Past, Present, Future maybe

It had been twenty- four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. She could still see herself running through the corridor to her room. She could still smell the familiar lavender and mint scent that she came to love. Walking through the house brought back memories. Bittersweet as some would call it. The kitchen’s wallpaper hadn’t changed either nor did the couch set that sat in the middle of the living room right in front of the chimney. She didn’t realize till then how much she missed it. 

“Is anything missing?” asked the lady in a business suit whose name she couldn’t remember.

“Everything’s right where I left it.” She answers with a smile plastered on her face. “That will be all. Thank you.” She says as she escorts the lady towards the door. 

As soon as the door closed, her phone rang. “Hello,” she answered.

“How was it?” her husband Tom, asks.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” She answers while walking through the house.

“Take all the time you need. We’ll meet at home. Love you.” He says

“Love you more.” 

She continues walking through the house as if searching for something. With each room she walked into, the memories came flooding through her. She couldn’t help but smile. She was once daddy’s little princess and mommy’s angel. Many wanted to live her life, receive all the gifts she got and have all the servants she had. All she needed to do was raise a finger and someone would attend to her every need. They never wanted her to experience pain but all of that changed when her father passed away. She was only six then and never understood why her dad had to go on a long journey without letting her know when he’d come back. She remembered her sleepless nights and the tears she’d shed trying to take the pain away. When she turned nine, they had an addition to the family. She kept wondering why she had to replace him. Was she not enough for her? Was she not good enough? Did she not love him? Before she had the chance to ask her mother her burning questions, she left her too. 

He stopped smiling as much as he used to when her mother was around. He kept telling her to do things she’d never done before. “Do the laundry Amillia. Amillia why do I see dishes in the sink. Amillia no play for a lazy girl like you.” Her life drastically changed for the worst. On most days, she stayed hungry. It wasn’t a choice she’d made. Her clothes no longer kept her warm. Her tiny body grew weak and weary. She thought one would need an evil stepmother as they did in the movies and books she’d read to live the life she had. The only place that remained unaffected was her school. She liked it there. That was the only place that made her feel like a little girl. She could play, eat and read without anyone telling her that she was doing it all wrong. She could eat and interact with people her age who loved doing some of the things she too loved doing. Things went from bad to worse that she decided to tell someone what she was going through. Her class teacher listened to everything little Amillia had to say. She took her home that evening. On the way home, Amillia told her all about her relatives, the few she knew of and told her how much she loved her Auntie Jackie. She spent the night at her teacher’s place and went to school with her the following morning. Her teacher, Maryanne, decided to help the little girl by looking for her favourite aunt. After doing some little research, her teacher realized that her aunt Jackie didn’t live far away. Her aunt took her in and raised her as her own. That was how she got to where she was- a successful lawyer with a beautiful family.

She was grateful. She got a taste of a decent childhood for some part of her life and never wanted her children to go through what she went through. Now that Jeffrey was no longer with them, nothing was holding her back. She could sell the house. It kept reminding her of what she experienced. The mystery as to why Jeffery left the house under her name was yet to be solved. Maybe he came to regret how he treated her or maybe, she was all he had left. As she looked at the place, she could still see her parents reading her a bedtime story and kissing her good night. She could also see her tiny body shaking from the countless tears she shed while trying to fall asleep. It was a lot to take in. She wanted to remember. To remember all of the sweet memories she shared with her parents before her life crumbled down to pieces. With one last shaky breath, she walked out of the house heading towards her black Audi ready to go home. She took a final glance and started her car. She was heading home. All she wanted to do the moment she got there was to hug her babies so tight that her arms would ache. They were hers. She was proud to call them her babies. She never wanted to lose them or expose them to pain. 

When she got home, her two little girls were waiting for her right outside their doorstep. “Moommyyy!” they said with excitement as they ran towards her. She carried both in her arms giving each a kiss on their cheeks.”Okay, girls let mommy breathe now,” Tom said as he approached them. The girls scrambled down as their father held Amillia in his arms. She felt safe. As she looked at her family, tears came to her eyes. They were hers and that was all that mattered.