Chapter 29

Kate walked back into the living room to find that Will was telling her about his time in rehab, and how he's sobered up.

She sat beside Avril, and Avril felt a little more at ease with her mom sitting there.

"So what? So what if you've sobered up now? How does it make any difference to us now?" Avril asked him.

Will looked at Kate for a moment, and then back at Avril.

"I know I'm a little late. I know I hurt you"

"Hurt me? Wow!" Avril said in disdain. Kate could see that her daughter was losing her cool. Avril suddenly stood up and began pacing the floor.

"Hurt? Hurt is too tiny a word for what you did to us. You don't even realize how much pain you put mom through. First when you left her after knocking her up with me, and then when you left again! You just kept leaving! So really, just what are you trying to accomplish by coming here and saying you wanted to meet me?"

"Avril…" Kate wanted to calm her down, Kate had no clue that Avril was going to bring up the pain her mom went through. Kate didn't want this to be about her. All of that was behind her. SHe really didnt have a care in the world for Will anymore. This was supposed to be about Avril.

"No mom. You never told him, so let me!" she looked at Will "You're nothing but a coward you know that, and you've lost your chance!"

Will knew he deserved all of this anger aimed at him, so he took it all. He didn't dare to argue.

"I still love you Avril" he tried to say.

"Still? You never loved me. You made that pretty clear to me."

"That's not true..." he said and quickly continued. "I've made some pretty huge mistakes in my life, I've done stupid things," he looked at Kate, but Kate looked indifferent towards him.

"I was an irresponsible, idiot of a father, and I admit I was a fool. But I loved you nevertheless."

"But none of that even matters to me. I don't care if you loved me or not. Because I have everything I need here. She sat back down and placed her hand on her mother's knee and said.

"Mom and I came out strong and brave, and here we are, happy, with a family we love. So what do you want from us?"

"I'm not here to take you away from any of this Avril, My sole aim for seeing you, was that... I just want to know that you know how sorry I am... for... you know…"

"Ruining our lives?"

Will nodded shamefully.

"I truly am sorry for the things I said and did, and I just miss you. Will you forgive me? "

There was silence in the room.

"I forgive you."

Will smiled softly knowing that's the most he would get.

"But there's something else I need to make clear to you." Avril said. "I don't like you. Never have, never will. You've never been a father to me. So even though I forgive you, I just want to let you know, I have only one dad, only one father who's cared for me and loved me and made me feel at home and that's Rick."

Will listened intently. Kate found that with everything her daughter was saying, she was only feeling more and more proud. She wished Rick could hear everything Avril was saying about him.

"Rick was the one who held my mom when she was hurt, he was the one who took care of us like his own family, he loved us, and his love was true, honest. Rick is my father. Not you. And it'll always be that way. I got rid of your name from mine the same day Mom took 'Castle' as her surname. I didn't want to have your name attached to mine, it only made me feel more horrible. The same day mom became a Castle, I changed my name too. I'm no longer Avril Sorenson. I'm Avril Castle, and I'm proud of it, and I want you to accept that."

Will felt a pinch in his heart, but he knew he deserved it all. He could have had a beautiful life with Kate and Avril, had he not made such stupid mistakes in his life. Both Kate and Avril still looked just as beautiful as they had then, and he couldn't help but notice how mature his daughter had become.

"I understand Avril. I came here for your forgiveness. I couldn't live with the guilt of knowing what I had done."

"I forgive you, but that make me see you as anything more than a man who walked in, made a mess of things and left. I'm sorry, but it is what it is."

Kate couldn't believe how maturely her daughter was handling this, she felt bad for Will, it must really be hard listening to your own flesh and blood talk to you that way, but she knew Avril was saying nothing wrong. She was only speaking the truth.

Will finally conceded "I'm happy for both of you, that you have found happiness, that you have a family here. Honestly, I don't know why I gave you two up so easily. It's one of my biggest regrets."

The room was silent for a moment. everyone taking in all that had been said.

"Well, looks like I got what I came here for. Your forgiveness and the knowledge that you two are happy. I best be leaving now." he said sadly and rose to his feet.

Kate and Avril both got up to walked him to the door.

When he was at the door, he turned around and said "Thank you, for having me over, for hearing me out. Please give Rick my regards too."

Kate softly smiled at him. Avril nodded. But she knew he still had something to say.

"Did you never believe I loved you?" He asked Avril.

"I was 3 when you came waltzing into our lives and told mom you were sorry for abandoning us. For a long time after that, I believed you really loved me. And I still know that in those few years you did. But something changed. And I knew that you only had that many years of love to give me."

"Avril..."

"Let's keep it at that okay. I'll know that at least at one point of time in my life, you loved me."

Will nodded and turned to walk away.

Avril closed the door behind him, and then turned and fell into her mom's embrace.

Kate kissed in her hair

"I've always seen you as my baby girl, today you showed me how much you've grown up."

Avril was sobbing in her arms, but she chuckled at what her mom had just said and added "I'm crying here in your arms and you say I'm grown up"

"It takes courage to say the things you said to him. It takes a strong heart. I'm proud of you. And these tears are not that of hurt. You're just overwhelmed baby. You saw him after so long, I can't image the rush of emotions you've been feeling this entire time. Kate rubbed her daughters back, and now and then ran her hand through her hair, trying to calm her down.

Kate found that even she had tears in her eyes, she was proud, and she felt her daughters anguish at the same time.

A few minutes later, she had finally calmed down and looked at her mom

"Where did dad go?"

"Avril, your dad kind of got upset when I told him to give you some space."

Avril was about to say something but Kate said

"It's alright, I'll handle it for now. You're tired, and mentally over-worked. Why don't you just go to bed for now, and we'll talk in the morning"

Avril nodded. She felt bad for hurting Rick, she hadn't meant to hurt him, but she knew how angry he always got with Will, and Will only needed to see Avril's anger tonight, he didn't need the new father to throw it at him too. Avril needed to confront him herself, and not have her dad do the talking for her. That was the only reason she had asked her mom to keep him away.

"Mom, thank you" she said, and Kate saw something in her eyes that she could read without her daughter having to say anything.

Avril wasn't just thanking her for allowing her to take charge of tonight's little face off, she wasn't just thanking her for trusting her to make her own decision about how to handle this, she was thanking her for not abandoning her when she found out about her existence, she was thanking her for giving birth to her and for raising her up, and for giving her a beautiful life.

Kate kissed her daughter on the forehead and said to her

"I'll always love you Avril, no matter what."

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