Hi everyone! This is my second story on this site, and it's a one shot. It is an entry for bs13's love quote contest. I worked really hard on it, and enjoyed writing it. Hope you all like!
Disclaimer: I do not own House of Anubis
16 year old Lucas Miller sighed exasperatedly, as he closed the door to his house. "Mum, Dad, I'm home!" he yelled.
"Why so early?" both his mother and father called from opposite ends of the Miller household.
Lucas sighed; they still hadn't made up yet.
"I got in a fight with Tiffany." He called after a few moments. Lucas' mother waddled out of the living room. "What happened tonight?" she asked him, concerned. Lucas and Tiffany had been having plenty of fights lately, each new one worse than the last.
"Mum, you wanna go sit down? Your feet are all swollen." he said, starring down at his mother's bare feet.
"I've been sitting for hours, Lucas. I'll be fine." She said swatting her hand at the boy, "Besides, I've been pregnant before. If you really want to see swollen feet, ask your father for pictures of when I was five months along with you."
Lucas chuckled a bit and shrugged. He leaned against the wall, and began. "Well, we were at the park, taking a walk, when Jocelyn and Nathalie showed up out of nowhere and started fighting over me as if I was still dating them both. Tiff got all mad, thinking I was cheating on her, but I'm the only one who should be mad. She believed those spoiled, nasty brats over me!" He looked up at his mom, and she nodded so he continued.
"And then I told her that I was offended since she believed them over me, and she said that she had good reason to believe them, because I was dating them both at the same time. But that's not true! Jocelyn just doesn't know how to let go! That's why no one will date her. She lives in her own little freakin' world where no one can ever hurt her or do anything bad to her, and it's all stupid. And I told her that, Jocelyn, I mean, and then she starts crying. And then Tiffany slaps me telling me that I'm a jerk and that she doesn't want to be with a jerk, and then she broke up with me."
"Aw, I'm so sorry honey."
"That's not even the worst part though! I told her 'If that's what you want, Tiffany.' And she's like 'Yeah, that's exactly what I want.' And then she walked away to go comfort Jocelyn! And then all three of them kept giving me dirty looks, and telling me to leave, but they were on our porch step! Who are they to tell me to leave my own house! It's stupid. I hate her now."
"Hey, Lucas, don't say that. You were just crazy for her for almost half a year, and now you hate her? I know I've told you a million times, but hate is a strong word." Lucas' mom said softly.
"Really? So, I shouldn't say that I hate her after one thing? Everything else we've been through should overpower our little argument?" Lucas pressed, with a certain edge to his voice. His mother glanced at his curiously, but only nodded. "That's exactly what I mean." She said cautiously.
"So, I should call her, we work things out as a couple, and forgive and forget?" he asked, the same edge to his tone. His mother could only nod her head in response.
"Mum, why is it that you won't take your own advice?"
"What do you mean by that?" she questioned.
"You and Dad!" he said, standing up straight, "You guys have been fighting for years. You've been separated, and now divorced, but look at you!" he said, gesturing to her stomach. "You're having another one of his babies. No, two actually! And now he's living with us again, and you can't even look at him for more than two minutes. But I bet you looked at him for longer than that when you got yourself pregnant, didn't you? I'd think you would've already have forgiven and forgotten, but I'd be wrong then."
His eyes widened in shock, as realization of what he had just said dawned on him. "Mum, I swear, I-"
"Just… go to your room, Lucas." She said quietly.
"Mum, I'm sorry-"
"Lucas, go!" she yelled, angrily.
The blonde haired, blue-eyed boy looked at his mother apologetically, before running up the stairs. Lucas paid little attention as he walked down the hall to his room, bumping into his father on the way.
"Oh, sorry, Lucas." His father said, smiling down at his son. They weren't very far height wise, but his dad still rose above him. His smile faltered as he noticed his son's expression. "What's wrong? What happened with Tiffany?"
"If you really want to know, ask Mum. But that's not the problem right now." Lucas mumbled softly.
"Well, what's the actual problem then?" his dad asked, worry plastered on his face. "The Feds aren't after you are they?"
Lucas stifled a laugh and his dad smiled. "No, I…I said some things to Mum that were really horrible, and I think I upset her real bad."
"Well, what did you say?" his dad asked.
Lucas sighed. "Dad, do you still love Mum?" he said after thinking for a moment.
His father bit his lip, before simply answering, "I never stopped."
