Chapter 166: Father and Child.

[Theodore POV]

My world shattered…

The illusion that my child would always be safe and healthy was proven just to be… just that, an illusion. I couldn't do anything to stop it from happening. 

The heart monitor that didn't work. The doctor that almost announced my son's death. The touch of his lifeless body became a recurring nightmare for me.

I…couldn't do anything to stop it.

I…almost lost my son.

By some cosmic miracle, he managed to wake up, but I just couldn't relax. 

What should I do if he falls into that state again?

What should I do if I didn't manage to get him the proper help he needs?

What if the next time this happens, he doesn't wake up?

The debt I have to him kept gnawing at my heart. The debt of not being there during the most difficult times of his life. 

I was a…useless dad. A drunk. An alcoholic. I ran away from reality on my own, leaving behind my son facing the tough times alone. 

A child who lost their parents is an orphan. Spouses who lost their partners are widows or widowers. But how does one call a parent who lost their child?

Nothing. Because there are no words that could describe the pain.

"Ted…Ted…wake up!." My dad shook me out of my nightmare. I was startled and quickly raised my body and sat on the bed. My entire body was wet from the sweat, and I was huffing my breath.

I turned to look at my father slowly, and I saw a concerned look on his face. 

"We should talk." My dad said.

I shook my head slightly and said, "No. I need to-"

"Ed is fine. He's sleeping. He's not doing anything." My dad said in a calming manner. "You on the other hand…You need to get some help."

That was the memory of my first night on the ranch. My dad brought me to drink and vent out my emotions, but I couldn't do it even though I was drunk. That's when I knew that alcohol would not work on me anymore.

I couldn't calm down my feelings no matter what. And when I couldn't see what Edward was doing or where he had gone, my anxiousness almost made me crazy.

Days passed by, and when I saw Edward was bonding with his cousins and his family here, it actually helped. I knew that I couldn't get rid of his freedom, so all I can do is to surround him with the people I trust.

I tried to hypnotize myself, to believe what the doctor said. But I still couldn't. Maybe it'll work one day. I just need to keep trying.

…

[Edward POV]

"Damn, my dad got a panic attack?...My dad?" I asked incredulously after hearing the gossip from the staff members after I woke up from my sleep. They didn't see me coming, and were surprised when I suddenly appeared behind them.

 "You and your cat feet." Pepper scoffed after he saw the whole thing.

"Thanks." I received the compliment with a smile, but for some reason Pepper looked at me in disbelief.

"Hmmm…" I rubbed my chin as I fell into contemplation. Pepper walked towards me and stood one step behind me as I was facing the couch.

"What evil deeds are you planning next?" He asked with a hint of fear in his tone. I was still rubbing my chin as I replied, "I think…I need to have a long talk with my dad."

"Hmm? Really?" Pepper's eyes lit up, "That's actually what I was going to convince you two to do today. Now, I just need to focus on convincing your dad about it."

He wanted to walk away, but I raised my hand as I stopped him, "I'll do it by myself."

"Really? It'll be…awkward…especially since the both of you have an emotionally distant disposition, even towards eachother." Pepper said with a sarcastic smile.

I nodded as I agreed with him, "Yes. But from my continuous watching of TV drama series and rom-com movies, the heart-to-heart talk will be the climax of a story."

Pepper was baffled, but before he could react, I walked away to find my dad. He was eating breakfast at the moment. I stood next to him and muttered in a solemn manner, "We need to talk."

My dad spit out his coffee as a reflex, and then looked at me with shaky eyes. "I'll wait for you by the swing. Come after you've finished eating." I told him.

"Ed, don't you want to eat-" My grandma was concerned and her eyes darted between the two of us. I shook my head slightly and said, "No. I need to settle this first."

"Why does Ed look so scary right now?" Maggie muttered with a sense of fear. Amy unexpectedly licked her lips, "Don't you think he looks so sexy being like this?"

Maggie looked at her sister in disbelief while I left the kitchen to wait at the small hill behind the house. It was the place where I traced Amy before after she ran away crying.

I sat on the tire swing as I waited for my dad. The old tire however was already too small for me to actually enjoy it. I became melancholic as I looked over the grassy plains. A few birds started to perch all around me. Even a small sparrow landed on my head.

In the few days I've been here, I'd basically conquered the heart of every animal here except maybe the bugs. 

I waited and waited, and was surprisingly patient. It wasn't until two hours had passed that my dad reluctantly came towards the spot. I already expected he would be late. He needed some time to prepare himself – hell, even I needed to prepare.

"Ed."

"Dad." 

We greeted each other with our brows scrunched. My dad was still hesitant, but before he could open his mouth, I ordered, "Sit down."

"Here?"

"On the rock over there. Or the grass, your choice as long as I can see your face." I said as I pointed at the huge boulder nearby.

"Can't this wait until we get back?" He asked reluctantly as he didn't want to sit.

"You know. You forced me to go to therapy. I could do the same thing to you. But instead of therapy, I'll just tell Sal how to make you drunk and let her have her way…"

"Alright. I'll sit!" He quickly sat in front of me, perching his butt on the boulder as he sat there awkwardly.

