Chapter 11 The Letter
*Heather’s POV*
“Uncle Dave you really didn’t have to throw me a bachelorette party today.”
“Yes I did. You have to have a bachelorette party! Besides Diane insisted that you had one too. She paid for half of it.”
We pulled into the parking lot of one of my favorite restaurants and before we got out of the car I asked, “You didn’t hire me a stripper did you?”
“Heather!” he scolded. “You ruined the surprise!”
“Uncle Dave!” I slapped his arm.
“Honey calm down. I promise I did not hire a stripper for you and neither did your friends or sister I promise. We got you another piece of eye candy.”
“What?”
“You’ll find out after brunch now come on the girls are waiting and I’m starving.”
As we were eating we just sat and talked. It was nice and exactly what I wanted. Well I really wanted to go to a BSB concert for my bachelorette party but I wasn’t able to get tickets. Even though the This Is Us tour was finished the Boys were putting on a special VIP Acoustic show in NYC and there were a limited amount of tickets. The tickets were all sold out by the time I even found out about the concert. But I was content with eating at my favorite restaurant reminiscing with my friends, Uncle Dave and Diane.
When we were finished Kelshie handed me an envelope.
“What’s this?”
“Just open it.”
“You guys did not get me tickets for tonight’s BSB show?!”
“Yes we did,” Melina answered.
“We’ll we got a little help from Kalie and Nick,” Jess added.
“That’s awesome! Thank you guys!”
“Oh don’t thank us yet,” Carly said. “We are going to meet Kalie at the venue and wait until you see where she reserved seats for us.”
“Have a fun time honey and don’t forget to wear this,” Uncle Dave said putting a bride sash on me and a tiara.
“Thanks Uncle Dave,” I chuckled.
“Come on let’s go before we’re late,” Kelshie grabbed my wrist and dragged me out the door with the rest of my Backstreet Buds and my sister.
“Thanks for brunch Uncle Dave and Diane!” I called out.
“It was our pleasure sweat heart,” Diane responded.
To make a long story short when we got to the venue Kalie was waiting for us with one of BSB’s body guards and they escorted us right to the front row before anyone else was allowed in. But the best part was during the show when they sang Drowning, I was serenaded on stage. It was funny too because they pretended that they had no clue who I was even though they all knew me pretty well.
“Oh hey we have a bride to be in the audience tonight!” AJ pointed out. “Congratulations.”
“So this is you bachelorette party?” Brian asked.
I nodded my head and smiled.
“Well we don’t put on that kind of show,” Howie said.
“Who said we didn’t?” Nick said then started to pull off his shirt like he was a stripper.
I laughed then screamed, “Oh hell yeah take it off!”
“Now we know who your favorite is,” AJ said.
“But I love all of you,” I replied.
“That changes things then. Come on up here,” Brian said extending his hand. Nick took my other hand and they escorted me to a stool in the middle of the stage.
They sang Drowning perfectly and I absolutely loved it! I mean how many other brides to be can say that they were serenaded by their favorite band the night before their wedding?
After the song ended Nick kissed my hand and handed me a rose.
“Thanks fellas.”
“You’re welcome. Just don’t think about that performance too much on your wedding night,” Nick chuckled.
I laughed again, “I’ll try not to. Although that was pretty unforgettable.”
Once the show was over Kalie took us back stage to hang out with the fellas for a little bit.
“I must say that was pretty good acting Boys.”
“Thanks we kind of threw it all together on the spot,” Howie answered.
“Are you excited for tomorrow though?” Brian asked.
“I am. I haven’t seen Rich all day and I can’t wait to see him tomorrow.”
“We will be there.” Nick smiled at me.
“It’ll be fun. My Uncle Dave knows how to throw a good party.”
“You are so lucky your uncle is David Tutera,” Kalie commented.
“He’s very special to me. I never really knew my father and he’s been the greatest and only father figure in my life. He wouldn’t let me get another wedding planner.”
“Well there’s not a lot of father figures who would plan a wedding for their little girl period,” Kalie said.
“That’s true.”
We stayed for a little longer talking but my mind was somewhere else.
I hadn’t told anyone about it but I received a letter from my father that morning. At first I wanted to put a match to it but I read it. I don’t know why I did because I despise that man. He left us when I was only 5 and my sister was 7.
