1.6 - A Dream I Didn't Want to Have

I ran as fast as I could. Tears were running down my face as I was trying to understand what I just saw. My mother. My mother, who supposedly died when I was a little girl; Who's death almost damaged my father to the point where he married the meanest woman i've ever met just to get the same feeling he got from being around my mother. Her death changed my life in the biggest way i could imagine. But, she wasn't dead. She was apparently married to the mayor. She was apparently my husband's stepmother. Why did she leave our family to be with someone else's?

      When I had finally stopped running, I was all the way across town. The library was across the road, and I could see the Performing Arts Center in the distance. I wiped my tears away, and saw I was in the children's playground. An elaborate set of playground equipment was scattered across this very small area. i couldn't help but smile. We had a playground just like this back home. I would go with my parents on the weekends. An image of my mother pushing me on the swings crossed my mind. I couldn't do anything but fall on my knees and cry. Why did she do this to us?

      I'm not even sure how long i stayed like that. When i finally looked up, the moon was already high in the sky. Cars were no longer driving down the road, meaning that it was probably in the middle of the night. I decided I couldn't go home. I couldn't face Grant and tell him why I left. Not now. He's probably really mad at me right now, anyway.
     I was able to make my way to the park bench. I put my feet up and fell asleep, losing myself in happier days.

      The sun blinded me as I awoke. I rubbed my swollen eyes and shielded the sun, slowly rising from the bench. I reached in my pocket to grab my phone. Grant called me 14 times last night, and left me 7 messages. I felt a little bad about worrying him, but i didn't really care after a little.

      The voice in front of me made me drop my phone. "So you found out about Shondra, huh?"

      I didn't bother picking my phone back up. I just stared in amazement at my Fairy Godmother. My amazement, however, turned into anger fast. "What do you mean?" I asked, desperately. "You knew?"
     Fairy gave me a look of pity. "Meredith-"
     "You knew my mother was alive?! After all this time, and you didn't tell me?!" I yelled.

      "Meredith, please calm down." Fairy pleaded. I just threw my hands up in exasperation. "Who the hell are you?"
     Fairy hesitated for a moment. "I'm your fairy godmother."
     I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, you told me that already. What the hell does that even mean?"
     "It means i'm kind of like an angel. I come from a long line of fairies who have been following the Villier Line for centuries."
     I stared at her for a minute. "What does that mean for me?"
     Fairy groaned. "It means that I was assigned to help you and only you."
     "What do you mean? By who?"
     "Your father." Fairy said.
     I looked at her in disbelief. "How?"
     "Listen, as you know now, your mother did not die. When you were a child, she was more involved with the political career than she is with the science career now, this you also know. She was employed by a man who was planning to run for governor, so she started taking more and more business trips. It was on one of these business trips that she met George."
     "Grant's dad."
     "Yeah. Anyway, The two of them were working for the same man, so they ended up spending a lot of time together. They fell in love, and your mother started having an affair with your father. She started taking longer business trips, and your father noticed. He didn't know what was going on, though, so he didn't say anything. He kicked your mother out after she had missed your tenth birthday."
     I nodded. I remembered that. It was the day after my tenth birthday that he told me that she died.
     "Anyway, she had no choice but to leave. She tried to get you back, Meredith, you have to believe that much. She took Rick, your father, to court in a custody battle. She lost of course, because she was practically living on the street. After this, Rick decided he didn't want anything else to do with her. He told you she was dead because he didn't want you seeing her again.
     "Your mother was moving from place to place, just trying to settle down and find a job. George had a wife, too, at the time and he didn't want to divorce her. Shondra eventually moved here, to Starlight Shores. She got into the Science career, and eventually Grant's mother divorced George for completely different reasons, and they fell in love. They got married and she became Grant's stepmother. Then, you know your father got married, but he saw how unhappy you were with Courtney and her daughters. Before he died, he asked me to keep an eye on you after you got to Starlight Shores. He wanted to make sure you were happy." Fairy finished. "None of this was her fault."

      I didn't know what to say. Everything made sense.Why he never planned a funeral, why he remarried to a woman like Courtney...
     I started uncontrollably sobbing again. I couldn't help it. The hopelessness i felt after my father died, after i moved here with Courtney, i thought i would never be happy again. I thought everyone I had ever loved had gone. Now, My mother was here. My mother was here.
     Fairy stepped forward and pulled me into a hug. "It's okay...Just talk to Shondra, at least, okay? Do it soon."

   
     As soon as I walked in the door, Grant stomped toward me. "Where have you been?! I've been worried sick!"
     When I didn't respond, Grant kept going. "Do you know I called you like 30 times last night?! Where did you even go?! I almost called the cops last night!"
     Tears clouded my eyes once more. "I'm sorry." I managed.

      Grant sighed. He took my hand and led me to the couch. "Why did you take off last night?"
     I hesitated, then I spoke. "Shondra is my mother."

     It took a while to explain it to Grant, about how his stepmother is my biological mother. After I was finished, however, he pulled me into a hug. "I'm so sorry."
     The tears were flowing free now. I sobbed into his shoulder as he held me tight. He kissed my forehead and let me cry. "It's okay..."

      "We'll go over there later and talk to them, okay?" Grant asked.
     "okay." I wiped my tears and managed a smile.

     Our day went about as normally as it could have gone. We didn't make any specific time to meet up with them, and Grant said we would just talk about it when we both got home from work. I got my stuff ready and headed to the beach for my shift.

     The beach was packed today, maybe just because the summer was drawing to a close. Kids played in the shallow end, and windsurfers and boaters passed by, making the waves bigger. I spotted a familiar couple wading to the far end of the beach, and squinted to see who it was. My heart stopped after I realized who.

      I didn't cause attention. I didn't want to talk to either of them now. This was my sanctuary, and I didn't want to break it right now.
     That didn't seem to matter, though, because an hour or so later, and I heard screams come from the deep end of the ocean.

      Without thinking, I dived in the water, rushing as fast as i could to get to my mother. I won't let you drown.
     I was able to make it there in time and i handed her a floaty-thing. "Meredith?" She asked.
     "Follow me." I told her.

      The two of us waded out of the water as I was able to bring her to safety.

      "Thank you, so much, Meredith."
     I just nodded. "where's George?"
     "He had to run home, he had a conference call he had to take care of."
     I nodded again. The next few minutes were filled with an awkward silence.
     "Meredith, listen, you have to believe I tried my hardest to be a parent to you. When I couldn't stay in Sunset Valley anymore, I had to go place to place just to try and make a living. I lost the custody battle of course, and Rick somehow got a restraining order against me. That's why I couldn't stay in town, so I had to leave. I couldn't call you or anything, Meredith. I tried so hard..." The tears started clouding her eyes.

     "Meredith, I am so, so sorry I wasn't there for you." Mom started tearing up. "I would take it all back, just so I could be your mom again. I know it'll be hard for you to forgive me-"
     I pulled her into a hug. Tears sneaked out of the corner of my eye. Mom started crying into my shoulder.
     "Mom...It's okay, please stop crying." I said gently.

      "Mom...It's okay..."