"Everything Happens For a Reason."

"Daddy! You're home!" Leah screamed as she jumped and ran into his open arms. "I've missed you so much, you just have no idea." She complained. "Pumkin, you know I can't stay away from you for too long. But I am a truck driver. It's my job to travel to different states. Don't be sad, angel. I'm home now." He smiled warmly at her and wrapped her into a giant bear hug. Leah was used to her father being gone for multiple periods of time. She had heard the truck driver lecture thousands of times but she still wished her dad could be like everyone else's and be able to come home every night for dinner. He was home maybe once every couple weeks, sometimes months. She was used to it but she still envied all her friends whose dads had normal jobs. "Leah, where is your mom?" Her dad asked, concern etching his already worn face. The wrinkles in his forehead creased with apprehension. "Oh, she's sleeping, Daddy. I've been doing homework since I got home from school about an hour ago. My friend Lexi is here! We're homework buddies!" Leah said with excitement. It was so much easier to get through fifth grade mathematics when she conferred her answers with the answers of her best friend. Leah and her father walked into the playroom where Lexi was sprawled on the floor, open textbooks and loose leaf paper scattered in a heaping pile. Lexi looked up curiously studying Leah's father. He was around Leah's house less than Lexi was! Leah gave her a stern look as if to say hey, that's my dad. Don't judge him, and Lexi looked immediately away ashamed. "Well, pumkin, I'm going to go, well, I mean...I'm just going to...check on your… uhm mom." He stuttered. Leah was taken aback. Something must be wrong. Her father looked as if he was contemplating some difficult decision and before Leah could ask, he got up and went into her mother's room. Just then, Leah's brother, Allen, entered the room. "Hey, loser." He said, as he came to hug his younger sister. "It's been awhile since I've seen your annoying face." She smiled and hugged Allen tight. He also went with their father over the road. Ever since he was sixteen, he'd been leaving for weeks on end. When he was home, he got into trouble a lot, and bickered constantly with his younger sisters. That's why he was sent with their father all the time. He behaved better. "Where is Sara?" Allen asked, referring to their younger sister. His eyes locked on Lexi and she quickly got up and made an excuse to go home. Leah hugged her goodbye and then led Allen to the kitchen, where Sara was making a snack. "Allen!" Sara squealed with delight seeing her older brother. "Hey there, princess. Can I have some of that?" He asked, referring to the hot pocket in the microwave, as he rummaged through the fridge to find more food. It amazed Leah how much Allen could eat. He ate at least ten times a day and still always seemed to complain that he was starving. She smiled to herself, happy to have her brother and father home, while wondering how long it was going to last this time. Just then, she heard the sound of her mother's door closed and she looked to see her father coming out with a single suitcase. Leah's blissful expression dropped to sadness. He had to leave again and he hadn't even been home twenty minutes. She felt as if she was about to cry. She was supposed to be daddy's little girl. How was she going to possibly fulfill that responsibility if he was constantly leaving her behind? "Pumkin, I'm going away for a little while," he began. She knew the routine. He'd be back soon. "You take good care of your sister and I promise your mom will be alright eventually. I love you so much. Never forget that, sweetie. You'll always be my little girl." And with that, he gave her a kiss on her forehead and left her in the middle of the kitchen, very sad. Although, she was sad that she wouldn't see her dad for a couple weeks, she cheered up when she found Oreos blasted ice-cream in the freezer. She figured she'd share some with her mom. Mama was probably lonely too. As she approached her mother's room though, she heard an awful, heart-wrenching sound. It was her mother...crying. She dropped the carton of ice-cream as she ran to her mother's side, begging her mom to be alright and be happy. "Mama. Mama. What happened? What's wrong? It's okay. I'm here. I'm here." Leah comforted her mom as she sobbed into the nook of Leah's shoulder. "It's your father." Her mother said in between sobs. Her body was shaking with unshed tears. "He left. He left me." She uttered. "I know, mama. But it's okay! He'll be back, silly. He has to leave for his job, remember? Wow, you made me think something really bad was happening. I was just bringing in ice-cream to share when I heard you crying..." Leah continued rambling, relieved to find out her mother was being emotional over something so simple. "No!" Her mom interrupted, shouting and scaring her. "Your father left us. He isn't coming back. There's another woman he's in love with. He doesn't want us anymore." She said the last sentence as another round of sobs shook her entire body. Leah's arms immediately dropped from her mother's side. A million questions were running through her mind but the only thing she could think clearly was "He doesn't want us anymore." She repeated that foreign sentence again and again in her head, trying to make sense out of a complicated situation. Her heart felt crushed. She felt like she could barely breathe. So, she did the only thing she could think of to do. She ran. She ran out of her house, and down her cul-de-sac street, through the woods that her father always cautioned her about entering, and past her elementary school. She ran so hard and so fast that by the time she stopped she thought she was going to die. She couldn't breathe. Her life was fixing to change forever. Daddy's little girl didn't want his pumkin anymore. How would she ever survive?