"Good. To answer your question. No. This matter can't wait until we get home. We both know that once we get back, the both of us will immerse ourselves in work again, and then it'll be prolonged until only god knows when."

"And based on the TV rules, unresolved issues will come back and kick your ass later in the future. You could get addicted to pills, and then knock yourself out. Then when I visit you at the hospital, you'll conspire with the doctor to tell me that you're dying to teach me a lesson about not caring for you. You'll tell me that my dad is coming, and then reveal that you're not my true dad-"

"Ed…Don't get me wrong…I'm intrigued by the story…but what the hell are you talking about?" My dad stopped me and asked me in confusion. He smiled a bit as he thought it was nonsense, which actually accomplished all my goals.

"It's nothing. I just want you to relax a bit." I smiled as I looked him in the eyes. Then, I sucked in my breath exaggeratedly, "Here goes. Dad. We need to talk about that night."

"Ed. I don't want to relive it-"

"That wasn't the first time it happened." I cut him off, causing him to stand up in shock. His hand shivered as he looked me in the eyes, trying to see if I was lying.

"W-What?"

I sighed and said, "Sit down. Calm yourself down first. It's not as serious as you think."

"Ed…how long?"

"Since I was a baby? I think. Honestly, you're building up all the fear in your mind. Let me explain what happened to me." I said dismissively as I gestured for him to take a seat again.

 After he calmed down, I asked, "Dad. What happens to a laptop you're still using, if they're being too laggy?"

"What- what does this have to do with your disease? Unless you have a computer virus-" 

"No. Not a computer virus. Well, I don't think you know computer terms, so I'll just continue. You'll reset it. Then, it will work better. My deep sleep is similar to that."

"This isn't scientific Ed…" My dad was becoming incredibly confused. Then, I smiled and said, "You know how long a person needs to fall into a deep REM sleep?"

"No." He shook his head as he didn't have a clue of what I was talking about.

"Well, they take at least 6 hours. In the 8 hours of sleep the doctor told you to get, only the last 2 are actually when you fall into a deep sleep cycle."

"6 hours?" My dad muttered, amused. "But I only slept for 5-6 hours?"

"Yeah. It depends on someone's age and habits too. So, now you know a normal person needs a long time to do it right?" I asked him calmly, as if I was a teacher giving lessons to a very slow student.

He was a bit insulted but he nodded anyway. I then continued, "Well I can enter a deep sleep process in under 30 seconds."

My dad almost stood up in shock again, but midway I scolded him, "Are you going to stand up every single time? Or are you just hitting your leg day?"

He was a bit embarrassed, "How did you know this Ed?" He still needed a little push to get confirmation lest I was trying to trick him.

"I can take a brainscan if you want. And show it to you." I muttered without fear. It was true. Using my [Rest] skill, I can enter a deep sleep cycle in just a few seconds, so I wasn't afraid of him trying to make me take the test.

"So, I only need a shorter sleep than most people, and sometimes, my body will fall into an extremely deep sleep, like the one you saw before. It happened a few times, and it was actually very beneficial to me."

"How so? The doctor almost announced your time of death." My dad asked with a concerned voice. I shot him a dirty look and said, "Didn't you hear what Dr House said before? My heart beat slowed down, but it was still there. The doctor couldn't see it, and almost made a mistake."

My argument was based on the data Dr House showed me before. Although I couldn't explain what happened to my soul at that time, my strategy was to concoct a convincing story about my physical body.

"Like a laptop, my body condition will get better after the cycle. My mind will become clearer, and my bodily function will improve. But dad, you have to keep this a secret."

My dad was already confused from the bombardment of information, and fell into another because of my request.

"Why can't I tell this to other people?" Right then, he did have a sense that I was trying to trick him, but he still wanted to hear what I was going to say.

I scoffed internally but pretended to have a worried expression on the surface, "Well…You can say that it's dangerous for me if it's revealed."

"Why?" He was dying for me to spit everything out at this time. He kept shaking his legs anxiously, and his palms started to get sweaty.

"You know about the theory of evolution?" I said in a solemn manner before I joked, "Or is it banned here by the Baptist Church?"

"It was banned till the 90s. But they couldn't control the spread of information anymore after that." My dad blurted out, which caused me to be baffled. "Don't get sidetracked. I want to know WHY is it dangerous for you if anyone else knows?"

"You can say that, I am currently evolving from the path of a homo-sapien. I can be called a homo-superior— a word that doesn't mean that I'm a superior homosexual."

"Don't joke." He chuckled but stopped himself quickly.

Was I feeling guilty that I was lying to my dad? Absolutely not. Compare my lie to the truth:

Truth; My soul is connected to the afterlife, and I can get abilities, knowledge, and talents of all of the human beings in the multiverse, by rolling a gambling gacha using my karma points as the payment.

Lie; My body is entering a deep sleep cycle, resetting my bodily function and making me healthier.

 I didn't hesitate to pick the lie if I could help my dad regain his internal peace. 

