After The Fall - END

30. Father

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Are you done eating?" Xander asked after I set aside my plate.

I nodded.

"You eat awfully little. Do you want me to tell them to make you something?"

I'm feeling under the weather lately and all I can think of is the food my mom made. Whatever it is, I want them. "I will eat at my mom's house."

I'm going to my mom's house a little while after Xander left the house. I walk into the forest and breathe the fresh air in. The last time I'm here was last week and my craving for my mom's food became unbearable each day to the point I didn't want to eat anything else.

My feet swing and practically I jump a little with every step. My body filled with eagerness, my stomach growling happily.

I stopped completely when I heard a strange voice inside my mother's house. Too low to be a woman. I tried to listen to whatever conversation they had but the insulation that Xander installed makes it impossible to catch a complete sentence. I only hear a couple words like too late, you can't be here. I barged in when I heard mom yelling.

Mother stood near our dinner table while the other person was ... an alien, sitting calmly.

Both of their eyes snapped at me instantly. My mom's eyes show horror and terrified while the alien looks ready to throw me out of the house.

"Mom, what happened?" I came closer to my mother. My eyes never leave the alien that looked shocked as if he realize something then his mouth fell to the floor. This alien must be older than Xander, but his build is still as strong as the younger one. His brown long hair tied messily above his head. While Xander is adored with tattoos, the one in my mother house only has one in his right sleeve. And the first thing I noticed was he was wearing eye patches on his left eye like a pirate.

I repeat my question again to my mother who still answers with silence.

"Daisy, is she..." The alien didn't complete his sentence and my curiosity was hanging high because he knew my mother's name. Why? How? My head ran miles with questions I didn't dare to ask openly.

"Mom..." I grip my mom's arm tighter. I'm torn. I'm afraid of asking, moreover I'm afraid of the answer.

"Both of you stop," my mother says sternly, and the blue alien seems to be listening to her very well despite her tiny body. And he was...well, a giant. My mom continued, "I hate small talk," the alien nodded understandingly and I'm too confused to connect the dots. "Aira, this is Orinthar, your father."

"Wait a minute, I need to sit." I drag the nearest chair and settle into it. "Repeat, please. I seem to have misheard."

My mother blows a long breath. "This alien right here," she points at the blue Zorion, "is your father. Now, have you already had breakfast? Would you like me to make something for you?"

Food isn't my top priority right now. My stomach has already stopped growling; I'm too full of surprises to worry about food. "Why did you say it so brassly, as if it doesn't matter?"

"What should I say? 'Oh, this is the person who left me, made me a single mom, and raised you by myself while we were being exiled by society?'"

Oof, she holds a grudge better than she wields a sickle. I usually hate it when she does that, but it's kind of fun watching the big blue alien squirm, as if her words hurt him more than they should.

I don't want to meddle in things that would anger her more or turn her anger toward me. I avoid eye contact with Orinthar, even when I sense his eyes landing on me multiple times. I'll act as if he's invisible.

"Get out. I want to feed my daughter," my mother commands.

"Let me explain," Orinthar pleads.

"I don't want to hear your nonsense. Twenty-five years, Orinthar. You promised me you'd be gone just for a while, but it turned out to be years. Twenty-fucking-five years."

My mother curses. It's something she only does when anger boils inside her, which doesn't happen often. The alien seems to know about it too because he swallows hard.

"If you let me—"

Mom cuts him off. "Get out. I don't want you here."

"I just got out of prison."

My mother freezes, and Orinthar takes that moment to explain. "I nearly died, and I begged him to let me stay alive so I could come home to you. He imprisoned me. I'm sorry it took years for me to fulfil my promise."

My mother's shoulders shake. I can hear her silent cries, the ones I often hear when she thinks I'm asleep.

I step aside. This is too personal for me to watch so I decided I will go home and come back here tomorrow morning to bombardize my mom with questions and I won't let her dodge her way out of it. Besides, I also don't want to talk to Orinthar.