*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you*
After spending their last night together until October Roman and Tayla went over to her parents' house so she could get her stuff and so that she could talk to them before she left. She had a 16 hour drive ahead of her. Tayla said her goodbyes to Roman's parents, Alana and Roman's sister before she left. She was going to miss them especially Alana. Alana gave her a painting she did to hang up in her dorm room so that Tayla could remember her while she was gone. Roman's family had become her family. Most of the pictures she was taking to school with her were of her with Roman's family and Roman more than pictures of her with her own family. Roman pulled into the driveway and said, "Are you ready for this?"
"I guess," she said. "Okay not really. You are staying right? I just need you here for support."
"I'll be here," he said giving her an assuring smile before he turned the car off. They got out of the car and walked up to the front door.
Tayla put her key into the door and unlocked it. "Mom, Dad," she said as they walked into the house. "We need to talk." She didn't get a response so she walked into the house further with Roman. They looked in the living room but they weren't in there so they went to the kitchen. Her parents were sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast. Tayla's mom was eating cereal while her dad was reading the newspaper while he drank his coffee. "Mom, Dad," she said. "Can we talk?"
"I don't know," said Tianna. "You were pretty clear about how you felt yesterday. I thought you wanted to get out of our house because our rules and I quote are bullshit? Why are you here now? Just take your stuff and leave."
"Mom," said Tayla, "I just want to talk to you guys before I leave."
Tayla's dad put the newspaper down roughly after folding it. He looked at his daughter and looked at Roman with her. "What is that boy doing in my house? I thought I told you that you weren't welcome here?" said Miguel.
"I'm only here to support Tayla," said Roman. "She wants to talk to you."
"She made her choice," said Miguel. "She doesn't have anything else to say to us."
"Dad," said Tayla, "Please just give me a few minutes to talk to you. Please." There was a desperation in her voice. She was mad at her parents but Roman made sense. It wasn't good to leave with unresolved issues especially; knock on wood, if something happened to Tayla on her drive to PA. Nothing in life was really ever guaranteed. It was always best to forgive and resolve problems before it was too late. It was better to have it done than to regret not taking the chance to resolve the issues. Tayla just wanted them to listen to her and talk to her and understand how she feels about Roman and how she feels about them. "Please."
Miguel looked at Tianna and she looked at him. He nodded and said, "sit down; both of you."
"Okay," said Tayla as she sat down next to Roman across from her parents. "First, I'm sorry. I was incredibly disrespectful to both of you. I had no right to be. I apologize for that."
"You were more than disrespectful," said Miguel. "You were a downright embarrassment. In what world is it okay to have sex with your boyfriend in your parents' house, get hickies on your neck and then cuss at your parents? Did we raise you to behave in that way?"
"No," she said, "but you were disrespectful to me as well. You called me a tramp and a slut. I am neither. I only had sex with Roman he is my first it's not like I was going around having sex with everyone in the neighborhood. It is one person; a person that I love."
"You don't know what love is," said Tianna. "You think you know what love is. You're too young to truly be in love with anyone."
"No, Mom, I'm not. I am 18 years old. I know how love feels. I know what it is. I am in it with Roman and I can't help it. I know he isn't your choice but he's MY choice. I love him and he loves me. You don't have to like it but I wish that you would just tolerate it and respect my decision to date him and be with him. I'm not saying we are but if we do get married he will always be in your lives, he will be the father of your grandchildren but most importantly he will be my husband and at some point you are going to need to respect him. You don't have to like him but you do have to be nicer to him like stop calling him boy. His name is Roman it is not boy. He does deserve to be called by his given name. I have met his parents and most of his family. They are so welcoming to me and they have pretty much made me a part of their family. I wish that you would do the same with him but I know you're not going to but I do want you to respect him and my relationship with him because as of right now he is not going anywhere. I don't know what's going to happen in the future but I know what's happening now and I know that you BOTH need to treat him properly."
"What does he have to offer you? He is a football player sure there is money in it but that's not guaranteed to last," said Miguel, "you need to be with someone that will support you with a job they will keep."
"Is any job really ever guaranteed? And whoever said you need money to make you happy? Isn't love enough?"
"Is love going to get the bills paid?"
"Maybe not but maybe," said Tayla, "it doesn't matter. I am not after money. I am after love and I love him. I love him so much that it hurts. I wake up everyday smiling knowing that I'm going to see him. You may think I fell too fast and that I fell too hard and that may be true but you don't know Roman. He is an amazing man. He is smart and he is probably one of the best men I could have ever ended up with. If you would take the chance to get to know him you would see that. You would see what I see and you would love him too. I'm not going to break up with him. I'm sorry but that's just the way it is. I am not going to break up with him and he's not going to break up with me."
