Something Worth Living For (Watty Awards 2011)

Chapter 11 Something Worth Living For

Chapter 11

The next week went by in a blissful haze. Though, Allison had to admit it started out bumpy, it had progressed into one of the happiest weeks of her life.

The Monday, after the lunch at Paul and Jen’s, Allison had taken Chloe over to her parent’s house. She’d called them the previous night, letting them know she would be over earlier than usual wanting to tell them something important, but hadn’t told them what it was about. It wasn’t exactly something she wanted to talk to them over the phone about.

So the next morning, she and Chloe left early from home, wanting to allow for extra time so she could tell her parent’s about Eric being back in town and even more importantly, that he was back in her life, wanting to get to know Chloe. She’d been in a fit of nerves when they finally arrived.

She’d planned to tell them in a subtle way that Eric was back and had it all planned out in her head. She knew her father wouldn’t be to happy about Eric being back in her life, but that he would be happy about Chloe having a dad in hers, as would her mom.

Both she and Chloe entered the house, finding her parent’s sitting patiently at the kitchen table. Her mom, always thinking ahead, had pancakes made for Chloe. Allison had wanted to talk to her parent’s alone, but before she got a chance to ask them to join her in the living room, Chloe gave the news away.

To say her parent’s were shocked was an understatement. Of course, with everything out in the open, Allison had the horrible job of explaining why they’d only been informed about this now. It took some time, but she was finally able to explain everything which had transpired in the last week.

Her mom, who’d always been fond of Eric, took the news well and was keen to hear how Chloe and he responded to each other, while her dad, her loving and overprotective dad, had grumbled non-stop while Allison related the story of Chloe and Eric’s first time together. It was clear he wasn’t too happy about Eric being back and had made no move to hide it either.

He’d pointedly said that it would have been better if Eric had just stayed out of their lives. Allison had glared at her dad, while her mom gave him a firm tongue-lashing about his comment, fearing that Chloe could have overheard them.

Her dad’s features seemed to soften at that point. He was complete sucker when it came to his children, but he was even more so when it came to his grandchildren. Allison knew how much he loved Chloe and that he would do anything for her, so it was with anxiety that she asked both her mom and dad, to join her, Chloe and Eric for dinner on Tuesday night.

Her mom thought it was a splendid idea and had offered to get things started for Allison while she was still at work. She’d accepted gratefully, knowing it would take he time to prepare a good home cooked meal.

Allison hadn’t told Eric about the extra guests joining them for dinner and felt like she was sabotaging him. But she knew if she mentioned her parent’s presence he wouldn’t be too happy about it. After all, he had admitted to her the Sunday before that he was terrified of her dad, something she would definitely be keeping to herself. She knew it her dad got hold of this information, he would use it only for evil and in the end Chloe would be without a father. Again.

But maybe he was willing to fight. After all, he’d stuck around long after he met her dad for the first time. He’d showed her dad that he wasn’t the man he assumed he was, but that was up until he left her and proved he was the man her dad believed him to be.

She remembered how angry she was at her dad that night, assuming the worst in Eric like that. But Eric hadn’t cared. He’d told her all that mattered was the man she believed him to be.