"Then why did you guys divorce? I mean you're gonna have two more kids in four months, grand total five and it's like, all I ever hear is, "I hate you, Eddie! All you've ever done is ruin my life!" and "Well, you haven't made mine heaven either, Patricia, so I suggest you stop yacking for once in your ever-so ruined life then!" and then the next day, you're in her room, and soon enough she's having another child! Just marry her again! You've been divorced for seven years, and she's had two children in that duration. Do you know how hard that is to grasp? All of us kids love you both so much, and then it's like you don't love me or Fiona or Dana or your unborn children enough to stop fighting. Why can't you try? For our sake?"
Eddie sucked in a sharp breath. "Look, Lucas, it's not as easy as it seems-"
"You're right. It's easier. But neither of you will put in any effort to get back to where you started. Just try to do something about this. If you never stopped loving Mum, let her know that instead of leaving her to cry all by her lonesome every single night!"
"Lucas, don't you think I try? I'm not trying to put all the blame on your mother, but she has done her fair share as well. Don't explode on me like this when you haven't heard the entire story. I would like to see you handle this entire situation as well as I have for the past seven years." Eddie yelled, hurt and anger swelling in his eyes.
"Well?" Lucas questioned. He scoffed indignantly. "Since when have you been doing well?"
"Are you to say that you could do any better?" his father spat. "You and Tiffany have been fighting constantly for months, and the situations you two have been through haven't been nearly as bad as those as your mother and I have gone through. I'm trying! I really am! Not just for you, your mom, Fiona, and Dana, but for myself. You don't understand the fact that this whole thing is actually killing me." Eddie exhaled deeply and lowered his voice to a just above a whisper. "This family is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I'm fighting for it, I really am. I'm not proud of everything I've done, but the fact that I even have a family here is driving me to keep getting back up whenever I fall. The most precious possession that ever comes to a man in this world is a woman's heart… and I'm fighting to get back your mother's."
Lucas was silent. He didn't know how to respond to his father, so he only nodded and walked into his room, muttering a quiet "Goodnight" before shutting his door.
Eddie sat down in the middle of the hall and closed his eyes, thinking to his self, when he heard a soft, angelic voice. "Daddy? Are you sleeping?"
Eddie smiled, and opened one eye, "No, Fefe, just thinking." He said to his five year old daughter. Fiona looked curiously at her father. She sat down in his lap, and he wrapped his arm behind her, to keep her up. He opened his other eye, and was surprised to see an image of Patricia. He blinked, and she was still there, this time, younger. Eddie let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding. He knew Fiona looked just like her mother, but he wasn't aware how much they really did look alike. The smooth brown hair, (Patricia had told him once she would dye it for her when she was old enough) the ever changing blue green eyes, the soft, pale skin. They shared the same nose, the same lips, and even the same ears. Eddie smiled down at his little girl.
"Fefe?"
"Yes, Daddy?"
"I love you, baby. You know that don't you?"
"Of course I do." She replied, smiling a big toothy grin. "I love you too, Daddy."
"Great." Eddie said, returning Fiona's grin. This only made her smile even more.
Patricia slouched in the couch, rubbing her large stomach slowly, when her curly blonde haired, green eyed three year old daughter skipped in humming a little tune. Patricia sat upright, her mouth agape, but she smiled at her little girl. "Dana! Why are you up so late? You should be sleeping."
Dana looked at her mom with a blank expression. Suddenly, she broke into a large smile. "Mummy!" she said and ran to her mother, hugging her. Patricia laughed and lifted her up into her lap. "Hi, my little baby birdie." She cooed sweetly. "Now, why are you up? Didn't Daddy already take you to bed?"
A small, sly smile creeped up on the three year old's face. "I escaped, Mummy!"
Patricia opened her mouth wide and feigned shock, "You escaped the evil clutches of Daddy? But how?"
"I say, "Daddy don't make me go sleep. I wanna watch TV" and he say "alright, you can stay up for a little bit in my room, but don't tell Mummy." She covered her mouth after the last part. Patricia frowned. She stood up, picked up Dana, placed her on her hip, and waddled up the stairs.
"Oh, Eddie?" she shouted angrily, "Guess who I've found?"
Eddie looked nervously at Fiona. "Uh-oh, it's Mommy. She must've found Dana. Quick, go back to your room and pretend you're asleep. We don't want her being twice as mad. It's not good for a pregnant mommy to be mad." He explained.
Fiona nodded vigorously. She kissed his cheek and ran into her room. The door shut just as Patricia came up the stairs.
"Eddie, why is Dana awake?"
