Liam Wilde was a lot of things. He was a business owner. He was a son. He was a brother. But the last thing he thought he would ever be was a father, so how did he end up as one?
Raised by a single hard working mother, Liam learned how to care for himself and his little sister Scarlett as soon as he learned to work a microwave. His father left before his sister was even born and never heard of him since. His up-bringing, though full of pockets of love and kindness, was the reason why he vowed to never have children of his own. What kind of parent thinks its okay to abandon his kids? A shitty one. He loved his family but the second he turned eighteen, Liam was out the door and living in a different state. Being raised surrounded by women made Liam kind and charming, but it always made him resentful and distant at times. He moved out to California where he began working at a coffee shop where he found his passion. He spent years honing his skills and eventually had plans for his own cafe. Life was simple in California and he had everything he needed. His relationship with his mother was distant, as with his sister. It was often missed calls or missed birthdays and eventually the phone stopped ringing.
Until one day when it did. A phone call from his mother changed everything. His sister was dying. Two days later he was on a plane to his hometown; Providence Peak The only good thing to come from the news was that he finally got to meet his niece. Almost three and a spitting image of her mother, Emmaline was sunshine and wildflowers. Liam had a few amazing months with his sister and niece. They often binged on movies and snuck in pizza. Liam got to know his sister again and never left her side. She told him about her life in Providence and how she wanted to own a flower shop, and he told her about the girls he’s dated. Life was simple for a while. She passed in her sleep that summer.
After the funeral he had planned to move back and on with his life but fate and his sister had something different planned. In her will, Scarlett named Liam as Em’s guardian. Her father never wanted to step up and in the letter she left she wrote: “To my protector, I give you the most important thing to me” At first he attempted to pass the young girl on to his mother, after all she had helped raise her and she was comfortable with her. But his mother was on the same page as Scarlett which really pissed him off. Was he just supposed to leave the life he took ten years to create, just to take care of a kid? --- what did he know about kids? ---- he didn’t even want any of his own.
He never understood why she chose him but she did and a few weeks later he found an apartment in University Heights for the two of them. Emmaline was struggling with losing her mother and Liam didn’t want to move her to California just to make it harder for the girl. Her whole life was in Providence. It wasn’t long until Liam found a building in downtown where he decided to start up the plans for his cafe. It might not be where he was envisioning it but sometimes the vision of your life changes. And sometimes it’s just…. Good.
