Seven | Lyric
Seven
Lyric
I sat on the couch across from Ben and Kara and held my hands in my lap as they both stared at me. Cole had turned off the TV before he left, leaving us in awkward silence as we tried to figure out how to talk to each other.
“So, Ben, I heard you were into soccer,” I said, trying to recall any information I had on them, even though I knew it would be old and likely not relevant anymore.
“I played when I was a kid,” he replied with a snort. “I don’t play anymore.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line to prevent saying anything that might make this worse than it already was.
“I guess a lot can change in six years,” I admitted.
“I’m sorry that I wasn’t around. I know that I missed out on so much of your lives, and I can’t ever get that time back.
I blinked, and you guys went from being nine and eleven to teenagers in the blink of an eye.
I still can’t believe that you’re getting ready to graduate high school, Ben.
Or that you’re going to be eighteen in a few months.
I swear, I can still remember the day you were born... ”
He nodded in response but didn’t say anything. I turned my focus to Kara, hoping maybe I would have better luck with her.
“And you, Kara,” I said with a smile. “You’ve grown into the most beautiful girl. You’ve always looked just like your mama. She met your dad when she was about your age, maybe a little older.”
“I think she was seventeen when they met,” Kara answered. “So, pretty close. I’ll be sixteen soon.”
“Not before I turn eighteen,” Ben remarked, giving her the smug look that only a brother could give his sister.
“It’s not a competition,” she replied with a roll of her eyes.
Then she surprised me by returning her focus to me.
“So, what happens now?” she asked, twirling the charm on her necklace.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what happens now that you’ve moved back to town. I know this was the house my dad wanted us to live in, and I heard that he set it up for you to raise us. I guess I just want to know how all of that is going to work.”
I inhaled sharply, completely caught off guard by her question. But it was stupid to think that they wouldn’t have these questions. They weren’t little kids anymore, so it made sense they would want to know what their future might look like.
“Things, for the most part, are going to stay the same,” Cole replied as he walked back into the living room. “Yes, you will be living here, and yes, Lyric will be your guardian. But everything else will stay the same. You won’t be transferring to a new school or having to make new friends.”
“Will you be living here with us?” Kara asked, her voice softening as she spoke to Cole.
Cole shook his head but didn’t speak.
“But you guys are married? How does that even work? Like, I get that Lyric has been off living in New York, but you guys are still legally married. Why can’t you live together?”
“I don’t—” I started, but stopped as Cole lifted his hand.
“None of that is any of your business, Kara,” he replied firmly but with a gentleness that was reserved for her.
“What Lyric and I do is our business, and neither of us is obligated to discuss it with you. Also, you will treat her with respect and address her as Aunt Lyric. We’ve had this conversation already. I will not keep repeating myself.”
What I really wanted to say was that there were plenty of things I didn’t get right the first time, and love was one of them. But now wasn’t the right time or place to get into all of that.
“Fine,” she said with a bitter tone as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I just don’t get why we have to make all of these changes, but you guys don’t.”
“I agree. It’s very unfair,” I said, feeling Cole’s gaze upon me as I spoke.
“I can’t even begin to understand what you guys are going through with losing both of your parents in such a short time.
I’m not here to make your lives harder, Kara.
I’m not here to change things. All of this is a change for me, too.
I packed up my life as I knew it and moved back here to help out because that’s what your father needed me to do.
But if we’re going to make this work, we have to figure out how to do that as a team. ”
“So, what? You wouldn’t have moved back to help take care of us if my dad didn’t list you as our legal guardian?” Kara pushed.
I thought about my response before I said it, knowing I would never be able to take it back. But I also knew that I wasn’t doing Kara and Ben any favors by lying to them. Trust would never come if we weren’t honest with each other.
“No, I don’t think I would have,” I answered, feeling the blood drain from my face as Ben’s head whipped up with a shocked expression covering his face.
Kara shook her head in disgust, but I continued with what I needed to say.
“For the longest time, the universe decided I wasn’t meant to be a mother.
So, yeah, it’s hard for me to accept that I’m suddenly qualified for a position I never asked for. ”
I got up and walked away, needing a moment to myself as I shattered their hearts even more.