31. Ian

31

Ian

Now

A s soon as I get through the gates of Crane, I dim the headlights and park toward the front of the house. I have no idea what's going on other than I'm needed at the lake, specifically the dock. I called Georgia over and over again on the drive back, but she never picked up.

I decide it's best to make a quiet entrance so I can assess the situation. I close the car door quietly and sneak over to the willow tree. I can hide in the fronds and still have an entire view of the lake.

I peer through the gaps in the fronds. All the air in my lungs leaves my chest when I see the scene before me.

My mother is holding Auden, who is limp and asleep. At least I pray she's just sleeping. My mother is standing at the very edge of the dock while Georgia is standing mere feet away, her arms up as she pleads with my mother to not do this.

"Why are you doing this?" Georgia asks, her voice trembling.

Doing what?

I listen with bated breath as my mother tells Georgia that she was the reason Caroline died, that the poison was meant for Georgia. I hear the confession from my own mother's lips. She tells Georgia how she is responsible for Lincoln's mysterious decline in health.

None of it makes any real sense until she tells Georgia that she's planning to kill Auden to punish Georgia for the death of Irene.

Everything Georgia has suffered through is because of my own mother's hands.

I love my mother, but I cannot let her do this. She's clearly sick, having some sort of psychotic break.

But how can I stop this? How can I get all of us out of this while making sure nobody gets hurt?

I reach into my pocket and dial 911. The operator answers instantly, and I whisper into the phone that we need help at Crane Manor.

They promise to be here in fifteen minutes.

I stand there debating the best course of action.

Do I wait for the cops? Or do I risk angering my mother by showing myself to her? I'm still debating which choice is the better of the two when I hear Georgia laugh. It's not her normal laugh; it's darker, almost sinister.

"If you kill my daughter, then you're killing his daughter, too," Georgia tells my mother.

My heart ceases to beat inside of my chest when Georgia's words fully process.

I feel as though I've been shot. Pierced with an arrow straight through the heart. Every emotion known to man flits through my body. Anger, confusion, elation, until I'm left with nothing but this overwhelming, nearly crippling fear.

Auden is my daughter, and her grandmother is trying to kill her.

"He can make another," I hear my mother say, her voice cold and completely unrecognizable.

"NO!" Georgia's scream of terror rips through the air, followed by the loud, distinct sound of something heavy falling into the water.

I fight my way out of the willow tree, its fronds whipping me in the face from all directions as I try to escape them.

Georgia is kneeling at the edge of the dock, staring into the dark water.

"Georgia!" I yell, running toward her as fast as I can.

"She jumped into the lake. She jumped into the lake with our baby girl, Ian! I can't see anything! I can't find them!" Georgia screams at me, her voice cracking with both fear and frustration as tears stream down her face.

"I won't let my mother take her from us," I spit out as I rush to Georgia's side.

I stop short when someone thrashes in the water closer to me than the dock. Turning on my heels, I rush into the lake, begging my body to go faster as I fight against the fire burning in my lungs.

I couldn't save Irene, but I'll be damned if I lose Auden in this lake, too.

The thrashing stops, and the water goes still.

"Ian! There!" I spin in the water and turn toward Georgia, who is now in the lake herself. Between us, a flash of something glowing emerges.

Auden bursts through the water, gasping for breath. "Mommy!" she screams before she falls into a coughing spell so hard I worry her ribs might break.

I kick my legs and swim toward her, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close to me. "I've got you, I've got you," I tell her as I hold her small, shivering body against mine. "Hold on, baby girl. Hold on."

She wraps her arms around my neck and holds on tight as I swim us both to shore. Georgia appears before us as I finally hit the point where I can fully stand in the cold, dark water of the lake.

"You saved her." Georgia sobs before throwing her arms around both Auden and I. She kisses Auden over and over again before turning her attention to me. "You saved my girl."

I pull her close, wrapping one arm around Georgia while Auden clings tightly to me in my other.

"No," I say, clutching both my girls in my arms. "We saved our girl."

Georgia cries harder. "I'm so sorry, Ian. I'm so sorry I kept her from you. This isn't the way I wanted you to find out. It wasn't supposed to be this way."

