~Better Beginnings and a Bittersweet Truth~

Nicolas trudged down the flight of stairs to identify who was knocking at the door. His father wasn't home and wasn't expecting visitors either, so was he. While he busied himself on his laptop for clues on how to find a missing person, the first knock came. It looked like some kids were playing pranks but as the knocks grew more insistent, he was forced to abandon the task at hand.

"Coming." He replied as he neared the door. He pulled it open to find identical facial features staring back at him, eyes dampened with tears. First instinct was to slam the door shut in her face. He didn't. Instead, he found himself ushering her in.

She didn't show herself to one of the chairs like Nicolas hoped. She whirled round, quickly pulling him in for a suffocating hug. Subconsciously, Nicolas tensed up as he would and was soon relaxing into her embrace. He saw it as his cue to pull apart when she sniffled.

"I heard." She muttered after a long while of staring at the mug of hot cocoa which her son offered her. It was Nicolas turn to act deaf. He ambled to the window, ignoring the consuming impulse to ask her out of their home. The silence on his end was an unapologetic sign of his displeasure at her statement. Perhaps, she spoke a little too late.

She cleared her throat in a bid to dispel the heavy ball of guilt deep inside and suffocating her. She tried again, this time louder. "I'm sorry."

Nicolas tipped his head back, a lackadaisical laugh tumbling out of his lips. He turned to her in humour. "Sorry? You show up after everything that has happened to your daughter and you say you're sorry? What difference would that make? Will it bring her back? Tell me."

Jovita, with her fingers trembling, placed the mug on a coaster on the table beside her. A steaming mug of cocoa was the least of her priorities at the moment. "You have every right to say whatever you want. Yes, I was a worthless mother--"

There was a loud scoff from the opposite side of her where Nicolas sat. "Worthless doesn't even come close to what I'd describe but go on."

"Stop it, okay? Everyone makes mistakes and just because I made mine doesn't make me less of your mother." She paused to let out a tired exhale. Her voice was beginning to raise and that was the least thing the neighborhood wanted to hear, a mother and her son cussing each other out. "Look, instead of arguing, we can put this rift between us aside until we find your sister. She might be brash but she is my daughter and every of her actions toward me is my fault. We have very well established that fact."

"Why didn't you show up all these while? Why didn't you come to check on her since you heard what happened?" His voice was two tones softer.

"That, I can explain. Javier had me on house arrest since the last time I visited here. He's warned me never to step foot in here because we were married and I had no right to. H-he said he owned me since I changed my surname."

"What an animal!"

"I'm sure you noticed the marks I tried to hide from you and your father. Those were made by him." Her throat burned with tears.

Nicolas did recall those handprints because they were the first thing he asked about when he wiped her face clear of the makeup. His blood boiled at the anger that one man singlehandedly created a calamity that led to deaths and scarred the families involved. "It really was him?"

She nodded meekly, eyes stuck on her hands splayed on her laps. They were trembling slightly. "I know I've been nothing but a terrible mother to you and Aurora. I know I let my greed get in the way of loving and doting on my family and I'm sorry. If mere words were enough to describe my thoughts now, you'd be having several libraries filled with dictionary sized apology letters."

Nicolas watched with extreme sadness as tears coursed down her cheeks and Carlos' words of warning at the police station rang out in his head once more. If he was going to make a restitution for all of his past mistakes, he would start from here; forgiveness. One needed to forgive oneself and he had already done that. The next thing was to forgive others if he wanted the peace he truly craved.

Rising from his seat, he strode across the room towards where his mother sat. She didn't even look up from her hands. It was going to take a really long while to be able to trust her once more but he was willing to give it a try. The next words that came out of him were unexpected to both of them.

"I miss you...mom." He paused to smile at her. "Aurora would have thrown a fit if she were here but that's okay. We will get past that eventually. I say, we start all over. From the very beginning, shall we?"

Tears once more filled her eyes and this time, they weren't one of remorse or self pity but of great relief. "Thank you. Oh, thank you so much." She cried in happiness, kissing his face over and over again.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°

He was met with deafening silence when he walked into Dolores' house. He'd expected to meet her by the door but he met her father instead.

"She's upstairs in her room." He'd said to him.

"Judging by her voice on the phone, is she alright?"

"She's been that way since we arrived from the police station several days ago. She just wants to see you."

Now, he stood right in the middle of the hallway, in front of her door and unsure whether to knock or just call out her name. Choosing none of his options, he pushed the door open just a crack then the rest of his body followed.

Dolores, propped up by a pillow behind her, wore weakness like a haggard fit on her emaciated frame. She gave a bleak smile that only made her eyes appear even lifeless than they seemed.

"Hey." She croaked. Her lips were chapped and pale, like her face.

"Hey, you too." He managed a small smile in response, despite how much effort it took him not to break down himself. Reaching out to gently cup her face, he brushed a light kiss on her forehead. "Don't tell me you skipped eating again? What did we say about this? You promised."

She pouted in a somewhat adorably manner. "I did eat. A healthy bar of chocolate."

"Don't tell me the chocolate on your bedside table is what you ate. I don't even see any bite marks here." Indeed, next to him laid a chocolate bar with barely any indentations on it.

"That's not why I called you here, Doctor Nicolas." She murmured with an eye roll.

"Okay? I'm here now. Talk to me."

Her expression turned serious as she pulled him to sit next to her, fingers holding his in a death grip. For someone who was noticably feeble, she had quite a hold on him. "There's something I need to tell you."

"You should actually be resting your voice now. Whatever you have to say can wait until you start eating and feel better. Your dad is worried sick about you, don't you realize it?" He was genuinely unhappy about her poor eating habits knowing how much of a food fanatic she was usually was.

Her eyes turned glossy. "Nick, I'm so sorry that it turned out this way. I wanted to say this early enough but I thought it wasn't the right time to. I'm so sorry it had to turn out like this."

Nicolas stopped drawing lines on the back of her hand long enough to peer into her face, eyebrows drawn together in curiosity. "What is it? Don't tell me you think you're doing the wrong thing by being in a relationship with me."

She gave a weak shake of head, tussling her brown mass as she did so. "It's not that."

He turned his body this time, eyes imploring. "I'm sorry for my past actions. I already explained what happened and I regret doing them. Stop holding it against me."

"It's not that too. I already let go of that. This is something entirely different and hiding it from you was the wrong thing to do yet the right. I don't know if you can ever forgive me."

Nicolas groaned, already frustrated at how further into the dark she pushed him. He was a few steps away from losing his mind at the suspense. "Can you come out with it already? I promise not to be angry or do anything you fear I would."

She looked deeply into his eyes as though to get him to solemnly swear to her. When he nodded his promise, she closed her eyes with a small exhale. "I know where Aurora is."

He would have stumbled right out of her bed in shock if he wasn't in the middle of it. Was he only imagining the words he heard? "Y-you found her? Where, I mean, how?"

"I didn't find her." A pause. "Because I had her kept."

~~~{•}~~~

Two chapters more
An epilogue and we kiss this book bye.

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~~Chignature~~