Hello, my lovely followers, or even anyone who just happens to stumble onto this story! I bet this comes as a surprise! I was in my business class, bored out of my mind, and thought, "I should write a story about Dahlia." This kind of serves as a prologue to Ryan's story while offering some backstory on Dahlia, who's pretty much the complete opposite of her daughter. She falls in love far too easily, while Ryan is afraid to love. Anyways, hopefully you peeps enjoy this as much as you do Ryan's story. I'm not really sure how long it'll be. ~Shaymie
"Dahlia, are you ready?" I stiffened as I heard my brother calling me from down the hall and wiped my tears away. I hid the pregnancy tests under my pillows and did my best to make it look like I hadn't been crying. Unfortunately, Trent saw right through me like the responsible older brother he was. He wasn't as dumb as people thought he was. He noticed everything, but chose not to comment on it.
"What's wrong? Why were you crying? Was it Joshua? I told you he was nothing but bad news. I mean, what kind of guy leaves his wife and son just because it was 'too much responsibility'?" I sniffled and rolled my eyes. Trent was always lecturing me because he thought that I could do much better than Joshua. He said that I deserved someone that would love me as much as I loved them. Josh did love me. He just had a hard time showing it. Trent doesn't know him as well as I do.
"It's nothing, Trent. I just had something in my eye." I sighed as he sat down next to me, preparing to give me one of his famous lectures. My pillow fell to the ground as he sat next to me, and I flinched as the pregnancy tests clattered to the ground. Trent raised an eyebrow and picked them up, his face slowly twisting in anger.
"You're pregnant, Dahlia? What the hell were you thinking?" He groaned and ran his hand over his face as he started to pace around the room. Skye, my four year-old niece, peeked into the room and stepped in quietly. She paced behind her father and copied his hand gestures as he lectured me about safe sex, and how I shouldn't have been sleeping with a guy that I barely knew, and what the hell was I thinking?
"Mom and Dad are going to kill you, Dolly. Do you honestly think that they'll keep paying for college once they find out about this? You have to get an abortion or something!" I put a hand over my flat stomach and frowned. An abortion? How could Trent even say that about his future niece or nephew?
"No. I don't care what Mom and Dad do. I'm not killing this baby, Trent. This baby… It's a symbol of my love with Josh." I could tell that he was thinking about what I had said and stopped pacing, which caused Skye to fall to the ground. She giggled as she ran from the room before she could be yelled at about why she shouldn't eavesdrop. Trent sighed and, after a few moments of silence, grabbed my suitcase from underneath the bed and started putting my clothes into it. He shrugged when I asked what he was doing.
"When Mom and Dad find out, they won't pay for this apartment anymore. So I'm letting you move in with me and Skye until you can get on your feet." He grimaced as I hugged him. He hated physical contact, which made me wonder how on earth he managed to sleep with Heather long enough to have Skye.
"Thank you so much, Trent. You're the best big brother ever!" I was excited, but also nervous. I was only 21. How could I possibly be a mother? I didn't know the first thing about raising a baby or changing diapers. I ran away any time Trent had asked me to change Skye's diaper when she was a baby.
"Just promise me something, Dolly… You have to tell me that you won't go back to Joshua. I know you think I'm just being an annoying older brother, but he really is no good for you. I mean, where do you think he goes when he's not sitting around here, making you take care of him like he's a child. I know you love him, but he doesn't care about you." I pursed my lips and looked at the ground. He was right, like always. Josh was never really around much, and even when he was, he never paid any attention to me.
My eyes filled with tears as I realized the truth, and I rubbed my stomach absentmindedly. I couldn't let him treat our child the way he had treated me. Our child-no, my child-deserved better. I may not be the smartest woman out there, and I may make more mistakes than the average person, but I knew that I had to protect my child. I wouldn't let them make the same mistakes I had.