Hurricane Love

Thirty Five

That night, Abbie lay tucked up in bed with me, holding me all night as I cried and cried and cried some more. I couldn't stop. I couldn't sleep for fear of even dreaming about him; I couldn't cope with seeing his face in any form and I was struggling just to keep it out of my mind. Abbie stayed awake with me and it was around 5:30am when we both nodded off together, the pair of us being woken up at 7am by Christine, who told us she'd made an extra special breakfast.

When we got downstairs, the table was laid out with a tray of pancakes, a little basket of mini muffins, croissants and fruit. There were plates set with bacon and eggs on them and Abbie gasped joyfully at the sight, immediately taking a seat and digging in.

'I'm guessing you don't feel hungry,' Christine said, as she laid out some cutlery.

'Not really,' I sighed, and she nodded slowly with an understanding smile. 'But you made so much effort, so I'm going to try.'

She smiled gratefully and I took a seat, picking up a mini muffin and I bit into it. Food tasted bland and dry in my mouth and it was a struggle to swallow something I didn't actually want to eat but Christine had made so much effort that I had to try. I also didn't want her to start worrying about me even more.

'I'm just going to wash up,' Christine said, turning back to the kitchen.

'Don't worry, I've got them,' Stan told her, as he entered the room and immediately headed to the sink.

'Oh,' Christine said, softly, as she looked at him in surprise. 'I can do them if you want to eat your breakfast.'

'You eat your breakfast,' Stan said. 'I'll wash the dishes.'

Christine smiled at him and took a seat and I felt my heart lift at his gesture. I looked at him and gave him a thankful smile. I was happy that he had paid attention to what I'd said, even if I'd said it in the wrong way. He was making an effort and that was the only thing that mattered. Christine did everything for everyone and never put herself first. It had always been hard to admit it, but she really was everything I could ask for in a mother.

'Is the food okay, guys?' Christine asked us.

'Amazing!' Abbie cried.

'Yeah, it's great,' I said. 'Thank you...Mum.'

I sensed the whole room tense up and all three of them looked at me as I said it. Christine looked like she'd seen a ghost as she gaped at me and I gave her a soft smile as I watched her eyes light up. She deserved a lot more from me than I had given her over the years and if Stan was making an effort to show his appreciation for her, I had to too. After all, she was my mother. She was the greatest mother ever.

'So, are we going to school today?' Abbie asked, and I was thankful she changed the subject before Christine burst into tears.

Christine smiled softly as she returned to her food and left us to our conversation, but I knew she was over the moon with what had just happened, however, I was glad everybody moved past the moment quickly.

'Yes,' I replied.

'Oh, you don't have to,' Christine said.

'No, I do,' I replied. 'I have to get my grades up. I actually got accepted for an apprenticeship next year.'

'You did?!' Christine cried.

'Amelia, that's amazing!' Stan called, from by the sink.

'Yeah,' I said, laughing softly, thrilled by their happiness for me but struggling to find the happiness for myself that I'd felt yesterday when I first got the news. There was still one person I'd been dying to share this news with and now I never would, not that he would care anyway.