My Boys: Bright Future – Chapter 1
"You're an idiot."
Amelia heard Thomas's voice coming from the kitchen as she folded clean linens in the adjoined laundry room.
"You're actually trying to school me on girls," She heard Lucas replying, also from the kitchen. "Just wait and you'll see."
"I can't believe you invited Kate to homecoming" Thomas nodded in disapproval.
"Not yet," Lucas confessed proudly, opening the fridge and picking a bottle of water "I will. But today I told her it looks like she gained a few pounds over the summer. That should do the trick."
Thomas stared at Lucas, frowning. Sometimes he had no idea what kind of things made sense in his older brother's mind.
Seeing the confusion in Thomas' eyes, Lucas explained:
"You see, she's used to being told how pretty and amazing and smart she is. Every guy is always drooling over her and feeding her ego. She has no idea why I think differently and it'll drive her crazy. It won't take long before she comes to me trying to please me so that'll change my impression about her. And then she will invite me."
"You're an idiot." Thomas repeated, with more assurance this time "This cruel mind game of yours might have worked with any other girl, but not Kate. She respects herself too much to fall for the words of someone like you."
"Yeah, yeah… " Lucas gave his brother a smug smile. "Girls are all the same. They don't wanna be told they're beautiful," He added, accidentally spilling water on the floor and cleaning it with his socks before his mother could see it.
"Well, I disagree." Thomas affirmed, closing his textbook. He had been using the kitchen table as a work station to read for the last two hours.
"And that is why you've never launched your missile," Lucas teased, playfully throwing the empty bottle at his brother. Thomas looked up with fire in his eyes but Lucas wasn't intimidated and continued his speech "You've been with Missy for what? Like three months, now? And you still haven't sealed the deal."
"I actually like this girl," Thomas replied, very seriously "And she means something to me, I respect her and I can wait until she is ready." His face turned into a heavy frown, "I don't treat girls like they're disposable. Perhaps you should start doing the same."
"Maybe you should become president of the celibacy club," Lucas said, peeking at his brother's work "You will fit right in."
Amelia chose that moment to enter the kitchen, surprising both boys. She took a good look at Lucas, reprimanding him with her eyes.
Her seventeen year old son had just gotten home from practice and had on only training shorts and socks, his muddy soccer shoes left in a corner of the kitchen. A sweaty shirt was hanging on one of his shoulders and his usually spiky short blond hair was now sparkling with sweat.
"Lucas, look at the mess you're making. Is that a dirty towel on the counter?!" Amelia looked at him disapprovingly. "Go upstairs to take a shower, now!"
Lucas quickly obliged, dodging his mother's reach before she could hit him with the dirty towel. Amelia smiled as her oldest son hurried upstairs. Despite being already only an inch shorter than Owen, Lucas was like a big kid in the body of a young man. His liveliness and constant smiles were refreshing and intoxicating, and he could flirt his way out of everything, so Amelia knew exactly why she had to keep a close eye on the troublemaker.
"I didn't know you were there," Thomas finished gathering his books and notepads, clearing the kitchen table "Do you need help with those?" He pointed at the laundry.
"Oh, I do, thank you, baby," Amelia passed the large pile of folded towels to his hands and gave him a kiss on the head "Take those to my bedroom, please and I'll put them in the closet later. I'll just start dinner because after two weeks of being away I am sure dad won't be up for takeout."
Thomas took the kitchen stairs to the second floor and quickly disappeared into the corridor. Amelia was taking out ingredients from the cabinet when she was startled by two voices yelling at the same time.
"Mom! Robbie crashed the iPad screen and now he is trying to blame it on me!"
Megan entered the kitchen in a hurry, quickly followed by Robbie.
"It was her who broke it, mom, I was trying to get it and she pulled it back! Then the iPad crashed and it's her fault." Robbie defended himself, walking around in circles around his mother with his younger sister.
Amelia took a deep breath before turning around to face them. She really didn't like those moments.
"It's Wednesday night and you both know none of you are suppose to use gadgets during weekdays. I don't care who broke it, you're both getting a fine out of your monthly allowances to cover the damage. I'll be upstairs in thirty minutes and I swear to God if any of you don't have their homework done, you'll be grounded for a month."
Seeing the wrath in their mother's eyes, both Megan and Robbie took a step back.
"You're on the clock. One, two…"
Both kids rushed upstairs to make sure their homework was done in time. They all knew their mother didn't make threats she didn't intend to keep.
Amelia turned on the kitchen radio and hummed to a familiar song while she chopped lettuce and filled a salad bowl. She was almost done with dinner when she heard a car pulling up in front of the house and the familiar noise of the front door opening. She turned around, only to see her husband entering the kitchen.
Owen dropped his luggage on his way in and took off his coat, shrugging off the droplets of rain from his hair. He couldn't describe how happy he felt to finally be back home.
