The days were gloomy.
Gabriella never came, she was never there, and it was all just a big, big dream.
Yeah, okay.
She was real and he wasn't dreaming. He knew it in his heart. He drove home after she vanished. He went home and cried to himself in his bedroom like when he was a little boy and didn't get what he wanted.
He didn't get what he wanted…
His life had always been great. He had everything he wanted, when he wanted, and how he wanted it. He had the big bucks and his dreams had come alive. The girls, the fame, the money, and the stardom had become a major part of his life.
He still had the money, his dream, the fame, and the girls. He had them sitting right there in front of him if he wanted them. He could literally just reach out and grab them. He could go to a nightclub or a strip club and spend tons of money and watch sexy girls take their clothes off. He could waste himself with alcohol and dance the night away while he had the neighbor watch Talon. He could be a normal 20 year old with a fake ID that made him 21. He could do what he wanted. Talon didn't hold him back
But what did?
Gabriella.
As the weekend skimmed by, there was one day that was extremely hot and felt like a summer day, which wasn't odd in Ohio. So, he relinquished his tight grip on Talon and let him swim in the little pool Kay and Jack bought for him before he was born. It was just a little plastic swimming pool in which Talon found great pleasure in rolling in it.
Troy watched from afar, but not too far. He was still very protective of Talon but could let Talon have a few moments of fun in his screwed up life without a mother.
There would be a day when Talon asked where his mommy was.
Troy would stutter over the words, not knowing how to tell his precious baby that his mother was killed the day he was born.
Who was out to get her? Nobody knew that answer.
Marley flew out from nowhere, zooming towards the miniature pool. She jumped in it, sending Talon in a hysterical laughing spree. She pounced around the pool like she had never touched water before. It was something that Troy cherished, watching his son and his son's mother's dog playing like nothing had ever happened to them. No tragedy had come to their lives.
And Hannah, sadly, was taken back by Gabriella's parents, who also took Inkheart and Grey. But, they left the silly old Australian Shepherd for Kay and Jack. She was a beautiful girl. Troy couldn't understand why they didn't take Marley too.
Gabriella's memory resided in the two living beings in front of him.
They were the only two parts of Gabriella he had left.
He stood up and stretched his strong arms out, yawned as his daydream came to a close, and started towards the pool with a towel in his hand.
"Hey Tal, are you done yet?"
Talon looked up at Troy with chubby cheeks and innocent eyes.
"Come on, Talon."
Troy lifted Talon out of the pool and wrapped him in a towel. He rubbed the moisture off Talon's hair and stepped into the house.
"Hey mom?" Troy set Talon on the kitchen counter and started to dry him off. "Do you think Talon's going to be fat? Is he going to grow out of this?"
Kay was stirring some spaghetti noodles on the stove as she prepared lunch. "All babies are fat at his age. You were even fatter than him. You had fat rolls on your legs, you had about ten on your stomach, and your cheeks hid your eyes. But you were so adorable. But look at you, you grew out of it. He will too."
Troy sighed. "Do you think I'm a bad dad?" He looked innocently at his mom.
She turned towards him a little. "No, I think you're a great father. Why?"
"Because I feel like a failure… " Troy set Talon on the floor.
"I mean, no parent is perfect, but you're an excellent father. I've seen much, much worse than you."
He watched as Talon started playing with the strings on the knee of Troy's ripped jeans. "He doesn't have a mom, he doesn't have a stable dad, and his life is just so screwed up."
"Stable dad?"
"Long story." Troy said in his guilt.
"What do you mean, stable?"
"Nothing, mom. Forget it."
"No, don't you dare avoid- "
"We need to get going… " Troy avoided the conversation with his mom and whisked Talon out of the kitchen.
…..
He had missed Baton Rouge.
The smell of the city wafted through the air and smelled like home to Troy.
As he drove down the busy streets, he thought to himself about how he had actually ended up in Baton Rouge and how everything was so different in his life.
One thing he looked forward to was going back to college.
But, college would soon be harder than he expected.