Chapter2

#Chapter2

Things always work out, well, most of the time

The next few days, Dad spent trying to talk to Mom, who was acting stubborn. It designated Frazier middleman between them, which I don’t know was such a popular idea. My sisters had to deal with the fact they caused my parents to be at odds. You add the fact that Drew and Matt stayed somewhere else for the time being. Yeah, our family was a big freaking mess right now.

I was watching three marriages hit a rough patch, making me glad I was single.

/"What do you think will happen to them?/" Nik asked.

/"Hell, if I know. None of my family speaks to each other, and they aren’t speaking to me,/" I said.

/"Shit, all I hear in my house is mom and dad yell at each other. It’s followed by a lot of noise in the bedroom afterward,/" Liam said as he took another bite of food.

/"Gross dude,/" Nik said.

/"Eh, it’s better than no one talking,/" Liam reasoned.

/"We leave in three days,/" I said.

/"I’m sure they will work it out,/" Nik said.

/"Well, considering your dad is playing mediator, not so sure about that,/" I said to him.

/"Yeah, dad fucks things up, and he’s been doing a bang-up job with this one,/" Nik smirked.

Great, now, not only will everyone still not be talking to each other when I leave. I won’t be seeing anyone either — fucking Frazier.

After lunch, I went home. I walked into an empty house again. I let out a sigh as I went up to my bedroom. Sometimes I wish I could head back early so I wouldn’t have to deal with it. I didn’t have the patience for drama. To me, it was useless. I guess that’s why I stayed single for so long.

I made a call. /"Hey, it’s me. Is there any way you would be available earlier? I wanted to head back before the others. Shit went south at home. Okay, good. I’ll leave in a few./"

I hung up. Since my family can’t get their shit together, why stick around here? I doubt they would miss me anyway with all the drama they were dealing with within their lives. I finished gathering up my stuff and loaded it into the car. Before I left, I wrote my parents a note. Well, if they could get their head out of their ass long enough to read it.

I put the car in gear and drove back to school. Sometimes being the youngest has its disadvantages. The trip took three hours. When I arrived, I grabbed my bags from the trunk and walked up to the door.

Angelo opened the door. /"Do your parents know?/"

/"I left them a note, but I doubt they would notice I’m gone, anyway. My parents are too busy worrying about themselves and the others,/" I said as I walked in and went to my room.

/"What was that about, Angie?/" Frisco asked.

/"That was about people and their damn drama,/" Angelo said.

/"Are you going to call Ryan and let him know?/" He asked.

/"No, but I will call someone else,/" Angelo said, taking out his phone. /"Leo? It’s Angie. We got an enormous problem./"

/"What’s happening?/" Zane asked, walking into the room.

/"One word: RJ,/" Frisco said.

/"Well, damn,/" Zane said.

Leo hung up with Angelo, then went downstairs to where everyone else was. He found Dad pleading with Mom while she sat there being stubborn as usual. /"I hate to break up this begging moment, but you two have bigger issues to deal with at home,/" Leo announced.

They both looked at him. Leo explained what I did.

/"He did what?/" Dad asked.

/"He went back early. Told Angie he tired of everyone and their drama. I don’t blame him,/" Leo said.

/"Leo, this has nothing to do with you,/" Dad said.

/"It has everything to do with my brothers and me since you put us in charge of the younger kids. Your kid is hurting, and you two are so wrapped up with your little drama to even noticed he left. All because the girls can’t check their attitudes. Pregnancy doesn’t give them a right to treat people like dirt,/" Leo told Dad.

/"What does that have to do with anything?/" Dad asked.

/"I don’t know. Why don’t you ask the girls’ husbands where they have been staying since it hasn’t been home?/" Leo snapped at him.

/"What do you mean?/" Mom asked him.

/"Matt and Drew moved out after the enormous blowup,/" Leo said.

/"Are you fucking kidding me? They left their wives?/" Dad questioned him.

/"Can you blame them? It’s not like the girls have been the most loving people of late,/" he said.

Mom and Dad looked at each other, and Dad said, /"We got to fix this./"

She sighed, /"I’m sorry./"

/"No, baby, I get it, but now our kids are hurting,/" he said.

She nodded, and they thanked Leo as they left to see the girls. They arrived at Matt’s house to find them sitting on the couch with a million tissues scattered around them.

/"Elizabeth?/" Dad asked.

/"Oh, dad, we screwed up,/" she bawled.

He walked over and took a seat in front of them. /"We all screwed up, but now it’s time to fix it./"

/"Drew won’t answer my calls, and neither will Matt,/" Liz sobbed.

/"Honey, the way you have been treating those boys, it’s no wonder they left. You can only push someone so far before they escape. We already made a mistake with your brother,/" Mom said.

/"What do you mean?/" Liz sniffled.

/"RJ left,/" Mom answered.

/"What?/" Liz asked.

/"He’s okay. He went back to school earlier than the others. Now we need to fix your situation, then fix the problem with him,/" Mom said.

/"Okay,/" she sniffled.

