A/N: Sorry for the whiplash with all the pov changes this chapter. I'm trying to fit everything in so that I can get to generation 4, and little things keep coming to me that I wanna include.
And please forgive my lazy white balance issues in the middle. :)
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(still Darrin)
"Okay?" I ask Charlotte since she seems to be the one to tell us whatever it is that she and Jarvis talked about.
She pauses. "Well, now I don't know how to start it."
Jarvis takes over.
"It has something to do with what you said to Grandma on Winterfest."
I think back to that conversation and smile nervously. "Yeah. I have no idea why she said that."
"Said what?" he asks.
"Oh. I thought you were talking about that."
"Not really, but now I wanna know."
Mike chirps up. "Grandma said Darrin looked hot." He laughs and wraps his arm across my shoulders.
"Good to know!" Jarvis laughs. "But no, it was something else."
"He said it to me," Charlotte says, acting like she's remembering.
"You said something about wishing you and Mike could have a baby, part him, and part you."
Mike's head snaps over to me. I've never actually told him this. "Darrin?"
I look at him. "Don't worry about it," I say quietly. What is she getting at?
"Well, I worried about it," she says, bringing the attention back to her. "And I figure I'm one of the closest things you're going to get to Michael." She grins. "And I'm certainly good at being pregnant."
"Nope. Not joking." She smiles.
I look over at Jarvis, who is also smiling, knowing he married the most selfless person on the planet. I also look at Mike, who is also smiling. "I'm sorry for not talking to you."
He leans over and kisses me. "I wish you had, but I understand why. And I think it's wonderful."
We start working out the details, it all feeling like a dream.
I've been away at a convention (total waste of my time, by the way), and I'm going over Isabella's report. How did I get along without her? She doesn't need that class she's taking. She'd told me she was good with numbers, but wow.
"So how was the convention?"
I missed her. I was gone for just three f--king days, and I missed her! I was looking forward to seeing her tomorrow, assuming she'd gone home to that as*wipe husband of hers, when she comes in here looking plumbing edible.
Her eyes narrow. "Because Kade can stuff it."
She's gorgeous when she's angry. Is this what it was like for Graham with Brielle? No wonder he worshiped her. "What happened?" I ask.
"Well, plum if I know because all I can see is what's in front of me. Maybe you could help me figure it out."
"Surely not." Ugh! Why am I DEFENDING Kade? ... Because that's what the good guys do! I answer myself.
She smiles, but she still looks calculating. "You see? This is why I come to you with stuff. You help me think more clearly. I, um, I guess I tend to get carried away."
I get to Mom's and explain everything. She sets up a bedroom for each of us, putting me in my old one.
Benjamin cries himself to sleep. It breaks my heart.
Even though I can hear how Kade would work this into his earlier argument, I text Braydon.
The person I'm guessing is 'Akito' has a smaller man pinned against the wall, raised up and being choked. "You hear that, Dwight?" he asks. "It's your lucky day. The boys here wanna f--k your ass."
"Hey!" I yell out.
Braydon
Plumbobs, Isabella is smart. She really doesn't give herself enough credit.
I notice pink in my peripheral vision. That's her token color. I tense.
Then I quickly close the window I was looking at. She always acts stressed when she catches me 'going behind her back' to look at her work. It's not that I'm doing that. Plum, I'm just trying to study.
She's not worn that shirt before. Damn, I do not need to be fantasizing about that zipper. Graham would come back from the grave and bash my teeth in right now if he knew what I was thinking about his daughter. His married daughter.
"A colossal waste of my time," I reply with a smirk. She has her hair in that bun... thing... she does. I like it. She looks sophisticated, totally out of my league. And I love how the little tendril things frame her face.
She giggles. "Aw, c'mon. I'm sure it wasn't that bad. There was probably something you picked up and don't really realize it yet."