Eddie stood up and sighed. "She's too cute to say no to!" he defended, taking Dana from her, so the little girl faced her mother. "Look at this baby." He cooed. Patricia stood stiffly, a scowl plastered to her face.
"All I ask is that you put this girl to bed so my feet don't burst from standing and walking, and you can't even do that much?" she growled.
"Hey, relax, I'm sorry." He said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Don't tell me to relax," she drawled, venom dripping off each word. "All I ever seem to do in this house is stress, and it's because you won't stop being so childish for a change. She's three and it's ten o clock. She shouldn't be-"
She stopped when she noticed Eddie snickering. "Why the heck are you laughing? I'm being serious you know! Are you even listening?"
"No, no, I am and I get that. I'm really sorry. I should have put her to bed when you asked me, it just..."
"Just what?" she spat.
"You remind me of Victor. You were all serious at the ten o clock part, and I it was just as if you almost turned into him then." Eddie then resumed laughing, putting Dana down in the process. She ran away quickly. Patricia did not change her attitude, but continued to glare at her ex husband.
Eddie noticed this and tried containing his laughter. "Oh, come on, Yacker. Crack a smile. It's funny! Besides, I love your smile. It's all bright and pretty. It adds to your pregnancy glow."
She softened her glare. "You've never told me that before. You really like my smile?" she asked shyly.
Eddie smiled softly, "Yeah. Yeah, I do. You know what else I like about you?" he asked
She smiled a bit, "What?"
"Everything."
Patricia smiled more. "Do you really?"
"Of course," Eddie exclaimed, "Look, Patricia, I had a talk with Lucas earlier. He feels like we don't love him or the rest of the kids enough to stop fighting."
Patricia bit her lip. In all honesty, she thought she fought with Eddie because she did love them. For their benefit, but the fact was, it only hurt them.
"Oh," was all she could mutter out.
"Can we change that? I mean, I still love you, Patricia. Till death do us part, if not longer. I want us again. I miss us. Peddie? Remember that?"
Patricia smiled sadly, "Yeah, I remember." They had drifted away from the rest of the Anubis gang because they were tired of the fights the couple had. Each escalated quickly, and they had had enough, leaving the two alone in their own world.
"Do you miss us?" he asked hopefully.
"Yeah, of course I do." She muttered after a few moments. "I don't like fighting you, Eddie. I never have, it's just...hard for me to keep track of my thoughts and then use the right words to portray them."
"I understand that completely. I feel the same, and I can honestly say I've been in that position many times before. How about from now on, we try our best to openly communicate. Let the other know when they're frustrated, and give them time to think and discuss it later."
Patricia smirked, "I guess I'd be open to that."
Eddie smirked back at her, and pulled her in for a kiss. It was long overdue, short and sweet, like a couple's should be.
"I don't know how I lived without you or Lucas for three years." Eddie said, referencing to their separation.
"Me either." Patricia mumbled, "I guess, in a way, Lucas saved our relationship before it died." She said after a few seconds of silence.
"It wouldn't have died." Eddie said, "We love each other enough to know that we'd be the ones dying without the other."
"Yeah, I guess." She replied quietly. Eddie grasped her hand and knelt down on one knee.
"So Patricia Williamson, I know I don't have a ring, but, would you do me the honors of becoming Patricia Miller again?" he asked hopefully.
"Eddie, so soon?" she asked nervously.
"Why not? We have two babies on the way." He said patting her huge stomach, "They don't need to grow up with divorced parents, now do they?"
"Well, no but-"
"C'mon, Patricia. I'm just- I'm just a tin can standing in front of tank, asking her for her heart, and her hand in marriage."
Tears began to form in her eyes. "Okay, fine, I'll marry you." She said sarcastically, but Eddie knew she was honestly saying yes. He smiled widely and drew her into a bear hug. "But this is your last chance, Krueger." She said, while still hugging Eddie.
He smiled. "I promise you, I won't blow it." He replied into her hair.
Once they released, Patricia and Eddie walked together, hand in hand, to Lucas' room. The lights were out, and they were both pretty sure he was asleep, but they came in anyways.
"Lucas, we don't think you're awake, and that's okay, but we just wanted to say thank you for opening our eyes to this. You maybe could have been a little nicer, and had some more respect-" Eddie said but Patricia slapped his arm playfully. He smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her middle. "But I guess that's alright, because we're going to get married again. And it's thanks to you."
"Thank you, honey," Patricia said quietly, kissing his forehead before slowly closing the door behind her.
A smile stretched out across his face.
"You're welcome." He whispered.
