Page 70 of Healing Fate

“I can’t imagine the relief of getting all of that off your chest. If anyone ever needed a good cry, it was you.”

“I don’t know what came over me.” I was suddenly embarrassed.

“You aren’t alone anymore, Lucy. And you don’t have to carry this burden alone.”

I nodded as tears threatened to flow once more.

“Would you like to meet my daughter?” I finally asked.

“I would love that.”

Despite everything we’d talked about and all I’d shared with this woman, I was still nervously waiting on pins and needles for her to banish us from the house and call my child an abomination. I knew in my heart that Micah’s mother was nothing like my own, but still, I couldn’t bear it.

Had Mallick rejected us, that would have been hard, but to have one more woman, a mother, turn her back on us, would be more than I could handle.

I watched her as we walked into the room, and she saw Vada for the first time. Unshed tears filled her eyes.

“Hi sweet girl,” she said, taking the seat that Micah quickly vacated to stand by my side.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I think so. I’m sorry I broke down like that. I’m not usually like this.”

He pulled me into his arms and held me.

“I should have told you and explained things better. Instead, I just unleashed on your mother.”

He chuckled. “She has that way about her. And you’ve told me enough for me to understand. Remember, I’ve been privy to so much more than the average person that it sadly doesn’t shock me anymore. We have people here you can talk to, if you want. Mom’s a great start though.”

I turned to watch her interact with Vada.

“Who are you?” my daughter asked.

“I’m your grand…”

Mallick cut her off.

“This is my mate. Doc’s mom.”

“Doc’s mom? Grandma Doc?”

I was surprised when she didn’t flinch as she said the name. I’d played up the whole grandma thing on our journey home. I had honestly thought everything would be okay and we’d be safe again. How very wrong I’d been. Grandma was now associated with a big fat negative in our lives.

I looked up to Micah. He smiled and kissed my forehead.

“Dad and I were discussing it with her, trying to explain that not all grandmas are bad. We were leaning towards Nanny instead, but if she’s okay with it, it might be good for her.”

I hugged him tighter and closed my eyes saying a quick prayer of thanks for having him in our lives.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

As I watched Lorraine play peek-a-boo with her until Vada was laughing so hard that Micah had to swoop in and rush her to the bathroom, I knew he had been right. They were different and not all people were going to see her in a bad way.

“Sorry. I guess we got a little carried away.”

“It’s okay. She’s still potty training so we have to keep an eye out for those signs.”

“Are we good?” Mallick asked me.