Page 10 of Losing Faith

I shrug in return.

She takes my phone and I sit in silence as she puts a song on, keeping the volume low.

It isn’t until I’m parking in front of my apartment that she turns to me. “I’m supposed to hang out with Mom again next week.” She watches my reaction carefully, but I don’t give her one.

Ana has custody of her, but Harmony insists on bonding with her mom. If this is what she wants, I’m not going to let my relationship with her get in the way.

“Is she sober?”

She shakes her head gently. “She’s on and off.”

I hold back a bitter laugh. “There is no on and off with her, babe. Don’t get your hopes up. She’s either on or trying to be off and failing.” I know I sound hypocritical since I’m also struggling with my addiction, but I’m not the one who had three little girls begging for her attention andstillhas one daughter who wants her in her life.

Harmony’s eyes dull slightly as she looks down at my phone. I follow her line of sight to my home screen of a picture of Sire and me with the twins.

“Who’s birthday was it?” Harmony has a small smile on her face as she stares at the four of us around a cake.

“It was mine and Sire’s first soberversary.”

She steals a glance at me, a somber smile on her face. “How old were you?”

“Fourteen.”

She nods as she looks between me and the picture. “How are you doing?”

I know what she’s asking, but I don’t answer as I study her. I was just four years younger than she is now when I started using drugs to cope. As my eyes roam her gentle features, I can’t help but think she’s too pure to belong to the family she was born into.

I’m flawed beyond repair. Ana is filled with too much hate to feel an ounce of happiness. Her parents are a piece of shit, but Harmony… She’s perfect. She’s so understanding and too forgiving. She’s bubblier than my sister Sage, which I didn’t think was possible. A part of me understands why Ana doesn’t want her bonding with me.

“Your sobriety I mean,” she clarifies when I don’t answer.

“I know what you meant, baby girl.” I muster a smile. “I’m six months sober.”

Her entire face lights up. “That’s so good!” Her smile nearly lights up my car and I can’t help but smile in return.

“And how are you and Sire?”

My smile grows at her great memory or maybe she just pays attention to me which is refreshing.

When she reached out to me, Sire and I were still silently fighting over some harsh words that were exchanged a few years ago. We were close, but there was a tear between us for a while.

“We’re good,” I voice. “Ever since he apologized to me earlier this year we’ve been good. It’s like a weight is off my shoulder having him back.” I shake my head at my words. “He was never gone, but we weren’t talking to each other about our sobriety—now we do.”

She watches me and slowly, her smile drops. “You talk about him like he really is your brother.”

“He is.” My brows slightly furrow at her words as a short laugh escapes me.

She nods softly before she musters up a smile. “Do you think I could ever be a sister to you?” She glances down at my phone again. “Like you are with your other sister?”

I glance down at my phone and my eyes immediately land on Sage’s bright smile as she slides a finger full of frosting across my cheek.

“No one can compare to Sage, but you can get a close second.” I shove Harmony’s shoulder and she lets out a laugh in return. “You have nearly eighteen years to catch up on though, so don’t get your hopes up.”

She rolls her eyes at me as we step out of the car, but I don’t miss her hopeful smile.

Chapter Four

Lisette

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