The first week at her dad’s house was…rough. She was bored faster and faster as the days went by. She was hoping that she had something to do. She even wished that she didn’t do her homework the day before. She practiced all her songs that she loved. She wanted to go out, she wanted to go see a movie, she wanted to just get out of the house. Her dad came home early, it threw her off.
“Hey, you’re early.”
“Hey kiddo, so I have to take you back to your mom’s early.”
“What? Why?” She was a little relieved that she was going home but she didn’t understand what she possibly did to get sent home early again.
“So I asked Sam to watch you for a couple of days and she said that can’t because she is out of town. I don’t want to leave you 100% alone because of this area. I already told your mom. I’m sorry kiddo.” She hated that she was going home early because she never got to decorate this tiny house, she was excited to do that specifically. She wished that she got to actually meet Sam in person.
“Okay, can’t change that.” Luna wanted to cry but she was ready to go back to her mom. She remembered that she will be dealing with the Amber brothers, which was going to be fun. She would actually get to go and have fun, but she also knew that she wasn’t going to spend another Christmas with her dad. This time, it was 2 days before. 2 days! She packed all her stuff into her bag to leave again. She loaded it into the car.
“Do you wanna get something to eat before we hit the road?”
“No, but thank you.” Luna didn’t want to eat anything, she lost her appetite. She watched the street lights as they drove past every single one. Once she was on the I-4, she knew when to get off and when to turn. She just felt like the whole story wasn't showing but she knew that eventually that the truth would show, she learned from experience. They got to her mom’s place faster than usual because the car ride home was silent, two completely distant worlds in one car.
“Thank you for the time we were together. I better get inside.” Luna didn’t even hug her dad goodbye because she wished that he told her the actual truth. He was okay pushing his daughter away. Luna looked at her mom as she unlocked the door, Kennedy was the first person that went to Luna. She hugged Luna, because she missed her. Luna put her bag in her room since 85% of her clothes were clean but she didn’t want to unpack immediately. She came back out to the living room where everyone was.
“So, how was the time you did have with him?”
“Bad, he gave me a lecture about how Marc isn’t my real dad and that I shouldn’t be asking about the grown stuff to him. He then lectured me about how I am ‘too’ young to be home alone, even though I told him that you (Luna points at her mom) work less than 10 minutes away and that we have a ‘landline’ since you told me not to tell him that I have a phone. When we got to his place, it was smaller than the living room, maybe even smaller than my own room if I am being honest. There were no decorations up either, and when I said that we can decorate, he said that it would be 2 days later because he was working pretty much all the time, but we never actually decorated anything in the house which sucked. I also was going to have a babysitter named Samantha, I never actually met her but from what dad said, she is a lovely woman that lives down the street that can see his house, because that’s not weird at all. And if I am completely honest, I feel like there was no Samantha and he just hated leaving me alone all day and that he had nothing planned so he said, take her home, it’ll be better for her.” At this point, Luna was crying because she felt heartbroken. She felt like no matter what is going on in her life, her dad doesn’t want to put himself in her life. Her mom hugged her and she could feel Luna’s pain through that hug.
“When you sent me that message on the first day I knew there was going to be a big hiccup between you two. So I called him immediately, he told me that he didn’t appreciate Marc putting in his two cents about being a parent, so I asked him ‘when have you asked your daughter about what she does in school without her telling you first?’ I also told him that Marc is more of a father to you than he is. I also asked him where you were at that moment, he said that he was testing you being home alone. I called it out asking if his home had a landline, he said no. I told him that we had a landline because I figured that’s what you would say since I told you not to tell him about your phone. He tried to lecture me too about you being too young to be home alone, so I said that you are more than capable of being home alone and that I trust you.” When Luna heard her mom defending her against her dad it made her feel like she had someone on her side. She sat next to her mom and just wished that she didn’t go in the first place.
“Look Luna, I know you’re upset, but let’s try and make the best of this situation.” Marc had to say something, he didn’t know how to react from everything that both Luna and her mom were saying.
“I guess it just sucks because we didn’t do anything.”
“It’s fine, we will do stuff together. Since Christmas is in a couple of days, we can open one gift each on Christmas Eve to have some fun.”
“Do you mean that?” As she looked at her mom because she didn’t want to get high hopes and her mom will say no. Her mom looked at Marc, Luna could tell they were having a whole conversation through their eyes. She wondered if her and Oliver did that too.
“Of course, we mean that.” This time, her mom said it. She knew that it was true. She hugged them both because Luna was just happy to be somewhere where she was wanted.
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