Ex-Husband’s Regret by Evelyn M.M

56. Baby Ava

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Rowan booms, his cold grey eyes shooting daggers at Ethan.

I was really not in the mood deal with his tantrums. Yes he was there for me yesterday, but that doesn’t mean he has a say on who is in my home.

Theo or should I say my dad clears his throat. It was going to take some time to get used to the idea of calling him dad.

The sound of his voice pulls everyone’s eyes to him.

Theo Howell?” Rowan says in surprise but he quickly hides it. “What are you doing here?”

Rowan looks between all of us. His eyes moving from Theo and Nora then back at me. Slowly connecting the dots.

“It’s been a while Rowan, though I can’t say that I am pleased with how you’ve treated my daughter Theo says with a dangerous smile on his lips.

“What he means to say is, we’re downright pissed off with the way you and your family has treated our daughter and we can’t see ourselves having such business partners” Nora adds. She doesn’t smile and for the first time since she came to my house, I feel hostility and hatred radiating off her.

“How’s this possible? Travis has shock written all over his face

Like I said, everyone in the country knows who the Howell’s are. They may like to keep their life private, but they’re still known.

“Oh, trust me darling anything in this world is possible” Nora says glaring at him. Fire burning behind her eyes.

I look at Emma and she too had a shocked expression. Her mouth hang open in disbelief. If she

wasn’t careful she would catch a fly

“Can we just get this over with so that you may all leave?” I ask looking directly at him.

He nods his head and pulls out his laptop. He sets it down and we gather around it. He doesn’t

waste any time skyping mother. Soon her face fills the screen.

“We’re all here mom” Emma tells her and she nods her head.

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“How are you, Ava?” she asks slowly.

I don’t know why she all over sudden cared about me when she hasn’t for more than twenty years

of my life.

“Just say what you want to say, no need for the fake pleasantries”

She looks hurt, but at this point I just don’t care. I wasn’t going to play along to whatever it is she

was trying to do. She was too late to fix was what was broken.

She takes a calming breath before beginning. “You came to us when you were weeks old, but we

didn’t adapt you until you were about fifteen months old”

“What do you mean?”

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worked for us for years. She wanted a family but

child. You see, her husband died after seven

she never recovered. They were planning to

stable. All that was taken away from her when a drunk driver

husband over” she explains.

child, but didn’t want to ever get married

About a month after she made that

She was told that the preacher of their church found a baby outside the church

wanted

all look at each other. Was it a coincidence? Was the preacher

my grandfather? It was too much to be just a

took a one week break and went back to her

her back a week after, but she ended up taking two weeks,

who the baby’s mother was and had no identification

it was probably a scared teen

issue, the social worker allowed Winnie to come back with

The baby was a blessing to

looking at me before continuing “I had not

like Ava breathed life back into her and

she was her

pauses and I take a moment to digest what she

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me like you say, why didn’t she raise me? How did I end up as

family?”

was diagnosed with stage four breast

late for her and that she only had a few months to live. Before she died, she

take you in. To adopt you. We didn’t want to, we already had two children and

anymore”

have happened because I

me in if you didn’t

was two years

the time I realized it, he was about to cross the road. There was

time, I screamed in fear, My fear must have alerted

did it, or where she was or

in a coma for two months. They amputated her right

had a limp since then because of

in a deep breath before letting it out. “We accepted her request

tried to compensate her it would never have

what she went through. So when she died, we

muttering. “I wish you hadn’t. You should have tossed me

been kinder than the life I lived with

memory with them. They were all bad, full

misery.

an ungrateful woman. Do you know how many people would kill

Emma ask, sneering me

I shut it up for you

I slept with your damn boyfriend, get the fuck

thirty year old woman throwing a hissy fight

year old. Noah behaves more

everyone. Emma looks

hold me, and realize that it’s Nora. I look up at her

sitting right next

”