I didn't get the nerve to dare to look at Robbie. What was I supposed to do? I was just as shocked as he was.

For background, let me explain Robbie's dad. He and his mother had gotten a divorce when Robbie was twelve and Allison was almost eight. That was also about the time that Allison bought Rex for Robbie, because the divorce really shook him up. It was, according to Allison, a great pick-me-up for him, and that he used Rex's humor as an outlet, almost, for the emotional pain and turmoil he was going through. Sometimes I wondered if that was his tactic at the time of his surgery, too, but I didn't want to ask, just in case. But in any case, following the divorce Aaron and Siobhan got into a huge debate over custody. Most of the time in these arguments, they were taken to Sylvia's house so that she could look after them.

Aaron stood in the doorway, staring us down, and Robbie and I stared back. Even Rex didn't interject anything in edgewise. I personally was frozen to the spot; Aaron Shapiro and I weren't exactly on the best of terms.

He finally stepped into the room, saying, "Hello, Robert."

Robbie was speechless for a while, then finally sputtered out, "H-hi, Dad."

"Catherine," he said to me. I didn't feel like reminding him that my name was Cat. I was too frightened to really say anything; I was so afraid he would lash out at me. Instead, I just nodded.

"This is awkward," Rex said, finally defusing the tension that was very apparent in the room. Had the situation not been so surprising or serious, I might have laughed. Instead, I stared forward, not saying anything.

"Ah, still have Rex, I see," he said, coming all the way into the room and awkwardly sitting on a chair. Apart from the beeping of the heart monitor, I might have thought we were in a business meeting, rather than spending time with Robbie's father. The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. I tried not to look him in the eye.

"Yeah. Uh…no offense, or anything, but why are you here?"

He looked grim, took a moment, and said, "I heard about your little…problem."

Robbie looked confused, saying exactly what I was trying to avoid saying myself. "That happened almost a week ago and you're just getting here?"

"Well, I can explain."

"Please do."

I couldn't remember Robbie being so cold in my entire life, and I had seen him angry with me a Prome when he thought I had been making up a date named Tug. That was not a thrilling time, since he was never angry. But he was definitely angry then; I didn't even have an adjective that was descriptive enough for when Mr. Shapiro came in. He even folded his arms across his chest, setting down Rex—not a good sign.

"At my house, I was getting a new phone installed. They came exactly a week ago to set it up. Unfortunately, there was a lot of problems with the services. Your mother tried to call me, but of course, due to the phone lines, she couldn't. She would have called me at work, but I was away on business until recently. I didn't even know anything was wrong until she dropped off Allison the other day."

"Oh?" I could tell that he was reaching the point where he was torn between forgiveness and disbelief.

His father nodded. "When she walked in, I asked her why she was there, and she asked if Si—if your mother had called. I had to tell her my phone wasn't quite working up to par, so she filled me in on everything. I called your mother at work the next day and we talked a lot about what was going on. I cancelled most of my appointments today just to see you, Robert."

Robbie's hand was clenched in a fist when his dad came in, then he slowly unclenched it. "Robbie," he reminded.

"Oh, my mistake."

"So what'd Mom think when she finally got ahold of you?" Now it seemed like he was wavering between the two feelings—it was like he felt like he should trust him, but was having a difficult time doing so.

"Your mother had left quite a few angry voicemails for me, things such as, 'Call me now,' or 'I'd think you'd care about your own son at a time like this'. One even went as far as 'Aaron, if you don't answer me by tomorrow I'm never letting you see your children ever again'. That was immediately after your sister told me what was going on." He looked almost apologetic for his years of neglect. His eyes fell on me. "Are you Robbie's girlfriend?"

"No," I said, feeling myself flush red. It was the first thing I had said since he came in the room and I knew I was not making a good first impression, even though we had met before. I cut him some slack on that, since I had dyed my hair since then. "We've met before," I said.

"We have?"

I was definitely embarrassed but said, "I used to have bleach blonde hair then."

Realization and recognition washed over his face. "Oh, yes." He took in my red hair—maybe he had heard about what play we were doing, I was never sure—and said, "Is Miss Hannigan looking for you?" Robbie and I both stared at him for a long time—him in disbelief that his father could be lighthearted, me because I didn't know if I should have been offended or laughed—and Aaron finally said, "It was a joke. I'll have to say, though, I'm not too fond of this habit of yours. Dying your hair is a horrible thing to get into. You could be bald one day if you keep doing that. Why, I have a woman that I work with that dyes her hair all sorts of colors and if you looked at it now, it's almost like…" He trailed off. "Well, in any case, you'll want to start taking better care of yourself."

Who are you, my father? I thought, literally biting my tongue to keep from lashing out.

"So, you finally decided to acknowledge my existence?" Robbie said, moving the conversation back to where it started. I fought the temptation to call his father a 'stupid head'. It seemed like I was having a harder and harder time containing myself that day than I had ever had before.

"Listen, Rober—ie. Robbie," he said, correcting himself last second. "I know these last few years must have been hard on you—emotionally draining, if you will."

"Yeah, they sure have," he said, rubbing his wrist and sounding far more bitter than he had been at the beginning of the conversation.

