Still My Baby
daddy come home
Fourteen year old Georgia Trullen rolled her eyes at her mother before looking back at her phone, running her fingers over the buttons as she continued texting her friend. "Whatever," she breathed in retaliation to what her mother had just said.
"Don't you 'whatever' me, Georgia. I am your mother," Caroline Huit seethed as she snatched the phone from her daughter's hands. Immediately she gained a violent reaction from her daughter.
"Give it back!" she screamed, flinging herself at her mother and trying to claw the phone from her grip. "It's not yours. Dad gave it to me!"
Not giving in, Caroline pushed her daughter off of her and pocketed the phone. "Well your father's not here right now so I guess it is mine," she chided. Not wanting the conversation to get worse than it already was, she turned on her heel and left the room, closing the door behind her and walking away. Halfway down the hallway she heard her daughter scream, "I hate you! I wish it were you in the army!"
With a sigh, she shook her head and entered the living room. Her relationship with her daughter had never been smooth, resulting in Georgia wishing to live with her dad at the age of five. Although that wish wasn't granted, she had lived with him between the age of 7-11 until he was deployed out of the country with the army, forcing Georgia back with her mother. Since then their relationship had only declined with the girl frequently expressing how much she hated her mother and how she wanted to be back with her father. Sometimes Caroline didn't know why she even tried, there was no way their relationship would ever be repaired.
Back in her bedroom, Georgia was still fuming as she rummaged through the shoebox in her wardrobe and retrieved her spare sim card and phone, inserting the former and switching it on. Once it had loaded up, she dialled the only number she knew to call when things like this had happened and waited anxiously on her bed. Her grandmother answered on the fourth ring.
"Georgia, what's the matter?" she asked, knowing that something had gone down with the girl's mother with the fact that she was phoning from this number. It had been the emergency number Georgia had given her in case things got bad enough that her mother decided to remove her phone.
"I can't live with this witch, nan," the girl hissed down the phone, her eyes narrowed into slits and her voice holding malice. And thus began a conversation that was had almost every week between the two. Nothing was ever done about it because teenagers were always dramatic and her father wasn't even in the country. Her grandmother always put it down to Georgia being over-dramatic but she never told her granddaughter what she thought. It wasn't her place to interfere despite the fact that she was always dragged into the aftermath of fights.
The following day Georgia was out of the house before her mother was even awake and refused to answer any call her mother made to her. Caroline didn't know what she was most angry about, the fact that her daughter had come into her bedroom while she was asleep and taken her phone back or the fact that she wasn't answering any of her calls. She knew that it was her daughter's way of getting back at her, but she also knew that it would just spawn another argument as soon as she got home.
Georgia attended school like she normally did, bitched about her mother to all her friends and spoke about running away and never coming back. It was a normal day for her until third lesson when someone from reception phoned up her teacher.
"Georgia, you're wanted at reception," her English teacher said when she had put the phone down. Most of the class looked at Georgia, a few thinking that maybe she was being called to the nurse's office as it was always down as reception wanting them, and a few were thinking that maybe she had been caught dodging school on the wrong day.
However, when she got to reception she couldn't believe her eyes. Her hand went to her mouth and her eyes widened, tears forming in her eyes. "D-daddy?" she asked, her voice wavering and breaking halfway through.
There, standing in the middle of the reception, was her father, donning his army uniform and a huge smile on his face. He wasn't due back for months and then she wouldn't be able to see him for days after his due back date because her mother never let her see him when she wanted, always coming up with a punishment as to why she couldn't see her father on the day that she had been promised by him. It was one of the reasons why she hated her.
"Georgia, sweetie," he said, and that was it. Georgia ran up to him and jumped, clinging onto him as she sobbed into his shoulder, his arms coming around her in a hug. The members of staff in reception watched the scene in awe. They knew there were some students who had parents in the army, but they had never had one come to the school to surprise their child. It was a beautiful sight.
"I missed you so much," she sobbed, clinging tighter to him just in case she was dreaming.
Tears sprang to his eyes. "I missed you too, baby. I always do."
She lifted her head up and attempted to dry her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper of one hand. "I'm not a baby any more, dad," she said.
He slowly let her down to her feet where she stayed in his arms in a hug. The father and daughter both had tears on their faces but they were both as happy as could be. The thoughts of the previous day vanished from her mind, and for a moment she didn't have a mother. All she had was her father, and that was all she needed.
