What a mess! My two cents...
Henny: I'm sorry, but right now, I'm on Henny's side. This is all so much for her to take in. She's had to deal with the aftermath of Henry and all that came with that, her entire life. That meant, deal with what that meant as far as her very existence, her extended family, and even her mother. Vanessa says these things to Henny like she was some kind of spectator not affected by all of this. She watched her mother essentially withdraw from life because of the events surrounding her pregnancy, which affected her views about men and relationships. Henny is trying to piece all of this together and STILL deal with feelings of rejection by her father, and her grandparents. Also, the animosity and anger from her mother's family toward her father's family. Remember, these people are all still strangers that not only rejected her mother, but encouraged their son to have her life terminated; which in fact he went along with. Now, for her parents to get on with life, new baby/family and all, like everything is everything is a lot to ask right now considering its only been three months! She's grown and the hard work of growing up with her has been done. Its hard NOT to feel like an outsider right now.
Vanessa: I don't think she's looking at the big picture at the moment. The one constant I kept hearing from her is that she didn't want to be alone (her choice) and Henny was now grown. Her feelings (and Henry's) seemed to be the only ones in front of her at the moment. Maybe that's why she kept repeating that Henny is grown now. Meaning, her feeling no longer have to come first, exclusively. Maybe that ok, except for the fact that this has all been dumped on Henny. She spent Henny's whole life either avoiding, or downright refusing, to talk about Henry to her when the girl asked. Then, Henny does this bone marrow thing and discovers quite by accident, that this man is her father. Remembering still, at this point, little to no information fro her mother. So when Vanessa looks at Henny and says "you knew I loved your father, I told you that on New Year's," pardon Henny that she cant suddenly spin on a dime with that considering she couldn't even get the man's name out of her before! Vanessa mentioned that she could have seen Henny spending time with Henry's father as a betrayal, how? Vanessa slept with Henry and told Henny she needed to get over it because Henry, her true love, is back! All Henny felt, and still feels, is confused by this very abrupt change in behavior. Wondering when all this happened. On its face, the only thing Henny could conclude was that Vanessa forgave and forgot what they all (including Henry because he did go along with it, nom atter the reasons) had done to her, so if Vanessa did, her reaching out to them shouldn't bother her mother either. Now, it amazes me that Vanessa can't see how the news of this engagement and pregnancy, in the face of how she's behaved and the things she said and not said to Henny throughout her life, bothers Henny. Why wouldn't this make her feel like an outsider? Her mother is still young enough, pregnant again by her only love, going to marry him, and have a nice little family life with their new baby. This child will have everything Henny was denied. That may not be altogether fair on Henny's part, but what do you want from her. She's the only truly innocent victim here. All Vanessa sees is Henry and her second shot, and thats all thats driving her now. Whether her behavior and sudden attitude shift is a complete mystery to her daughter, is not entering in the equation now; because Henny is the one being irrational here. Vanessa said that because she already knew how Henny was going to react.
Henry: I see his heart in the matter, but he's only thinking about himself here, once again. All these I'm sorrys after the fact from him are getting tired. He needs to think about what hell he's doing. How the hell can he tell Henny its all ok and she'll always be his first-born when he didn't even know she existed until three months prior. It all isn't going to be instantly ok because he says so. He doesn't know Henny like that yet to make that claim. All of this is being sumped on her and she just has to roll with the punches, I guess. He's making up for lost time, assuaging his guilt, and getting a new baby all at once. Win-win for him, and thats all he sees. Nevermind the first baby may still need a little more time with all of them right now. This is all happening at lightening speed!
Whew!! Good stuff!
Author's Response: Flikchik: I love your reviews because you always see the situation from all sides and it sets a fire to my muse and sometimes even bring to my attention things I've overlooked. I just love it. LOL
Everything you said about Henny is true. It is so confusing for her even if she is 22. It has been her and her mother for 22 years and yes she's seen her mother withdrawn and pineing for Henry even though she didn't know who Vanessa was pineing for. Now things are coming together for them but not for her. She doesn't feel that its been enough time for her to adjust to having a father in her life and now she's going to have a sibling too.
For Vanessa, she feels guilty about what happened on New Years even though she knew that she instigated the whole sex thing. She feels guilty about wanting Henry still, but that doesn't stop her from indulging in her lustful desires. She wants what she wants and she tells Henny that she's grown now to soothe her guilty conscious. She knew how Henny was going to react. She knew, even though Henry didn't.
As for Henry, he wants it all. He wants Vanessa, Henny and this baby. He wants his family. Is he going to get it? I don't know. He keeps saying he's sorry because he doesn't know what else to say or to do. He wants it all to come together, but its not happening at all like he hoped. He thought that Henny and his father talking was a step in the right direction, but now he sees it all slipping away.
He had backed off from Vanessa and was concentrating on working on his relationship with Henny but it was Vanessa who called him and told him that they could began to see each other again because Henny was bonding with Henry. She knew that she was pregnant and that was the real reason why she told him that, because she was scared. Henry was going to stay away from her and work on his relationship with Henny.
It is a royal mess for sure. More is coming and keep those reviews coming to help my muse figure things out.