"Hey, you've already started dinner." He noticed, smiling broadly. "Hi," Owen approached her, feeling Amelia promptly wrapping her arms around his neck "How've you been?"
"Missing you," Amelia's smile reached her eyes when she looked at him "How was your flight?" She asked, without letting go of his neck.
Owen involved her waist with his arms, watching as she stood on the tips of her toes to reach his lips with hers.
"It was okay," He said, receiving a kiss and then a tight hug "I missed you too," He added when his face was already buried in the curve of her neck.
"I'm glad it didn't get delayed, the weather is not looking good" She finally pulled apart, watching as Owen went to wash his hands.
"Me too." He smiled at her, stepping up to help with the food. "Where are the kids?"
Amelia folded her arms and looked at him, looking serious.
"Owen, we have to talk about Luke."
"What is he up to this time?" Owen rolled his eyes impatiently, knowing their teenage son was always getting himself into trouble. "Did the school call again?"
"No," Amelia chuckled at Owen who was always frustrated by Lucas' erratic behavior "I heard him talking to Tom earlier today. Did you know he told a girl she had gained weight as a way to convince her to go to prom with him? Where does he learn that kind of stuff? We don't teach him that."
Owen laughed at Lucas' predicament. He had a good heart but he was always in over his head when it came to girls.
"I'll talk to him," Owen promised.
"You know what, let me. I'll talk to him this time," Amelia decided, thinking it might be good if the advice came from a woman's point of view. "I hope this girl turns him down, honestly. He needs to learn a lesson."
.
"Danny, can you turn off the oven for me, please?" Owen asked the twin to his right. He watched as the boy did as asked, feeling relieved to finally be back home.
He had spent the last two weeks in Dallas, overseeing a training course for deploying surgeons. Ever since he had started doing it, years before, the Army had summoned him to the task more often, which meant that a few times a year he had to travel for a couple of weeks.
But even though he loved that job, his favorite part of the process was always coming home to his family. With his and Amelia's busy schedule, it wasn't always that they could sit together with their five children to share something as simple as family dinner. Which was why Owen deeply enjoyed every chance they had.
"Hey, dad, they said your name on the local news today!" Lucas excitedly said as he picked up the plates to help set the dinner table.
Everyone in the kitchen immediately stopped what they were doing and turned their eyes to Lucas.
"Since when do you watch the news?" Thomas asked the question that was in everyone's minds.
"I like to know what's going on in the world, I'm a cultured guy," Lucas replied in an outraged tone, looking extremely offended by his brother's question. But when six pair of eyes kept looking at him with disbelief, he dropped the act, "I was waiting for football news," He admitted with a charming smile. "Anyways, dad, you sounded very important when they were describing you as the local hero of the city hospital, training our troops and all that."
"Thank you, buddy," Owen chuckled, taking the chicken from the oven.
"I guess this is becoming a pretty good week for Team Hunt, huh," Lucas went on with his excited chatter. "Copy and Paste are about to get a blue belt in Judo," Everyone knew he was talking about the twins. Then he turned his eyes to his sister, "Disney Channel has just announced a new season of Girl Meets World, I scored a goal that took us to semi finals," Lucas recited, using his fingers to keep count, "And Draco Malfoy here probably aced a math test or something," He teased, obviously making fun of Thomas' slicked back blonde hair. "That leaves you, mom." Lucas smiled adoringly at her "Did you win any awards this week? Wake anyone from a coma?"
"Very funny, Luke." Amelia replied, unable to contain her smile as Owen and her other children laughed too. She was just about to reply when she heard the loud sound of the doorbell. Seeing Robbie was already making his way to the living room, she added "Don't worry, babe, I got it."
Amelia opened the front door, wondering who in the world could be ringing their doorbell on an average weeknight in the middle of the rain. She was surprised to find a teenage girl who was no more than sixteen or seventeen years old standing on her porch.
"Yes?" Amelia said, trying to sound attentive "May I help you?"
"Is this where Lucas Hunt lives?" The girl straightforward asked.
Amelia noticed she was a very pretty teenage girl, with dark skin, curly hair and beautiful features. She was obviously well dressed and had a very classy appearance, despite carrying a cardboard box.
"Yes, do you want to come in or…?"
"No," The girl interrupted her, obviously working hard to contain her anger "If you could just give him this," She practically shoved the box against Amelia's arms, "and do me the favor to tell him that Alice passed by," She looked at Amelia with hatred in her eyes "I'd be really grateful."
"Of course," Amelia replied, watching as the girl stormed out.
"One more thing," The teenage girl turned around as she was about to get on the sidewalk "You can also tell him I hope he rots in hell."