"And I'm sure your sister is probably very similar, correct?"

"I wouldn't know," Robbie said coldly; it seemed as though it were his mission to make his dad take pity on him an Allison. "Ally and I don't really talk about you outside of your house." Ouch, I thought.

Aaron ignored him, continuing, "I know that I have no one to blame for that but myself. I was not the best father in your upbringing prior to the divorce, and even that fell on the back burner following the separation. I assure you, though, that once I heard that you were not in the best help, I had a talk with myself." That was when it was hardest for me not to laugh. Up until that point, he had been all business (well, minus the 'Miss Hannigan' comment), and then, he was letting himself go a bit and everything. "I had said that if you—my only son—were in deteriorating health, that should have been a sign to me from some higher power that I need to pay better attention to the two of you—you and your sister, that is."

There was no need to clarify; we both got the message that I was not to be included in this.

"It was definitely a wake-up call, in any case. I got the message loud and clear, that I need to pay better attention to the two of you. So I said to myself that no matter what happens, maybe in this hospital or maybe at home, that I was not going to let the two of you be low priority to me anymore, because you're not low priority. You'll understand when you have children."

The look on Robbie's face told me clearly that he understood without having any children to speak of. He knew that family—or, at the very least, loved ones—was top priority in anyone's life…or that they should be. The fact that his father had tuned everyone out was upsetting. And it wasn't just to him, because I could feel the emotional strain that his absence put on the entire family. Siobhan was always worried about her children; Sylvia was left in charge of them more often than not, and out of desperation; Allison had become very withdrawn; and one of Robbie's only outlets for the entire experience was through his comedy.

There was a prolonged silence, then Robbie said, "So…you mean to tell me that my surgery made you realize how bad Ally and I must feel?"

He nodded. "That is correct."

"And you mean to tell me that you're going to try to be a better parent? To the both of us?"

He nodded again. "Yes, Robbie."

"Starting today?"

Another nod.

"No ifs, ands, or buts about it?"

A nod, pause, then, "No strings attached, absolutely no conditions."

"So you'll go see the school play?"

"Yes, Robbie."

"And the Annual Showcase?"

"Yes, Robbie."

"And high school graduation? College?"

"Yes and yes, Robbie."

"And my wedding day?"

He frowned. "I didn't realize you were engaged."

Robbie turned a light shade of red as he said, "Just checking." He paused, then said, "Well, I guess I'm grateful for that." Then he cracked the smallest and weakest smile I had ever seen. I smiled, too, however, because at the very least, it was the beginning of a new hope for the little family.

Aaron stood abruptly. "I'm sorry to cut this meeting short, but…"

The smile vanished as quickly as it came. "So, you're already applying conditions, so much for that, huh?"

"I wouldn't be going, but I had made promises with Allison to see a movie with her. A documentary or something to that effect, about some singer named Justin Viever?"

I fought laughter again, then Aaron said and said, "I just wanted to let you to know…" The next words seemed almost like they were the hardest thing he would ever say. "I love you, son."

And with that, he left the room.

I left not long after that, getting home and just having time to run to my room before I burst into tears. I was just so, so happy, for both Robbie and Allison. I was so happy to see the progress they were making when it came to family bonds. The anger I had that morning had completely melted away. I found it hard to be angry at anyone.

At one point, Aaron Shapiro was not shy about telling his son that he was 'an embarrassment to the family' or anything similar, and now, they were starting to patch up the holes and strains in their relationship. The same went for Allison. I had heard myself some of the cruel things that were said about the youngest Shapiro, and it was not pretty.

Soon, though, I remembered my promise to myself, then I went to my closet and looked at it. I took in a deep breath, saying to myself, I have to do this.

Anything that was close to a bright shade—whether it be neon blue or even peach—I threw to the floor, then sat down. I had a flashlight with the bottom on the ground, so that the light faced up and I could see what I was doing. I fumbled around in the dark for what I was looking for, then finally my hand fell on the blue pair of scissors.

I smiled to myself. I hadn't used this pair of scissors since the last time I had bought a blouse that I had picked out myself. The clothes my mother had bought me just a day prior were shoved under my bed, dejected. I was never going to let them be seen out of my bedroom, and for several reasons.

I had brought with me a handheld mirror, propping it up against the closet door. It was now getting close to ten o'clock at night. Both my mother and brother were asleep at that point, so I had no chance of being disturbed, but didn't leave the closet for privacy, just in case. Looking in the mirror, I picked up the scissors, holding it up to my hair, which I hadn't cut in almost four years. I couldn't bear to look, then shut my eyes.

Snip.

Yay everyone's happy yay yay yay. All I'm going to say here is that I will have next to no time starting Monday :/ I absolutely HATE swimming but get forced into it every year because my dad's a swim coach, and our season starts on Monday. I was hoping to not have to go, though, because usually they have what's called 'preseason' for the new swimmers. Turns out our entire league's not doing that this year Of course my schoolwork comes top priority, but I'll see if I can continue to update this. I'm hoping that this weekend I can finish this and then just publish new chapters every two days. In any case, I'm trying my best to stay on top of this, but if I miss a few updates, that's why. Please review.

- Hatter of Madness