The Easy Way Out

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖

"Daddy? Why are you sad?"
"I'm not sad baby, these are happy tears."
"What are happy tears?"
"You'll understand one day, Faye baby."

My mom is in labor. She's giving birth to my new best friend.. at least that's what daddy says. Delilah Maye Falix is her name. I like her already, and mommy says she's the new favorite. Daddy says we are both just the same.. and then they yell at each other.

Mommy doesn't like me very much, but she says she loves me anyway. Daddy says it with a smile though, mommy says it while looking at herself in the mirror. Mommy is pretty though, we have the same red hair. She never tells me I'm pretty.. but daddy does.

"Is baby sister going to replace me like mommy says?"
"No baby, you're still gonna be my little Faye."
"Okay, daddy." 

Daddy holds my hand as I walk down the hospital hallway, looking for mommy's room. After we find the room, daddy picks me up and holds me like a baby as we walk in.

"Put that girl down honey, she's not your baby anymore. Delilah is." 

I look over to see daddy get mad, his blue eyes look into mine and and he says,
"I love you, Faye."

I smile at his words and give him a kiss on the cheek,
"I love you too, daddy." 

He then sets me down in a chair across mommy's bed, and walks to mommy and my baby sister.

"She is just so beautiful, Colton."
I frown, not being able to see my pretty sister. That's when I hear daddy's voice say,
"Yea, she looks just like Davina did."

He looks over to me and gives me a big smile, I smile back and say,
"Thankyou daddy."

Then mommy hurts my feelings and says, "No, Delilah looks nothing like Davina did. Delilah is much cuter, and I'm sure she'll grow up to be even prettier than the red headed child we got stuck with."

Ow, mommy. That hurt.

////////////////////////////////////////////
I remember that night so vividly, the tears that fell on my dad's shoulder. The mean looks my mother gave me. The horrible words that she said to my dad. After Delilah was born, it turned out like a Cinderella story. Evil step mother and step sister. They've never been real family to me, my dad has and will always have my whole heart.

He's the only one who supports me. He makes me laugh when I'm crying. He lets me talk to him about all of my problems.. and he listens even if he doesn't understand them.

I look at myself in the mirror, force a smile to myself and say, "You're beautiful."

I look at the red hair that flows to my waist. I tilt my head as I look into my own bright, icy blue eyes with the purple splotches underneath them. The freckles that cover my nose, the natural blush of my cheeks, and I frown at the sight.

I've never liked how I looked, simply because my mother made it her mission to tell me I'd never be as pretty as the blonde daughter she has. Fuck her. Fuck Evelyn Kay Falix. She's not my mom. Only my mother.

As I frown at myself in the mirror, I hear a loud ring coming from my phone, scaring back into reality. I go to answer and see that it's an unknown number. My family just left for dinner so maybe it's my mother or Delilah, I haven't saved their numbers.

I answer my phone after a few rings and I'm immediately met with an unknown voice that quickly says, "I'm sorry to bother you. This is Davina Falix, correct?" I give a quick "Yes sir" and slam myself down on my bed with a huff. "Well I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this...Your family is here on the side of the road. We tried to get here in time but it seems as though they were dead before we even got the call.. I'm sorry ma'am."

I open my mouth to say something, but I find nothing. I sit on my bed silent for what seems like forever before I build the courage to say, "Listen closely please. I want the chain from around my dad's neck, and the ring he's wearing on his right middle finger. Put it in our mailbox. Please." Then I hang up before he gets the chance to speak again. Before he can speak and make this even worse.

The whole night, I sit in silence. I wait for a while to try and wake up from this bad dream, but I never do. I look at my right middle finger at the ring I got with my dad on my 16th birthday. His ring is white with a black stripe down the middle. Mine is black with a white stripe down the middle, and on the inside of both rings, "I love you" is engraved with our initials next to it.

He's gone. He's really gone.

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