Chapter 3

three

Avery – Sixteen Years Old

I walk through the front door and throw my bag near the coat rack. School sucked; it doesn't matter that I have clothes that fit now, or my hair's actually cut and looks nice. Kids are still mean, and all because I said no to a date with Joey, the captain of the basketball team.

I huff. "Daddy?" I shout through the three-bedroom house. Tony and Natalie Gibson are the most amazing people I have ever met. That day in the hospital, they took me in, and made me their daughter. They adopted me, and I haven't been happier, because they've been Mom and Dad since.

My dad pops his head out from the kitchen door, his black hair neatly trimmed, gray showing around his temples, his blue eyes looking at me with pride and love. I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his waist, laying my head on his chest as he wraps his arms around me.

"What's wrong, pumpkin?"

I sigh. "Joey asked me out, but I said no, and now everyone's calling me a prude and being mean." He growls, and I laugh and shake my head, then head into the kitchen.

"I'll call the school tomorrow, if I don't end up shooting this kid first."

I laugh hard; I love my dad, he's the best. I go to the stove and lift the lid from the pan, and take a deep breath. I smile. Mom's chili. I look at my dad and smile a sad smile. "I miss her." He nods and comes over to me, hugging me into his side, then starts to dish up our food. Mum died three years ago. I only had four years with her before ovarian cancer took her from me. To me, she was the best mom in the world.

My dad struggled a lot but didn't give up; he was my rock, and I was his.

For months after her death, he would take me through a routine. He'd take me to his office on the second floor, open the safe, then proceed to tell me all the information I'd need if he died. We fought a lot at that time, because the thought of losing him killed me, but I endured it for him. He's put all his and Mom's lifesavings into an account in a false name for me. There's enough there for me to get an apartment and go to college without being in debt. He knows I want to become a doctor, so he's ensured I get what I want; apparently, I deserve the world. He just doesn't realize that he and Mom, they are my world, I can't lose both of them. Losing Mom was bad enough, but losing Dad…. I shake my head, hating these thoughts. Sometimes I feel like he's hiding something from me, why would he tell me these things otherwise? I sigh.

We sit down and eat while talking about our days, laughing, and smiling like we always do. He goes to stand up, but I shake my head.

"Daddy, you know I clean up; you cooked," I scold him, and he smiles wide and kisses my forehead.

He sits down. "Okay, pumpkin." I smile and take our dishes to the sink and get my dad a glass of brandy, and head back to the dining room. When I walk in, my smile is wiped from my face. I drop the glass and scream, "Daddy!" I run toward him, where he's on the floor, clutching his chest. Tears run down my face, and I put his head on my lap. Grabbing my phone from the table, I call 9-1-1.

"9-1-1, what's the emergency?"

"Please, my father, he's having a heart attack, please." I give them our address and look at my dad, my savior, my only family, and tears spill down my cheeks.

"Don't leave me, Daddy, please," I cry.

He lifts his hand to my cheek. "D-don't f-forget…s-s-safe." I sob harder. "I l-love y-you, pumpkin."

"Daddy, p-please, I love you, too. Please don't leave me, too. Please!" He closes his eyes and I let out a painful scream. His chest no longer moving.

I try CPR. I don't know how long I try before the paramedics come in. They pull me back and I scream, trying to get to him. One of them holds me tight as I cry, while the other continues compressions. After five minutes, he looks up and shakes in head, and I scream, sobbing, "No, no, no, Daddy!"

The woman holds me tighter as the police come in, as well as child services. I look at the woman who just walked in behind my dad's colleagues, and I recognize her straight away.

When she sees its me, tears instantly fill her eyes. I leave the paramedic and run into Mrs. Reeves arms, and she holds me tight as I cry for all I've lost. She leads me over to the sofa while they take my father out in a body bag. I sob as I watch them go.

"Avery," Mrs. Reeves whispers, and I shake my head. She puts her hand on my cheek and looks into my eyes. "Sweetheart."

I sniffle, then state numbly, "He has everything planned. After Mom died, he said he didn't want me to have to worry about his funeral. Everything's already arranged."

She wipes my tears and nods. I know what she has to do, but I won't go back into care. Daddy left me everything to ensure I wouldn't. He doesn't have any family and neither did Mom. It was just them and me. The house will automatically go to the bank, and money will be deposited into the account he has for me. There's already enough for me to get my own place, pay for rent, food, and necessities as well as part of my college tuition, until I'm at least nineteen. The money from the house will be enough for me to get through the rest of college and medical school. I'll just have to get a job when I'm nineteen to continue to pay for the rent and food, otherwise I'd have to use the portion that's for my education, and I refuse to do that. I made a promise to my parents that I would be who I want to be. A doctor. I will do it for them.

I look at Mrs. Reeves. "I know you have to take me, but could I stay here, in my home to get pack my keepsakes—at least until the funeral? Please."

Tears fall from her eyes, and she nods. "I know I shouldn't, but I'll log you down as at the group home, okay?" I nod and hug her tight, my heart hurts so much; I want my daddy. I let out a sob and she holds me tighter. After about an hour, she leaves me reluctantly, and I get to work. For the last few years, Daddy liked to play a game with me: "What would you do if you were alone?" I hated it, but he wanted me to humor him. I think he knew he was ill and just didn't tell me, and I hate him for it. But I love him for making sure I was prepared, because he knew if he died before I turned eighteen, I wouldn't go back into care, I would run.

