-Carter Kane-
Uncle Amos huffed in annoyance at the front door, turning to face Dad. Dad frowned and quickly turned to face Sadie. "Sadie, I have something for you."
Sadie's bright blue eyes sparkled in recognition. "Really? What is it?"
I don't know if I had imagined it, but it looked as if Amos tensed as Dad went to a nearby closet pulling a small grey pet carrier out. In the excitement, Sadie quickly opened it and pulled out a cat, golden fur with black spots. I swear it looked like a leopard kitten, which my eyes nearly popped out of my head to the sight.
"Dad, she's so soft!" Sadie snuggled the cat in her arms.
"Why don't you give her a name?" Dad encouraged, Amos made a move to disappear again.
Sadie thought for a moment, "Muffin."
A snort sounded from the doorway, Gramps shaking his head in disapproval as Gran gave a halfhearted smile anyways. "Come on Sadie, we have a long trip to London," Gran spoke motherly towards her, which sounded odd.
Dad sighed, brown eyes took in Sadie again as she continued to pet the cat. "I'll make sure Carter and I see you, alright?"
She was too focused on her excitement to take in the torment in his eyes. "Here, let's put Muffin back in her carrier," Dad suggested.
Sadie nodded and put the cat back in, locking the cage before Dad handed it to Gramps. Both seemed to have made a strong position not to enter Uncle Amos' house even though he had left the door open. Gramps took the suitcase and backpack Dad handed him and headed to the taxi waiting for them.
"Sadie," Dad stopped her with a small reach for her right shoulder, making her turn to face him again.
"Dad?" A hint of curiosity finally struck her.
He pulled her into a hug, as if stating he wasn't planning to let her go. "No matter what, I love you. Please remember that." His tone sobbed as Sadie's arms gently wrapped around his neck.
"I love you too Daddy," Sadie replied with a smile.
He struggled to loosen his grip, Grans lightly tapped Sadie's left shoulder to gain her attention again. "You ready honey?"
She nodded shooting a smile my way. "I'll see you guys when you come to visit!" Sadie left before I could say anything, Gramps slamming the door.
Dad looked hurt by the door blocking the sight of her. Maybe he was contemplating shredding it, though I doubt Amos would be very happy about it. A minute passed of this stare down with the door when he faced me. "So, Carter," Dad tried to work his tone to sound happy, "what would you like for dinner tonight?"
We both went through a list of choices and managed to narrow it down to pancakes. Dad had wormed that choice in, I never really thought of them as a dinner thing, but he offered and I gladly took it. I watched as he flipped the flapjacks in the kitchen, humming out some jazzy tune.
Then a familiar sound emanated from upstairs, a saxophone serenading towards the river. Dad paused and smiled for a second, deciding he was done humming along. "Who is that?" I asked.
"That would be your uncle," he announced proudly.
"He plays saxophone?" I wondered aloud.
"Yeah, it's a great stress releaser. And he's good at it, like a lot of other thingsā¦" His voice trailed into his thoughts before suddenly clearing his throat. "Anyways, Carter, do you want syrup?"
That was kind of considered a dumb question, which I smiled towards him. He laughed and realized how stupid it actually sounded. "Never mind, how many do you want exactly?" He continued, putting four on a plate.
"That's good," I peered at the plate eagerly.
He applied butter to them and handed me the plate and syrup bottle. I quickly went to drowning my fluffy pancakes in the sticky solution. Dad continued pouring batter onto the griddle. I finally stopped with the syrup to see I succeeded in making my plate into a lake, Dad laughing in amusement. "You can eat it in here, just don't tell your uncle about it, alright?"
I paused for a moment, watching Dad return to humming, trying his best to match the saxophone's notes. Dad isn't the relaxed type, Mom always was. She had Sadie and I pretty much breaking rules behind Dad's back. He was always strict, keeping to how proper we should act. When you eat, you had better be at the dining table. This was a big no that he was suddenly accepting.
"Why?" I finally managed to ask, earning his attention as he abruptly stopped humming again.
He swallowed, as if considering how to say it right. "Carter, my little man, we are a team. We are going to have to leave soon, and we won't be going home. You'll have to trust me, and I'll have to apply the same amount of trust on you. We have each other, and we'll get through this if we remember that. Do you understand?"
I froze, trying to make sense out of what he was saying. "W-We're not going home?"
"There's going to be a lot of changes, and we will have to adjust to it," Dad continued. "But if you can stick with me, we can pull through it."
It's not like I can say no, can I? Knowing Dad, he'll stick to his plans no matter what. "What will we be doing then?" I asked, caving in to interest.
"Well," he thought for a moment. "I think we will take a trip to Seattle. I have a friend there that will give us a place to stay for a little while. Plus I have to do some research, she can help with that." His eyes suddenly drifted to the doorway, "Hey Amos, you want some pancakes?"
I quickly turned to see Amos shooting me a curious look, not saying a word towards me eating in the kitchen though. Actually, I think Uncle Amos is pretty relaxed compared to Dad. "No, thanks for the offer though." Amos' eyes returned to Dad as he replied. "I'm surprised you managed to get it to work. I'm pretty sure that-"
Dad shot him a warning in his expression, quickly making Amos shut up. "Would you like some coffee then?" Amos offered my Dad now. "Seeing as you insisted on breakfast for dinner."
"How about a bottle of vodka?" Dad snorted towards him.
Amos quickly frowned to that. "You know I don't store alcohol here-"
"I was joking Amos, cool it." Dad flipped the newly formed pancakes.
Uncle Amos let a small snarl out before facing me, calming down as I work on my second pancake. "So Carter, you're going to be eight soon, you excited?" Amos suddenly changed the subject.
I nodded, taking a bite of sugary fluff. Dad's eyes gave way to sadness again, then quickly glared at his brother. "You maybe want to pitch some ideas for your Dad? I noticed you've gotten pretty fond of the Lakers recently," Amos continued anyways.
Not really, I only pretended because it seemed to bring a smile to Dad's face. And as it is, that seemed to be all I really wanted now, for him to be happy. So I simply nodded, swallowing the buttery bite. "You better get to making that coffee," Dad spoke a little harshly towards Uncle Amos now.
Instead of getting defensive or even mad in general, Amos sighed and quickly attended to the coffee machine. Amos is weird that way; he rarely steps in Dad's way. He always finds a way to disappear, and it sometimes even bothers Dad when he does it. He rarely fights against Dad too, which is odd seeing as Mom always did and would proceed to apologize to Sadie and I for witnessing it. Or maybe he's more about keeping their arguments away from us, for I did happen to hear a small portion of the fight they had last night.
"Oh shoot, I don't even remember how to operate this thing anymore," Amos grumbled as he observed it a little longer.
Dad rolled his eyes and took a step toward the machine, switching it on. "Does that help?"
Amos shot him a sheepish grin in reply. "What do you know; we have a brainiac in the house tonight."
"Don't get excited or anything," Dad continued.
