'Cause sometimes you just feel tired,
Feel weak, and when you feel weak,
you feel like you wanna just give up
Feel weak, and when you feel weak,
you feel like you wanna just give up
~Cadence Jaycey Sinclair-Caine~
Wearing
Cadence was smiling at her Mother and nodding. Simply agreeing with whatever the woman said in order to try to get her out of her apartment. Tyson stood in her kitchen watching the women talk. His backpack on, his duffelbag at his feet.
"Mom...we will be fine. Trust me." Cadie said as she slipped her arm through her Mother's. She turned her around and lead her toward her front door.
"Mom, isn't Archie waiting out in the car for you? Don't keep Big Sexy waiting Ma'." Cadie all but shoved Lena out the door.
"Cadie, don't call him that!" Lena said sternly. They started down the steps together when her front door opened and out stepped Tyson.
"Respect your elders."
"I am. Didn't realize it was disrespectful to notice he is a hottie with a body."
"Cadence..."
"Guess it is kinda weird to say future Daddy is sexy. Sorry Mama Bear." By now they were at the front door. Cadence opened the door and once more pushed her Mom through it.
"Right, so make sure he showers, brushes his teeth, eats real food, eats veggies with every meal, is in bed a reasonable time, takes his meds and...GOOOO! I got this Mom!" Cadence huffed and rolled her eyes.
"Go with Archie, have fun. You two deserve some grown up time. I assure you, I am capable of taking care of my brother for a few days. Look, I have been taking care of myself for years! I am still alive! I got this Mom!" She nudged her Mother toward the car.
"Have fun hot future Dad! Enjoy the alone time with Mom!" She called out and Lena covered Cadence's mouth with her hand. She stared into her daughter's eyes.
"You. Behave. Stay out of trouble, keep your brother safe. Be nice to him. Call me if you run into any problems. Be good Cadence." Lena finally said and gave her daughter a squeeze before she joined Archie in the truck.
Cadence went back in the building and up to the apartment to find her brother sitting at the table. He looked upset but looked up when he heard the door open.
"Hey Tyson dude, hungry? Want bacon pancakes? Or chocolate chip pancakes? Do you prefer eggs? French toast?" She asked as she moved to the refrigerator.
"Bacon pancakes? You mean bacon and pancakes?"
"Nope! Bacon pancakes! Don't you watch Adventure Time dude?"
"No. Mom doesn't let me watch most of the shows on Cartoon Network."
"Brrrrooooo!!! It's settled!!! Bacon pancakes, of course extra bacon on the side. We will eat in front of the tv and binge watch Adventure Time. Later we can go out for pizza or whatever you want."
It was several hour later when the siblings decided to venture out. They ended up picking up two of his friends and they went bowling. They ordered pizza, fries, nachos and bowled three games before they decided they were done. Next the boys wanted to go to the movies so she took them to the theater in the mall. They had an hour to kill before their movie started so they wandered the mall.
Cadence left the boys to play in the arcade while she walked around. She didn't go to far, but she wanted to give Ty his space. He was growing up and didn't need his Mother or older Sister hovering about like some crazy Helicopter Mom.
Much later, after the movie and after more pizza at a place not far from the mall. She had already dropped Ty's friends off and now he was being quiet. Quieter than she had ever known him to be.
"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked and glanced over at her little brother. He was wearing a frown and looked deep in thought about something.
"Do you really think Archie and Mom will get married?" Cadence frowned and looked back at her brother.
'No. At least no time soon Tyson. Why would you think that?"
"Well....I heard you call him Dad earlier. I know my Dad isn't your real Dad. So I know your able to have more than one Dad."
"Hey, first off David is my REAL Dad. He's not my BIRTH Dad. There is a difference. David took care of me, he went to all my horrible dance and music recitals, he made me Monster Spray when I was little, taught me to ride a bike and went to Daddy Daughter dances with me. So David was very much my real Dad. Second, yes it is possible for people to have more than one Mom or Dad. It's actually pretty common nowadays. Does the idea of Archie being a Father figure to you scare you?"
"Mmmm....no. Kinda....would he be upset when we talked about my Dad?"
