Had she not expected me to say yes to being there? Did she think I’d leave her to deal with Amelia alone? Did she think I’d let Amelia down by not being there for her?
No way in hell was I letting that happen.
“I’ll be there.”
I hung up without another word and made my way back into the dining room where my family was still sitting at the table, eating dinner, and talking like I was still there.
“I have to go.”
“Is everything okay?” My mom’s attention came back to me and Greg’s eyes met mine, his brows knitted together, quietly asking if everything was okay.
“Yeah. Amelia has a play tonight and refuses to go on unless I am there to see her.” The response felt normal coming from me but the look on everyone’s faces had me realizing how crazy of a request this was.
“You’re going to go see Amelia?” My mom was sitting back in her chair, arms crossed across her chest. Her lips were pursed together and I could tell how much she didn’t approve. “After that girl told you that you were never allowed to see her daughter again?”
“Yes, mom.”
“I don’t like this either.” Delilah spoke up and I rolled my eyes. She was always one to see the bad in people and second chances were never her thing.
“It doesn’t matter what you all like or don’t like. I’m going.”
“What’s she going to do next? Let you see Amelia and then pull her out from under you again, Jack?” Greg was out of his chair, trying to make reason. “I get that you want to go to her but she can’t just pull you in whenever it is convenient for her.”
“We don’t know what her intentions are,” Lilly tried to chime in but I was over everyone trying to give me advice on my life.
“It honestly doesn’t matter what you all think,” I raised my voice, trying to hush them all. “I want to go to be there for Melanie and Amelia. I’ll figure out what’s going to happen next once tonight is over. Until then, let us have this.”
“Jack,” Mom’s voice was a plea to try to get me to think of this more and I knew why. She didn’t want me crawling home again in tears and another broken heart but right now Melanie was worth the risk if she allowed me back into her life.
“You don’t know what both of us have been through so let us figure out how we need to do this, Ma.”
“I just don’t want that ,” She threw a hand in the air and waved it around, trying to find the words to say. “woman-”
“Mom,” my voice was stern because with how she said the word woman had me knowing exactly where she was going to go with this. I wasn’t going to have anyone speaking ill of Melanie, no matter what happened. She was still the woman I loved and I needed them all to respect that and the decisions I made when it came to her. “I’m going to her.”
I turned from my family, making my way to my truck, and rushed to the city. I had no idea when Amelia would be going on stage but damn it, I knew I needed to be there as quick as possible. I watched my speed the whole way, making sure to do just enough to get me there faster but not too fast to get pulled over.
I pulled into the school parking lot an hour and twenty minutes later. I jumped out of the truck and rushed toward the auditorium. I had no idea if the show had already started but I opened the door as quietly as I could, seeing that it was dark inside. I slipped in, not risking trying to get a seat and causing a commotion, so I stood against the back wall, watching as students lined the stage. A moment later, Amelia come out in a ladybug costume.
“Thank you family and friends for coming out tonight! Each class tonight will be showcasing their favorite animals and a few facts about them! We’ll be starting with the kindergarteners and then work our way to fifth grade! We do ask that if you must leave, you wait until the end of the grade you are seeing as we will have a short five-minute intermission between each of them.” The teacher who had taken the stage moved to the left and gave a grand wave toward the students who were on stage right now. “First, we have Miss. White’s Kindergarten class!”
I stood there as each student took the stage to tell us about their favorite animal but my focus was on Amelia, who’s eyes were searching the whole auditorium. I know from where she was looking at in the front row, that she was looking at her mom but her eyes still scanned the rest of the room. She was looking for me but I had no way of showing her that I was there, at least, not until it was her turn to be on stage. So, I waited patiently until her name was called.
“Amelia,” Miss White called for her finally and she slowly made her way to the front of the stage. Her hands went to the top of her costume, loosening it around to neck as she looked across the room one more time before she started.
“My favorite animal is the ladybug.” She paused and did a little pose with a hand on her hip and the other in the air. “The ladybug is a beetle and it can live for a year. Ladybugs are also boys and girls. They have hidden wings that they fly with.”
