Page 74 of Chase
“I know, which is why I’m telling you to let Chase, Arden, Rhys and Ally be the ones to get her through this. She’s a part of their family and she’s happy when she’s with them. She laughs, has fun. She gets to be a teenager,” Mum tells him.
“Okay. What do I do?” He asks.
I decide now’s a good time to make my presence known.
“Leave that to me,” I say, walking around the corner and startling them both.
“You’re back early,” Mum says.
“There wasn’t any traffic.” I turn to David. “Do I have your permission to use your house tonight? Fair warning, I’ll be spending the night. The others may as well, or they’ll come back here.” I ask him. If he doesn’t give us permission, I’ll find a way to get her here or to Arden’s. It just works better if we can go to her.
“Why? I don’t want any parties in the house. Especially with Millie there,” he says with an edge to his voice. He still doesn’t like the idea of Yasmin and I. It’s clear. But I don’t care.
“If you knew your daughter like I do, you’d know that a party isn’t what she needs. Millie will always be safe when she is with us. If you must know, we are going to show up with all her favourite things and spend the night watching Disney movies, eating junk food, and laughing. It’s what she needs. To be with her family,” I say while waiting for my words to sink in.
I see the defeat take over.
“Why don’t we go to dinner tonight?” Mum asks, trying to distract David.
“It’s okay Nat, I’ll pick up a shift at the station. I’m not happy about you staying, but I know if I say no, you’ll just come back here. Promise me you’ll look after her?” He says.
“Always. I don’t know what happened in the past, but when she’s ready, she’ll tell me. I miss her. We all do. She’s had time to think. Now we’re going to help her,” I say with an authority in my voice that wasn’t there before.
I don’t like the way David treated Yasmin. I don’t like that he was absent most of their lives. He may be her father, but I don’t need his permission. I asked out of respect for Mum. She raised me to respect my elders.
But she knows that I’d find a way if David didn’t agree.
David looks away and Mum gives me a small smile.
“I got offered the apprenticeship,” I tell mum while ignoring David.
She rushes from the table to give me hug.
“I’m so proud of you,” Mum whispers in my ear.
“Thanks Mum.” I’ve worked hard to get here. I have a foot in the door for my dream job, I get to live with my best friends next year and I’ll hopefully get to be with the girl who stole my heart when we were too young to even know it was happening. Everything is starting to pay off.
“I’m going to organise the gang. Breakfast tomorrow to celebrate?” I ask Mum.
“Yep I expect you all to be here at eight,” she says, moving back to the table. I love that Mum knows that we’re all a package deal.
“All right. I’m going to organise the gang,” I say as I walk out of the kitchen and head to my room. Just before I’m completely out of earshot, I hear Mum speak.
“Trust him David. He knows what he’s doing, and I think he’s the best thing for her right now.”
I don’t wait for his response.
“Yo, you back?” Arden says by way of greeting when the phone connects.
“Yep. Are you busy?”
“Nope, I’m with Rhys and Ally. We’ve been waiting for you to get back so we can discuss how we’re going to get our girl back.”
“Our girl? Put me on speaker phone.”
“Yes, she’s our girl. You might be dating her, but she’s our friend and we want her back already,” Arden explains.
I move around the room getting some clothes ready.
