Victoria's pov
"Victoria" She whispered in shock. I just stood there awkwardly as she gaped at me.
I shifted uncomfortably on my feet, not exactly knowing what to do or say in this position.
I took the opportunity to take in her features. I knew what she looked like from pictures, but it was the first I'll be able to actually see her.
I knew from a tender age that I had most of her features, like her hair colour, eyes and the shape of my face, but I never thought I'd actually get the chance to compare in person.
Her hair was cut to her shoulders in its smooth waves. It looked thinner than in the pictures, but it still looked nice. Her face seemed slightly pale as if she was having a rough day, but her eyes held so much life and joy, just like what aunt Sophie always said.
She wasn't as thick as aunt Sophie and me, but her body weight seemed fair for a woman her age and suited her quite well.
"You're so grown up and beautiful," she said through sniffles. "My baby is all grown up" She added, and I involuntarily took a step back. I scrunched my face up in confusion at her statement, not exactly liking how she's acting.
After leaving me alone all this time, now is the time she realizes she has a 'baby' that's all grown up? Oh no.
My expression seemed to snap her out of her daze, as she invited us in. Lincoln tensed all of a sudden as if he saw something.
"Everything okay?" I asked, concerned by his sudden change in stance. He shook his head as if he was clearing his thoughts then smiled at me.
"Yea, I’m just used to being on high alert around humans." He stated calmly. I wasn't convinced, but I brushed it off nonetheless.
I took the opportunity to observe my mother's house. It reminded me a lot of Velma's home, having that same cosiness about it. Pictures were all over the walls, but I couldn't see them properly from where I stood.
She led us into a small neat dining room, where Lincoln and I sat side by side.
"Can I get you guys anything? Tea, water, coffee?" She asked sweetly.
"Tea sounds fine" I replied, while Lincoln nodded in agreement. She left shortly after telling us to make ourselves at home.
I looked around the dining room, loving how cosy and family-like it felt.
"Why don't we ever use the dining room at home?" I asked Lincoln as the thought popped into my mind.
The kitchen was quite spacious and had more than enough space for us to eat, but the dining room just sat there.
"We do," He chuckled. "On Christmas" I simply shook my head at the wasting of a good dining room.
Daisy, which was what my aunt said my mother's name was, returned shortly after with three cute teacups on a tray. She got comfortable in her chair across from us, beaming happily at me.
Nobody spoke for a while, but eventually, she started talking.
"How are you?" She asked quietly.
"I'm fine" I replied as I awkwardly looked down.
The whole situation felt so weird.
"How's life? Are you happy?" I picked up a hint of guilt in her tone as she asked. I simply nodded, still not looking at her.
"Is that an engagement ring? It looks beautiful" She attempted to sound motherly but my heart wasn't having it. Everything she uttered made the elephant on my chest feel heavier.
"No it's a promise ring" I cleared my throat as I pushed my hands under the table. She smiled brighter at us, giving Lincoln a proud look.
"When do you plan to propose, young man? I'm sure you've already found all you needed" She tried to joke, but the feelings of annoyance and embarrassment were flooding me as we both shook our heads roughly.
"No I'm not the man of her dreams Miss Deslandes, I'm simply a friend" He corrected politely. She laughed at her assumption as her cheeks turned red.
"Oh, my bad," she chuckled. "And you can call me Daisy" Lincoln nodded with a smile but said nothing.
We fell into another moment of silence, which was slightly uncomfortable. Even Lincoln seemed uncomfortable.
I peered at her from across the table as the thoughts jumbled in my head. I didn't know what to say or ask, and I felt as if I was about to have a panic attack.
All my life I never gave much thought about if I should actually meet my parents, and what I would say or do, or how I'd react.
I felt uneasy, angry and annoyed that she was acting as if we were besties. I felt hurt that she knew I was out there but never checked in on me. I was an emotional mess, and the fact that my mood swings were all over the place especially today, didn't help the situation.
I wanted to cry, shout, scream, anything to ease the feeling in my chest. After minutes of pondering my thoughts, I came up with one simple word to say.
"Why?" I asked, fully meeting her gaze for probably the first time today.
"Why what dear?" She gave me a confused look as if this wasn't the first time she's seeing me in twenty years.
"Why, mother, didn't you come back?" I asked a little too harshly, but I wasn't playing dumb.
She knew we were bound to have this conversation. She sighed, looking down in shame and guilt.
"I couldn't" Was all she said, but I stayed quiet as I waited for her to elaborate. Lincoln quietly pushed back his chair and left, giving us privacy.
"From the moment I left, I wanted to come back but I couldn't Victoria, you have to understand"
"Understand what Daisy?" I asked as she flinched at me using her first name. Did she expect me to call her mom?
"Your dad wasn't....stable"
"Tell me something I don't know" I scoffed, knowing damn well that Michael was crazy. She looked shocked at my statement.
"You knew him?" I shook my head no, confused at the concern in her voice. 'Wow, he was that bad?'
"I know people who knew him, they didn't describe him well." She nodded in understanding with a look on her face that spiked my interest. "What happened with him?"
She gave me a warning look, as if telling me that I didn't want to know, but I probed her to continue. She sighed before starting.
"Your father wasn't always a bad man, he was actually very sweet and loving" She started with a longing look on her face. I got comfortable as I got ready for storytime.