Late that night, Leah finally stumbled home. She had shed so many tears for her absent father over the years, it was unbelievable. But now, nothing would be the same. Her mother and father were separating and to a ten year old girl, that feels like the absolute worst thing imaginable. She wrapped her tired arms around her body and hugged herself as she took a hot shower, watching the water droplets cascade down her body. She climbed out of the shower and into bed, praying that she would wake up and everything would be alright. What’s going to happen next? She idly wondered just as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
                          Five Months Later…
Knock, knock! “Come in!” Leah yelled, figuring it was her sister complaining that she was hungry. Every day since their father had left, they had been struggling with bills. Their money was dwindling and their mother refused to leave the house, except when she was forced to. Every morning on the car ride to school, their mother would play the radio and sob. They almost got into a multitude of car crashes because the tears blurred their mother’s eyesight. When Leah mentioned that to their mom though, she always got the same response. “I wish we were all dead. Our lives are over anyways.”  The words frightened Leah but she didn’t show it. She hadn’t shown emotion in months. She had to be strong for Sara and her mom. She felt like she had to take care of them. Leah’s bedroom door clicked open, pulling her away from her thoughts. “Hey, pumkin!” Her dad said, standing in the doorway. Leah’s face dropped. For months she had tried calling her dad. Every night she cried herself quietly to sleep wondering why her dad no longer wanted her. It had been five months, to the exact day, since she had seen her father. All of a sudden, she felt as if she might start crying. The ice she had put around her heart began to melt, as her father pulled her into an embrace. ‘Daddy.” Leah whispered. “You have no idea how hard it has been. I’ve missed you so much!” She held herself tightly to her father’s neck as they went into the kitchen. She immediately noticed that the car keys were missing from their usual spot on the hook and noted that her mother’s door was open. Sara was nowhere in sight. Mom had taken her somewhere and Leah immediately tensed, knowing that their mom lately hadn’t been careful on the roads. “So,” Leah’s dad said, once again interrupting her thoughts. “I have some pretty exciting news!” Leah grinned from ear to ear. She had a feeling that her mom and dad were finally getting back together. The past five months they could all put behind them and just pretend it never happened. They could be one big happy family again and everything would be alright. “How would you like to be in a wedding?” Allen asked, interrupting their father, who immediately glared at him. “Dad’s getting married.” He finished, with a shrug. Leah was overwhelmed with joy! Not only were her parents getting back together but they were having another wedding! She had missed the first one because she hadn’t been born yet. But she had seen all the pretty pictures. She was immediately excited. “Can we buy dresses? And flowers? And a pretty cake with the little bride and groom figures on top?” She pleaded, looking into her father’s eyes. “Uhm, of course.” He responded, stunned with her reaction to the situation. “And I want new shoes. Maybe mommy could just wear her old wedding shoes for your wedding again, but I definitely want new shoes.” She said with enthusiasm. This time, her father’s face dropped. “No, pumkin. I’m not getting back with your mom. I’ve sort of…met someone else that I really really love and I hope that you can be a part of our wedding,” he said. “You can still have all the other things you just said that you wanted. It’s just that I’m not getting married to your mom. That’s the only difference.” He finished, looking hopeful that Leah wouldn’t be upset. But Leah was devastated. She wanted to throw a tantrum on the floor like she used to do when she was a little girl. She wanted to hit her father and scream for all the chaos he was putting their family through. But she didn’t. She said with a flat voice “I will not be a part of your wedding. You left. You left mom. But you also left us. I haven’t seen you in five months and to be quite honest, I never want to see your face again.” And with that she stood up and walked from the kitchen into her bedroom and tightly shut the door. Never again would she let anyone get to her like that. Never again would she trust another guy. Never again would anyone but her be responsible for her happiness. She made a resolution that day, as she heard her father’s red Dodge truck pull out of the driveway, that from now on, she would be the man of the house. She would take care of her mother and her sister and everything would be okay. She was no longer daddy’s little girl. “But you know what?” Leah muttered to herself. “Everything happens for a reason