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"Sweetie, can I come in?"
I sit up straight on hearing my Aunt's soft voice from the other side of the door. "Of course you can."
I hear the door opening, revealing my sweet aunt, a smile on her beautiful face. She closes the door behind her, sitting down in front of me, on my bed.
"I wanted to give you this." She says, showing me a small box in her hands. She hands it to me, making me look at her in confusion. "It's my gift for you."
I open the wooden box carefully, revealing a crystal gold necklace. I gasp in surprise when I realize who's necklace this is. It belongs to my mom. She lost it a few years back, and hadn't been able to find it ever. "How did you get this?" I breathe out.
"Your mom must've left it when you all came to our place when we adopted Dave. I was cleaning my room a few weeks back and I found this in my vanity, in one of the drawers." She tells me, caressing my hand softly.
I hug her tight, a few tears making their way down my face. "Thank you so much. This is the best thing someone could've even given me."
"Of course sweetie, this belongs to you now. Keep it safe." She runs her fingers through my hair, pulling away from the hug.
"I will." I nod, wiping the tears away with the back of my hand.
My aunt takes hold of my hand, her eyes widening when she notices the ring I'm wearing. She slims her finger across the delicate ring, looking at it in awe and surprise. "Did Ridge give this to you?"
"Yeah. It's a birthday present." I murmur, heat creeping up my neck. "Isn't it beautiful?"
She lifts her head up to look at me. "It is. Just as beautiful as you." She pinches my cheeks affectionately. "That boy's a keeper for sure. I've seen the way you two are with each other."
"Yeah, he's pretty special to me." I smile, my thoughts drifting towards a certain black eyed beautiful boy who's captivated me in his charms. Not that I'm complaining about it.
"Also, I wanted to tell you that your dad wanted to talk to you about something. He's in his room, waiting for you." She tells me, her voice a little hesitant.
"Is everything alright? Did something happen?" I ask her, my voice coming out a little panicky. I hope dad's alright.
"Yes, it's nothing to be worried about. So, why don't you just talk to him, okay?" She reassures me, squeezing my hand lovingly.
"I'll be back." I get up from my bed in a hurry and walk out of the room, heading straight for my dad's room. I open the door without any warning to see dad sitting on his bed, speaking to Whks in a soft low voice.
"Dad." I call out, making him look at me. Whis stands up at his place, barking excitedly. I walk inside the room, closing the door behind me and sit down next to Whis who doesn't waste a second before climbing on top of me, nuzzling himself close to me. "You wanted to talk to me about something?"
He presses hip lips together, sitting up straight in his place, clearing his throat. I can feel the tension and his hesitation from here. His stiff posture gives away the fact that he's worried about something. And I hope it's nothing bad.
"Honey, you know that I love you the most right?" He starts.
"Of course dad. What kinda question is that?" I scoff, shaking my head. "What is it dad? You're scaring me now."
"You know that all things I do is for your happiness. I want you to feel comfortable and happy all the time. I would never so anything to hurt you." He whispers.
"Dad?"
"I have a date tomorrow." He murmurs.
Oh. I sit there, still for a moment, no idea on how to react or how to even comprehend the information dad just threw on me. I look at my dad, who's looking at me with hope in his eyes. I take a deep breath. I don't know what to say, but one thing's for sure that my dad deserves a second chance at love . He deserves happiness. And who am I to stop him from getting what he deserves? "That's great dad. I'm happy for you."
I see all the worry and sadness vanishing from his eyes, replaced with utter relief. He releases a heavy breath, a smile forming on his lips. "I knew you'd understand. I was just a little worried that you'd take it the wrong way. Get mad or disappointment in me."
I shake my head vigorously, shutting him out. "No, dad. In fact, I'm proud of you. You pulled yourself out of that dark phase and now you're moving towards living a positive and happy life. And if going on a date makes you happy, who am I to interrupt?"
He bends forward, kissing my head. "I just don't want you to feel as if I'm replacing your mom in any sense. No one can take her place, and I want you to know that."
"I know dad. No one can replace her." I whisper, a soft smile grazing on my lips. "But mom would want you to move on, you know. She would want you to be happy."
"I'm so lucky to have a beautiful and smart daughter like you." He wraps me in his familiar embrace. Whis, thinking that it's a group hug, jumps in between, putting his paws on us like he's hugging us too. I chuckle at his innocent gestures, kissing his head.
A cute little family hug.
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"Where are we going?" I ask him, just as Ridge takes another left turn. His one hand is on the steering wheel, other one is holding mine.
"There's a small forest nearby. People go there all the time. I figured we could go there and chill for a while, you know." He answers, his dimples winking at me. "Besides you wanted to hangout at some place quiet today."
