Eternity

Chapter 11

"I feel like my daughter's growing up."

Fang groaned. "Max, you don't even know Kim Kardashian."

"Oh, be quiet, you," I said, making a face at him. "Now she's married. No hope of making Tyler date her so that she can be my real daughter."

"Still hope," Fang said, taking the remote from me and changing the channel. "Just wait for the divorce."

"Fang."

"I love her. I mean, dude, I just love her."

"Okay, I get it!" Chris yelled. "Shuddup about it."

"I can't," Lance said with conviction. "She's just the hottest thing I've ever seen. I'm in love, Chris."

"Who is she again?"

"Her name is Shanda. She says that I'm amazing. And I give her food. I love her."

"What does she look like?"

"She's got black hair and brown eyes and she's hot."

"Hmmmm…I don't know. Girls are nasty."

"That's because you're a stupid little boy. I'm a man and I like girls. Or one girl. Shanda. Have I told you that I love her yet?"

"Yes."

After coming home from a party, Adeem and Tabitha stayed in the living room for once. Mainly because they were both too drunk to go anywhere else. It was amazing that Adeem hadn't crashed into something, much less got them both to his house.

"You're drunk," Tabitha taunted as she laid on his chest. Adeem grabbed her finger when she tried to wag it at him.

"So are you," he sang back. She lazily laid her head down, closing her eyes.

"I," she whispered, then waited a second. "Love," again, she waited. "Pizza."

"I love you too," he mumbled, having not heard her right.

"Can we order a pizza?"

"Sex?"

"Pizza," she repeated.

"Whaaa?"

"Piz…Oh!" She sat up and fell off him. "We're home."

He closed his eyes. "You fell."

They both started giggling. Then Adeem got angry.

"You fell! Get up!"

She kept giggling. "I can't!"

"Stupid…Hi."

"Hi," she said, settling on the floor. "I'mma s'eep down 'ere. 'kay?"

He settled down, also ready to sleep. "'kay."

"Hello?"

"Tabitha, where are you?"

She groaned. "What time is it?"

"Six in the morning," I said, glancing at the clock. "Your dad has been at work all morning and doesn't know that you stayed out all night."

"I'm with-"

"No. Tell me that you are with Jenna or Terra so that I can lie to him without feeling bad."

"Yeah, sure. Jenna. Terra."

I paused. "Did you drink?"

"Max-"

"Tabitha, I said you could have sex with him. I never said that you could drink."

"I have to go," she mumbled, yawning a little. "Bye."

She hung up on me! Brat.

About ten minutes later, Fang came home.

"What are you doing up?" He asked, coming to give me a kiss on the head.

"Lawson," I said and he nodded.

"He go back to sleep yet?"

"Yeah," I said as Fang headed to the kitchen. "Can you bring me a soda?"

"Sure," he said, still in there. "Hey, Max?"

"What?"

"Damien was talking to me today and…he and Cameron, like, went to a movie and out to eat."

"Alright." So what?

"Well…that's like a date."

Like? "Yeah."

"We never go on dates."

"Fang, get the point."

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to, like, go out or something."

"Wait, wait, wait." I was holding in a laugh. "You have no problem with asking me to have sex, but you get nervous asking me out on a date?"

"Max."

"What?" I smiled at him as he came to give me the Pepsi. "I think that it's cute, Fang."

"Look, do you want to or what?"

"What do you wanna do?" I asked. In our relationship, Fang and I hadn't gone on very many dates. After coming back to Arizona, I moved in with him after a day, started dating him after about a week, and was married a little over two months later. We had gone on a handful of dates. The number was so small that I could recount each and every one.

"Well…First off, no kids."

"We can get them all somewhere."

"Alright. Do you wanna go see a movie?"

"I want a scary one," I said. "You know, so that I can hold you when you get scared."

"Right," Fang said, frowning. "Sure."

"I guess I'll have to buy your popcorn and movie ticket," I went on. "You know, since I'm the man and everything."

"If this is your way of telling me that you want a sex change, no."

I giggled a little. "So it's a date then?"

"It's a date."

"That is so disgusting."

Adeem didn't look away from the movie. "Yeah. Monster guts and-"

"No, that," Tabitha whispered, pointing. He was barely able to make out two people, who were making out.

"What about them? We do that."

"They're old."

"Not that old."

"Over, like, thirty."

"Thirty is the new twenty."