I have a huge office. Honestly, it's really too big, and I hardly use it compared to me just working my trainer role. I could've set up a space in here for her to use instead of shoving her in that closet. But it's bad enough when I go to visit her there, so here would be outright torture. I can't avoid my office, but that's what would happen if I knew she were in it, looking perky and perfect.
"Yeah, maybe." I seriously need to find someone else, date someone, get Isabella out of my head. "So how come you're not at home?" I ask, hoping it doesn't sound rude. I decide to get up and walk around the desk.
"Whoa." Don't get me wrong, that time I met the guy did not leave a favorable impression on me. Whether or not he saw how attracted I am to his wife, he immediately gave me the stink eye and acted possessive. It made me wonder if he was like that with everyone or just me.
"Yeah. It's his night off, so I'm forcing him to spend it with Ben." Venom drips off her tongue.
"I'd thought he was doing much better at that." Honestly, I don't know why Kade doesn't want to spend more time with his son; he's a great kid. He has a witty sense of humor, especially one for someone his age. He probably got his brains from his mom.
"That's the impression I was getting too. But I was wrong."
"I got home a little earlier than usual day before yesterday, and I found him asleep on the couch with Benjamin playing on his phone upstairs in his room. When I talked to Ben, he said that's what Kade would usually do. It was only right before I got home that he would act like he wanted to talk to him." Her lip trembles. "And what's worse, Ben acted like it didn't matter to him one way or the other! His own father's made him apathetic about a relationship with his parent!"
I think Graham and Brielle spoiled Isabella. Not that I blame them. She was the late baby; they had more time to devote to her. That gave her the notion that the only kind of good parenting is the kind she witnessed. Not that it's bad to be that way, but she gets upset if Kade doesn't agree with her.
"Surely it's not that bad. Maybe there are other reasons behind it."
No, I'd rather you divorce him, I think before I can catch myself. Dammit! I am NOT a home wrecker! Yes, I really do need to date someone--and not Isabella. "Maybe they just don't, uh, have things in common?" Yeah, like one's a dumbass and the other's a brilliant, funny kid.
"But they DO! Benjamin LOVES music. You'd think Kade would be all over that, but I almost get the feeling he discourages him away from it. I don't know, maybe he thinks he's 'saving' him from the frustration he's dealing with, but the entire Love family is musical. It's in his genes. His great-great-great-something grandmother was Baby Love. Ever heard of her? She was a famous jazz singer."
"Uh, maybe? I mean she sounds familiar." I pause. "Well, maybe you're right. Maybe Kade is trying to save him from the harsh music world."
"That or he's jealous."
But Isabella looks like she's had an epiphany. "No, I think that's it. He's jealous!" She looks at my expression. "You don't understand. That kid has the voice of an angel. I caught him singing one day, and I wanted to cry it was so beautiful." Her face twists in rage. "He's jealous of his own son! He just sees him as competition. That jackass!" She starts muttering to herself how she's going to talk to Ben about going to record labels, making SimTuber films of him, etc. "We'll show 'dear old dad' how it's done!"
"Isabella." I reach out and hold her arms. Her skin is so soft. Dammit. "Think for a moment. If Kade is jealous, that would be the worst possible thing to do. Isn't the goal to get him to want to spend time with the boy?" I drop my hands, hoping I don't do it in a way that she might suspect something.
"Whatever I can do to help," I offer then want to punch myself in the face.
"I'll just have to keep up with my little 'putting them together' schemes." She giggles to my little groan as she saunters out of the office.
Kade's eyes are wild. "What's wrong is your child spilled lemonade on the piano!"
"That's not the point! The point is he shouldn't have been waltzing around the couch singing with lemonade in his hand. I told him to stop singing. It was driving me crazy. I was trying to call around to different clubs, labels, companies, anything to get a new job."
"You get fired and then get mad at him for singing?" I ask with my teeth clenched.
"You're nothing but a pretty face. Because yeah, you apparently don't love me since you spend all your time at that gym."
Isabella
Braydon is awesome. He really knows how to keep his cool. I could learn from that. Of course, the way my life is now doesn't make it easy for me.
