The Invitation

41 ~ Through Hurt and Pain, I Smile

Victoria POV

When the plane landed at the airport, Connie was waiting along with Dean. Mia was still sleeping so I scooped her up on my shoulder and carried her off. As soon as I took the last step, I kissed her and handed her over to Connie.

"I will call you later and we can meet up. Thanks so much for coming to get her."

"Of course. Are you okay? You look frazzled."

"I'm fine. Just some business to take care of."

"Okay if you say so." Connie put Mia in the car seat and gave me a hug. Mia woke up and I waved goodbye and blew her a kiss. She smiled as I watched the tail lights of the car disappear around the corner.

"Victoria."

"Dean."

He opened the passenger side door and I got in. I kept my distance and remained silent until we got on the interstate.

"Ever since I woke up from the coma, I have always trusted you and Daniel."

I took a deep breath. My eyes were starting to water up again. I thought I had cried so much until they had dried up but I guess they hadn't.

"You all lied to me, after all these years. The people that I thought I could trust in all the world, kept a vital piece of my life a secret. I don't know if I can ever forgive you all. You, Sara, Mama Deb and Daniel...I don't know what to say." I wiped another tear away.

"You're right. We were wrong. I'm sorry."

I continued to stare out the window and Dean remained quiet as he drove. He looked remorseful but I didn't care. He continued on until we pulled up to Mama Deb's house. He parked the car and opened my door. I waited before I got out. By the time I made it to the door, Mama Deb was waiting by it. Dean walked in and she blocked my way.

"You are going to listen to what we have to say. Although you may not want to hear it, it's important that you do. We are no longer going to sugarcoat it but we will tell you the truth so you can understand the reasoning behind what we have done. Do you understand?"

I bit the instead of my cheek.

"If you're not willing to listen, you can go home and remain in this stagnant place and you will never find that happiness you're looking for."

I looked behind her to see Dean, Daniel and Sara sitting down waiting. Sara liked nervous as she held Daniel's hand.

"Fine I will listen."

She moved out the way as I walked in. I took a seat across from the group. You could hear a pin drop from the silence. Mama Deb walked over taking a deep breath and taking a seat next to me.

"First off I want you to know we love you. We kept the truth away from you because you had suffered enough. I have raised you as if you were mine and I would never want harm to come to you. We wanted to protect you. You see what that evil man did to you almost broke me. I didn't think you would ever recover. Lord knows I prayed for his healing power to not only heal you physically but mentally too," she said holding my hand.

"At the time we were worried about you surviving through the physical pain. I never felt so weak in my life TuTu. Even when they told me my own child was dead, I swore I would protect you from harm. I cried when your mother died but God knew she was suffering and he took that away from her and in her place he blessed me with you. I did everything in my power to make sure you didn't end up like her. The Lord was giving me a second chance with you and I didn't want to blow it. Seeing you lying there I felt helpless. I felt as if I had let you down. I didn't want to see my sweet baby suffer." She squeezed my hand tighter.