Goodbye is the Beginning

Chapter 1

Laila

"Danielle, that dress is perfect!" I exclaimed when Danielle came out of the fitting rooms in a white gown.

"Ya think?" She asked, biting her lip as she looked in the mirror. We both nodded at the same time and said, "Yeah," simultaneously.

She laughed and spun around. "Laila, I'm so excited! I can't believe I'm getting married in less than a month." She was glowing.

I smiled and looked down, "To Mitchell, none the less."

She gave a tiny smile, "To Mitchell…I can't believe he proposed."

"Darling, after oh…six or seven years of dating, I had expected him to propose when you two were still in college."

She giggled, blushing lightly, and then turned around to look in the mirror. I watched as her hands smoothed down the sides of her dress, feeling nothing but happiness for my friend.

Rick and my mom got married three years ago and they were still very much in love. And I'm happy to say I now have a little sister. She's two years old but she is already beautiful, taking most of my mom's appearance. She has brown wavy hair but she has Rick's eyes, bright green that I immediately fell in love with.

When my mom was pregnant, she was stressed, so I offered to keep Aiden at my apartment. I didn't give him back, actually; he lives with me permanently now.

I work at an elementary school as a second grade teacher. Unfortunately, Aiden wasn't in my class though because the administrative board thought that I would be unfair since he is my relative. I still saw him at lunch, recess, and after school anyways so it was better than nothing.

Aiden was just turned eight years old, and my birthday was coming up in May. Six and half years passed by since I last saw Trent.

Trent.

I sighed.

He hadn't visited like he said he would and I didn't receive calls from him any longer. The last call to me was two years ago. He called Mitchell and Delia, but he didn't call me and I didn't know what to think about that.

They just stopped. I noticed that by the third year of being apart from each other, his calls began coming a week later than the last and soon it reached two months before the last call. I tried phoning him a few times but some other man answered the phone and said that Mr. Harver moved.

Mitchell kept me updated though, but only told me certain things. I found out that Trent took over his dad's company and was running it by himself now in California. It was a small company, only having 350 employees but I was proud of him nonetheless; it would grow.

I thought about him all the time still and I hated myself for it.

I shook my head, clearing all thoughts of him.

And just like Trent wanted, I had found someone and we've been dating for five months. But the thing is, he's nothing like Trent. With Brad, there's no spark, not like the shocking feeling Trent gave me.

Brad was handsome, almost too handsome for his own good. He's arrogant and conceited, but he has his moments. Sometimes, I find myself accidentally comparing Brad with Trent whenever we're out on a date or when I'm spending time with him. They were completely different, but who knows? Trent could've changed.

Danielle broke out of my musings when she came out of the changing room, here regular clothes back on. I stood up and smiled, "So is that the one?"

She looked down on it with a grin, "I think it is."

We decided to go and get ice cream afterwards and when we sat down at a table outside, Danielle was looking at me, occasionally licking her cone, "So, how's everything with Brad?"

I hesitated but covered it up quickly, "It's great. We went out three nights ago."

She watched me but I casually looked at the park across the street. She noticed and changed the subject, "I'm so glad we moved back to Vermont. It was so different in Massachusetts."

I smiled and nodded. "It's been our home for a while."

"Sorry about making you take days off of work to help me."

I waved a hand, "It's fine, Dani. It's spring break this week anyways. And besides, when we were freshman, we agreed to help plan each other's weddings."

"That's why you're my maid of honor," she teased. I laughed.

"I'm thankful," I replied.

She smiled and silence passed between us. The birds chirping and kids excited yells from the playground filled it though. Danielle leaned forward, "So, have you heard from…Trent lately?" Her tone was hesitant, cautious, and my eyes flew up to meet hers.

"No. He hasn't called for quite sometime now. I don't even know his number anymore." I shook my head and my eyebrows came to form a line.

Danielle looked around and sighed. "I have his number, Laila. I'll give it to you if you want."

My eyes narrowed at the small table, not noticing that my ice cream was starting to melt.

I felt a stab of hurt pass through me. Everyone seems to have his number but me.

I wanted to talk to Trent so badly but…

After a moment or two, I shook my head, "It's okay. If he doesn't want to talk to me then that's fine."

"Laila…" Danielle started.

I held up a hand, "I don't want to talk about this again, Dani. Please."

She looked at me for a long time and finally submitted, bobbing her head up and down.

…………………….

I went over to my mom's house to pick up Aiden later that night.

"Sissy!!!" I heard a scream and looked up, only to see my sister running clumsily toward me.

I laughed and scooped her up, "Hey Brianna."

She giggled, yanking on a strand of my hair. It reminded me of what Trent used to do but I quickly pushed that thought away. "Look!! Mommy putted my hair in pigtails." She pointed her finger at her head and I looked at her beautiful hair.

"She did, didn't she?" I looked at the clock behind her, "Isn't it passed your bedtime?"

She shook her head, "Daddy said I could stay up alllll night."

"He did, did he?" Rick asked as he appeared through the doorway. He smiled at me, "Hey Lay."

I kissed his cheek and handed Brianna to him, "Hey Rick. How is everything?"

He sighed and looked pointedly at my sister, "Tiring." She giggled when he kissed Brie's nose. He pointed down the hall with his head, "Aiden's sleeping."

I nodded and smiled, making my way down the hall. I heard Rick yell, "Honey! Laila's here!"

Aiden lay in a sleeping ball in the guest bedroom. Already at eight years, every girl giggled when they passed him, blushing. His blonde, shaggy hair fell to his ears and his eyes, even though they were closed, were captivating…so must like Trent's: Brownish green, with specks of gold.

I sat on the bed, remembering back to the first time he called me his 'mommy'. He had asked me first though, if I could be his mommy and after some hesitation, I agreed. I remembered how he smiled so wide showing off his slightly crooked teeth. He said he just needed to find a daddy and we'd be a perfect family.

I smiled down on him, chuckling lightly. He'd grown up so fast.

He was just four inches shorter than me so I couldn't possibly be able to carry him.

Hating myself, I shook him gently, rousing him from his peaceful sleep. "Aiden," I called softly. "Aiden, it's time to go home."

His eyes opened and he blinked a couple of times, "What?"

"It's time to go sweetheart," I repeated, slowly rubbing his back.

"Mmmm mmm…okay." He swung his legs lazily over the side of the bed and yawned.

"Ready?" I asked, smiling down at his sleepy face. He nodded and walked out of the room, still half-asleep.

"Laila!" My mom said, happily. She enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug and I laughed.

"I just saw you earlier, ma."

"I know, I know." She stepped back and looked at Aiden who was yawning again. "Well, hello there sleepyhead."

He gave her a tired smile and tugged on my sleeve, leaning in closer to me, "Can we go home now?"

I chuckled and nodded, looking back toward my mom, "We're gonna head off, ma. I'll call you tomorrow." She nodded and kissed us both on the forehead.

"And the dinner for Danielle and Mitchell is in two days right?"

I nodded, "Yeah, it's at the Italian Restaurant on Lakeshore Drive."

"I'll see you then."

…………………………………

A/n: First chapter, getting things cleared up :) Review and I hope it was all right.