It was only a week before Christmas when I got an email from Dad telling me there had been a change in vacation plans. I would no longer be able to visit them for Christmas. The Stepmother’s parents wanted to go to Italy, so the four of them and my toddler half-sister, Sarah, were going. The vacation was to be longer than my school holidays, so it didn’t make sense for me to come.copyright protection230ＰＥＮＡＮＡebT6xmNiA6
I’d spent the year telling myself I hated Dad just as much as I hated The Stepmother, but when it came down to it, he was my father. Despite having terrible taste in wives, he had continued to raise me and take care of me even when my mom left in my infancy.copyright protection230ＰＥＮＡＮＡgTVwgfFbF1
In spite of everything, I’d been looking forward to seeing him. I’d been hoping we could be a family again—the way we were before he remarried.copyright protection230ＰＥＮＡＮＡK50c4YSzKz
But now…this.copyright protection230ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3pM5l4gsA
I shut my laptop and slid it back into my bag, tightening my scarf around my neck.copyright protection230ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQaLi2VP2A
It was fine. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t anything I didn’t expect, anyway.copyright protection230ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcZL9qTIVD
“Cami?” Will stood beside the bench, hands in his coat pockets. He looked down at me with concern.copyright protection230ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4l6KgShxN
“Hi,” I said, trying to smile. My lips, chapped from the winter air, trembled.copyright protection230ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WF7J7MWQO
“Are you all right?”copyright protection230ＰＥＮＡＮＡArKgvRSOrv
“I’m—” But I couldn’t get out the words. My eyes welled up, but before I could properly summon any tears, his arms were around me.copyright protection230ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2UbK62Rmg
And with that simple action, I couldn’t seem to stop. My shoulders shook, and I kept my face in his chest. He smelled earthy and fresh, a smell that immediately came to represent home.copyright protection230ＰＥＮＡＮＡv10Yct0VCx
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