"Please don't make do this," I told Aunt Katherine.
"I have to sweetheart. I don't have a choice. I'm very sorry." She told me and I could see in her eyes that she meant it. "It's just for a few months," she told me.
"I'm sorry but I thought twelve months makes a year," I said.
"I'm very sorry baby. But I swear I'll come and get you as soon as I'm back in America," she said with her eyes all sad. "I don't have a choice here but to send you to your mother's house. And think about it, you're mother would want you there. She loves you, honey." She said and she had a point but I had one too.
"I'm eighteen; I can stay alone in the house. Or I can stay over at Janine's house or something but please don't send me to Julie's house." I said almost crying.
Aunt Katherine put both her hands around my face and said, "Baby, you're father just died. You cannot stay home alone or with one of your friends. You need someone who is family and will take care of you. You also need to spend some time with your mother. I mean, how long are you going to play games with her? It's now or never sweetheart."
"She didn't want me," I told her. "She didn't want me then why would she want me now?" I asked her.
"Carter," she said firmly. "Your mother loves you and she wants you. If she does anything to you I promise you she would have to pay. Say for these twelve months till I come back and then, you can tell me if you're going to come with me or if you want to stay with your mother." She told me looking directly into my eyes.
"Okay." I told her realizing that there was no use in fighting. "But you know I'll come back to you right?" I asked her.
"And I will take you up as the happiest person in the world." She told me.
"I'll go pack," I told her.
"Do you want some help?" she asked.
"No it's fine," I answered.
I went up to my room and pulled out all my winter wear and threw it on the bed. And I started packing.
My father left my mother when I was eight. We were Seattle then. He took me with him because my mother didn't want me. Ever since then my father's been looking after me. When I was ten we moved to Florida. And I loved it. But my father died in a car accident two weeks ago. So I moved in with Aunt Katherine, dad's sister. But now she had to go to Europe because of her job. And so she was sending me to live with my mother.
My mother has long forgotten the incidents with my father. She still lives in Seattle, with her new husband Michael and a son Jake. I've never met either of them. It's been years since I met my mom.
When dad died and Aunt Kathy had to go to Europe, she found my mother through the internet. And as soon as she heard the big news of dad, she wanted me to go there and stay with her until Aunt Katherine came back. And I hated this.
She's just showing off. She said giving birth to me was a big mistake, why would she want me now?
Since I grew up with my father I am very boyish. And yet I used to look after him. He was the best father in the world. We were in the streets when mom said she didn't want me and dad. But he worked. He worked for me. He worked because he wanted me to come up in life. And now I live in a big house. I have all I've ever wanted and it's all because of my father.
I even looked like my father. The same shade f brown to my hair and the same brown eyes. My mother on the other hand was blonde and had blue eyes. But I've heard people say my facial features are like hers.
After I packed all my clothes, I took the most important thing that I would never let go. The photo of me and dad together in my tree house he built for me when I was twelve. We built it together and we both went there to think. Well used to. Now it's just me.
And as much as I hated this new life I was being introduced to, I knew I had no choice. But I also knew that I'm going to hate every minute of it.
"You ready, sweetheart?" Aunt Kathy was standing in my doorway.
"Yeah, I'm ready."
The drive to the airport wasn't that long. Probably because I didn't want to leave.
I kissed her goodbye and I left her crying all to herself.
The flight wasn't that long, since I slept the whole way. All I knew was when I fell asleep, I was in New York and when I woke up I was in Seattle.
It wasn't hard finding Julie. She was there peeking up on her toes searching through the crowd. There was a tall, dark haired man standing next to her and whispering something in her ears. Guess that's Michael. I slowly walked up to them.
"Hey," I said. She turned her head at once and looked at me. She looked at me top to bottom analyzing every part of my body and started crying.
I stood there traumatized not knowing what to say. "Oh baby!" she cried. Baby? "Look at you. You look so different. Oh my! You look just like me…" she said hugging me. "Oh Mike! Doesn't she look just like me? Except for the hair and the eyes," she turned to look at her husband.
"She does, sweetheart." He told her. His hazel eyes looked worried about her. Huh! Ten years with her? How is he standing it? The thought of it made me muffle a laugh.
"I think I look like my dad," I knew I was lying but still just to make the point that I'm not going to react like her.
"Oh…" she said after a couple minutes. Guess she finally understood it. "Okay," she breathed out. "Let's go home." She said. I just nodded.
We got settled in the car and I leaned on the window. Shit! It was raining.
"How often does it rain?" I asked Julie not able to keep my mouth shut about it anymore.
"Very often," she said. "The sky's always grey." She commented.
"Okay," I said and that was the last word I said in the car. I didn't talk again, though Julie and Michael were continuously talking.
They lived in an apartment. There house was right on top of the building. Julie opened the door and went inside.
"Go on," Michael said. I quietly obeyed him. When I did go inside I saw a small boy around ten years old standing next to the couch. He had Julie's same blue eyes and Michael's black hair.
"Hi, you must be Carter." He said. I couldn't help smiling at him.
"Yes, I am." I told him. "You must be Jake." I said. He nodded. "Well it's nice to meet you," I told him.
"It's nice to meet you too. Mom's been talking about you ever since you told her you're coming." He said and my face immediately went into a frown and I stiffened. But I let go of it. I wasn't that good at holding a feeling which made me feel bad.
"Why don't I show you you're room?" Michael asked.
"Sure, Michael." I said.
"Please call me Mike," he commented leading me through the hallway.
"Mike," I repeated. There's no use in being rude to Mike or Jake. They weren't the ones who said they didn't want me.
My room was not that big. It was painted in brown and had many plants around. It looked… warm. Just how I like it.
"You're mother said you didn't like the cold so we made it like this. Just to make you feel like home." He said.
"But this isn't home," My voice had no emotion in it.
Mike didn't say anything instead he turned to leave the room.
"Hey," I called. He turned back and questioned me with his eyes. "Thanks for the thought anyway," I said.
"No problem," he answered. "It's your mother's idea. She even helped out a bit." He said.
"You guys painted it?" I asked surprised.
"Why to waste money?" he asked.
"Okay," I said. He turned and left the room. I kept my bags down and started unpacking my things.
When I was done I fell on the bed. I just wanted to sleep. It felt like a long day to me. Someone knocked the door.
"Yes," I said sitting up.
Julie popped in. "Dinner's ready," she said.
I wanted to lie that I wasn't hungry but then my stomach growled. "I'm coming," I simply said.
I walked out into the hallway and made my way to the dining room. It had a large oval shaped table with around eight chairs. Damn!
"So Carter," Julie said while serving us.
I turned my head and looked at her.
"What do you like to do usually?" she asked me at dinner.
Everything I liked to do had involved my father. "I like playing baseball with dad, watching T.V, videogames, soccer and reading." I told them pushing some food inside my mouth. I looked back down to my plate. Her expression to my answer showed that she didn't like it.
"Do you like shopping?" Julie asked me.
"I've never enjoyed it but the same time I've never disliked it." I told her not looking up.
"Oh." She said.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked me.
"No." I quickly answered a little embarrassed.
"Okay," she said. "Well school starts on Monday and it's just Saturday. Would you like to come with us tomorrow? We're going shopping. Why don't you come? Enjoy." She asked.
I was in no mood to go shopping. I wanted to just sit there without doing anything. I wanted to spend more time with dad. But I knew it impossible. And also I needed fresh air.
"Sure," I told them.