Maybe I'm wrong in thinking that Kade is jealous of his own son. Just because he and I don't agree on much lately doesn't mean that he wants to hurt our boy's chances. He's not that spiteful.
However, a few days later, I realize I should've trusted my instincts.
Kade got fired, and when I got home, it was like walking into a tinderbox with a lighted match.
"Mommy, I'm sorry!" Ben calls out the second I walk through the door.
"What's going on?"
"I didn't mean to!" Ben cries from the little ball he's folded himself into.
"I'm sure it was just an accident."
"Just an accident? It's an 'accident' that could've been avoided if you didn't spoil him and let him eat and drink in the living room!"
"Kade! It's just a piano!"
"JUST A PIANO?!" he screeches. "It's all I have left!" It's now that I find out how he was fired. From what I could gather from his one-sided story was that he was rude to a patron, and when the owner asked him to leave, he threw a fit. So, the owner fired him.
"You can get another job. Until then, we'll be fine for a while on what I'm making now."
"He pushed me," the precious boy says from his curled up form.
"You what?!"
Kade points to Benjamin. "That kid is a spoiled brat! You let him get away with everything!"
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Yes. For probably the first time. You don't take out your frustrations on your kid!"
"He's ruined the piano! What am I supposed to do now?"
"He only spilled because you pushed him. As for what you're supposed to do now, I couldn't give a plum." Damn him. I'm so mad that I cussed in front of my child. "I don't know who you are anymore, Kade. You're certainly not the man I thought I fell in love with."
"Hah! Likewise.
"That's my job!"
"A job you didn't need to get. But after that little visit I made, I figured out why you love it so much."
"What are you talking about?" I don't think I want to know.
"Rising in the ranks awfully quickly, aren't you? Guess that's what happens when you whore yourself out."
He may as well have stabbed me. "How DARE you!"
He opens his eyes. "I'm not an idiot, Isabella."
"Are you sure? Because you're sure acting like one. You know what? Just because your life sucks right now you feel the need to take it out on everyone else! Well, I'm not putting up with it anymore!" I walk over to Benjamin who's staring at both of us with his mouth open. "Come on, sweetie. We're leaving. We'll go to Grandma's."
Kade does absolutely nothing to stop me.
I, however, cannot sleep. How could Kade turn into that person? Was he always like that and I didn't notice? Did he slowly lose his mind from frustration from not 'making it big'? I can't think. Nothing makes sense right now. And I REALLY need it to make sense!
Are you awake?
I don't get a reply. It's fine. It would probably be best if--
Yeah. What's up?
I need to talk to you. To somebody. Where are you?
I'll go to him. I'll leave Mom a note telling her where I went in case she notices me gone, and I'll get out of the house, somewhere where I can think.
He tells me where he is, at a bar in Hilldale. No idea why he'd go there. I tell him I'll be there in thirty.
Why? I can come to you.
No. Long story. I'll explain later.
Marco Barnett
I'm back on a case, finally escaping my desk after being stuck at it forever. I'd gone back to work after being suspended for a month for helping Darrin only to be tied to a chair in front of a computer.
My case is a simple one, really. I'm in one of the outlying towns from Eden central, busting open a drug dealing ring. It hasn't happened yet, but it will. I'm just that good.
On the way back to my fake persona's apartment, I hear two or three guys laughing about fifty yards in front of me. "So whattaya gonna do, sissy boy? Tell dear old Daddy?" More laughter. Another voice says, "Stop it, Akito. I... I never saw this, okay?" There's a scuffle sound. Then the first voice says, "Aw, the widdle baby thinks he can wun away." Yet a third voice says, "Let's have some fun and teach him a lesson. Dude says he likes guys, right?" I slowly round the corner.
The third one laughs now. "Yeah. Lucky him. He such a wimp, I can pretend he's a chick."
The smaller one, Dwight, claws at Akito's arms with no effect. His voice sounds strained as he croaks, "No. Stop it."
The leader turns and looks at me.
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