Growing

Growing Part 47

Ag's POV:

       Alright now what am I going to say and how will she react. I didn't think this through probably as much as I should've. At a stoplight I texted Anna's mom to make sure she was home.

Me: Can I talk to you? It's important.

Anna's mom: Yes, I'm home. Is Anna coming?

Me: No just me.

       She didn't respond to that one before the light turned green, so I don't know what she said. I was nervous enough I didn't to be stressing myself more by trying to text and drive. After a little bit I finally pulled into the familiar driveway. This was the place of a lot of Anna and I's favorite memories. Where we first told each other how we felt, the long nights of just talking and enjoying each other's presence. The shower. After Anna's accident I told care of her here. The countertop. Lots of good things happened here.

       I knocked on the door and Anna's mom let me in. I took in her appearance. She looked sort of tired and worn out but like she was trying to seem like she wasn't. The dark circles that weren't usually apparent covered in concealer. The very slight disarray of some things in the house like that mail was always in the bin for as long as I could remember, but now it's placed on various tables and counters. The small things such as these shed a little light on her inner state. Disgruntled.

"Do you want any water or coffee maybe?" She asked.

"Um no thank you, I can't stay that long. I'm supposed to be bringing back dinner."

"Oh ok." There was a slight silent pause that brimmed with uncomfortableness.

"Um I came here to ask for forgiveness. I realized that I owed not only Anna, but you too. You picked up the pieces that I broke and I can't change what I did. I promise you I love your daughter and I know she loves me. I'm healthy now but I can't promise you that I'll never fail again because that's just the reality of addiction. I will have to consciously deal with this for probably the rest of my life. I want you and Anna to have a relationship. She deserves it and so do you. I know it hasn't always been easy between the two of you but we can all move forward together. You may think we're young and naive, that we're moving too fast but I can tell you: the only thing that makes sense to us is each other. Nothing in this twisted world makes me feel anywhere near the way Anna does. She makes me believe in things I didn't think were possible. We are sure of our love and of each other. I just want you to be able to witness it and I know Anna wants you to be there too."

       She was staring at her hands in her lap, tears running down her face. Her bottom lip quivered trying to stifle the tears. Anna does that just like her.

"I just want to see her be happy and I want to protect her. I think I just went about it the wrong way. I acted out of anger and I'm sorry for that." She looked up at me. "The thing you did to her was bad, but I shouldn't only label you by your mistakes because that would mean I would've been counted out a long time ago. I see the way she is with you and she's happy. Truly happy. I want to be apart of it, to witness it like you said. I'm so glad she has you, I really am."

       She had grabbed my hand across the counter and dabbed at her tears with the other hand. "I would also never ever wanted to make life harder on you and Anna. I know a lot of people will hate you just for—" she choked down a sob as her voice broke. "Just for who you love. I'm just so sorry."

"I'm so happy we can finally heal and do it together. I hope to continue what we said with Anna. I have another thing I wanted to talk to you and Phil about though."
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