Hayden stepped back his cheek already reddening and looking a
little taken aback.
'Well I wasn't sure how you'd react but I wasn't quite expecting
that!' he said ruefully.
'How could you be expecting anything else Hayden!' Eva threw back,
disbelief written clearly across her features, 'I haven't heard from you in
almost two years! And now you're here. On my birthday of all days!'
Hayden's face fell, 'I'm sorry, I though maybe you might have
missed me, that you might be ready to give this another go, I've never stopped
wondering... But I guess it's too late... I'm sorry to have spoiled your
birthday.'
Now it was Eva's turn to look bemused. 'Give you another chance?
What were you thinking? You vanished Hayden, and now there's Flynn to consider, you don't
even know him!'
Hayden's shoulders slumped, ' Flynn. I knew you'd found someone
else, I knew that had to be why you did what you did. My parents were right. Goodbye Eva, I really
hope you're happy.'
This wasn't making sense. Someone else? Was he drunk? High? Had
he lost his mind?
'Hayden, I have no idea what you're talking about. What am I
meant to have done? All I've done is pick up the pieces you left behind and
raise my son. Raise our son.'
Hayden stopped dead, turning slowly, his face white and his eyes
wide.
'Your son?' He managed, his mouth opening shutting as no further
words came out.
Eva was lost now. 'Our son. The one I called to tell you about
all that time ago. And I never heard from you again.' She could see his brain
working even as he stared at her wordless. Then his jaw set, his voice quiet
but filled with loathing.
'I am going to kill my parents.'
-----------------
Two hours later and the picture was clearer. No less painful or
unbelievable, but clearer.
Hayden's family had been visiting when Eva had
called, his younger brother Chad had taken the call, the two sounded similar,
but instead of waiting and telling Hayden who was at a lecture, he'd blurted the whole thing to his parents who
he was with, waiting for Hayden to return.
When the message was finally passed on, it was rather a different
one from Eva's original. The Steels were a wealthy and respected family, a teenage pregnancy was not
what Titus Steel had in mind for his eldest son. Instead they told him Eva had
called to end things, reinforcing the false message with their
"observations" of her with another boy around town before they'd left
for their visit to England. As Hayden wallowed in his heartbreak, they'd comforted him even as
Titus used his contacts at the school to send a message from Eva's school
account putting a final nail in the coffin of their relationship.
Hayden had buried himself in schoolwork and parties, moving from
one one-night-stand to another, convinced by what seemed now pretty pathetic
evidence that the girl he loved saw him only as a summer fling. When the
opportunity arose to do another year in England he had accepted and had just
recently returned to town, still unattached, where the memories of Eva had
driven him to come and see if she might give him another chance.
Eva listened shocked and horrified as the whole sordid business
emerged, hearing only Hayden's fury on his end of the phone. His parents had
the decency to admit what they had done, begging their son to see that the
child could have been fathered by any number of boys in towns, you only had to look at Eva's past
to see she was a man-eater.
This was the point that Hayden hung up, collapsing to the sofa
with his head in his hands. Eva didn't know what to do, her heart was breaking
all over again and not for her. It broke for her son, who might have had two parents to
love him right from the start if pride and idiocy hadn't kept the Steels from telling the truth and both her and Hayden from
contacting each other and demanding a better explanation.
The tension was broken by a child's cry from upstairs and Hayden finally met Eva's eyes.
'Is that...'
She nodded. 'Do you want to meet him?'.
Hayden said yes, a tight smile betraying his nerves. Eva
went up and calmed Flynn before bringing him down stairs. As she entered the
living room she could almost feel Hayden's gaze fixed on the little boy in her
arms. Flynn regarded the stranger who looked so much like him with
apprehension, Hayden reached out uncertainly and Eva passed her son to his
father.
She watched Hayden's face change as he took in the resemblance,
watched the pain blight his features as he realised what he had missed. She
watched his expression change as he felt for the first time that impossible love that she had felt
the first time they given her Flynn to hold.
From that day things were very different for Eva and the Monroes
as a whole. Hayden got a condo nearby and was always around, helping with his
son and spoiling him rotten. He broke off all contact with his parents.
