I walk them to the door, then wave at them as I watch them drive away. I close the door and then head upstairs, not expecting what is to come.
Chapter Eleven
Samantha
I knock on the door to Lizzie’s room. Opening it up, I find her sitting on the middle of her bed, closing the book she was reading. “Hey,” I say to her. Walking into the room, I take a seat on her big queen-size bed. The room is straight out of a magazine. She and Judy set out to create her own private oasis.
The bed sits in the middle of the room with her name painted in the middle of the wall. It took them two days to finally put everything in its place when Adrian went on a business trip. A desk is in the corner with a funky lamp on it, piled with her stuff.
“You okay?” I ask her, sitting on the bed in front of her. “You are acting awfully weird.”
She looks down and then back up at me, the tears so big in her eyes they run over. “Baby.” I reach out for her, but she shakes her head.
“I know, Mom,” she says, and I look at her with my eyebrows pinched together. “Is it true?”
“Is what true?” I ask her, sitting up straighter as my heart beats faster and faster and faster. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Who is Hailey?” My mouth snaps open as I watch my baby girl sit in the middle of the bed struggling to understand anything in this fucking mess that Eric left behind. “Mom, was Dad married to another person?”
I reach out for her hand, holding it in mine. “Baby, this is just …”
“I heard it all,” she says finally. “I heard Uncle Elliot and Uncle Ethan talking in the garage. He married another woman.” Her body not able to contain her sobs. “He didn’t love us anymore.”
I grab her in my arms as her sobs rip through her, hating him at that moment. I hate him for giving her this burden, I hate him for giving her this pain, I fucking hate him. “He loved you with everything he had. Everything.” I smooth her hair down. “He loved you so much, so, so much; all he did was for you.”
“So then why would he marry someone else?” It’s the million-dollar question.
“Honey.” I look in her eyes as tears fall down my face. I want to take away all her pain. “Your father loved you and Daisy with everything he had. Never ever, ever doubt that.” I kiss her cheeks. “We were going through a tough time; it isn’t anyone’s fault. He fell in love with this lady.”
“How?” she asks. “How do you love so many women you marry them?”
“I don’t know. I can’t answer that,” I tell her honestly. “I have no idea, not one. The only one who can answer that is Dad.”
“Would he have tried to take us with him?” she asks with fear. “Would I have had to go?”
“Honey, all these what-ifs are going to make you sick. The only thing we have to remember is that he loved you so, so much.”
“I’m angry with him,” she says. “So angry.” She looks down. “I’m also angry with Grandpa A.”
“Why are you angry with him?”
“He was mean to you two nights ago and said some mean things. I don’t want to talk to him.”
“I’m a big girl. You don’t have to be mad at him for me. He loves you.”
“And I love you,” she says.
“Now, I want you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone you know. Promise me that if you need to talk, you come to me, and I will answer any questions you have honestly, even if it hurts.”
“Okay, Mom,” she whispers. “I won’t tell anyone.” The last thing anyone needs to know is that she knows. “Can we go watch a movie?” she asks, and I smile. “Beauty and the Beast.”
“Cartoon or real?” I ask her, not really caring. I could do both.
“Real.” She smiles, climbing off her bed. “I’ll start the movie, and you get the doughnuts.”
I smile at her. “Meet you downstairs in a bit. I have to go to the washroom.” I walk into my room as Lizzie walks downstairs to get the movie ready, waiting till the door closes before letting my sob out. If I didn’t hate him before, I fucking hate him now. Leaving our children with doubts of how much he loved them. He was a selfish, selfish, selfish bastard, and I hope he’s somewhere rotting.
I wash my face, then head downstairs to Lizzie. We end up watching the real and then the cartoon version when Elliot brings Daisy back.
Daisy crawls on the couch with me, kissing my cheek and lying down on my lap. “She should pass out soon. I took her to the park.”