"A forest?" I raise my eyebrows in surprise. I've never heard about that before.
"Yeah." He nods. "It's not exactly a forest per se. It's a dense park, without any swings or other thinks like that. It's just covered with a lot of trees, which makes it's a good site for picnics and all."
"Sounds fun." I smile at him. We reach the said forest in the next few minutes and I climb out of the car as soon as we reach the place.
The weather is absolutely mesmerizing today. The sun is shining bright, through the cracks, lighting up the rocky path ahead of me, decorated with tiny plants. Clouds are scattered all over the expanse, making the blue sky look almost white. Lush green trees are on all sides, small flowers protruding from it's roots. I can see a few people from here, talking, laying down, playing.
We walk together in silence, observing our surroundings. The forest is not jam packed, it's only a few families here, with picnic baskets and mats. We walk a little into the forest, to find a secluded place where we can have our privacy. Once we find a place to sit, Ridge tugs at my hand, pulling me down with him so that we are sitting against a tree, shoulders brushing against each other.
"You know, we really don't know that much about each other. I mean, the little things." I whisper, my eyes stuck on a small Wren sitting on a tree top, picking on a tree branch.
"You're right." I feel him nod against my head. "We kinda skipped that part when we started dating."
"So, let's start with the basics?" I smile, looking up at him. "What's your favorite color?"
"It's yellow." He replies, a sheepish smile grazing his lips. "What's your comfort food?"
A soft, nostalgic smile appears on my lips. My mom used to get me chicken nuggets whenever I needed any sort of comfort, whenever I was sad or had my period, and of course her special ginger honey tea. Even better than therapy. "Chicken nuggets."
"That's an odd choice." He scrunches his brows in an adorable manner, making me chuckle. "I thought it would be chocolates or ice creams."
I shake my head. "When I'm stressing out, I need something solid. Chocolates and ice creams don't do it for me." I answer. "What do you wanna become after high school?"
He hums at my question, thinking about it for a while, biting his bottom lip. "I want to be a doctor. I've always loved treating people. I remember when I was Miles was three and he had fallen down while playing. He scratched his knee, and it was bleeding badly. We took him to the doctor for cleaning and dressing up. The doctor had allowed me to put the bandage on his wound, since I was begging for it. That's when I decided that I wanted to be a doctor when I grow up."
"Wow. So you've been an ambitious person your whole life." I laugh heartily. "When I was a kid, I wanted to be a thief. I wanted to steal all of the candies from the store."
"Man, you have a destructive mind." He snickers, looking at me with wide surprised eyes.
"I call it creative, not destructive." I retort, picking on the grass on my side.
"Now that you're finally in a better mood, do want to tell me why you sounded a little off on the phone when you called me?" His sudden serious question takes me by surprise. But the look of determination to know what's wrong on his face makes me succumb to his demands.
"How did you know that something's wrong?" I ask, biting my lip in anticipation.
"Come on, you call me when you have school work to do to hang out at some place quiet, sounding like something's bothering you and you think that I won't know?" He wraps his arm around my shoulder pulling me close to his body.
I sigh loudly, worrying my bottom lip. "My dad's going on a date tomorrow."
"And that's a problem because?"
"Dad hasn't been with anyone else since mom, since she died." I whisper, taking a long, deep breath, trying to calm down the inner turmoil of untamed emotions. Me talking about mom always makes me emotional. "And I just don't want him to get hurt, you know. When mom died, dad took it really really hard. It took him almost over a year to get out of his own little abyss."
"You trust your dad, right?" Ridge questions, turning a little to face me. "He knows what he's doing. You don't have to worry about him so much. Also, you can be there for him when he needs you but you cannot control his decisions. He has his own life."
I nod slowly. "I know but sometimes I just feel as if dad will fall back into the darkness and I won't be able to do anything about it. It scares me. I didn't say anything to him today but I'm scared. I don't want him to get hurt."
"Sweetheart, you're thinking too much about this." He kisses the crown of my head. "Just let him be and stop worrying like this. Or those worry lines will be forever etched on your face." He snickers.
I gape at him, embarrassed and a little astonished. How dare he!
I lift my hand up and hit his shoulder repeatedly, earning groans and murmurs of protest from him. "Sorry, sorry. I was joking. Please! I was kidding, Lydia!"
I stop, pushing him hard. "You're such a dork."
"But I don't see you complaining." He winks.
And just like that, all my worries and problems are forgotten. Even if it's just for a while.
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Oof, I finally had the time to update!
Did you like the chapter?
Ned update soon!
Until then,
Stay Safe and Stay Happy! <3