He also helped Eva study, impressed by how
advanced she was but disappointed as she repeatedly turned down his offered
affection, insisting that they learn how to co-parent before they rekindled any
sort of romantic relationship.
Strangely, Casper also liked Hayden, the two would play chess for
hours, equally matched in skill and concentration, rarely speaking but
companionable in their silence. Having got over his urge to castrate Hayden and
being caught up with the situation, Gray was glad to see how hard the young man
was working for his grandson and daughter. He was also thrilled that Casper had
accepted him, it gave him faith that his son was capable of forming bonds when
the right kind of people were around.
Lillia was pretty ambivalent to the whole fiasco but
was soon forced to take more notice when the school gossip mill got hold of the
"Steel scandal" as it was becoming known. Lillia had confided only in Daisy
and Rose who had sworn to keep her secret. She hoped that maybe Chad Steel had
been the one to start the rumours but she had been friends with the Flowers
long enough to know that their promises weren't always binding.
She'd seen Daisy kissing the boy the Rose was infatuated with at
a party when Rose had had a cold. She'd seen Rose copying in a test and when
the teacher caught the duplication, Daisy swore blind that she had seen the
other girl copying from her friend. Life with the Flowers was exciting and
sociable but she was increasingly aware that it had it's dark side too.
The problem was that it was easier to be in the crowd than at the
mercy of them and with the end of middle school on the horizon, Lillia didn't
want to start high school without her girls at her side. So mostly she tried to
avoid the drama and the backstabbing, only getting involved when she had no
choice and even then rarely doing more than agreeing with the overriding
opinion.
In theory, she liked the idea of being the girl who stood up for
the underdog, who came out on top because she did what was right like the
heroines of all those teen movies. But they were just movies, and the real
world was harder and at Brittlebush Academy you either ruled the halls or you
tried to melt into the flooring to make the process of being walked on less painful. So Lillia bit her lip, even when it was her
own family being discussed, rolling her eyes on cue and nodding when Daisy
pointed out to some gossiping wannabes that after all, Eva was only her
half-sister, and hadn't even grown up in the same house.
Lillia blushed at that one, barely able to meet Eva's gaze that
night after she agreed with her friend while her conscience screamed that she was a coward.
Eva noticed the change in her sister but didn't have time to get to the
bottom of it, her well-meant enquiries about Lillia's life met with a wall of
teen attitude and awkwardness. Lillia wished she was more like Eva, fiery and
brave, but all she had right now was an average GPA, swimming and her
popularity. Even her little brother outdid her in most ways, he was two school
years behind but he could do her calculus in an instant never mind his science projects which completely baffled her.
Lillia was just glad that Casper had never joined the Brittlebush Middle School, she wasn't sure that even her social standing would have protected him and invisible friends were no
help in the schoolyard.
Casper was glad too, from what he had seen of Lillia's friends he
was pleased that he went to Oakfield and not just because of the uniforms and the
turrets. He liked his sister fine but the other two girls talked all the time and
very rarely said anything that made sense. Casper knew all about hormones from
his biology textbooks but he was glad he hadn't had to deal with them yet, he
didn't think that lip-gloss or boys or prom would ever be very interesting. Or
soccer or whatever boys were meant to like.
Casper preferred his own company or to talking to people who made a
lot of sense. He couldn't really understand why Eva and dad were angry with
Hayden, it made sense to focus on your studies and Flynn was only a baby who still didn't know the difference between a toy dog and the actual dog when his dad came back. Casper was
just glad that Hayden was there now, he was good at chess and he knew a lot
more about physics than his parents, Casper liked him.
In fact the only person Casper liked more than Hayden was Tia and
that was different. Casper wasn't stupid, he saw the looks his parents had when
he talked about Tia, heard the phrase "over-active imagination"
bandied around by teachers but Tia was more than that.
The strange thing was that even though he knew it wasn't logical, he believed completely in Tia. Casper couldn't provide empirical proof that she was there but she was real, even if only
he could see it. After all his imagination was only an extension of himself and his mind and
Tia was many things Casper wasn't, talkative, adventurous and creative. It was one
reason Casper kept studying, the hope that one day he would be able to explain
Tia and stop hiding her away in public.
