Cedars POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
20\u00a0<\/p>\n
After our chaotic escape from the company, I drove home in a daze. Oliver had dozed off and on during the ride, his excitement finally giving way to exhaustion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back in my apartment, I tried to restore some normalcy to our final evening together. A warm bath seemed the perfect way to soothe both\u00a0<\/p>\n
our frazzled nerves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched Oliver splash in the bathtub. This was our last night together. Tomorrow, he would return to his real home, to his real family. The thought made my chest feel hollow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHold still, sweetie,\u201d I said, trying to keep my voice light as I rinsed shampoo from his dark hair. \u201cAlmost done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oliver had promised he would visit me again, but who knew when that would be? Children make promises easily, but their lives are controlled by adults\u2013adults like his mysterious father who I still hadn\u2019t met.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOliver,\u201d I said carefully, \u201cwhere exactly do you live? I could drive you home tomorrow instead of-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo need, Mommy!\u201d he interrupted quickly, not meeting my eyes as he focused on a big bubble. \u201cHunter will take me home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the bath, I helped him into his pajamas and led him to the living room. His damp hair smelled like the baby shampoo I\u2019d bought\u00a0<\/p>\n
him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to meet your father,\u201d I said finally, setting him down on the sofa near my drafting table where work sketches were spread out. \u201cJust to talk to him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oliver\u2019s face fell immediately. \u201cN\u2013no, that\u2019s not necessary.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He rubbed his nose nervously\u2013something he did when hiding something.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daddy is very scary,\u201d he continued, eyes wide. \u201cReally scary! You shouldn\u2019t risk it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t help but laugh. \u201cIf you\u2019re not afraid of him, why should I be? Besides,\u201d I glanced at the small gift box on my coffee table\u2013some\u00a0<\/p>\n
emade cookies I\u2019d made for his father, \u201cI have something I want to give him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inside the box was a note I\u2019d written, explaining how I\u2019d met Oliver and thanking his father for letting me care for him these past two weeks. It wasn\u2019t much, but it felt important.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oliver\u2019s expression turned miserable. His small shoulders slumped, and his eyes began to water.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong, sweetheart?\u201d I said, wiping away a tear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
8:53 Fri, Nov 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 73\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you know where I live, you can visit me often,\u201d I tried to reassure him. \u201cDon\u2019t you want that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1253\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do! But\u2026\u201d Oliver\u2019s dark eyes looked up at me pleadingly. \u201cMy daddy has a terrible temper. He gets angry easily. If he finds out I\u2019ve been staying with you for two weeks, he\u2019ll definitely be mean to you! Please, please don\u2019t come to my house. If daddy knows about you, he might never let me visit you again!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He threw himself into my arms and began sobbing. Not his usual dramatic tears when he didn\u2019t get dessert, but real, heartbreaking sobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart squeezed tight. I looked at the gift box again\u2013maybe it was a bad idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay,\u201d I said, stroking his hair. \u201cI won\u2019t meet your father yet. But someday, if there\u2019s a chance, I\u2019d still like you to arrange it. Can you\u00a0<\/p>\n
promise me that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes! There will definitely be a chance someday!\u201d Oliver nodded hard, relief washing over his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That night, I held him close as we lay in bed, but I couldn\u2019t sleep at all. I stared at the ceiling, listening to his soft breathing, trying to remember everything about having him here. By morning, I had dark circles under my eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHaha, Mommy, you look like a panda!\u201d Oliver laughed when he saw me in the bathroom mirror.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked at myself\u2013he wasn\u2019t wrong. Even with concealer, the shadows remained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMommy, you should go to work. I\u2019ll wait for Hunter,\u201d Oliver said, wearing his little backpack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head. \u201cI\u2019ll see you off first.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Hunter walked in in his business suit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMs. Wright, thank you for taking care of Oliver. I\u2019ll take him home now,\u201d he said politely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026\u201d My voice caught. I wanted to say something meaningful, but no words seemed right.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking at Oliver\u2019s bright smile, I swallowed my sadness. If he wasn\u2019t crying, why should I?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sky Remembered the Touch of Our Unfinished Goodbyes by Lysa Orion Rehn 73 Cedars POV\u00a0 20\u00a0 After our chaotic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zero-stars-for-daddy-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}