"So…you already knew all this before that happened?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yeah." I replied shortly. "So the medical bills are actually a wasteful expenditure in my opinion."

He falls into contemplation, disbelief, and even anger at the doctors in the hospitals. 

"Can I confirm this? Do you know when you're gonna fall into that reset again?" He asked anxiously.

"Yeah. I think you can. But I won't know if it was going to happen until I was trying to go to sleep that day." I said.

'Great. Now I have to figure out the timing of my gacha session. Hmmm…I can make him confirm it during my birthday, his birthday, or my mom's birthday. Sage's day is also good, but I need to wait a whole year for that. Maybe Halloween? They said I will get called during Life or Death day, right?'

"It's going to take a few months. Wait at least until October. Then you can confirm it."

"It happened quarterly?" He asked in disbelief. "How have I never noticed this?! What have I done all these years?"

"Well to be honest, if Haley didn't put her head on my chest, no one would know. I didn't plan for anyone to know. I don't want to be taken to a research institute and get studied, you know? If you are really afraid, you should let me go to sleep with Haley everyday-"

"Stop." He raised his hand to stop me quickly. Then, he rubbed his forehead and groaned, "Should I really?"

My eyes lits up, but he continued, "Maybe… I can do it?-"

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT OLD MAN!" I shouted quickly to prevent him from getting any strange ideas. 

After I made him get rid of those thoughts, I opened up to him about my difficulties in my work, just venting out on him. I did that to his benefit, but the way he was smiling warmly and looked satisfied was irritating me.

"Ah Dad. There is another way for you to confirm that I'm an homo-superior." 

"What?" He asked with a laugh. He didn't believe my words about me being an evolved human being, but he did believe that I have special skills that need to be protected. That was good enough for me.

"You should make me a brother or sister. With a lot more experimental subjects, you can confirm it. Maybe 10 more?-"

He glared at me, and I ran away quickly. "EDDDD!" 

…

For my last day at the ranch, I didn't do anything much other than spending some time with my grandma and grandpa, and helped around with the work at the ranch. 

I noticed that the film crew were following me sometimes, but I ignored them. I planned to have an online fanmeet right here, but I decided to wait until I got back to California to do it because of my dad. 

Me bringing the crew here for a film shoot made him have a panic attack, and I don't want to find out what's going to happen if I went ahead and did a full on live broadcast. 

I hate to admit it, but I had more fun at Wisconsin than I thought. Especially with the animals. 

As I was putting my clothes into my suitcase in preparation to get back, I heard a rough meowing coming from outside of the house. I wanted to check it out by going to the front door, but my grandpa stopped me with a solemn face.

"Ed. Stop. Jules! Get the gun! There's a puma outside!" My grandpa shouted.

"Wait. Grandpa-"

"Ed. Stay here! I need to protect the livestocks." My grandpa said before I pulled him back, "I said wait. She's not dangerous."

"She?" My grandma came to the front door with a shotgun in her hands. I smiled wryly and said, "I know that puma."

"Ed. Don't be ridiculous-" My grandpa tried to stop me, but my uncle stood up for me, "Dad. What Edward said is true."

"Huh? You too Aaron?"

"Just…Let me out first. You can follow me with the gun. If it tries to attack me, then you can shoot." I said while looking him in the eyes.

My grandpa was a bit taken aback. My dad and my aunt Camila rushed to the living room because of the commotion and asked, "What is happening?"

"There's a puma outside- Ed. Damn it." Grandpa Sam tried to explain, but I already snuck out of the house. Maggie and Amy followed the group, and Pepper also was alerted and followed the noise. He was with the crew members in the SUV at the time.

"AHHH!!! SHE'S EATING EDWARD'S FACEEEEEE!!" Maggie screamed in horror as she saw the sight of me getting 'mauled' by the puma. Amy was shocked and then she fainted on the ground. Maggie turned to her and yelled again, "AMY'S DEAD TOO!"

Grandpa Sam was extremely alert, but when he saw I was petting the puma in an intimate manner, he calmed down. "Wait. Seriously?" He muttered in disbelief. 

I was laughing as the puma was licking my face, and when Pepper came, he reacted in the exact same way Maggie did. My aunt and my dad helped calm the sisters down while my grandpa approached me and the puma warily.

"Edward. Explain." He said curtly.

"I think she's someone's pet. Or used to be. She's not hostile to humans. And I think she's hungry for some jerky, so that's why she's calling me out. I don't think she'd ever hunted anything before…"

"That explains why my brisket was missing this morning…and also last night." Grandma Jules muttered without any fear for the puma.

"Dad, can I keep her?" I asked my dad. 

Ted was startled, and then he smiled awkwardly, "You know, we don't live in an estate. And I'm not even sure if it is legal to keep a puma as a pet."

"The sultan's do it." Uncle Aaron gave me some support. 

"Why are you- Are you trying to mess with me?" Ted grumbled at Aaron.

Aaron laughed, "Nah. If you saw what I saw, you'd know why."

"What'd you see?"

"I'll tell you, but you won't believe me."