ᴍʏ ᴍᴏᴍ ɪs ᴡʜᴏ? ✔︎

Aftermath

| Alex |

"Come on, babe. I think we should wait at home." Tobin suggests, and while I swoon at the thought of sharing a home with her, my mind can't stop worrying about Cody.

"I can't, Tobs. How can I relax at home when she could be anywhere right now?! I can't believe she would meet with him without telling me." I begin to pace down the street, my girlfriend watching me as I go until she grows tired. She takes my hand, without telling me where we're going, not until I'm in the car, the doors locked.

"I'm taking you home." She tells me, handing me my phone which is already calling Jeri. "Tell your sisters where you'll be." She starts the engine, driving us back home while I talk to Jeri.

| Jeri |

"No, Al, we haven't found her yet." I inform my sister over the phone, wishing I could transport her here so that I can hug her. I hate seeing Alex so scared. "Don't worry. But Tobin's right, you should wait at home, she might go back there." I see Jeni nodding along in agreement as she looks down every street we pass on our way to the mall.

I eventually hang up with my other sister, sighing as I put my phone back in my pocket. I run my hand through my hair, a habit I have when I'm  trying to clam myself down.

"Relax, Jer. We'll find her." Jeni states, ever the older sister. I don't disagree, but I don't agree either.

We drive the rest of the way to the mall in silence, hoping that we'll find her there.

"Oh, great. This place is huge." I mumble, feeling my hope wash away at the task ahead of my sister and I.

"Yeah. We better get started then." I try and absorb her confident, determined attitude but I simply can't. I can only fake it, and start looking for my niece.

| Cody |

No. Just, no. I can't be her  sister, that's ridiculous. Why would she bully me if I was? I mean, sure she didn't always know, but after she found out, why would she continue?

So, where am I?

I ran out of that diner as though it was on fire. I honestly thought that Jack would have followed me, but whenever I looked behind me, she wasn't there. I had mixed emotions about that - I needed time alone so I was glad that she wasn't there, but I also needed someone, and that someone is usually Jack.

I ran to the mall, right to my favorite piano. I figured that to play would help, as it usually does, but not today. My fingers hovered over the keys while my mind went blank.

My mind was filled with so many thoughts, and voices of other people and their opinions that I couldn't focus on a single piece to play.

After I left the mall, I ran again. Mostly because I seen the car that Jeri rented while she was here. I don't know what my Aunts would be like in a situation like this. They're definitely the 'fun' relatives. I don't even want to know what they're like when they're mad.

I then ended up at a small park, mostly for kids. There was a few running around, their parents chasing after them. I thought that coming here would make me feel better, but it made me feel worse. I couldn't help but to compare my own childhood and upbringing to theirs. They seem free and happy, two of the things I never experienced, not until I met my mom.

It felt like everywhere I went, everywhere I could think to go to try and escape these feelings, it just made me feel worse. By the time one specific destination had settled in my mind, I felt lonely, hurt, upset and a little angry.

The only thing that enticed happiness from me was that I had a few hours to myself, to gather my thoughts and even though they're still all over the place, I decided it was time.

| Alex |

"Where is she?!" I yell, at nobody in particular. Tobin, Jeri and Jeni, the victims of my shouting while Hope and Kelley decided to get Jack from school.

"I'm sure she'll turn up..." Jeni starts, only to stop when I glare at her. I don't need to hear that again. I've been waiting for her to 'just show up' so long that I'm minutes from calling the police.

"Babe, sit down, you look like you're gonna throw up." Tobin physically guides me to the kitchen table, sitting me down on the nearest seat as Jeri starts on making tea for everyone since it's more 'calming' than coffee.

"At least we know she's your daughter." Jeri states, earning a glare from nott only myself, but Jeni too. Our sister throws her hands in the air in surrender. "I'm just saying! I remember when you ran away. Granted it was only for the afternoon, but still. She's acting like Teenage You."

"Remind me to apologize to mom when she gets here then."

"Oh, mom wasn't worried, like you." Jeni starts. "You packed what you thought was essential, which was your cleats and a ball. She knew you'd be back."

I internally thank that my sisters are here to lighten the mood, that is, until we hear the front door opening. I look at the clock on the wall, knowing that Hope and Kels left just 10 minutes ago, it can only mean one thing.

"CODY MAXWELL MORGAN!" I yell, storming into the living room.

"So much for being calm." Jeri mumbles, putting the tea away and fishing out a bottle of wine and some glasses.

I'm on a warpath, until I see Cody. My anger dissipates and my heart breaks. Cody, standing at the door, her hair a mess, and she's sweating as though she's just finished running a marathon. Her eyes are red and puffy, her cheeks stained with fallen tears. Her bottom lip trembles as she tries to speak.

"M-Mom...I-I'm sorry..."

I only shake my head at my child, no longer angry at her for meeting with the man who calls himself her father, without warning me. No longer angry that she ran off and nobody could find her for hours. I'm simply no longer angry.

Maternal instincts kick in and I close the distance between my daughter and I, and I brush her cheeks, wiping the new tears that fall, and I pull her into a hug. I hear Tobin and my sisters leave the room, giving us some privacy.

"It's okay baby. I was just worried about you".

I squeeze Cody tighter in my arms as she buries her face in my chest. I feel her body begin to shake and I know she's crying. I don't speak, I don't even utter a cheesy line of how everything will be okay, I know she doesn't need that. I simply let her cry in my arms.

"Oh, my God! You're okay!" Jack catches our attention when she walks through the door, stopping abruptly when she sees the state that Cody is in. "Oh, my God. You're not  okay. What's wrong? Do I have to kick someone's ass?!"

"I'll help you!" Jeri yells from the kitchen, not even acting nonchalant with her eavesdropping.

"No, you don't." Cody chuckles, wiping her tears away and finally smiling.

Hope, Kelley and I watch on as Jack wraps her arms around Cody, hugging her almost as tightly as I was.

"Don't do that shit again." Jack scolds, punching Cody on the arm when she pulls away from the hug. "I'd hate to have to kill you just days before your 17th birthday."