"Thirty is the new forty."

"Shhh!" Jenna whisper hissed at the couple. "Some people are trying to watch a movie."

"Or get felt up," Adeem mumbled, to which Tabitha elbowed him. Laughing a little, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Look," Tabitha mumbled a minute later.

He was starting to lose his patience. "What?"

"She's down on the floor in front of him."

"How the heck do you see so well?"

She ignored him. "She's going down on him. Who the fuck does that in a movie theater?"

"Alanis Morisette."

"Adeem."

"What?"

She tried to get back into the movie, but she couldn't. Something seemed so familiar about them…

Todd, who was Jenna's boyfriend, even though they were both cheating on each other, laughed when he noticed.

"Wanna try that, Jenna?"

"I am watching the movie, Todd," she said, though they all knew that she would blow him later.

When the movie was over and the lights came on, Adeem started laughing hysterically.

"Shut up," Tabitha mumbled, sinking down in her sink.

"Your-"

"I said shut up!"

"You're home late."

"Shut up, Tyler," I said, walking into the house, pulling Fang along behind me. "Is everyone else in bed?"

"Yeah. It's midnight, you know."

"We know," Fang said as I led him to our bedroom. He closed and locked the door before kissing me. We went to a movie, but had to skip dinner for some…unforeseen incidents. Mainly Fang and I and the back of the Explorer.

"We should go out on dates more often," I mumbled as Fang laid me down on the bed, getting over me.

"I agree."

I giggled, staring up at him. "Fang, I blew you and had sex in the back of the freaking car. You can't still be horny."

"I can," he mumbled, kissing my neck. "But I'm not."

"Good."

Smiling a little, Fang gave me another kiss on the head before laying next to me. "Doing what we did today…I feel so…young."

"Yeah," I mumbled, reaching into my pocket to pull out my cell phone. When I turned it on, I saw that I had a bunch of texts, all from Tabitha. The first was about around the time Fang and I first left the house. She said that her and Adeem were going out. The next was her saying that I was disgusting. Huh. Wonder why.

"I love you," Fang whispered in my ear, making me forget all about Tabitha. We laid in bed for awhile, laughing softly and whispering things to each other.

After about an hour, I got up to check on the kids. Tabitha was in her room, typing on her computer.

"Leave me alone," she said, not looking up. I frowned.

"What did I do?"

"You know what you did."

"N-"

"You and…Dad…God, Max! Adeem was there!"

"What?" I frowned. "What are you-"

"We went to see a movie."

I blushed heavily, finally catching on. "Tabitha-"

"Max, you're just…ew."

"We're married. We can-"

"Not in public!"

"The theater was almost empty!"

"But not completely."

"Tabitha, I didn't realize that you were-"

"Just leave me alone."

"Tabitha-"

"No! You're the one that's getting all slutty with my dad."

"Hey-"

"Just fuck off, Max."

"Whatever."

I was sleeping, what else do I do, when someone started cuddling against me.

"What?" I groaned.

"Mommy," Nicky giggled.

"I'm going to work, babe," Fang said from somewhere in the room. I didn't open my eyes.

"Cool," I mumbled, not moving. Nicky poked me.

"What?" I groaned.

"Love you."

"I love you too," I told him, still not moving. "Now buzz off."

"Max, you need to watch him."

I sighed, finally sitting up and opening my eyes. "Where's Drew?"

"Hi," he called from the bathroom, where Fang was brushing his teeth. The toddler stepped out from behind his daddy and walked into the bedroom.

"Hi, baby," I said as Nicky climbed into my lap. "What about the baby, Fang?"

"He's asleep," he told me after spitting in the sink. "Other kids are at school."

"Good," I said as Drew climbed into the bed. "I just want to be with my boys."

Fang rolled his eyes as the twins giggled. I smiled before making them both lay down.

"It's naptime, boys," I said. Drew frowned.

"No. Daddy?"

He sighed. "You wanna come to work with me, bubba?"

"Yes!" He held out his arms. "Daddy!"

He went and picked him up. "You, Nick?"

He cuddled under the covers, not even answering Fang. It came to no shock to my husband, because Nick would never want to leave if Lawson wasn't going and, of course, he favored me, as did all my children. Duh.

After school Tabitha had to wait to go over to Adeem's. He was going to work out after school. Now, though, he was back and she came over to be with him. He was laying shirtless on his bed, resting. That's all he ever did now. Rest.

