Chain Reaction 2.25: Peace Offering

Emily

     I find Dad sitting at the table, and I have a seat in front of him.
     "I didn't like yelling at you the other day, Dad." I hope that with my almost-apology, this conversation can go in the direction I want. Drake is attending his grandfather's funeral, and I miss his snarky, funny, sarcastic, sympathetic self. He hopes we can go on an actual date next weekend, but that all depends on how this conversation goes.
     He sighs. 'May as well do this now' is written all over his face. "I don't know what to do, Emily. I want to respect your wishes, but I have a bad feeling about this in my gut. And I've learned to trust my gut."
     "What bad feeling? Maybe if you told me, I could allay your fears." TALK to me! We used to talk about everything!

     "I'm too afraid to tell you," he admits, finally opening up. I sit and patiently wait for him to continue. "It has to do with your mother and me and how we met and some things that happened, some of which I'm not proud of. And now I'm terrified that Karma will pay me back. I can't help but see the sick irony of finding myself on the other side of this."
     "What did you do to anger Karma, Daddy?"

     "Please don't ask that. I know it's not fair to ask you to trust me on blind faith, but it's not completely my story to tell. In the grand scheme of things, it's not horrible, but the second I saw you after you'd aged up, I worried."
     I try to soak in all he said and attempt to make sense of it. After I aged up? That's when everyone said I really look like Mom.

     "If you're that broken up about it, I won't ask." Did he do something to Uncle Alex and now thinks he's gonna get payback? "But you have to understand that I've decided to give dating Drake a try. And he doesn't want you to hate him for it."
     "It's just that he looks so much like his father, even more than you look like your mother." He looks me in the eyes, leaning forward a bit and resting his hands on the seat of the chair. "And there was a time I worried I'd lose her to him. For a year and a half, she lived with the Goths. They never outright adopted her, and it didn't take me long to figure out why."
    "Well, were you two dating? Didn't you trust her?"
    "I wasn't allowed to see her. Mortimer forbade it." Who? Oh yeah. Drake's grandfather, Uncle Alex's dad. He wouldn't allow Dad to see Mom?
    "Did you two go to the same school?" I ask, thinking that could be a way they could still see each other.

     "Emily, I am twelve years older than your mother."
     I let out a staggered breath. I'd never pondered their age difference. It was never a thing, never discussed. Wait. If Mom was a teen, then...
     "Oh. So that's why, um, Mr. Goth wouldn't let you see her?"
     "Alex's parents had hopes that he and Brielle would marry. They're the same age, and they'd been friends since childhood."
     "So... Is that what you see?" Suddenly, a possible explanation makes sense in a sad way. "Drake and I have been friends since childhood. We're the same age. I look like Mom and he looks like Alex." I refrained from calling him 'Uncle' Alex for Dad's sake.
     "You must think I'm crazy. Maybe I am, but yes, I see what might've happened. I know you're two different people, but after carrying this around for so long, I can't help but see red."
     "And why am I to stay away from Alex?" Dad's in a talking mood. I need to ask everything I can.

     "That's where Karma comes in. Your grandfather, your mother's dad, called me a sick bastard. But..." He pauses, looking like he's debating what he should say next. Finally, he lets out a snort. "Brielle says she won't speak to me unless I talk to you about this, and I can't think of any way to leave things out."
     "You hate yourself for falling in love with a teenager," I realize.
     "Putting it succinctly, yes." He leans forward in a jerk. "But I didn't know! Your mother had run away, and the night I met her, she lied about her age."
     "Mom ran away from home?" I'm shocked.
     "It doesn't make it right, but she had good reasons. Your grandfather would beat her. ... Please don't mention this to her. Don't bring up the ghosts of her past. It was devastate her if she knew you knew."
     "But what does this have to do with Alex?"
     His next words, judging from his facial expression, carry much weight: "I fear that I'll be paid back for what I did and that Alex will be the tool Karma uses."
     "Oh, Dad," I breathe, and I take my turn covering my face. So in that instance, I would be the teen and Alex would be the adult. Ugh! Dad! When will you realize he loves his wife?
     "This is the part where you tell me I'm crazy." He sounds resigned.
     "Yeah," I agree simply. Then, I realize the difficulty in what he just did. "But thank you, Dad, for telling me all this. At least now I understand."
     He stands up. "Come with me. I have a present for you, a kind of peace offering if you will."
     "Okay." I smile.

     "Wow, Dad," I say because my mouth won't form any further words. My jaw won't work for going slack at the sight of the expensive machine in the study.
     "It's the same model they use at Everton," he explains. Then, he takes a deep breath. "I won't try to ruin your relationship with Drake, even if it amounts to nothing but friendship in the end. I won't force you to stay away from his family. They love you like you're their own daughter."
      Tears prick my eyes. It's too good to be true.

     "Do you really mean that?"
     He nods, looking like he's about to cry. "Just don't forget who loved you first."

     I have my Daddy back.

-------------------------------------------
To readers that still remember everything from Gen 1:

Sorry for the rehashing longways instead of summarizing. I wanted to show exactly what Emily now knows.

Now for fun stuff:



Graham had a rough day at work.

Uh...

Aren't you already married to Brielle?

So crazy when this stuff happens.

How appropriate!

This is her first ever snow globe.






Click here to go to 2.26