"Absolutely not. Even if he was, Mom would tell him to cry a river, build a bridge and get over it. Ty, David is your Father. You will never be expected to forget him or act like he doesn't exist."
"So my Dad didn't get upset when you talked about your birth Dad?" Cadence grew silent as she tried to figure out a nice way to say what she had to say.
"Tyson, my birth Dad was nothing like your Dad. He didn't care about me. In fact he let your Dad adopt me. That's why I have the same last name as you now. Sort of...I actually have Mom's and David's last name. Anyway, we didn't really talk to much about my birth Dad Joshua much when I was growing up. It use to make me really sad, and David didn't like when we talked about Joshua because he hurt Mom and me by leaving us. David didn't leave you and Mom. He loved you guys very much, and always took care of you two. He died and that's why he isn't here, otherwise he would still be here with you and Mom."
"Do you remember how long before Mom got married after your Dad left?"
"Tyson, if Mom wants to remarry we should be happy for her. It won't change how much she loves you. That I can promise you, and I really don't think Archie is the type of man to want to get married. So just relax."
"Why not? All grown ups get married."
"Not all grown ups get married, and I just don't get the feeling that Mom or Archie are looking to change things. They are extremely happy in their relationship the way things are. Plus Mom hasn't been a widow that long, and Archie is the first and only man Mom has dated since David died. She just got to the point where she feels okay to date. Marriage is not on her mind."
"Why do you call my Dad David? You said he is your real Dad but you call him David." She sighed getting a bit annoyed with all the questions. Questions that made her think of a past that she wasn't far enough from for it to not hurt a bit. How did she get stuck having the Dad conversation with him? She wished he would talk to their Mother about the Joshua-Dad thing.
"I call him David because that was his name. When Mom first started dating him he introduced himself as David. All while they were dating and even for a while after Mom and your Dad got married I still got to see my birth father and I called him Dad. I didn't call David Dad out of habit and partly because when I was little I thought if my birth Dad knew I called David Dad then he would love me even less, and I would see him even less. It's stupid but I was little and didn't know any better. I actually did call David Dad for a long time. I refer to him as David now because he sent me away and I was angry at him. I was hurt, and felt like he and Mom didn't love me anymore. So....I started calling him David again as a way to hurt him."
"Are you still mad at him even though he is dead?"
"No. Of course not! Why would you ask that? I mean...I am mad that he is dead. Not mad at him though."
"Because you still call him David. So...I just thought you were angry with him after what you said."
"Well....I'm not. I am just angry at myself. He tried reaching out to me and each time I was mean to him. I was still angry, hurt and wanted to punish him and Mom. I stayed away from them, ignored them. I was a huge jerk to them because I wanted to hurt them. I regret every single day that I did not get to apologize to him, and tell him how much he really did mean to me."
"I think you should call him Dad. I think he would like that. He would know you liked him again and cared about him again."
"I think you're right. But let's talk about something else. Want to stop and get some Gelato or water ice on the way home?"
"Sure. Water ice sounds good." Really Tyson had a ton of questions he still wanted to ask but he didn't. He could tell his older sister was getting uncomfortable. He also knew it wouldn't be nice to ask her why her Dad didn't want her. He was curious about that though. If he didn't want her then why was he back now? If their Mother married Archie did that mean he had to get a new name? What happened if his Mother died and never remarried and Tyson was still a child? What happened to him? He had so many questions and fears and no one seemed willing to answer them. Though his sister had been the most open with him so far. So maybe he just has to talk to her and ask his questions a little at a time.
The pair of siblings actually ended up going home, unloading the car and then walking to get water ice. The evening was nice and the sounds of summer made her want to walk. They ran into Wolf and his niece who was around Tyson's age. The kids chatted since they knew one another from school. Cadie and Wolf did their best to ignore one another. After a few minutes Cadence lead Tyson away, claiming she forgot her phone. The pair walked back, Tyson leading the conversation.
~Candie~
But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
And just pull that sh*t out of you and get that motivation to not give up
And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.
~Eminem
And just pull that sh*t out of you and get that motivation to not give up
And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.
~Eminem