So, I packed up and moved a few hours away, planning on staying as far away from Grand Rapids as I could.
However, life has a funny way of playing out.
After losing my job and not having a source of income to raise my son, I had no choice but to move back home.
But even though I’m back, I have no intentions of seeing Steven again.
I wouldn’t even know where to find him after all this time. Now that I have Damian, I could never face him…
I’m afraid that I will have to see him eventually. He is my father’s best friend, after all. I will face it when the time comes.
The part that hurts me the most is seeing Damian suffer from all my mistakes.
He asks about his father often, and at first, I would avoid the question, being able to divert his attention due to his age.
But now, it’s nearly impossible.
He catches on to everything, and I can’t even hide a snack from him, let alone important information.
Now, when he asks, I just tell him that his father is a great man, but life has dealt him some difficult cards.
Damian loves this explanation because he loves magic.
I also tell him that his father, while he loves him very much, just can’t be here right now, but maybe one day.
It works for now, but I know that one day, he will want the real story.
“You’d better get going, Becca,” my mother says, pulling my eyes away from Damian. “You don’t want to be late for your first day.”
“Okay, okay,” I reply, leaning down to kiss Damian on the head. “Did Dad tell you what this job is? He didn’t give me anything other than a time and address.”
Mom shrugs, handing me a travel mug full of fresh coffee. “No, he didn’t, but I hope you have a great first day.” I want to roll my eyes at how chipper she always is, but I admire her attitude to see the bright side of everything.
I hadn’t told them about my pregnancy until I moved away.
They only know the story as a fling that didn’t work out when I first moved.
While my father wasn’t happy at first—me having a child with a man who wasn’t going to stick around to raise it—my mom was ecstatic that I was making her a grandmother.
The lie worked on them, so I use it on everyone who questions the situation.
Honestly, it’s no one’s damn business.
Now that I’ve landed this well-paying job, hopefully I won’t have to hang around here for too long.
My family comes from money, but I don’t want a handout.
I want to make it on my own and be able to tell my son thatImade things happen and didn’t have things handed to me.
I want him to see that working hard gets you places in life.
Thanking my mom for watching Damian and for the coffee, I exit the house and climb into my car, immediately blasting the heat to take the chill out of my bones from the harsh winter breeze.
Before long, I type the address into the GPS on my cell phone, and it says that I’m only seven minutes away.
It’s nice to know that if anything happens, I can get home in no time at all.
I head toward my new job, and I’m slightly nervous, but I shove it down, knowing that this job is my key to getting out of here sooner.