With those words, she left, leaving Amelia intrigued and motionless on the front porch. When she started to freeze because of the cold wind, Amelia went back inside, closing the door after her.
"Lucas, a girl named Alice just left this for you," Amelia dropped the box on his lap, noticing it had some clothes and what looked like a paper notebook.
Lucas' eyes widened at the sight of the content. He noticed his mother was visibly annoyed and demanding an explanation with her eyes.
"You got me my Sounders jacket back, mom! Thanks!" He tried to avoid that conversation, taking the object from the box in his usual sneaky manner.
"Lucas," Owen interrupted him, seeing how his son was visibly avoiding the subject. "Care to explain?"
Lucas noticed once again that his four siblings and two parents had stopped what they were doing and had all eyes on him.
"I think," He said, very calmly, "that Alice isn't very happy with me."
"That's become obvious," Amelia took her seat at the table. "The question is, why?"
Lucas shrugged and focused on cutting his chicken. He had gone out with the girl a few times but earlier that day in school she'd given him an ultimatum about going steady, which Lucas didn't take. He imagined that was the source of her anger.
"I don't know, mom, one minute they say they love me and in the next they throw stuff at my face," He looked around, smiling seductively "I am heartbroken."
The lie was so flagrant in his eyes that Robbie and Danny couldn't contain their laughter.
"Aren't you a smartass," Owen said with discontent. "I think you are spending too much time focusing on getting your heart broken instead of improving your grades. I'll tell you what," By the tone his dad was using, Lucas knew his next words wouldn't be good "I think you'll voluntarily give up your allowance this month to focus more on your school classes," Owen stated, ironically. "Maybe if you spend more time with your books instead of your dates, you can mend your heart and get better grades. Isn't that a win-win?"
Lucas knew his father was on purpose using the same tactic as him: trying to sugarcoat a situation to make it look better.
"Dad…" Lucas moaned in protest. "Am I really going broke this month?"
"Eat your dinner, Luke." Owen said, ending the discussion. He wanted to laugh at Lucas' sad predicament, but he knew his son had yet a lot to learn about taking responsibility for his actions instead of going through life like he had nothing to worry about.
.
A few hours later, Amelia turned off the lights on the bottom floor of the house and made her way upstairs. Megan was fast asleep in her bed, and with a smile, Amelia turned off her TV and closed the door after she left. Robbie and Danny were still awake, talking in their secret language no one but them understood. She approached them and kissed each one good night, telling them to go to sleep. As she made her way through the hall, intending to go to Lucas' room, she noticed the light coming from Thomas' and knocked twice before going inside.
"Hey," She greeted him with a whisper, sitting on the edge of his bed "What are you doing?" She asked, noticing the computer in his hands.
"Just catching up on some applications before bed," Thomas smiled at her. "I can't sleep. Too much on my mind." He explained.
"Do you have a test?"
"Yeah, tomorrow."
"I am sure you will ace it," Amelia affirmed, taking out the notebook from his hands against his will "Go to sleep, Tommy. You'll do fine," She assured him.
"Yeah, that's not what I'm worried about," Thomas confessed.
"What is it?" Amelia looked deeply into his eyes. Thomas looked a lot like her, with a slim face and delicate features. Except for the eyes. He had Owen's baby blue eyes. "Is it Missy?"
By the tone on his mom's voice, Thomas could identify the disapproval. He chuckled, knowing his mother couldn't hide the fact she didn't like his girlfriend one bit.
"Is it just me or were you kind of hoping it were?" Thomas had fun with his mother's complete inability of pretending something she didn't feel.
"I want you to be happy," Amelia dodged his question, making an effort not to talk about Thomas's high school sweetheart, or she wouldn't be able to stop. She thought the girl was a bad influence on Thomas and she didn't care to hide it.
"It's not about Missy," Thomas replied, seeing how she nearly rolled her eyes. He gave her a sheepish smile before adding, "It's Harvard."
"What?!" Amelia smiled excitedly when she saw the sparkle in his eyes, "Tom!"
Amelia knew Thomas' ultimate goal was to one day go study at the most prestigious University in the world. At sixteen, Thomas was a careful thinker, planning ahead everything and setting incredibly high standards for himself. He was only in his junior year at the best private school in Seattle and already he was the most guaranteed student to get into any University he wanted.
"Our Principal got emailed a list from the faculty today," Thomas confessed with a knowing smile. "He said my name is on it."
"That's great news!" Amelia wasn't surprised, but she was happy at the same time. "Why didn't you say anything before? Dad will be thrilled to hear this! We could have celebrated over dinner."
"It's not a sure thing yet, mom." Thomas was contaminated by her effusive joy.
"No matter what happens, I'm always proud of you," Amelia leaned over and gave Thomas a kiss on the forehead. Thomas was always creating big expectations for himself and being an overachiever, he had never failed before. But Amelia knew that one day he probably would, and she wasn't sure he'd able to deal with failure, never before being familiar with it. "You know that, right? Dad and I are proud no matter which University you end up going to."
