Just When You Think Life's Perfect

Mom sighed and closed my bedroom door.
“We need to talk” she said, sitting on my bed. I put my hands up in defense, “I told you I didn’t break the dishwasher. It was Paulie”
She half smiled, “I know. That’s not what I was talking about”
I frowned, “What’s wrong?”
“Umm you know that lady that came by the other day?”
I nodded, “Yeah what about her”
“I don’t know how to say this Shia- She’s-” Mom sighed and closed her eyes “-She’s your mother”
“Huh?” I said confused
“You were- Shi, you were adopted.” She said quietly. Was it just me or did she just say I was adopted? Yeah I didn’t think it was me. I frowned and looked down, trying to process what my mother was telling me.
“She gave you up when you were 5 months old. She couldn’t look after you anymore. I’m sorry” Mom said with tears staining her face. I took in a deep breath and got up, “I need fresh air”
Mom nodded and I walked out the door. I grabbed my jacket and slammed the front door shut. I sighed and stuck my hands in my pockets and walked down the street towards the local park. I sat on the swing and just dug my feet into the dirt. It was freezing cold and really dark. I took my phone out my pocket and checked the time. Nice. 10:56pm. I didn’t realize the tears running down my face until they dripped down onto the phone screen. I sniffled and wiped them away. I hated this. Why did she give me up? I mean, sure babies cry and stuff but was I that bad? Did she even think about me? Did she even care? Why was she back? So many questions. My head started to hurt. I sighed and stubbornly wiped the tears away. I dialed Caleb’s number and he answered automatically.
“Hey babe. What’s up?” came his cheery voice.
I sniffled, “I was adopted”
“What?” he asked, just as lost as I was.
“I was adopted. I’m not their kid” I cried.
“Aww baby. It’s okay. It’ll be okay” he soothed, “Where are you?”
“At the park” I told him.
“Okay hun. Stay there. I’ll be there in a minute” he said.
“Uh huh” I sniffled, hanging up.
True to his word he was there in about 5 minutes. He sat down on the other swing and said lightly, “Wanna talk about it?”
“I just wanna know why I was so bad that she had to give me up? Was I a bad kid Caleb?”
“Oh no babe. You were an angel” he soothed, swinging over and hugging me. He rubbed my back as I cried, “Why’d they keep this from me?”
“I don’t know hun. Maybe they thought your real mom wouldn’t come back for you”
I cried harder and he pushed my hair out of my face, “Hey, I’m sorry baby. I didn’t mean it like that”
“I know” I hiccupped. He chuckled, “How about we go get some coffee?”
I nodded, “Okay”
He smiled and helped me up, holding onto my hand, “It’ll be okay. They still love you, you know that? Eli and Jack I mean. They’re still your parents”
I nodded, “Yeah I know”

“I don’t want anything to do with her” I told my mom. She nodded but said, “Honey, she’s your mother”
I looked at her pointedly, “No, you’re my mom. She’s just the woman who gave birth to me”
Mom smiled sadly, “I’m glad you feel that way Shi but she wants to take you back to Chicago.”
“Hell no!” I exclaimed. She laughed, “I’d hope you’d say that”
“Is she here?” I asked. Mom nodded slowly, “She’s downstairs with Dad”
I nodded and got up, walking down the stairs. Natalia looked up, “Hello Shia”
“I hate you” was all I said. She nodded, “I know you’re angry. Just let me explain why I gave you up”
I sat down impatiently, “I’m waiting”
“Okay 16 years ago I gave birth to you and everything was alright. Your father was still with me and we loved each other. Soon enough things got hard and we had a few fights which led to us breaking up and I just couldn’t handle being a single mom. Your father still wanted to be in your life and mine but he lived to far away and his work called for him to always be traveling. I’m honestly sorry for giving you up. I know you’ve have a great life here though” she smiled.
“Yeah I do. No thanks to you”
She smiled sadly, “You were better off with a family that could take care of you”
“What’s my dad’s name?” I asked. Maybe I could hunt him down… in the nicest possible way of course
“Josh” was all she said. I nodded, “Oh okay. Was he nice?”
She smiled, “Yeah. He was great. He still is actually”
I nodded, “Why’d you break up?”
“He was just too young for all the commitment I guess” she said.
“How old was he? How old were you?” I asked. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mom and Dad leave the room, leaving us in private.
“He was 18. I was 21” she said lightly.
“Oh. Okay”