Hope

[Ollie]

I think I have met my perfect soul mate. I didn't need Cody, all he did was drag me down. Zach certainly made me forget about all the pain and depression I felt back in Sunset Valley. I loved Zach.



Yep, my past was the past and life was good now.



The next morning, a surprised came along with a door knock.



So off I went to see whom it may be.



To my surprise, it was Cody!


"Hi... Gracie, I received something in the mail not too long ago for you, so here I am to deliver it." Cody and I were both nervous and anxious in our own ways. "Anyway, seeing as I was in town, I was just wondering if I could also pay a little visit to Cherry."
"Umm, I don't think now is the best of times, how about another day?" I attempted to push him away in a very edgy tone.
"Gracie, babe, I'm sorry that I broke up with you, but the past is behind us, right?" Cody tried to get me on his side. "Look, this may come as a shock to you, but while we were apart, I got with another girl, we had a child, I thought my life was good, but it all wasn't quite right without you."


"WHAT?! I think you should leave." I was becoming more angry and aggravated by the minute.
"I'm sorry, but I broke up with that girl, the past is the past and I have realised now that I was an idiot and I love you."
"Look Cody, I really think you should leave."
"Please forgive me, I'm sorry." He began to start putting his hands around me and shoved me up against the wall. I screamed for help as he continued to try and smooth talk me.



Thank god Zach came running in to my aid.



Zach pulled Cody away from me and they began an epic fight for my love. It was kind of romantic, but also frightening at the same time.



Zach stood proudly as the winner of this fight as Cody struggled to get back up on his two feet.



After getting up, Cody shoved a letter at me and limped away saying, "Enjoy your crappy letter from your stupid father."


"My father?" I yelled back confused as hell but got no reply as Cody had stumbled off my lot.

"I'm really sorry Zach, but I think you should go," I told Zach trying not to sound angry or annoyed. "I'll call you later, ok?"



I sat down at my desk prepared for whatever the letter may contain.





"Hello Gracie Hope,
It's David, your father. I have written this letter to both apologise and inform you about the truth. I'm sorry that I put you through all this pain and misery, I truly am. Now the for the truth, I don't know where to start. I guess I should start when I was young. Back in the day I was abused by my father. I was abused, a lot. I feel ashamed to admit is, but it is true. It was so bad that my mother had to flee the house, she tried to take me with her, but my dad didn't let her.
Eventually I managed to flee the hell hole, I had to spend days on the streets walking along the side of a road hoping to find a better life in a new town. One day a group of thugs began to bash me just outside of Sunset Valley. I ended up waking up with no knowledge of who I was. I was dazed and confused filled with amnesia and forming the name David Hope. As days passed on the streets of Sunset Valley, I secretly started to remember where I came from and who I was, piecing the puzzle together. I couldn't tell anyone the truth, I never wanted to see my Dad again, I was better off on the street than in his house.
Days in Sunset Valley turned in to weeks and I met you mother, Jamie. Our relationship had its ups and downs before I learnt of her debt to the criminal underworld. She ended up having to sell her house and move in to a tent with me. Eventually she fell pregnant with Theodore and I had saved up my own little amount of money to buy a small cabin, but Jamie still had a little debt to the criminals.
Not too long after Theodore became a child and having you as our second child, he went missing, which tore our family apart. Days went passed with rumours spreading around town and still no sign of Theodore until I went through Jamie's phone in secret. I dug through your mothers messages and discovered that Jamie was in contact with a man and it appeared as if Jamie had given Theodore to him. It was then I joined the dots and figured out that Theodore wasn't my child. I was too embarrassed to go to the police. I tried teaching you to talk to get the affair that Jamie had out of my mind. It didn't work so I tried to walk it off. When I came back I was in too much distress, there was only one way to get the events out of my mind. I shot her, I shot and Killed Jamie Hope, I'm sorry. All this did was bury me in a more deep and sadistic place. I literally made myself believe that I didn't kill her, but instead Jamie killed herself. I believed my own BS tales. The only other people who knew the truth were criminals who had corrupt cops in their contacts, and considering Jamie's large debt they made sure I wasn't put behind bars.
Months had passed with you growing up with an absent mother when I suddenly received unexpected mail. There had been a corruption eruption with Sunset Valley's police department and a new investigation in to the death of your mother and the disappearance of your brother and of course they found the truth with a clear letter saying that I was due in court. In the end I was forced to fake my death with my criminal contacts that I had and leave town for good with only one place to go to, my mother. I had come in contact with her not long after Jamie's death, but unfortunately soon after I arrived she died of natural causes.
I never saw Theodore or my father ever again. I'm sorry I wasn't a better Father and I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you. Good-bye.
I'm sorry,
David Hope."

There was also a photo of himself that came with the letter.



Well... I didn't know what to think and/or feel. I kept telling myself my past is the past, but it just keeps catching up with me. One thing that I found kind of ironic was the fact that, although I didn't like it, he did have his own quirky little style going on, just like when I was a teen.
Still I had no feelings. All I had was numbness which shrouded my body from head to toe.



After locking myself in my room all day and all night, restlessly thinking over what I had read, I wiped it from my mind and moved on, today was a new day, I remembered what I had told myself while I was on my way to University for the first time not too long after Cherry was born, I was focusing on the future, not the past.



Zach and I got back together after that awful day. I asked him to move in for "added security" and he accepted.



His cat also joined the family.



To keep my mind busy I allowed Cherry to have a cute little sleep-over.



We also installed a small (and really bad looking) barn for our horse, Duncan.



I think he likes it.



Charles seemed to be getting a little old.



Who the hell is this guy? And why on earth is he jumping on my trampoline?



I've never noticed before, but I fit quite perfectly under Duncan.



A couple of days had passed since that odd letter and now I was in for another surprise.


Apparently I was going to court fighting for custody of my dear girl, Cherry. Cody has really done it this time.