"I know," Thomas said with simplicity. "But… Harvard." He smiled at her, seeing in his mom's eyes that she approved of his choice completely. After all, both she and his dad had attended it and they would be thrilled to have their son going there.
"You get some sleep now," Amelia got up and walked towards the door. "Good luck on that test tomorrow."
She closed the door after her and then went to the last room on the corridor, gently knocking on the door before opening it.
"Still up?" She stated the obvious, seeing shirtless Lucas lazily resting on the bed against some pillows, typing on his cell phone. His room was the messiest of the house, with several shelves filled with medals and trophies.
"Yeah, the guys in the soccer team won't shut up about the semi finals, we are really hoping for a win on Saturday," Lucas cheerfully smiled at her.
"Luke, can we talk?" Amelia took the cell phone from his hand and placed it on the nightstand, letting him know she wasn't really asking.
"Why do you have that look on your face?" He frowned at her.
"What look?"
"That look you have when you're about to tell us you're going out of town for work," He tried to explain "You know, when you're about to do something you really don't want to."
"I want to ask you if something is happening," Amelia thoughtfully said. Lucas had always been a happy, cheerful kid, but she noticed that lately he had been acting out a little more than usual.
"Nothing is happening, mom." Lucas said, keeping his frown.
"I'm asking because tonight I had to deal with a very passive aggressive girl who was clearly very angry at you." Amelia added, trying to be as clear as possible. "And earlier today, I heard you speaking to your brother about a girl in a way I didn't like one bit. What is going on?"
"Mom, nothing is going on." Lucas insisted.
"Lucas?" Amelia raised one eyebrow questioningly.
"Well, you know what, I'm sick of people treating me like I am the bad guy," Lucas ranted, visibly angry. "They are always playing the victim card when, in fact, it wasn't like I broke any promises because I am very clear from the start about what my intentions are," He said, with honesty. "Everyone thinks they can be pissed at me when I wasn't the one who had the expectations," Lucas added and in that comment Amelia knew he meant more than just the girls he dated.
"What are you so angry about?" She calmly asked, even though she was worried about him. It was obvious something was wrong.
"I am not angry, mom." Lucas lied. "I am just tired of always taking the blame for everything."
"It's called having responsibility," Amelia said, in a matter-of-fact tone. She took one step in his direction and involved him in her arms like he was still that five year old boy who loved to bounce around, because deep down, she knew that was still who he was "You sure there is nothing you want to talk about?" She asked, kissing his head affectionately.
"Of course I do," He smiled teasingly at her "But I don't think you'll want to discuss soccer tactics with me."
"Go to sleep, Luke," She playfully squeezed his nose before telling him to put the cell phone down again, closing the door after her.
.
"What?" Owen came out of the shower, noticing the frown on his wife's face. She was already lying on their bed, looking as beautiful and inviting as always. He had insanely missed her in those last two weeks.
"I think Luke is up to something," Amelia confessed. "I don't know, something is not right."
"Luke is always up to something," Owen reminded her, turning off the lights in their room to get in bed with her.
"Yeah, but this time it's different… I can't explain why, it just feels like there's some anger underneath it all. He is always clumsy and clueless, but this time around it seems like he is more insecure."
Lucas had been diagnosed with a grave case of dyslexia when he was six years old and had struggled in school all his life. Even though he was an excellent athlete, being the reference captain of the soccer team, his grades were below average and he was academically unmotivated. The fact that he had grown up with Thomas, who excelled in school, had only added to his low self esteem when it came to school matters.
"You saw his report card from last year, nothing unusual about it," Owen reminded her. "And school has just started, babe. There is no way he could have gotten into trouble this fast."
"Oh, you should have known better by now not to underestimate his capability of getting himself into trouble…" Amelia sighed, impatiently. "I'm going to keep a close eye on him and get to the bottom of this."
"Speaking of bottom," Owen rolled over on top of her, closing his hands on her buttocks "We have a very serious topic to get to."
"Oh yeah?" Amelia saw the clear intention in his eyes and played along, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders.
Owen replied with a kiss, crushing her lips with his. His hungry tongue made its way into her mouth, trying to make up for two weeks of missing her.
"You're reporting for duty?" She playfully captured his lower lip between hers, feeling him hard against her thigh.
"You bet I am," Owen smiled against her lips, running his hands through her body to get her rid of her clothes.
"Good," Amelia said, feeling him kissing the skin of her neck when she was already naked in his arms "Because I need you fully prepared."
"For you, I always am," Owen said and to prevent that she made that conversation any longer, he hungrily kissed her until he vanished every single thought from Amelia's mind.