"You're always my baby, no matter how old you are. From the moment you were born and your hands were smaller than my fingers until the day that I die, you'll always be my baby girl."
"Don't you 'whatever' me, Georgia. I am your mother," Caroline Huit seethed as she snatched the phone from her daughter's hands. Immediately she gained a violent reaction from her daughter.
"Give it back!" she screamed, flinging herself at her mother and trying to claw the phone from her grip. "It's not yours. Dad gave it to me!"
Not giving in, Caroline pushed her daughter off of her and pocketed the phone. "Well your father's not here right now so I guess it is mine," she chided. Not wanting the conversation to get worse than it already was, she turned on her heel and left the room, closing the door behind her and walking away. Halfway down the hallway she heard her daughter scream, "I hate you! I wish it were you in the army!"
With a sigh, she shook her head and entered the living room. Her relationship with her daughter had never been smooth, resulting in Georgia wishing to live with her dad at the age of five. Although that wish wasn't granted, she had lived with him between the age of 7-11 until he was deployed out of the country with the army, forcing Georgia back with her mother. Since then their relationship had only declined with the girl frequently expressing how much she hated her mother and how she wanted to be back with her father. Sometimes Caroline didn't know why she even tried, there was no way their relationship would ever be repaired.
Back in her bedroom, Georgia was still fuming as she rummaged through the shoebox in her wardrobe and retrieved her spare sim card and phone, inserting the former and switching it on. Once it had loaded up, she dialled the only number she knew to call when things like this had happened and waited anxiously on her bed. Her grandmother answered on the fourth ring.
"Georgia, what's the matter?" she asked, knowing that something had gone down with the girl's mother with the fact that she was phoning from this number. It had been the emergency number Georgia had given her in case things got bad enough that her mother decided to remove her phone.
"I can't live with this witch, nan," the girl hissed down the phone, her eyes narrowed into slits and her voice holding malice. And thus began a conversation that was had almost every week between the two. Nothing was ever done about it because teenagers were always dramatic and her father wasn't even in the country. Her grandmother always put it down to Georgia being over-dramatic but she never told her granddaughter what she thought. It wasn't her place to interfere despite the fact that she was always dragged into the aftermath of fights.
The following day Georgia was out of the house before her mother was even awake and refused to answer any call her mother made to her. Caroline didn't know what she was most angry about, the fact that her daughter had come into her bedroom while she was asleep and taken her phone back or the fact that she wasn't answering any of her calls. She knew that it was her daughter's way of getting back at her, but she also knew that it would just spawn another argument as soon as she got home.
Georgia attended school like she normally did, bitched about her mother to all her friends and spoke about running away and never coming back. It was a normal day for her until third lesson when someone from reception phoned up her teacher.
"Georgia, you're wanted at reception," her English teacher said when she had put the phone down. Most of the class looked at Georgia, a few thinking that maybe she was being called to the nurse's office as it was always down as reception wanting them, and a few were thinking that maybe she had been caught dodging school on the wrong day.
However, when she got to reception she couldn't believe her eyes. Her hand went to her mouth and her eyes widened, tears forming in her eyes. "D-daddy?" she asked, her voice wavering and breaking halfway through.
There, standing in the middle of the reception, was her father, donning his army uniform and a huge smile on his face. He wasn't due back for months and then she wouldn't be able to see him for days after his due back date because her mother never let her see him when she wanted, always coming up with a punishment as to why she couldn't see her father on the day that she had been promised by him. It was one of the reasons why she hated her.
"Georgia, sweetie," he said, and that was it. Georgia ran up to him and jumped, clinging onto him as she sobbed into his shoulder, his arms coming around her in a hug. The members of staff in reception watched the scene in awe. They knew there were some students who had parents in the army, but they had never had one come to the school to surprise their child. It was a beautiful sight.
"I missed you so much," she sobbed, clinging tighter to him just in case she was dreaming.
Tears sprang to his eyes. "I missed you too, baby. I always do."
She lifted her head up and attempted to dry her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper of one hand. "I'm not a baby any more, dad," she said.
He slowly let her down to her feet where she stayed in his arms in a hug. The father and daughter both had tears on their faces but they were both as happy as could be. The thoughts of the previous day vanished from her mind, and for a moment she didn't have a mother. All she had was her father, and that was all she needed.
"You're always my baby, no matter how old you are. From the moment you were born and your hands were smaller than my fingers until the day that I die, you'll always be my baby girl."