𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 • 𝘣𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴 [✔]

chapter forty six.

"So how did you even find out she's in Detroit?" Ben grabbed his water bottle and drank it while he steered the wheel.

"My mom told me once she was there. I hope she still is." Claudia ate gummy bears since they had stopped for snacks and gas.

"I have a feeling she still is," Ben said.

Claudia offered him some gummy bears from her bag, but he shook his head. But Claudia wasn't convinced that he didn't want at least one so she grabbed one and put it in his hand that wasn't on the wheel. Ben laughed and ate the gummy.

"I just hope my mom isn't mad about all of this." Claudia played with ring on her finger.

"Why would she be mad?" Questioned Ben.

"I did go behind her back and planned this. I don't even know if they're on speaking terms!" Claudia sighed. "You know my mom used to take me to her job because she couldn't find anyone to take care of me? I remember sitting in a small booth while she cleaned tables. Then the neighbor saw how much my mom was struggling so they offered to watch over me while my mom worked. At first she didn't want to since she couldn't pay them back, but they didn't charge her anything."

It was true. Janis struggled everyday after Claudia was born. When she couldn't afford to pay for food, we would go to a soup kitchen and eat there. But she slowly got back on her feet. Lara had come back months after the birth of Claudia. She stayed with Janis, helping her take care of the little girl while Janis worked.

Aunt Lara was Claudia's favorite person at that moment. They would do everything together from coloring to having tea parties in the backyard. Then came Nate Stratford unexpectedly. It was Christmas time when he met his daughter for the first time. Lara refused to be in the same room as Nate so she spent Christmas at Janis' hourse while the young mom and dad took Claudia back to Nate's parent's house so they could meet Claudia. And it went horribly wrong.

Nate's parents disliked Janis and now they dispised her daughter. They always thought she wasn't the right woman for their son. That night, baby Claudia met her uncle and aunt, Nate's brother and sister. Kim Stratford loved Claudia. Luke took some time to get used to being an uncle, but he warned up to the baby. He grew overprotective of Claudia.

Janis felt the happiest in that moment. It would forever be engraved in her mind, Claudia's first Christmas.

But of course it didn't last long. Nate dissapeared again. Janis didn't know where he had gone to, but she promised herself if she ever saw him again, she would throw a brick at his car.

As for Lara, she stayed with Janis until Claudia turned six. Lara had gone back to Detroit telling Janis she had to go back to her mom, who was slowly dying. Janis had never met Lara's mom, she only knew of her dad, who was in jail.

After Lara had left, Janis was all alone. Technically, all she had was her daughter that she would do anything for. Claudia was the one thing she did right. Janis always used to say she was never going to be a mom, mainly because she didn't want to end up like her own mom. She never knew how to be a mom. She was an only child so she took care of herself without the help of her addict parents.

When Claudia met Ben, Janis was glad they had each other. She noticed right away how Ben looked at Claudia, it was a sight full of love. She was confident she didn't have to give Ben that parent talk about how if he hurt Claudia in any way, he would regret it. Janis liked how in love he was with Claudia even if her own daughter didn't see it. It reminded her of how in love she was with Nate.

At one point in her life, Janis Donovan truly believed Nate Stratford was her soulmate. At least she didn't have to worry about her daughter following in her footsteps considered Janis knew Ben and Claudia were meant to be together.

An: just kith already jfc 👀👀👀