"He was a great husband, and when we had you, he was a great dad too" Yea like I would know. "One day, a couple of months after you turned one, he saw something..." She trailed, looking at me carefully.
"What did he see?" I asked, even though I knew what it was already.
"He said he saw a man change into a wolf, but I never believed him" She sighed.
"Sounds crazy to me" I mumbled as I took a sip of my tea.
"That's what I said!" She exclaimed, shaking her head. "Anyway, from that day forward he was just obsessed with wolves. He would research them, disappear in the woods for hours searching for one, he tried to come up with different theories. It was just crazy.
"He was still a good husband and dad, but he was slowly going over the edge. One day, he claimed he saw a wolf again, and he was convinced that he struck a eureka moment. That's the day he decided to go closer to the woods for a few days to investigate." She sighed, placing her cup on the table.
"He rented an old cabin on the border of the town a little into the woods, and he begged me to come with him, saying he needed me. He promised we'd be back in a week tops, so I called Sophie to watch you while we were gone.
"I never supported his craziness, but he was still my husband. I thought that- that maybe if-" A sob broke through her lips as she attempted to finish the sentence. "I thought that if I was with him, that maybe I could pull him back in, talk some sense into him. But two weeks passed, then three, then two months, and I decided that I had enough" She paused for a moment as she collected herself.
"I told him that I was going home with or without him, and I left. He told me that I would regret it, but I left anyway. The cabin was a good distance into the woods, so I had to walk back to town. But then, I saw it." Her eyes glazed over as if she was remembering the very day.
"I saw a wolf, bigger than any I've seen before, and he didn't look happy. He seemed to have followed me and I assumed it knew we were watching it, but I never believed it was a human too. He chased me all the way back to the cabin, where Michael heard my screams and shot some poison at him. I knew the wolf could've caught me if it wanted to, but it was like it was giving us a warning."
By now I was already invested in the story. I'm not sure if whatever reason she gives me will ease the pain I felt for years, but I still wanted to hear.
This was also my confirmation that this man that she's describing, and the one in the grave are the same person. It can't be just a coincidence.
"Michael convinced me that this was the danger I'd be putting you in if I came back for you because wherever I go, he would follow and he was taking his wolf business with him. We were trying to protect you Victoria"
"Bullshit!" I shouted as I jumped from my seat. "That's the lamest excuse for ruining my childhood I could ever hear".
"Victoria please try to understand. I knew werewolves weren't real but that wolf wasn't normal either. I didn't want to pull you into danger's path" She tried as I shook my head at her audacity.
"You could've left his crazy ass! And Sophie said after two months, you completely cut off communication with her. How was that 'protecting me?'" I used air quotes to exaggerate my point.
"Please just sit down, let me explain"
I reluctantly sat back down, crossing my hands over my chest.
"He was my husband, I couldn't find it in me to leave him. You're in love I assume, I'm sure you can understand" I rolled my eyes at her attempts to get me to accept the horrible thing she did to me and Sophie.
"And what about after he hit mega crazy? Why didn't you come back then?" I asked, knowing there was no way she could get away from this.
I'm not any genius, but I knew she didn't get this house with him.
"Ten years ago I finally left him. He got more and more impatient over the years when he couldn't find anything, and he was a totally different person. He started to get verbally abusive and mean, and he would always blame his failures on me" She started crying again, but I barely felt any sympathy towards her. Call me a monster.
"On many occasions, I wanted to come back, but I couldn't bear the guilt I would've felt when I faced you and my sister, I-I just couldn't"
It was my time to cry as I thought about how different my life would've been if she just had the balls to leave my sorry excuse of a psycho dad.
"So basically you gave up on me?" I whispered as my eyes filled with tears. She didn't answer so I took that as an answer as my tears flowed.
All my life I hated my parents because I thought of them as horrible people. I always thought that they didn't want me. But I still held onto that little bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, there was a really good reason why they left.
After I heard a part of Michael's story, I knew he was a lost cause. But I still held onto that hope that my mom had a good reason, but now that's all gone. Crushed.
I guess that was the reason why I've never wanted to meet her because I was scared that my little bit of hope would've been crushed.
And now it was. My own mother didn't want me.
That hurt like hell.
"Well I guess I have no real reason to be here," I said as I dried my eyes. "I got the answers I came here for. You can just forget I ever came"
I tried to move away but she grabbed my hand over the table, looking at me with pleading eyes.
"No please don't go like this. We can get to know each other, I can introduce you-"
"What's the use? If you weren't interested then, why now?" I yanked my hand from her a little too rough, and of course, me and my soft heart felt bad.
"I'm sorry I robbed you of growing up with a mom, and I never really called Sophie to tell her how grateful I am. But please don't leave like this, can you find it in your heart to forgive me?" I sighed, knowing damn well that I'll forgive her, but maybe not talk to her.
Forgiveness is good for your peace. One thing I've learnt, never fill your heart with grudges against people.
"I'll forgive you Daisy, but this mother-daughter relationship that you want to have is a few years too late" I stated sternly.
"We can-"
"Momma?" She was cut off by a small voice.
I turned my head to see where the voice came from when I was met with a cute little girl around the age of five. She was such a gem.
Wait, did she just say momma?