Phase (Phoebe Reede: The Untold Story #1) by Michelle Irwin Page A

held my breath as I waited for Mum’s reply.
    Mum sighed. “I’m not always going to be the bad guy, Dec, and it’s not fair of you to try and make me be. Besides, I think she needs this. It’s not going to hurt her.”
    “It could,” Dad said. “I mean, there are so many guns. And they drive like lunatics. And don’t even get me started about the muggers and rapists.”
    “She could walk across the street tomorrow and get hit by a bus.”
    “I don’t understand how you can be so blasé about this,” he groaned.
    I glanced around the corner just in time to see Mum move to sit in Dad’s lap. He opened his arms out to accommodate her straight away. Despite their disagreement, they weren’t fighting. Their natural, easy affection was something of a staple from my childhood and it comforted me to see it now.
    “It’s not blasé,” she said. “But we do have to realise she’s growing up. She’s not our little girl anymore, as much as we want her to be. If we put our foot down now, she’ll likely disappear as soon as she hits eighteen and we can’t stop her.”
    Dad rested his head against Mum’s heart. “I’m not ready to let her go.”
    Mum rested her cheek on the top of Dad’s head. “I don’t think either of us will ever be, but we can’t punish her for that. And we can’t deny her the chance to live her life to the fullest while she’s able to either.”
    They still hadn’t seen me. Tears pricked my eyes as I debated what to do. I could pretend I’d only just come down the stairs and ignore what I’d heard, crawl quietly back up the stairs and try to forget it, or confront it head-on.
    Pushing off the wall, I cleared my throat to announce my presence. One glance at my face no doubt revealed how much I’d heard. Instead of looking ashamed that she’d been caught talking to Dad about me, Mum simply opened her arms, leaving a space for me to join their embrace. I willingly stepped into her hold.
    “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m not trying to hurt you guys.”
    “I know, but it’s not easy watching your little girl grow up,” Dad said when I wrapped my arm around his back.
    “You know I’d stop if I could,” I said.
    He chuckled and the solemnity of the moment passed as we all seemed to reach a silent understanding.
    “So?” Mum prompted, releasing me from her hold.
    “She’s on board.”
    Mum and Dad both chuckled and I grinned at them. Now that it was actually happening, now that I was actually going to get a chance to explore me with no one else around, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and the crushing sensation in my chest had dissipated.
    “So, Dad, do you think you’d be able to get Audrey to book the tickets?” I asked.
    “So you’re not going to hack my emails and ask her to book tickets yourself this time?”
    “Well, I mean, I can do that if you think that’ll be easier,” I teased as I nudged him with my elbow.
    “I’ll do it,” Mum said. “At least that way I know I’ll get a copy of the itinerary.”
    Both Dad and I laughed. There had been far too many times we’d both forgotten to pass on details of our schedules. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Mum weren’t our manager as well and didn’t need the details to ensure we weren’t double-booked or hadn’t booked a flight out too early.
    Over the next half hour or so, the three of us sat around the table and worked out as many details as we could without having specific travel dates.
    The rest would have to wait until Monday.

 
     
     
    WITHIN TWO WEEKS, I had all of my paperwork organised and packed away and was waiting with Mum at the airport. Dad had stayed at home with everyone else. Before I’d left the house, I’d gone around and had teary goodbyes with all my siblings for most of the morning. The only ones unaffected were Brock and Nikki. Brock simply asked if he could have my computer if I died, and Nikki had mashed her teething rusk into my hair when I’d hugged her