"Tayla," said Tianna, "I was there at your age too. I fell in love with a guy. I loved him so much. He was an amazing man so I thought. I met him after high school, went to college with him but then he changed. He turned into a man that I didn't even know. He broke my heart. I thought we were perfect but we weren't. We lived together after we graduated college and while I was in med school. He couldn't hold a job, we couldn't pay the bills and the love I thought we had that couldn't be broken surely did break because all the stress tore us apart. Tayla, please think about this relationship. You can go to college, go to med school and marry a man that can give it all to you. Roman is not that man. This is what it has always been just a summer romance."
"I'm sorry that your relationship didn't work out. Maybe he just wasn't the guy for you. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. Things happen, things fall apart but better things come along. Look, you ended up marrying dad, you got the life you wanted and had me so obviously having what you wanted with that guy wasn't meant to be maybe with him I wasn't meant to be but you made a good life with dad. You got the chance to live your life the way you wanted to and love who you wanted to. You need to do the same for me. You had YOUR choice for you. Roman is my choice for ME. I know Roman very well and we have had lots of talks about our future. I have a good feeling about it. I know the future isn't promised but the present is. The future is a dream but the present is NOW. This is how I am choosing to live my present. I hope for my future with Roman but if it's not in the cards it's not in the cards but I'm not going to walk away and always wonder what would have happened. Sometimes things fall apart but other times things become better than you could ever imagine. I want to see what happens. You may not agree with me but this is my life. Let me live it for me not for you."
"Tayla, I'm saying that love makes you do crazy things. I have been there. You need to focus on school and focus on your career being in love is not necessary right now. You have bigger things to worry about."
"And so did you, Mom, but you still fell in love don't give me a double standard."
"Tayla, your mother and I just want the best for you," said Miguel.
"If you want the best for me you would understand that I am happy and let me keep living my life the way I am. I don't want to fight about it. I just want you to tell me that you respect my decision and that you respect the fact that I love Roman more than anything in this world."
"Excuse me," said Roman. "I was going to just sit here and support Tayla and not say anything but I want to take some time to defend myself and who I am. So will you two just listen to me for a minute or so?"
Miguel and Tianna looked at him then they looked at each other. "All right," said Miguel. "What are your intentions with our daughter?"
"My intentions are to love her and maybe one day marry her. One day have kids with her. My intentions with your daughter are to make sure I make her happy giving her the best that I can. You guys are sitting here talking like I'm just some football player that wants to have sex with your daughter and break her heart. You two are sitting here talking like I'm out to hurt her. You two are acting like I am poor. I assure you I am not poor. I do have money but right now I am trying the adult thing where I make my own money rather than live with the money my father has given me to live with. That is for another time and for a time when I need it. I am a football player and I want to play football but I do want to get my degree so that if football doesn't work out I will have something to fall back on. I have a plan for my life just like Tayla does. Would I ever make Tayla give up her plan in life? Never. I support whatever her plan in life may be. I'm not in this relationship to have sex with her. We dated two months before we had sex. I could have had sex with her when we were in Orlando but I didn't. I didn't want to disrespect you. I have nothing but respect for your daughter. I'm not here to break her heart. I am here to love her and like I said I would love to marry her someday. I would never do anything to hurt your daughter. I love her. I love her more than words could express. She has met my family and she is becoming closer with them and them with her. My 4 year old niece adores her. She has made the last 2 months the best of my life. She is the first serious relationship I have ever had and I am working to make sure I don't lose what we have. I am not here to hurt her I promise."
"Okay," said Miguel as he looked at Tianna. They whispered to each other before Miguel said, "I respect your relationship. You two can continue dating or seeing each other. I'm giving you a chance. Your words are sincere and the look in your eyes tells me you're telling the truth. My job is about reading people and I'm reading you. I know you're telling the truth. If you make Tayla happy and she makes you happy go for it. I will support you."
"I don't," said Tianna, "I still feel like this is a bad idea."
"It's not," said Tayla. "Please, mom."
"Tayla, I just can't support a mistake. I'm sorry."
"Mom, never mind," she said. "My other issue with you two is always telling me how to live my life. I'm 18 you two have got to start letting me live my life the way I want. You make these rules but I have never given either of you a reason to doubt me. You two should be able to trust me to make my decisions. You two have got to let me live and learn. I need to make mistakes to know not to do it again. I need to get hurt to know what hurts me. I need to live my life to learn what is best for me and what's not but if you two keep trying to control me and run my life how am I ever going to learn. You did your job you raised me now let me do my job and live my life the way I want to. I know it's hard to let go but you have got to let me go. You have to let me be an adult. Please."