"Are you asleep?"

"Shhh," he mumbled, not moving besides his lips.

"You really are starting to annoy me," she said, just like any girl. Sometimes, Adeem understood homosexuals…then he thought about how much your butt would hurt afterwards. If he was bottom, that is. No way that would ever happen.

"Me?"

"Yes, you," she told him. "I come over here to see you and-"

"Tabitha, I didn't ask you to."

"You want me to leave?"

"No," he said slowly, not sure of what would anger her. "I like you being here."

"Then at least pay attention to me."

"I pay plenty of attention to you."

"When?"

"Hello, I freaking have sex with you."

She groaned. "Not that type of attention, Adeem."

"What more do you need?" He kept his eyes closed. "I mean, Jenna needed none of this togetherness crap."

"Watch it, stupid."

"Stupid? I like pet names. Can I call you bitch?"

"I am so close to-"

"What? Hitting me? You do that all the time." He finally opened his dark eyes. "You know, Tabs, you've really gotten boring recently."

"Shut up."

"Really, I mean it," he said. "So…predictable."

"…Are you breaking up with me?"

"Nope," he said, closing his eyes again. "I like predictable. I love it, in fact."

"Oh."

He smiled a little. "I'm used to you now. I'm used to all the stupid things you do."

"Stupid?"

"Yeah."

"Like what?"

"Like when you hit me repeatedly but never think that one day, I just might hit you back. Or how when we're with other people, you always manage to mention you being my girlfriend."

"I do not."

"I actually admire you for it," he told her. "I've never met someone that can drop their relationship status seven times in a conversation about baseball."

"Oh, whatever," she said. Adeem rolled to face the wall, something he never liked to do. He told Tabitha once that he always got nightmares when he faced the wall for some reason.

"Either be quiet or leave. I love you, but I knew and loved sleep first."

She turned to lay on her side, staring at his back. Slowly, as if unsure, she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his lower back. He was still all smiles even when she couldn't see it as she ran a hand down from his chest and to his lower half. After teasing him for a moment, she moved her hands back away, now just laying against him. Adeem feigned sleep by evening out his breathing. Even though his eyes were still open, she did not know this, as she could not see them.

Tabitha leaned up and kissed the back of his ear. "I love you."

He made no notion of hearing her, as he was supposed to be asleep and just laid there. After about ten minutes, she actually was asleep. He gently turned in her arms so that he could face her.

"I love you too," he mumbled, kissing her head.

"What's your greatest fear?"

"Being married to Fang. Look, I conquered it!"

"If you're not going to play right-"

"Fine," I sighed. "I guess…well, elevators freak me out. Like, a lot. I mean, I've seen tons of movies where it breaks down or something and bad stuff happens."

Bone turned to Fang. "You?"

"I said that I didn't want to play."

"You?" Bone repeated, still staring at him. Fang groaned loudly before speaking.

"Well…I guess being decapitated."

I frowned. "That's sick."

"Shut up before I lock you in an elevator."

Bone cleared his throat before continuing. "If you knew the day that you would die, would you want to know?"

"Yes," Fang said.

"No."

Bone kept on, drowning out anything we would have said to each other. "If you had a chance to have an affair that your partner would never know about, would you do it?"

"No," Fang said.

"Yes."

"What?"

"Fang, come on, I just meant-"

"If you had a chance to go back and change some tragic part of your life, would you?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding a little. "The School."

"No," Fang said, frowning at me. "Without the School, there's a very good chance I wouldn't have known you."

"…Well, I would have kept Kevin alive."

"If you did that, it could change everything."

I was starting to feel him stabbing me in the back. "Just admit it for once."

"Admit what?"

"You can get as many tattoos of his name as you want, but you don't love him."

"You-"

"You don't."

"Yes-"

"N-"

"Moving right along," Bone said. "If you-"

"You think that you're the only one that lost a son, Max."

"I am," I said, straightening a little. "Kevin might be part your blood, but you've already said that you wouldn't go back and make it to where you came and found me and saved him."

"Because, Max, that would mean that I would have to give up having Tyler and Tabitha."

"So they're more important to you than Kevin?"

"Is Kevin more important to you than them?"

I laid my head down on the counter. "You don't get it!"

"Yeah, I think I do."

"Fang, I love them, but…Kevin-"

"Save it."

"No, you save it!" I was done with him. "You don't know anything about Kevin-"

"Neither do you, Max," Fang said.