He abused my mom and the both of us can remember the horrible things he said to her and how gruff he always was around us, especially me. He only wanted one daughter, not two. The doctor told my parents I was a boy but to my mom’s joy and dad’s dismay I turned out to be a girl.
My sister was a smart kid, even as a toddler and she never liked my dad. My mom never let him get close to me and he was never around while I was growing up. He spent most of his time driving an 18 wheeler across the country and when he came back he would spend most of his time in the local bar. He would come home drunk and beat my mom. Once, when Stephanie was six and I was four, she grabbed me by the hand and hid us in a closet. She had taken our mom’s cell phone and dialed 911 telling the dispatcher that, “A very bad man is hurting my Mommy and my sister and I are hiding in a closet” and rattled of our address. From that point on my dad hated Stephanie too because he was tattled on by a six year old. A few months after that on the morning of my 5th birthday he left. Steph and I shared a room at the time and we had both woken up before mom came to wake us up for school. We were about to go down stairs when we heard our parents arguing. Stephanie held her hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t talk.
I can’t remember the entire conversation but I do remember him screaming, “Heather was supposed to be a boy! I never wanted a second daughter! I’m going to find someone who can actually give me a son Avery! Tell the girls that daddy’s gone for good and never coming back!” With that he slammed the door and we could hear our mom start to sob.
She came up the stairs to find us standing just outside the door.
“How much of that did you two hear?” she never covered anything up when he fought with her unless we weren’t around to hear it.
“All of it,” Steph replied.
Mom crouched down and almost started crying again. Stephanie put her little hand on her shoulder and said, “Mommy don’t cry because of him. We don’t need him. We never did and he’s gone now so we don’t have to worry about him anymore.”
She brought my sister into her arms and replied, “You’re right Stephanie. We have each other,” she brought me into the group hug then finished, “And that’s all we’ll ever need.”
When I was about 17 he showed up again and made my mom go crazy. He forced his way into the house and fought with her. She finally snapped and fought back. That night she was admitted into the hospital and the next day she was admitted into the mental hospital. Diane was appointed as our legal guardian because Uncle Dave at the time didn’t have enough money to move back to New Jersey right away. Mom died the next year a few months after I turned 18. On my 18th birthday Diane, Stephanie, Uncle Dave, Mom and I went horseback riding. It was the last ride with my mom before her health failed. None of us had ever heard from or seen my father since that night he was taken away by police and my mom was brought to the hospital. But yet the day of my engagement party I get a letter from him saying how much he misses me and how sorry he was that he was never a part of my life and how he wanted to start over by walking me down the aisle.
I didn’t respond to the letter. I just crumpled it up and threw it away. Rich had already gone to his friend’s house for his bachelor party so I was by myself with the Pups. I took them all for a long walk to get my mind off of that damn letter. As I walked I listened to my iPod so I could escape into my Backstreet Bubble. Their harmonies and the songs I loved were making me feel better until Sincerely Yours by AJ McLean played in the playlist of both BSB and solo songs. I stopped and sat on a park bench when the song came on and just buried my face in my hands. Shep knew that I was crying so he placed his paw on my knee and whined. Hunter jumped on the bench beside me and Lacey jumped up on the other side. I was glad no one else was in the park because I hated when people saw me cry, especially over my dad who I hated. I hadn’t thought about that letter all day until now.
And just my luck he was waiting for me outside of the venue. I didn’t even recognize him. But Stephanie did.
I didn’t even recognize him. But Stephanie did.
“What the fuck are you doing here?!”
“Hello Stephanie. I’m glad to see you too.”
“Get away from us.”
“I wanted to apologize.”
“Apology not excepted and never will be.”
“So I guess that means I’m not invited to the wedding tomorrow?”
“Fuck no!”
“Is there a problem here ladies?” a police officer patrolling the streets pulled up next to my sister and I.
“If you can please escort this man away from us it would be greatly appreciated. He’s breaking the restraining order we have against him.”
“I forgot about that little slip of paper,” our stranger father said.
Just like the last time we saw him he was escorted away from us by the police.
“I know what you are thinking,” my sister put her arm around me, “He is not going to show up tomorrow. I’ll make sure of it. That little piece of paper won’t let him get anywhere near us.”
“Uncle Dave would kick his ass anyway if he tried.”
That made my sister chuckle and I lightened up a little.
