Page 6 of Unexpectedly You

No one knows, I can read it in myparents’ faces. The shocked glances between them, and the hatred towards me. I ignore everything, more interested in reading the last wishes my sister had.

“Mr Taylor?”

“Call me Haden,” I say to him, while I control the bile trying to make its way out. I should have changed my surname… but hope.

In the meantime my dad replies, “I’m Mr Taylor.”

I nearly laugh when the lawyer ignores him, and instead keeps his attention on me.

“Mr Haden, here is a letter to be read once you’re alone.”

I take the envelope and place it in the inside pocket of my jacket.

“I’ll be reading Miss Taylor’s will now. Please avoid any comments until I’ve read it in full. There’ll be time for questions at the end.

Dear Haden,

I’m sorry for not having the time to discuss this before I ambushed you this way. But no moment felt like the right moment. Now it’s too late, and I hope you’ll forgive me.”

I adjust myself on the chair, trying to find a comfortable position in an uncomfortable situation. I avoid my parents’ stares, and focus my attention back on the lawyer.There is nothing to forgive.

“Now that I’m gone, Arianna needs a guardian. I thought a lot about this, and I want you to take care of her, just like you did with me…

Mr and Mrs Taylor, this part is for you,“ the lawyer says, and resumes reading without waiting for them to acknowledge him.

“Mum, Dad, I love you both despite everything.

Even if we don’t see things the same way, please do not fight my decision. I want Haden to raise Arianna. Only if he refuses will things change.

Love you all.

Halia”

I listen with only half my attention, focused on the request my sister left me with. How can I take care of Arianna? Can I really do that?

“Outrageous!” Both of my parents jump to their feet, “He can’t have our granddaughter.”

“Please,” the lawyer says, trying to calm them down.

“We can’t accept this. That faggot can’t raise our blood.”

I rise to my feet, the sound of the chair scraping the floor louder than their voices. Everything stops. The decision that was weighing on my shoulders, taken from my hands with a single word.

There is no way in hell that these two are getting custody of Arianna. Not while I have breath inside my lungs. Not while I’m alive. “I’ll do it. I’ll come by another day to sign all the documents.” I wait until the lawyer nods, and then I turn around and leave my parents to him.

I’m not good, but Arianna won’t be raised by those monsters.

A loud noise brings me back to the room, but my body is still feeling the remnants of the fight we had only a couple of days ago.

I’m not sure what the lawyer told them, but we filed an emergency request for guardianship, and it was approved. She’s mine, mine to care for, mine to raise, and mine to protect.

The thought of taking care of someone else makes me tremble. Halia was always the one caring for people, me included, and now she’s left me with the huge task of taking care of someone else.

Can I do that? Or should I let my parents take control?

That last thought makes me gag, and brings forward memories I want to forget. Memories I wish never existed.

I tried very hard beforethathappened to follow their values and stay away from the devil, but when I fell for one of the new boys in school and my mother found us in my bedroom with our heads close and ready to kiss, I couldn’t deny it anymore.