/"Go get the boys,/" mom said to dad, who nodded and left.

He pulled up to Elijah’s house and walked up to the door. He knocked, and Matt answered, /"Dad? What are you doing here? Actually, how did you find us?/"

/"It’s easy to figure it out. Can I come in?/" Dad asked.

/"Yeah,/" Matt said, stepping aside.

He looked at Matt and Drew. /"You and you come with me./"

/"Oh, no! I’m not going back there! She’s fucking nuts!/" Drew exclaimed.

/"She’s not that bad,/" dad said.

/"She threw a butcher knife at me because I made the wrong food,/" he said.

/"Okay, I was wrong,/" dad said.

/"You think?/" Asked Drew.

/"Look, I get it. The girls are out of control, but we have bigger issues to deal with now,/" Dad told them.

/"What else?/" Matt asked.

/"It seems your brother went back early,/" Dad answered.

/"He did what?/" Matt exclaimed.

/"Yeah, he wasn’t happy with all the ‘drama’ going on at home,/" dad said to him.

/"And he hasn’t had to deal with a hormonal pregnant woman yet,/" Drew said.

/"Look, let’s get this straightened out, then we can deal with RJ,/" Dad told them.

They followed dad back to Matt’s house. When dad opened the door, they walked in to find two very relieved wives. They threw their arms around them and apologized for their crazy behavior.

/"Now that we got that taken care of, now to fix the problem with the youngest one,/" he said to mom.

My phone kept buzzing with calls. It was dad, mom, Matt, Liz, Drew, Scarlett, and anyone else they could rope into calling me. I sent them all to voicemail. Now they finally realize I’m gone. It’s too little, too late. I also knew that I would get a visit soon by ignoring their calls, so I headed out. I didn’t bother to tell the brothers where I was going since the town wasn’t big, anyway.

Plus, I wasn’t ready to deal with their drama of any sort. I mean, they made it clear they were more concerned with themselves than with me. It was weird to see the town empty since the students weren’t to arrive until a few days later.

I strolled around until I bumped into someone, causing them to drop the stuff in their arms. As I helped them with their stuff, I looked up to notice it was a girl. I handed her a book, and she said, /"Thank you./"

When she lifted her head, our eyes met, and my steel-gray eyes met her light gray ones. She had light brown hair, and it cascaded over her shoulders. Her features were delicate like a doll, and she had rosy cheeks.

She took the book from me as we both stood up, then maneuvered her way around me as she walked away. She reminded me of someone familiar, but I couldn’t place my finger on it.

After my run-in with the girl, I went to Aunt Kate’s bakery to grab a bite. It had been a while since I ate anything. She made us both something to eat, then joined me. /"You remind me so much of your dad when he was younger./"

/"Yeah, many people tell me that,/" I said to her.

/"Do you know that when he met your mom, they weren’t to get involved?/" Kate mentioned.

/"Yeah, they told me all about their courtship. Now here, my parents are years later acting like two kids while I’m the adult,/" I said to her.

/"RJ, all relationships go through growing pains even as they mature,/" Kate reasoned.

/"How about you? As far as I can tell, you seem pretty content not being in a relationship,/" I countered.

/"I was in one, once. After it was over, I never wanted another person to share something so personal,/" Kate replied.

/"What happened to him?/" I asked.

/"They killed him in combat,/" Kate answered.

/"He was a soldier?/" I questioned.

/"Yep, and I was so proud of him, but the love I had for him, I knew it would never compare to anyone else, and I didn’t want it to. When you have the best, why settle for anything less? After he died, I threw myself into my business and helping all you kids plus the other kids here. I found enjoyment doing that over the years,/" she said, giving me a soft smile.

We talked more, and I went back to the house. When I walked up, I found my dad sitting on the porch and my brothers standing by him. I guess it’s time to face the music. I walked up to them only to have someone crash into me, throwing me off balance. /"Do you need to do this every time?/" I asked Mom.

/"I’m your mother. It’s my right,/" she said, looking up at me.

I sighed and hugged her back. Even though I towered over her, it didn’t matter; she was still my mother, and I was always that little boy that needed her. My sisters waddled out of the house and over to me. I let go of mom and gave them each a hug with a little rub on the belly. My brothers each hugged me, and then I looked at dad. He walked up to me and stood in front of me. We stood face to face. He pulled me to him and hugged me; I hugged him back.

That was the thing about my family. No matter what we did or how mad we got at each other, we still loved each other. That would never change.

We went back inside, and they filled me in on everything that happened. Drew was right. My sister was nuts. Who the hell throws a butcher knife at someone for the wrong food? My sister does. They promised not to pull the same stunt they did, and I promised not to bolt the first chance I got. If it was one characteristic that I got from my mom, it was the need to run when things got rough. I need to curb that.

They all stayed the night, then went back home the next day. In two days, the others would arrive to get settled. The brothers and I hung out until they all came. Now I can see why Nik liked them so much. They were cool dudes. Well, that was until they had a little fun with me, bastards.