Author's Note: Okay, Chapter Twenty-Five of this story is finally going to pay off. I been building up to this secret for a while.
Chapter Seventy
"Do you enjoy ruining my life?" Ethan said abruptly.
"I beg your pardon?" Henrietta replied with disbelief.
He got off lightly! She could have told Liam a lot worse but she didn't. He abused her daughter for three years and she barely spoke to him afterwards. She never once got the police on him despite everything he did. The thing was, Ethan purposefully only dated 16 and older girls afterwards. Meaning his aunt had nothing on him, it has worked for these last twenty-five years.
"I have done nothing wrong since Maya" Ethan maintained. He really believed that too.
"Okay Ethan. Then why did you tell John you were going to hurt Leanna? Did you get some kick out of telling him that?"
"Oh, I only said that to get on his nerves. You know me, I'm all talk"
"Except you're not!"
"Then why is it that every girlfriend I had after Maya has been sixteen and older? Hm? I have done nothing wrong since her!"
"Do you tell yourself that to make yourself feel better? You know what, I don't care anymore. I don't care about anything" Henrietta wept.
Bursting into tears right there and then. Her whole life has been hanging around these disgusting people. She never felt normal again after finding out Ethan abused her daughter, like any normal mother. She did lie to Kim slightly on that night, it wasn't just a moment of madness. Had she not came down that night, she would have took the pills without a second thought.
"I don't know why you're so upset" Ethan remarked.
"Maybe because I lost everything because of you and her" Henrietta cried, wiping away tears.
She hated letting him see her cry, she really did.
"Maya loved you, she really did Auntie" Ethan dared to say.
"Just get out of my sight"
This made him give a nod as he left the room. Shutting the front door on his way out, leaving the woman alone with Rosa. Her poor great-aunt who doesn't remember a thing, maybe that was for the best though in this case.
...
David was just sitting on his couch, looking at Maya's baby scan; it was a little while after the dinner. His father Eric came back downstairs, he just went up to use the bathroom. He just looked over at his son. He's seen the baby scan too, he understood it was very difficult for David. Though at least his family and friends now know what's been troubling him lately, they thankfully backed down for his sake.
"Is it healthy for you to keep looking at it?" Eric queried.
"Please"
"I'm not having a go...I'm just worried about you dwelling over it, there was nothing you could have done to prevent what happened"
No answer came back. The man just kept looking down at the scan, he could see everything. The little head and body, he kept rewinding back to the night where Maya killed herself. She jumped from that hill and died on impact, the coroner assured him that she never felt it. He wondered if that applied to the baby too. Liam however was the one who was told all that, David didn't want to know at the time. He just confirmed the body was Maya's and went back home.
"I want to go to her grave and say everything I couldn't when she was alive" David confessed.
"You think that's wise?"
"Yeah and you know what? I don't care what anyone says, I'm going to go and get something for the baby. I just wish he or she didn't have to be buried with Maya but that's the way it is. I really believe it would have been mine, the dates point to it"
"David-"
"No dad, I made up my mind...Don't try and talk me out of it, I need to be able to say goodbye properly"
"If you think that's best"
"I do"
And that was his mind made up.
...
Liam and Leanna entered Henrietta's house with relief. They generally had no idea Ethan was dodgy. Now they knew, they were happy to be away. Liam heard his phone beep, alerting him he has a new message. He just gave a little laugh, showing it to Leanna. It had a picture of a little boy in a wheelchair with the caption...'Alex's New Toy', a teddy bear being on the child's lap.
"Cute" Leanna simply remarked.
"He is...You know, moving to Skipdale might be the best thing we ever do. We might even be able to get our Alex back"
"I don't know daddy, anyone could visit us...Skipdale isn't far away and besides, you can't cope with him" Leanna reminded him with a sigh.
"Maya was the one who couldn't cope with him...He wasn't perfect enough for her but she's dead now. We can get him back and be a proper family, he's coming up to six this year and it would be nice for him to be back with us, like when he was a baby"
"It would be expensive...We would have to get a wet room, a wheelchair, everything"
"I know but he's my son and your little brother, all the money in the world wouldn't stop me from getting him back. I actually been wanting to do it for a long time but Maya wouldn't talk about it"
"I know, he didn't live up to her standards"
"It wasn't like that...It was more complicated. She didn't want her family to have anything to do with him, she was always good at hiding pregnancies"
"I'm sorry daddy for being so...disrespectful but I couldn't hide my contempt just because she died. She was a disgusting person"
"I know but she's dead now, so we can just focus back on Alex"
The girl gave a small nod. Alex Cavanagh was the five year old son of Liam and Maya. That was the other secret. He was put in a care for disabled children as a baby, he was born with spina bifida. Alex (named after her firstborn son) was paralysed in the lower part of his body, he could still move his arms but not his legs. Liam didn't really tell anyone, it wasn't something he wanted to shout from the rooftops. He had a baby with Maya and he was ashamed to admit it when he discovered her true nature. Besides, he was also ashamed that he put him in a home.
"What if Henrietta pops round for a quick chat? She will see him" Leanna further reminded him.
"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she found out. Maya was the only thing stopping me from telling her, it would be a really nice surprise for her I think"
"Yeah maybe but she might hate you for keeping it a secret for five years"
"I will explain to her about why, I'm surprised Maya hasn't mentioned him in any of her diaries though. I know Henrietta's been reading them, I guess she just didn't want to take any risks"
Leanna just giving a shrug.
...
TBC