I pull her closer, kissing her hard instead of responding with words.

I can't say it's okay, because it's not. We will have this discussion another day.

But at this moment, I don't care about the lies and secrets we've let fester between us. All I care about is that they are both safe, here in my arms. The rest we can figure out later.

"Ian?" Auden asks as the three of us stand chest-deep in the dark waters of the lake.

"Yes?" I answer. I'm not sure how much Auden caught of this new revelation.

"Did the bad one go away?" she asks, her voice full of fear, which slices right through my heart.

I should have been there to protect her.

How could my own mother have done all this without me realizing it?

My mother.

"I didn't mean to hurt her," Auden says, interrupting my chain of thought.

Georgia caresses Auden's cheek softly. "Can you tell us what happened when you fell into the water?"

Auden presses her body harder against mine and buries her face in the crook of my neck. "I don't know. I woke up and got scared, so I pushed the bad one down with my feet. I accidentally kicked her really hard when I tried to swim to the top."

Georgia cries silently next to me. I can see the same type of heartbreak I feel about not being there to protect Auden.

"What do you mean by ‘the bad one'?" I ask Auden.

"I didn't know she was the bad one. The bad one always watches me when I sleep and scares me. But tonight, she wasn't wearing the black hat, and I saw her face. It was Mrs. Foster. I thought she was my friend." Auden bursts into tears. "I didn't mean to hurt her."

I stare down at Georgia. She seems to have realized the same thing because she turns and scans the water behind us. We both see the red and blue flashing lights as they make their way up the windy road to Crane Manor.

"Please take Auden to the shore," I tell Georgia, passing Auden to her before I turn and wade back out into the depths of the black abyss before me.

I see something floating in the distance, and I swim toward it.

When I find my mother's body, I already know it's too late.

She's gone.

I flip her over so I can be completely sure, but instead of a pulse, my mother's lifeless eyes reflect back at me.

She left this world the same way Irene did—a tragic accident.

I drag my mother's body to the shore. Georgia and Auden are already wrapped in a blanket, the red and blue lights flashing over them in tandem.

I rush over to them as soon as I'm done explaining what happened to the cops. Georgia and Auden had apparently already given their stories while I was looking for my mother.

I wrap my arms around both of them, holding them close as I let the aftermath flood through me. Georgia reaches up and wipes away my tears, giving me a sad smile.

"I love you," she says.

Auden sniffles loudly between us before I can return the sentiment.

"Ian, are you my dad?"

I look to Georgia, unsure how to answer. She gives me a firm nod as tears spill from her eyes.

I turn my attention back to Auden. "Would you be okay with that?" My heart pounds savagely in my chest as I wait for her answer.

How does this tiny human already hold so much power over me?

I would give my life for her happiness.

Auden smiles at Georgia before making a big show of acting like she's debating the topic heavily.

She smiles up at me before throwing her arms around my waist. "I think I'm going to love having you as my dad."

Georgia bursts into tears at the same time as the ones I've been holding back escape down my cheeks.

It's a strange feeling, fitting this much joy and happiness right next to the overwhelming sadness that lies in my heart. Both emotions fight tooth and nail to overthrow the other.

I lost my mother today. Not only did I lose her, but I also lost the person I had always known her to be. I'm not sure which one hurts worse. My mother knew Auden was my daughter, and she chose her own sick, twisted revenge over me.

I know that tidal wave of anger and soul-shattering grief is waiting to pull me under, but it can wait.

Because right now, at this moment, my girls are safe.

My girls.

I clear my throat and pick Auden up. She wraps herself around me, fitting perfectly in the crook of my neck. I look at Georgia, hoping to convey all my emotions through my eyes. The same eyes she's always called her own galaxy. What she doesn't know is that she's always been my entire universe, too.

I've always been hers, and I know now that she's always been mine.

"Let's go home," Auden says, smiling at both her mother and myself.

"Home," Georgia mutters, a small smile peeking through her lips. "Yes, let's go home."

The three of us stare up into the dark windows of Crane Manor, and somehow, I know that it's smiling back at us.