Love & War

Ch.19

Olivia's P.O.V

How time goes by fast. One minute I'm walking into rehab wondering what life will be like these next three months, and the other minute has been a daily routine as I approach the halfway point.

It wasn't easy at first because every time I kept thinking about my girls, the more I kept thinking I failed them as a mother.

Luckily, I knew I wouldn't be alone in this journey. I would have friends and family come visit me while I was in rehab. But there was only one person who I wanted to see and let them know that I wanted to be better; that I will be better, and that was none other than Spencer.

I asked the family why he would never come and visit, and my Dad and Jordan would respond by saying things like, "He doesn't want to be a distraction to you" or "He's more focused on getting healthy for the upcoming season".

It hurt me to finally know that Spencer broke his promise. He promised me he would be there with me every step of the way, but out of all the people who came and visited me, he was the only person I never saw. Hell, my mother-in-law came to see me. I know we haven't been on the best of terms this past year, but she has always had love for me and would always make sure I was ok. She's like a second mother to me and I'm thankful to have her in my life.

Despite having friends and family come visit when they have a chance at their own time, there was one good thing that happened to me while I was in rehab.

I met someone who has been in my shoes and our stories are quite similar. Her name is Darla, she relapsed just like me and wants to do better not only for herself but for her husband, Ralph Angel, and their two kids, Blue and Tru.

She told me that was caused her to relapse was that she wasn't meeting expectations and she was failing as a mother.

All the hard work she's put in while I was here, shows how much she is determined to be better for those that she cares about.

"Hey, Liv." Darla walked up to me.

"Darla. What brings you by here?" I asked her.

"I was just about to have lunch and wanted to see if you'd like to join me."

"Sure. Why not?"

We walked out to the patio for lunch where we approached a young man looking towards our direction.

"Hi, Darla."

"Ralph Angel. What are you doing here?" She asks.

"Thought I surprise you."

"I see that now. Oh, Ralph Angel, this is my friend, Olivia."

"Olivia. It's nice to meet you. I'm Ralph Angel. Darla's husband. She has told me so much about you."

"Oh yeah."

"Yeah. You've helped my wife know that she is not alone. Times like these can be tough, and I'm happy my wife found someone during this process."

"I'm glad I could I could help Ralph Angel."

The more I looked at Darla and Ralph Angel, the more I thought about me and Spencer. The love they have for each other reminded me of when Spencer and I were happy in our marriage, and we had the girls that we loved so much. But it's also sad at the same time because he never visited me in rehab. Sometimes I think if he has moved and I was never good enough, I hope I'm wrong about that. I want him to see how much I've changed and how determined I am to be better for our family.

Tears started to fall from my eyes.

"You ok Liv?" Darla asked me

"Not really."