The Fox and The Wolf

Avery

“Ugh.” I heard Stacy yell.

“You okay?” I asked as my mom, Ashe, Katie, Lilly, Tony, and I walked into the kitchen.

She nodded. “Yes. I just forgot to go get the lettuce at the grocery store the other day. John is making hamburgers tonight, and I was gonna have lettuce.”

“Oh. We can get it.” I said smiling.

She looked at me. “No it’s fine. I don’t want you guys to do that.”

I shook my head. “Honestly it’s fine. All the guys are out on patrol and Ashe and I don’t have anything to do.”

“Are you sure.?”

“Of course.” Ashe said stealing a carrot.

“Okay then. Here. Take my debit card. But don’t tell John. He insists on buying everything. So don’t tell him i let you use my money.” She winked.

“I won’t. Promise. So who’s coming with?” I asked.

“Me.” Ashe said raising her hand.

“Sarah invited Lilly and I to come over and have a tea party.” Katie said.

“Okay. Be careful.” Stacy said sternly.

“Will do. Tony you want to come?” Lilly asked smiling at him.

Tony looked torn. “Uh. I better help Ashe and Avery out with the groceries.” He said quickly.

“Oh. Okay.” Katie said and walked out the door with Lilly beside her laughing.

“Nice save.” Ashe said.

“Thank you.” Tony smiled.

“Here’s a list of everything I need.” Stacy said handing me the list.

I nodded and grabbed it. “Well let’s go.” I said running to the truck.

“We should spilt up. It will be a lot easier.” Ashe said.

I nodded. “Okay. So Tony grab the lettuce and tomatoes.”

He nodded and ran off with a basket.

“And I’ll grab the potatoes, ranch, chips, and some milk.” Ashe said.

“Okay. So that leaves the butter, barbecue sauce, and ketchup to me. you can have the cart. I’ll grab a basket.” I said handing it too her.

“Okay. See ya at the checkout line then.” Ashe said before she disappeared into one of the isles.

“Okay. So butter.” I said to myself and I started walking towards the refrigerated section of the store. “There it is.” I said putting it in the basket.

Next thing was the barbecue sauce.

I headed over to where they kept the sauces because I’ll find the ketchup there also.

After I put the barbecue sauce in the basket, I turned around to find the ketchup. But I ended up bumping into someone instead.

“I’m so sorry sir.” I said picking up my basket and handing his his mustard bottle.

“Oh. It’s quite alright.” He laughed.

That’s when I looked up.

He looked like he was in his late 30’s. I also noticed he had jet black hair and blue eyes.

I studied him for a little bit. He looked familiar. But I just couldn’t put a finger on it. It was on the tip of my tongue.

“You….you look familiar.” He said staring at me.

“Ummm.” I said trying to remember him myself.

That’s when something inside my brain clicked.

No. It couldn’t be.

Is this….?

“I have to go.” I said turning around and grabbed a ketchup bottle after I finally found it.

He grabbed my elbow and turned me to face him.

“Wait a minute.” He said looking at me.

I think he finally realized what he was thinking about, because his eyes went huge and he slowly let go of my elbow.

“It can’t be.” He started off.

I didn’t wait for him to finish, because I booked it out of there.

When I ran to the checkout line, I saw Ashe and Tony.

“We need to go. Now.” I said and put everything on the belt.

I was all jumpy. I needed to get out of here.

After the cashier put everything in the bags, I grabbed them and put them in the cart.

As I was heading out, I saw the man look around for me.

His eyes landed on mine and he looked sad. I quickly looked away and ran out to the truck.

“Avery?” Ashe asked as she put on her seatbelt. “What happened?”

I didn’t speak for about 10 minutes.

“I saw someone.” I finally said as I pulled in our driveway.

“Who?”

“I…I don’t know yet. I need to speak to my mom.” I said as I hopped out of the truck and ran inside.

“Hey Avery. Did you get everything?” Stacy asked.

I nodded. “Where is my mom?”

She gave me a weird look. “She’s int the living room with everyone. Why?”

“I need to talk to her.” I said before running into the living room.

When I got there, I quickly spotted my mom talking to Carlos, while Jake, David, and Liam were playing video games. I even noticed that Levi and all those guys were here too.

“Mom.” I said.

She stopped talking and looked up at me.

“Yes Avery?” She asked.

At the mention of my name, Jake’s head snapped up and he gave me a giant smile.

“Hey.” He said pausing the game and walking up too me.

“Hi.” I smiled back.

He gave me a peck.

“Where were you?” He asked me cautiously.

“We had to go grocery shopping for your mom.”

“Wait. I didn’t give her any money.” John said crossing his arms and looking at Stacy.

Stacy looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“Uh. I think I need to go make the salad.” Stacy said nervously and added a nervous giggle as well.

“Uh huh. I’ll help.” John said smirking.

Stacy sighed and glared at me.

I smiled and put my hands up in surrender.

“If I go down. You’re coming with me.” Stacy said pointing a finger at me.

I stuck my tongue out at her and she did the same before being pulling into the kitchen by a very amused John.

Sucks to be her. I laughed to myself.

