Summer, 1983 (I'll call you by mine)

The Past

(Note! I have been holding onto this chapter FOREVER and now it's time.)

With Mini going in to kindergarten Chris and David decided to go somewhere different at the end of summer. They had left B two weeks early so they could take Mini to Disney World. Los Angeles was beautiful, the top was down on the car as Chris, David and Mini were driving down sunset boulevard. They sat at a red light with the music just low enough that Chris heard an unmistakable laugh. Turning to the sidewalk behind him. There she was walking towards them, all he saw was her. Her hair was lighter and she had gotten a little older but it was her. He jumped out of the car, David yelled after him but Chris had tunnel vision he was only focused on her. She didn't notice him walking quickly toward her, she was almost to him when he spoke.

"Mom?"

She looked up at him startled, staring at Chris for a few seconds he could tell by her face she knew who he was. She didn't know what to do, their connection was broken by a small voice.

"Mommy, who is that?" Chris looked down at a little girl who looked to be no older than seven years old, when he looked at her face. He saw his brother staring back at him, she had moved on and started another family. Chris didn't notice a man walking up behind her.

"Sweetheart do you know this man?" He asked her, she stared back at Chris and spoke the most disgusting thing she had said toward him in his entire life.

"No, honey this man has mistaking me for someone else." She looked at Chris.

"I'm not who you think I am." She quickly walked out around him and hurried off, Chris spun around yelling after her.

"When you are done being a coward, I'm staying at the Ritz Carlton, I'll be there until Friday!" She halfway looked back at him. He walked back to the car feeling deflated.

"Was that really your mother?" David asked placing a hand on Chris leg.

"Yeah and she pretended not to know who I was. What a fucking joke." Chris's voice began to shake.

"Come on let's go back to the hotel and I will run you a bath. I'm so sorry she treated you like that babe." David kissed his knuckles.

Later that night, he and David sat out on the balcony of their hotel while, Mini sat on Chris's lap as she read, David had walked back into the room to grab the drinks. There was a faint knock on the door, a few moments later David came back out to the patio.

"Babe, there's someone here for you." He knew by David's face that it was something important.

"We'll stay out here and let you two talk, come on Mini sit on daddy's lap I'll help you read."

Walking into the room he saw her there stood very stiffly. Chris didn't know whether to hug her or spit on her. She turned to look at him, he knew who he looked like and it startled her. He saw a small tear run down her face.

"Christopher, I know that nothing I say will ever change what I did, but know I am very sorry." She choked out.

"You've got to come up with something better than that if you want to get any sympathy from me, Madeline." Chris bit out, he had his arms crossed over his broad chest.

"I don't expect sympathy, I know what I did to you and your brother was wrong. But I was sick Christopher." She was cut off by him.

"You were sick?" Chris stood back.

"Yes, I suffered deep depression."

"So when you got better you could have come back, Jona and I would have understood. But you choose to stay away and start a new family. Does your new husband know you have two grown children?"