Status: Live

Holding Hands Won't Be Enough

Chapter 59: Provisions

“Heli brought him over yesterday..”

“So you haven’t seen her since your parents?” Ville shook his head, Mige nodded. Ville had finally contacted his friends, it had been three days since he’d seen or heard from Milly, yet he’d seen Oscar twice, Heli having dropped him off and picked him up later in the day, her excuse being that Milly was busy with Sonja. He needed a support network, whilst his parents were trying their hardest, he knew his mother wasn’t happy with him. He needed someone to talk to about Milly, about all of it. He needed his best friends.

“Will she be coming tomorrow?” Linde asked, sipping the head off of his beer.

“She said she’d bring Oscar, so I don’t know. Maybe.”

“So you’re really going to do this, huh?”

“I have to.” he grunted, “Everyone is telling me I have to grow up and face the reality of parenthood.. I knocked her up-“ he shrugged, “-she’s wanted a reason for years to finally get me to commit and now she has one. Game over.”

“What about Milly?”

“What the fuck about her?” he scoffed, “She doesn’t answer my calls, she doesn’t even bother to bring our son to me herself. I put myself out there, left Jonna, flew to her fucking house and she drop kicked me right in the fucking heart straight back to her. I love her and left Jonna to be a family with her and Oscar and she rejected me..”

“Dude, I know for a fact you guys probably banged in PA, but remember, you fucking destroyed her..” Mige interjected with stress, “To the point of birthing and raising a child on the other side of the world alone-destroyed her. Now she has to deal with the guilt of having you potentially put someone else in that position. You know her better than anyone, are you honestly surprised this is the course of action she’s taking? Like, really..?” Ville turned his head away and inhaled. Mige was right, he always was. “She doesn’t want to hear you’re telling your son that your favourite picture is your engagement photo..” he sighed, “She wants to see you being a man, taking responsibility.. What kind of role model are you to Oscar if you were to leave Jonna pregnant and have him growing up knowing you abandoned his sibling before birth?”

“You’re right.”

“I know.” Mige chuckled.

“Fucker.”

“I know it bites, because I know you love her, but you’re going to have to be friends with her if you want her around.”

————

“I don’t want to fucking go.” she cringed, lulling her head back onto the sofa, “I can’t think of a worse time to be had than watching that preying mantis parade around triumphant that she stole my life.”

“Darling, just think, you turn up there looking sexy as all helldom with that little monkey on one arm and me on the other, no one is going to be looking at her. They’ll all be looking at you, knowing what she took from you, but knowing that you gave it to him first.” Jussi grinned, plopping down next to her and squeezing her thigh.

“Ow.” she swatted his hand away, “It’s so childish, I don’t want that to happen.”

“Well it will and you know it will.” she held the invitation Jonna had sent to her parents house in front of her and read it aloud.

“Blah blah blah.. celebrate our love.. blah blah.. casual dress.. bla-“

“Casual dress?” Jussi asked, snatching the invitation from her. “Mine says formal attire.” Milly furrowed her brow, he raised his hips and dug around behind him, retrieving his invite from his pocket. “Yeah, formal attire.” Milly took it and inspected it closer.

“That bitch.” she said in a whisper, disbelievingly. “I know she was petty, but this petty? I basically delivered her fiancé to her business class and she tries to show me up but having me turn up in casual fucking dress?” she said, stunned, “Jussi, I don’t want Oscar around this type of shallow human..”

“You’re going to the party Milly.”

“No.” she replied adamantly.

“Get your shoes on.” he said, standing up and picking up his jacket. “We’re going shopping.”

“Jussi, I’m not going.”

“You are, I’m not giving you any other option. Grow up. Show her up.”

“Jus..”

“Mil..” she sighed and moved to the edge of the couch.

“You suggest one slutty thing and I'm gone, understand me?"

"Oh well now what fun will we have if I don't suggest just one?"

————

“Sonja!” Milly barked, “Can you be quiet for one god damned second.”

“Sorry.” Sonja replied with a roll of her eyes as she removed the final curler from her sisters hair.

“Where is he?” she threw her phone down onto the bed and looked at herself again in the mirror. She had to admit, Sonja was a fabulous hair stylist. Her auburn hair was curled and teased, parted to the side and swept across her forehead, curls cascading down the side of her face. “Are you sure this dress isn’t too.. you know.. not formal.” she asked. It was a scoop necked, elbow length sleeved, mid thigh black sequinned body con dress. Timeless, but slightly edgy.

“You chose it.”

“Jussi.. chose it.”

“Really?” she smiled, raising her brow, “Wow. Purpose being to blow Ville’s socks off or make him blow his load?” she asked seriously. Milly grunted in disgust.

“Son.. no. Jonna sent me an invitation that said ‘casual attire’ when everyone received ‘formal’..” she rambled, picking up her phone and dialling Jussi again to no answer. She sent him yet another text urging him to call her.

“Bitch..”

“Yeah. So, this is Jussi’s idea.” she said, motioning to the dress.

“Well, it's amazing." she smiled, but Milly look worried, "You okay?” she asked lovingly, placing a hand on her baby sisters shoulder. Milly nodded apprehensively. Sonja hated that her sister was so selfless, but said nothing, “You don’t have to go you know.”

“No, I do.. I have to have a strong face for Oscar. I explained as well as I could to him what was going on, I think he understood that Ville has his own family too.. but I can’t be sure, so the only way is to illustrate to him that he has two homes now. One with me, and one with him.”

“…And her.”

“Don’t remi-“ she started as her phone began to jingle, “Jussi, where the fuck are you?” she asked panicked that he and Oscar had been gone for well over an hour. Jussi had insisted they go to the park when they got back from shopping, to "give her a break".

“Just stopped off for some provisions.” he chuckled.

“Don’t ever not answer the phone when you have my kid Jussi.” she said annoyed. It wasn’t that she thought Oscar was in any danger with Jussi, it was just, like any mother, she wanted to be able to reach him at any time lest something did happen.

“We were busy!” he laughed.

"It's not funny Jussi, you said fifteen minutes."

“I’m sorry Mill, he’s fine." he assured her seriously, "We stopped at the park then stopped to get cookies.”

“Cookies and swings don't take over an hour? What else..”

“Cigarettes.” he admitted.

“And..” she asked, dragging out the ‘A’ as Sonja tilted her head up to spray with lacquer.

“There was a babe at the park who thought Oscar was mine so-” she needn’t let him finish.

“Bring the babe magnet back to me please. I need to get him dressed.” she said with an, albeit exasperated, chuckle.

“Yes ma’am.”

“You look perfect Milly. Perfect, perfect..” Milly looked at herself and couldn’t help but smile at her big sister, it had been a long time since she had felt so centred, she was definitely realising that having her family around her made her feel whole. This is how she wanted Oscar to be raised, with a large network of people who love and care for him, not how Seth had kept it - just them, never leaving, never changing, just the three of them.. For the first time in years she felt strong willed to make her own decisions without influence, to march to the beat of her own drum, to make herself and her son happy before others.. And with that she hugged her sister tightly; it wasn’t often that this occurred between them and though it took Sonja by surprise, she hugged her little sister back knowing exactly what she meant by it.