CHAPTER # 3: GOING TO HAVE A STEPFATHER?

Sarah’s POV:

I kept looking at her in shock as she said those words to me. I could never imagine my mom marrying someone again in life after my dad left us. It was unbelievable and distressing.

“Um, wha – what?” I asked her in shock.

“Um, I am sorry sweetheart. I know this must be very shocking for you but I… I – I don’t know what to do… I love that man, you know…” She said holding my hands firmly.

I gulped and looked away, taking a deep breath to calm myself down. It was hard to process all that but I started, “Um, mom… I – I am just a little confused… I mean, I thought you were… you were just dating people for – for fun, a – a fling you know… I never thought something could become this serious in your dating life…”

“I know, I know sweetie… I didn’t realize when I fell in love with him. And you know what…?” She excitedly moved forward and held my hand tightly to continue, “He’s – He is a billionaire… He is so rich, Sarah. All our problems will…”

“Mom…” I said and moved my hand away from her grip to add, “Are you marrying him just for money?”

“No, no… Sarah, no… I love him. I want to spend my life with him” She said and then once again held my hand firmly to add, “Listen, honey… Your father left us when you were very young. You were just 11 years old when he left us to marry that woman. I was shattered. I didn’t know what to do. A friend of mine helped me to get a job and – and I did it to earn money for you to give you a better life. I didn’t date anyone until you entered high school. But when I started dating again, I also thought that it was – it was just for fun, but I didn’t realize when this turned into a serious thing with Rowen…” She said and I felt sympathy for her.

I gulped and started, “So… His name is Rowen…?”

She nodded in embarrassment while I didn’t know what to say to her. I was feeling like after my dad, my mom was leaving me too.

“Um, okay, mom… If you want to marry him, you must go ahead” I said to her and she began to smile widely and pulled me in a tight hug.

“Thank you so much, Sarah… For understanding this. You are an incredible daughter. I love you, sweetheart” She said while hugging me and I gently placed my hand on her back, tapping her.

“It’s okay, mom…” I said as we moved apart. “Just – just be happy” I said to her and smiled.

“Rowen will definitely keep me happy” She said happily while I smiled and nodded.

“Um, another request, darling…” Mom started while I looked at her in confusion.

“What is it?” I asked her.

“I want you to meet him tomorrow” She said.

“What? Mom, I don’t want to meet him. It’s not necessary” I said to her.

“Come on, Sarah… You must get to know him. I am marrying that man. He is going to be your stepfather. You must be well aware of everything about him” She said.

“But mom… What will we talk about… It’s going to be um, um awkward” I said to her.

“Sarah, please… Even he wants to meet you too. We want to get married before your school starts, you know” She said.

“What? That’s too early mom” I said to her.

“I know… But – but it would be nice, you know… We’ll do everything before your school starts so that you can have time to spend with Rowen…” She said.

“Mom, this is…” I started, shaking my head to a no.

“Sarah, please… Understand this. Also… He has some important work to do next week. He wants to get married before that” Mom insisted and I took a deep breath before nodding.

“Okay, mom…” I said reluctantly.

“So we are going to meet him tomorrow for lunch at 1, okay?” She asked me excitedly and I thought for a second wondering how awkward it was going to be, but nodded and bent my face down.

“Thanks a lot, my dear… You don’t know how much I love you…” She said placing her hand on my cheek.

“I – I love you too, mom” I said to her and then rubbed my forehead to continue, “I should ah… I should go to my room and get some sleep. I am really tired…”

“Oh sure, dear… Don’t you want to eat something?” She asked me.

“No, I – I am not hungry…” I said to her.

“Okay but yeah… You wanted to tell me something, right?” She asked me inquisitively and I went back to my crush but this time it wasn’t exciting me much. I sat there thinking about him but the fact that my mom was marrying some man came rushing into my mind and I began to shake my head to a no.

“Um, there is nothing, mom… Just some protest stuff… It isn’t important. Um, I got to go” I said to her and stood up.

“Okay, honey… Sleep well” She said tapping my shoulder and I nodded, walking away from there and climbing up the stairs to my room.

Throwing myself on the bed, I placed both of my hands on my forehead and began to think about what mom told me. I still couldn’t believe her marrying someone. I wondered what it would be like to have a stepfather and how I would manage to be around him and that too all normal. It was going to be awkward and I knew it. I quickly grabbed my phone and called Eloise.

“Hey…” Eloise said as she answered the call.

“Hi… El, can we meet tomorrow for breakfast?” I asked her with my eyes shut.

“Yeah sure? But why not lunch?” She asked me.

“I’ll tell you everything tomorrow. Can you ask Gene to come as well, please?” I asked her.

“Yeah sure, I will… Where are we meeting? My place?” She asked me.

“No, um… Can we go to Flynn’s Café…?” I asked her.

“Yeah okay…” She said and then added after a pause, “Sar, is everything okay? You sound quite tensed?”

“I am, tensed… El…” I said to her worriedly.

“Sar, you are scaring me… What has happened?” She asked me anxiously.

“I’ll tell you everything tomorrow, don’t worry… I’m fine” I said to her.

“Is this related to that crush guy?” She asked me suspiciously.

“What? No…” I said out loud and then added, “It’s something else… Just don’t ask me anything right now… We’ll meet tomorrow… I am hanging up now” I said and before she could say anything else, I hung up the call and threw the phone next to me, sighing.

“I shouldn’t think more about this. I need to go to sleep” I told myself and immediately pulled the blanket up to my face and shut my eyes. After a while, I removed the blanket from my face and whispered, “Is mom actually marrying someone?”

I gulped and sighed in frustration, before pulling the blanket back to my face and went to sleep thinking about how the meeting with my to-be-stepfather would go...