“I guess that’s okay then. As long as you don’t leave.”
“We aren’t leaving, I promise.”
I pull into the driveway, and shift into park as my phone starts to ring. I glance down, expecting for it to be Jason, butan unknown number rings on the screen. I let it play to voicemail, figuring maybe it’s spam.
Spam doesn’t usually leave a voicemail though. My phone dings when the completed voicemail pops on the screen. My phone works to start transcribing it, a new feature that can sometimes come in handy.
I’m surprised to see that the message reads,Hi Fallon, this is Trixie. I’m sure you won’t—I don’t read any more before I’m climbing out of my car to bring the girls inside so I can actually listen to this unexpected voicemail.
I grab the first person I see when we get inside, which so happens to be Gramps. He’s sitting on the couch in the living room watching TV.
“Gramps, can you watch the girls for a minute? I need to go listen to a voicemail quickly.”
He looks up at me, that familiar humorous glint in his eye that’s always there. “Sure, honey, but if they go upstairs, there’s no way I’ll be following them.”
“That’s fine. Thank you, Gramps!”
I rush back outside, ignoring Josie when she calls my name from the dining room. I’ll tell her what's going on in a minute. First, I need to listen to this voicemail.
I climb back into the driver's seat, and unlock my phone, pulling up the voicemail. It starts to play Trixie’s voice immediately.
“Hi Fallon, this is Trixie. I’m sure you won’t listen to this, or call me back, but I had a few things I needed to say to you.” I pause the message, taking a deep breath before pressing play again.
“I’m sorry. I can’t even begin to express how sorry I am. I’m the reason Brad put you through all the stress of a petition for joint custody. When I found out about you and your daughter, I was absolutely gutted. I wanted my child toknow their sibling, for your child to know their father. I was wrong. I put you through hell, and all for my own selfish reasons. To be honest, I don’t think Brad wanted anything to do with custody.”
I suck in a shuddering breath at her words.
“As you know, I’m pregnant. I’ve been having my doubts about him for a while now, but he was so excited to start a family. I thought maybe things would change.”
Deja vu rings through my veins. I thought the same thing. At least she’s realizing it now, instead of ten years into a relationship and marriage.
“I’ve decided to leave Brad. I’m giving him the option for shared custody, but I’m not sure if he will take it. I guess I don’t know what I’m doing leaving this voicemail, I guess I wanted to apologize for what I helped put you through. I realized in that diner how skewed my judgement was, and for that, I’m sorry. If your daughter ever wants to meet her little brother, please reach out. I’ll be happy to meet. Goodbye, Fallon.”
The voicemail ends with a click, and I’m left sitting in the front seat, taking deep breaths. Holy shit. I take a few minutes to process what played, and try to come up with any sort of response. I’m not going to call her back, not now. But maybe someday I will.
Instead of making the choice, I can leave it up to Presley in the future, when she’s a bit older. She can choose to meet her sibling, and who knows, maybe she will want to reach out to Brad when she’s older. If that is what she wants, then I won’t stop her. For right now, though, I will do what I can to protect her, and that is keeping her away from him.
Presley has a family. Even if things don’t work out between Jason and me, she has a family in the Cunningham’s. She has a family in me and my mother. In Meganand Isaac. She is surrounded by so much love and so much joy everyday.
A soft tapping on my window pulls me out of my mixed feelings. Jason is standing outside my car door. I fling the door open, hitting him in the process.
“What’s wrong? Is everyone okay?” Jason cups my cheeks, scanning my face and my body for harm before scanning his parent’s front yard.
“Everyone’s fine,” I say, shaking my head and swiping at the tears I didn’t realize had fallen. “Trixie left me a voicemail.”
“She did?” Jason asks in surprise.
“Yeah.” I play the message for him, and watch as his eyes widen as the seconds pass by.
“Woah,” Jason finally says when it’s done playing. “Are you going to call her back?”
I shake my head. “Not now. I’m not in a good place right now, and I don’t want to talk to her. I think someday, I’ll give Presley the choice to meet her sibling, maybe we can do it sooner rather than later so she doesn’t miss out on him growing up, and go from there. And maybe someday, she will want to reach out to her dad and try to have a relationship. But that’s up to her. I won’t stop her.”
Jason breathes out a heavy sigh. “Wow, sunshine. That’s a lot.”
I nod, resting my head against his chest as tears fall down my cheeks. “You’re telling me,” I say with an unamused chuckle.
His lips press a kiss to the top of my head, and he squeezes me tightly. The air is chilly now that fall is starting to make an appearance, and I didn’t wear a jacket.