I walked around Jake.

“Mom. I really need to talk to you.” I said standing in front of her.

“Is everything okay?” She asked standing up.

I shrugged. “It’s really important.”

“Are you okay?” She asked concerned.

“Avery. What happened?” Jake asked.

“I need to speak to my mom privately.” I said grabbing her hand.

“But.” Jake started but I held my hand up.

“I’ll tell you later.” I said to him.

He looked reluctant to leave me alone but finally sighed and nodded.

I dragged my mom upstairs and we went to her room.

“Avery. What happened?” She asked again not really worried.

“I saw someone at the grocery store.” I said sitting on the bed.

“Was it Sadie?” She asked. I shook my head. “A rogue?” I shook my head again. “Someone from another pack?” I shook my head again. “Then who?”

“I think I saw dad.” I said looking in her eyes.

She looked scared. “What do you mean you think you saw your dad?”

I took a deep breathe and patted the spot next to me.

She sat down next to me and I turned to face her.

“I mean I think I saw him. But I don’t know though.”

“Well tell me what happened.” She said calmly.

I took another deep breathe. “I was getting ketchup and when I turned around, I bumped into someone. I accidentally knocked their mustard out of their hands, so I bent down to pick it up for them. When I gave it too them, I look up and saw him. He had the same jet black hair, and the exact same ocean blue eyes as me.” I said with a sad smile.

“What else?” My mom pushed.

“When I looked in his eyes. I saw myself. He looked exactly like me but in guy form. We both studied each other’s appearance. I think he might have recognized me, because when I went to go leave, he grabbed my elbow and pulled me back and stared into my eyes. A smile formed in his lips and he said that I looked familiar. That’s when I ran. Mom I got scared.”

“It’s okay.” She said pulling me into a hug.

I pulled back and looked at her. “When I checked out and I was heading for the doors, I turned around to see him looking everywhere for me. Then we finally made eye contact. He looked so sad. Then I tore my gaze away from him and ran out of the store.” My mom was very quiet. “Was it him mom?”

She releases a heavy sigh. “I don’t know Avery I would have to see him. I don’t know if you would remember him. Even when he was still here, he was always at work. He rarely came home.”

“Mom? Why did dad leave?” I asked.

I was terrified to hear the answer. Even though I hated him for what he did. He left his two daughters and wife. I mean, who does that? I would never forgive him for it. But I’ve always wondered why did he leave in the first place. My mom never talked about him to Lilly or myself.

She gave me a sad smile. “He always wanted a boy. When I had you, your father was disappointed. He ran a huge company and he wanted a son so he could inherit the company from your father. He thought a girl wasn’t capable of running it. So when I had you, he was angry and disappointed.” Well that made me feel like crap. My own father didn’t even want me….

“What happened after?” I asked scared to hear the answer.

She looked me in the eye. “After I had you, he drowned himself in his work. He was barely home at all. That’s why you don’t remember him. He was never home. And when he did come home, it was really late so you were already in bed. Then I got pregnant with Lilly.” She said smiling to herself. “I was so excited to find out it was going to be a girl. I remember coming home that day and telling you first after the babysitter left. You were ecstatic. You wouldn’t stop cheering about being a big sister. You loved Lilly with all of your heart and she wasn’t even born yet.”

“Really?” I asked smiling.

“Really.” My mother said nodding with a smile of her own. “But that was also the day your father just up and left. He came home that night and asked me how the appointment went. I said it went well. And the second question he asked was ‘is it a boy?’ He didn’t even ask me how my day was, or how I was. All he cared about was if we were having a boy. When I told him no, he was even more angry. I went to bed crying and he didn’t even care.”

“So he left?” I asked.

“When I woke up in the morning, we was gone. All he left was a note saying how he was disappointed in me.”

“What?! Why?!” I yelled standing up.

My mom didn’t seem surprised about my sudden outburst.

“Because he wanted a boy. On the note it told me that he didn’t want to be with me if I couldn’t have a boy. He also told me that he didn’t want to deal with having two girls. That he only wanted a boy so he could carry on his company. So he told us that he didn’t care for us anymore and he just walked out or our lives.”

I looked at my mom and I was speechless. And to think I almost felt bad for him when I saw the sadness in his eyes. Forget that! And screw him!

“I-I. I don’t know what to say.” I said.

My mom looked down. “That’s why I didn’t tell you or Lilly about your father. I didn’t want you guys to feel like it was your fault that he left.”

“But it is my fault.” I said tears forming.

“Avery.” My mom said standing up. “It’s not your fault. Your father was a bastard. He didn’t deserve this life.”

“But. It’s all my fault. I was the reason that he left. He didn’t want me or Lilly.”

My mom pulled me into a hug. “Don’t say that.”

I tore away from her. “But it’s true.”

She shook her head. “No it’s not.”

I needed some time to think.

“I need a run.”

I didn’t wait for my mom to answer as I tore the door open and ran downstairs.

“Supper is almost ready.” Stacy said.

“I’m not hungry.” I said before I ran out the front door and shifted.

All I could think about, was that somehow it was my fault for my dad leaving.

Was I that bad?