"You are right," said Miguel, "we do try to control you too much but we just love you. We just want to make sure you have the best in life. You are right life is about learning and we will start to back off but it's so hard to watch your child grow up. You don't understand it now but when you're a mom you will. It's hard to let go. It's killing me that you're about to leave and live in a completely different state than us but I'm trusting you to make the right decisions and make the best out of your life. I'm going to try to back off a little and let you live your life. And I know your mom is going to try to do the same. Please just be patient with us. You're our only child. We don't have any more kids to raise you are it so it's even harder."
"That's all I ask is that you two just stop trying to control me. You had 18 years to do it it's time to let me control myself I promise I won't let you down."
"I know you won't," said Miguel with a smile. "You're my baby girl. I love you and any parent just wants the best for their child."
"I know," said Tayla. "I love you too. I will always be your baby girl but I have grown up. Let me be an adult."
"We're trying," said Tianna.
"That brings me to something else," said Tayla, "when I'm on break from school holidays and summer Roman and I are moving in together with Isabelle and then after college I am going wherever Roman goes for football. I will go to medical school but wherever he is. I have a pretty good feeling about this guy. I also feel like it would be better if I was out of this house."
"So you really are moving out?" asked Tianna.
"Yes," said Tayla, "but I don't want you to be upset. I just want you to be happy for me."
"I can't," said Tianna. "I just can't be."
"Why?" asked Tayla.
"Because I feel like you're ruining your life and making the biggest mistake."
"I'm sorry you feel that way," said Tayla, "but it is how it is going to be. If it is a mistake I'll learn if not then it's not. Just trust me please."
"I can't talk about it anymore," she said.
"It doesn't matter. It's time for me to go," said Tayla. "Let's get my car loaded up. I have to hit the road. I have a long drive ahead."
"Yes you do," said Miguel. "Roman and I will load the car for you."
"Thanks," said Tayla with a smile. She was happy with her dad. He was actually more understanding than her mom was. He was going to support her relationship and back off a little when it came to Tayla making her own choices. She wasn't surprised because her dad may have been tough but he was always better at being there for Tayla than her mom.
Roman, Miguel and Tayla spent the next hour or so loading up Tayla's car. It was finally loaded up which meant it was time for Tayla to move on to the next chapter of her life and her time to leave for college. They were all dreading it. They all felt the same emptiness in their hearts and felt the sadness of being away from one another. Tayla hugged her mom first. "Be careful, Tayla. I love you. Drive safely. Call us when you get there. I will see you at Christmas."
"I love you too," said Tayla as she gave her a hug. Tayla was trying not to cry but it was really hard holding back her tears. She walked over to her father. "Dad," she said. "I love you."
"I love you too," he said his voice cracking. He was about ready to cry saying good bye to his only baby girl. "Remember to study hard and remember to pay attention in school. You'll do great. I know you will. Call me as much as you can."
"I will, Dad," she said. "I love you." She gave him another hug before she walked over to Roman. Roman looked so hot standing there in his high school football t-shirt, white basketball shorts and his hands in his pocket. "Baby," she said holding it in even though she wanted to cry.
"Babe," he said trying not to cry as well. It was hurting them both already and they hadn't even said goodbye yet. "I love you. Drive safely I know you're not good at it but watch those intersections. I know how you fall in love with guys that crash into you."
Tayla let out a little laugh and said, "only you. I love you. I will make sure I see all of your football games. I'll be cheering you on during every single one of them. You drive safely when you go to school and don't crash into any girls because I know how YOU fall in love with them."
"No," he said. "You're the only one. Remember October 17.. it's a date don't forget."
"I won't, October 17, I have it marked on my calendar already and I'm counting down the days. I really love you."
"I really love you too," he said before they shared one last passionate kiss before she got into her car. She started the car and backed out of her parents' driveway. She felt the lump in her throat as she looked at the three people she loved most standing in her driveway. She honked the horn at them before she drove off. She had tears building in her eyes as she listened to the radio playing "Miss You" by Aaliyah but she was ready for college and ready for the experience.
She arrived in State College, Pennsylvania after a long 17 hour drive because of traffic. She parked her car outside of her dorm and made her way to her room. She walked in to see her roommate already making her bed and setting up her stuff. "Hey," said the girl with dark brown hair, tan skin and dark brown eyes. She could have passed for Tayla's sister. "My name is Chelsea. You must be Tayla."
"I am," said Tayla with a smile. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," said Chelsea with a smile. "Where are you from?"
"Florida," said Tayla, "you?"
"Born in Florida, raised in Louisiana and New York but just moved here from Arizona."
"Wow," said Tayla.
"I know," said Chelsea, "It's crazy I know but I have had a crazy life." Tayla liked her. She knew they were going to be awesome friends because if anyone else knew about a crazy life it was Tayla.
*A/N: So what did you think? Please review and thank-you for reading.