I look around my family's home and start to take in all the things I need to put in the storage unit Daddy rented. He changed it into my name last year, and showed me where it was and everything.

I put our plan into action as I get up and start to pack. Mrs. Reeves says the funeral will be in a few days because its already sorted, so time for falling apart will have to wait. I go to their room first and let out a sob when I smell my dad's cologne. I take the boxes he had in his closet and start to pack everything in them, then head to my room and pack everything because this is what they got me, and I want to keep it. I pack a duffel bag for after the funeral, and work late into the night, not letting my mind think about what I've lost because if I do, I'll break.

After two days, I've gotten most of everything I want to keep packed, including all of the guest rooms' furniture, my father's leather chair, and my mother's rug. Once I turn eighteen, I'll go to the storage unit.

Until then….

I hired a moving company, and once I explained about my father's death, they came out the same day and helped me put it all in the truck, and took it all to the storage unit, while I followed in my dad's SUV. I recently passed my driver's test, thanks to my dad.

A tear falls down my cheek and I quickly wipe it away, then help the moving company with all the boxes and furniture, leaving my duffel bag in the car. I pay them with the money my dad left in the kitchen drawer for takeout, then lock the unit up tight. It has a fingerprint scanner, so I know with that and the bolt and padlocks, they'll be safe. There's also a camera that's connected to my phone. I kiss my fingers and place them on the door, then head home again. Home. Not my home for long.

When I get there, I go to my dad's office and to the safe which is now the only thing in there. I put the code in; the day they adopted me, and open it up. I take out all the legal documents, including my adoption papers, not wanting to leave them. Then I grab the loose cash and count it. There's roughly $6,000, so I tuck it, as well as the documents, in my dad's saddle bag. I grab my passport and I go to lock the safe, when I notice an envelope. I pick it up and suck in a breath. A letter in my dad's handwriting.

Avery.

I place it in the bag, not ready to read his words, and I close up the safe and grab all the photo albums, including the ones from before I came into their lives, and take it all out to the SUV. I go to the locked cupboard under the stairs and take out the license plates he bought. He said it was a just in case, and they're in his mother's name. I grab them, and quickly change the plates on the car, and then drive it toward the cemetery where he'll be buried, right next to my mom. I quickly wipe away my tears, and park the car behind the commercial dumpsters. I lock the SUV, then run the twenty minutes back to our family home, where I finally fall apart.

The next day, there's a knock on the front door. I'm in a plain black, knee length dress that I'll probably burn after this, and my dark hair is in a ponytail. I answer the door, and Mrs. Reeves gives me a sad smile and hugs me, before I turn and take one last look at the only home I've ever known. I leave with tears brimming in my eyes.

Mrs. Reeves wraps her arm around my waist, and we walk toward the hearse, where my father lays in a coffin, his fellow officers surround the street, as well as his closest friends, all looking at me with sad eyes. I walk up to the car and place my hand on the glass. I gaze at my father's coffin. My tears fall as I'm led to the car behind him.

The streets to the church are lined with people who respected my father, and once we get there, everything is just a blur. People offer their condolences, the other officers hug me, then we bury him next to my mom. Everything goes so fast, I can barely think straight, while my tears continue to fall. But I don't let myself sob; I have time for that later.

Once my father is lowered into the ground, everyone starts to leave. He didn't want a wake, so they all walk by me, giving me hugs, before they leave. Mrs. Reeves squeezes my hand, and I turn to look at her.

"I just need to use the ladies' room. I'll give you ten minutes before we leave, okay? A couple a few hours away from here have agreed to take you in until we can find a more permanent situation for you."

I nod and she gives me a hug before walking away. I turn back to look at my parents.

I kneel and whisper, "You saved me, loved me, and gave me a home, a family. I will be so lost without you; you're my parents, through and through. DNA don't mean anything.

"I'm sticking to our plan, Daddy. I'm going to New York, and I'll get my GED. I know I can pass it now; you've taught me well, and then I can enroll into college two years early. I'll become a doctor like we planned. I'll probably have to sleep in your car for a little while before I find a place to rent from someone who will look the other way because of my age." I sniffle and wipe my tears.

"You've made sure everything was planned, you made sure I was set, and I hate that you're gone. Mrs. Reeves mentioned that you had a heart condition. I wish you had told me, I resent you for not telling me." I sniffle again. "But I understand why you didn't; losing Mom was so hard, and now losing you…. I feel alone, so alone. I love you both so much. I'll come back to visit when I'm of legal age, but for now, I know you'll always be with me in spirit."

More tears fall and I know I have to go. I press a kiss to my fingers and place them on each headstone, before I turn and see if Mrs. Reeves is anywhere nearby. I hurrt walk toward my daddy's SUV. Pulling the key from my dress pocket, I get in, buckle up, and start her. I look around again and I see Mrs. Reeves on the phone standing near her car. I look at my parents' headstones again as more tears fall, but I put the car in gear and drive off. I look in my rearview mirror and notice she's still unaware that I've gone, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

I see the headstones one last time as I pull away from the cemetery, away from my family. I start my forty-two-hour drive to New York.

I will forever miss you.