Page 56 of Falling With You
Maybe that was just how they lived, how they treated everyone. I hadn’t been sure, hadn’t really known them as well as I probably should have, but now here we were, and I had no idea what to say.
“We didn’t know if we should call ahead or let you know we were here, but we took a chance that you might be home.” Mr. Pritchett swallowed hard and gave me a nod. “We know you took over your father and mother’s bar, and I know that’s usually a nighttime thing, but we drove by just in case, and we saw your car, so we stopped by.”
I nodded tightly and then took a step back, opening the door a little bit more. “Come on in. Sorry for making you stand on the porch. It was just a surprise.” My voice sounded wooden, and I didn’t really recognize it. Then again, there was so much tumbling around inside of me, I didn’t really know what to feel. These were Allison’s parents, and I didn’t know what they wanted. I didn’t understand why they were here. But I might as well figure it out.
“You have a lovely home,” Mrs. Pritchett said as she looked around, clutching her bag to herself. For an instant, I thought maybe she was worried that I was going to rob her or something, but then I saw the pain in her eyes, the stiffness in both of their stances, and I knew this wasn’t about me. This was about Allison. I needed to throw away my hang-ups about where I came from, or what they might have thought about me at one point.
Because they were hurting. You could see it clear as day. And if they were hurting, that meant I needed to do something. Or at least be there for them. I hadn’t been there for Allison. Not at all.
“Can I get you something to drink? Do you want to take a seat?”
Diego took that moment to prance up to Mrs. Pritchett’s leg and sniff at her shoe.
Allison’s mom’s eyes widened, and she looked down at the little kitten. I held back a curse.
“Sorry about that, he’s not really used to people yet,” I said, picking him up and pulling him to my chest. “Sienna and I found him on the side of the road, and she already has enough cats, so Diego’s mine.”
Diego looked at the couple and snuggled into my side as if he belonged there. Apparently, he did.
“Sienna was always good with animals,” Mrs. Pritchett said, her voice soft. “Allison…” She trailed off, her voice breaking. She took a deep breath and looked directly in my eyes. “Allison always wanted cats or dogs or something, but she had allergies so we couldn’t have pets.”
“I remember.”
“Yeah, of course, you do.” Mr. Pritchett cleared his throat. “We’re sorry for coming like this without warning. We’re not very good at figuring out what to do or say these days. It just came as a shock, you know?”
We were standing in my foyer, awkwardly, and I had no idea what to say, so I just spoke.
“It came as a shock to all of us. I hate that. I’m sorry that it was such a shock, and I’m sorry that there was nothing I could do.”
“You two hadn’t been together for a while,” Mrs. Pritchett said, her voice a little steadier. “You were out of her life, and that just means she had other people to rely on. Like she should have relied on us. But we’ll never know why she’s gone. Probably. We won’t know a lot of things. But we’re here for a reason, and one day, maybe we can come back and talk about Allison again. But I just wanted to get this over with.”
I pulled Diego a little closer, a bit worried about what she was going to say next.
“The girls brought over Allison’s things.” Mr. Pritchett looked off into the distance before turning back to me. “It’s shameful that we weren’t strong enough to clean up her apartment ourselves, but we worked on the paperwork and dealt with the sale and everything else. But she was so close to the girls that it felt right at the time for Sienna, Violet, and Harmony to go through Allison’s things.”
“We were cowards,” Mrs. Pritchett put in. She gave herself a self-deprecating smile and just shook her head. “I think we still are, but we’re trying to be better. Trying to understand.”
“Sometimes, there isn’t any understanding,” I put in.
“I think that’s what is hard. One of the many things.” Mr. Pritchett looked off in the distance again. “But when the girls brought over her things, we went through them. We’re still going through them. It’s not easy, seeing the aspects of your daughter’s life. Parts that we remembered, but also many parts we didn’t know.” He looked at me then, his chin raised. “We loved our daughter, Aiden. We loved her with everything that we had. Maybe it wasn’t enough.”
“No, it was enough. I know you loved your daughter. That was never something that was in question,” I cut in.
“Maybe. But we’ll never know,” Mrs. Pritchett said, her eyes filling with tears. She let out a breath. “But as my husband was saying, we went through her things and found something that we think is yours.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a little photo, one that made my heart freeze, and the blood in my body go cold. My fingers went numb, and I slowly set Diego down on the floor so I wouldn’t accidentally crush him with my fists.
Diego meowed at me and then pranced off to the couch so he could do his thing.
But I didn’t really notice, I was just looking at the little black and white photo in Mrs. Pritchett’s hand. The image I hadn’t known was still around. I had thought Allison had torn it up.
I’d thought it was gone forever.
But there it was, staring me in the face.
A sonogram. WithLittle Baby Pritchett-Connollywritten on the bottom.
A baby, a little girl.
A baby that wasn’t here anymore.