By Christmas with everything changing and relationships growing
in the family Gray knew the time had come to announce his choice for heir. They
were gathered together in front of the Christmas tree, ready to snap a picture.
Hayden was invited but Gray knew he was sulking, he'd caught
sight of the young man down on one knee in the snow as Eva once again refused
him. Gray felt bad for Hayden but also proud of his daughter, she wouldn't
commit to anything until she was sure it was the right thing for her and her
son, no matter how involved Hayden was becoming.
Once the photograph was done, Gray stood and cleared his throat,
Rachel's smile giving him the confidence he needed as he began.
'It seems like only yesterday, or possibly it was a thousand years ago
that I was sitting in your place, wondering what my mom was going to say. Since
then, so much has happened in such a short time, the bad and the good and I can
say honestly that if you had asked me to picture today twenty years ago, I
wouldn't have guessed at all of you sitting here.
There were times I wanted to give up, when the shadows on me were
so dark that I felt like I was drowning. But the light that follows complete
darkness burns the brightest, without that darkness I would never have seen the
world the way I do and despite my many, many mistakes I've been blessed beyond
my wildest imaginings.
Rachel, I've told you a thousand times that you saved me, but
I'll tell you again. You were brave when was a coward, selfless when I couldn't
see past my own pain and you loved me when I didn't love myself. I'll never be
able to thank you but I promise to spend the rest of our lives together trying.
Eva, you were my first true love and my first heartbreak. While I
would give the world to have those missing years back, I can't hate them as I
once did because they're a part of the phenomenal person you've become. You're
strong, fearless and you fight for everything you want. Perhaps I don't get all
of your past but I hope to have the honour of being in your future, whatever it
brings I know it will be magnificent.
Lillia, you were my angel, you helped your mother bring me back
to life and since then you've never stopped shining. You have a work ethic that
puts me to shame, you're a true friend and a great sister and I'm so proud of
who you are and how you've overcome the struggles you've faced. I have no idea
how you have the energy to do everything you do and I can't wait to see what is
next for you.
And Casper, youngest but by no means least. You have changed the
way I see the world, it used to be that I knew of only once type of success,
one type of failure and now I know better. Your mind staggers me and I can't
pretend to understand half of what you tell me but that's okay. It's better
than okay, it's my privilege to learn more from you every day as well as to try
and teach you a little as you continue to grow up.
The three of you are all so different and I will do my utmost to
provide for whatever dream you decide to chase. As is traditional you all
receive an inheritance when you reach 21 and I will do whatever else I can to
help you start your lives when the moment comes.
But I have to choose an heir.
Eva, you have had so many choices made for you that I want you to be free to go wherever you choose and not to feel
you have to meet any expectations but your own. Casper, you're still so young
but I feel like you too might one day come to find your own dreams and the idea
of the legacy in conflict.
So I have chosen you, Lillia to carry on the Monroe name. I know
that you are a good person, good friend
and a hard worker but I worry that sometimes you hide behind others. This is
why you are my choice. The legacy changed me from a boy who couldn't see past
his ambition into a man who knows the value of what he has, I hope it gives you
the confidence to find your own identity and to wear it proudly through
whatever life holds for you.'
As her father finished speaking, Lillia stood mute. She was the
quiet one. Perhaps even the boring one. How had she been chosen above Eva's
courage and Casper's intelligence.
As Lillia finally lifted
her eyes to meet her father's gaze she saw a mixture of pride and concern, as
if he knew that inside she was less than the persona she let everyone see.
But Gray seemed certain in his choice, Lillia just wished she could
see things as he did.
----------------------------------
So Lillia Hallie Monroe will be leading out the fourth generation of The Monroe Legacy. There were a few hitches with voting which left her in last at final count but after deducting 5 mis-votes for Casper and 4 for Eva she actually finished ahead by two in the closest vote to date!
I was pretty surprised that she led for much of the voting, but I'm excited to write her story - it will be totally different to Gray's but I hope you enjoy it!
There will be one final chapter to sum up Gray's generation - I couldn't quite get the loose ends tied here without it being even longer so I hope you'll forgive me
Chime in the comments and let me know what you think of the new heir - was it your pick/what you expected?
