Her eyes narrow further and she slaps away Calliope’s hand. “It’s him, isn’t it?”
“Who?” Calliope’s eyes dart between us.
“He’s the one who knocked you up, isn’t he? That’s why he’s been hanging around.”
“Mom!” Calliope scolds sharply. “Now is not the time!”
“No. I’ve been waiting years to give you a piece of my mind. My daughter was a lovely thing until you came along and ruined her. She spent years building herself back up and then you think you can just waltz back into her life and fuck it up for a second time? How selfish can you be?”
“Mom, stop!”
“You’re all the same. Men. You don’t spare a thought for those you leave behind. You just do what you want and then walk away because consequences mean nothing to you. Well let me tell you, I won’t let that happen here. And you, Calliope, you should be ashamed of yourself for falling for his tricks again!”
“Mom, will you shut up!” Calliope finally yells, bringing a tense silence to the kitchen.
I appreciate it and finally take a breath, something that felt impossible with an angry elderly woman bearing down on me.
“Mom, I get it. You’re hurt and pissed that Dad died. I am too. But you're directing your anger at the wrong people! Being angry with me will only push me away, tearing down the home will only rid you of the memories you had with him, and Elijah? He’s not in the wrong here. I am, okay? So just for once, stop. Stop saying horrible things, stop acting like you know everything because you’re just going to make it worse!”
Her mom stares at her in shock, her eyes wide and her lips moving like a goldfish gasping for air. “Calliope,” she says weakly. “How can you say such things?”
“Because it’s true! I came here to love and support you, and you’ve been acting tyrannically ever since. And I get it. I do. It hurts. You miss him.” Her voice breaks slightly. “I do too. But you can’t take it out on me and certainly not Elijah because yes, he is Nick’s dad. But I was in the wrong, okay? He did nothing because he didn’t know.”
I want to say something.
I feel like I should, but while this all happens in front of me, I’m still stuck on one thought.
Nick is my son.
I’m a father.
I swallow hard again and again, trying to dislodge the odd sensation of something catching at the back of my tongue. If I get rid of it, maybe the words will come.
The sensation lingers and the words don’t come, even as Calliope and her mother dissolve into an argument about who is right and who is wrong about my responsibility.
Responsibility I didn’t know I had until ten minutes ago.
And then it hits me. Something her Mom said sticks out like a pin on a marble floor.
‘You think you can just waltz back into her life and fuck it up for a second time?’
Suddenly, I know what I have to do.
“I have to go,” I choke out, sounding like I’m being strangled.
“What?” Calliope stares at me in shock as the argument with her mom falls silent. “Elijah?—”
“I’m sorry, I have to. I hope Nick enjoys his present, I really have to—” I’ve barely finished before I'm rushing out of the kitchen and flying for the door.
There’s one terribly important thing I have to do, and I have to do it before I can even think about anything else.
I just hope Calliope trusts me.
36
CALLIOPE
He left.