"What?"

"He was four months old. It sucks that he's gone, but you really know nothing about him. At. All."

"Fuck you!"

Fang walked out of the store, slamming the door behind him.

"…No more questions?" Bone asked, still holding his stupid magazine.

"You too," I said, getting up and walking off to the back. I heard him go to comfort Nicky and Drew, but I didn't care. Tabitha and Tyler are Fang's children, but that doesn't mean that Kevin's not.

"What?"

Samantha nodded. "Yep."

Cameron groaned as Damien scratched his head.

"I thought that you were over being called stupid names?" The girl's mother asked.

"It's not stupid."

"Yes, it is."

"Aaliyah, huh?" Damien stared at her. "Kind of old-"

"If a song's good, it doesn't matter if it's old. Only losers that don't know anything about music listen to new stuff." She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, much like Cameron was known to do. "At least, that's what Luther says."

"The day you believe Luther is that day that you finally lose it," Cameron commented dryly with the normal disdain in her voice that she had when speaking of the long haired man.

"Eat," Vanessa said from Cameron's lap. She tried to force a cookie into her mother's mouth. "Eat!"

"Stop it," Cameron reprimanded, setting the youngest on the ground. "Go play with Samantha or something-"

"Aaliyah," Samantha said before walking off back up the stairs. Cameron looked at Damien.

"Do I even want to know who that is?"

He shrugged. "Some dead singer. You wouldn't know her. Of course, she was black, so you probably wouldn't like her."

"I am so tired of you," she said before getting up and going into the kitchen. "I'm starting to think you're the racist, as many comments you make about it."

"Yeah, yeah."

"You think that when we get older, we'll still hangout?"

"We don't hangout."

"Yes, we do," Lucas said, looking at his older brother. "Kind of."

"If you're asking me if I like being around you, sure."

"One time, you told me that you would take me with you when you left."

"Is that what I said?" Tyler asking, shaking his head. "Sure, why not? I'm going to be alone besides you anyways."

"Finally accepting your fate?"

"No," Tyler said, cocking his head to the side. "I'm more of deciding to just go along with this. God has to have something big planned for me. Right?"

"I guess," Lucas said, shrugging. He wasn't much for religion. "If not him, the universe can't keep treating you wrong forever."

They were in their bedroom, each laying on the respective bed.

"So…Alex is over, right?"

"Yeah, I've been done with her for a year now."

"Right…well, is there anyone else that-"

"Dating is stupid in general. So is the idea of love. In the bible, you don't marry the person you love, you love the person you marry."

"…Right."

"I just mean, you did base love off stupid, worthless feelings. One day, those are gone," Tyler told his younger half brother. "You would marry the woman that was given to you, in the old days. I don't see why it should be any different now."

"You're bitter," Lucas comment.

"And so what if I am? You will be too one day. Just wait. When you're stuck with a bunch of child support for kids that aren't even yours and on your fifth divorce, you'll see. This world is to Hell, along with this country. Pretty soon it wouldn't matter anymore," he went on, now just rambling. "The day God comes down and judges you all, you'll be sorry. Of course, you'll probably be one of the ones that that follow the antichrist."

Whatever that meant. "Yeah…you got money for a pizza?"

Tyler sighed. "Yeah. It's in my-"

"Oh, I know where it is."

The older boy just frowned.

A few days later, James was over at his grandparents', helping Dan put together a new dresser for the guest bedroom. Cody couldn't come because he was over at John's house. James had already promised Dan that he would help though and only a dead man goes back on a promise to Dan.

"Dan," Trinity called from the front of the house. "Someone's here for you."

"I'm busy, woman," he mumbled. Of course, he didn't say it out loud. Oh no. For Dan liked to play strict with his wife, but everyone knew that he feared and respected her greatly.

"There you are," Tammie said, coming into the room. "You said that you would loan me some- Oh, hi, James."

"Hi," he said, not looking up from the instructions. Dan had told him that men didn't need instructions, so it was a good thing he was still just a boy.

Distracted from her original task, Tammie leaned against the doorframe, staring at her son. At one time in her life, though very brief, he was the center of her world. Now, all the things that she knew about him were secondhand and mainly from her mother. Ew.

"So I heard that you got a girlfriend."

"No," Dan said, not looking away from his work.

"Not you," Tammie said, rolling her eyes.

"Yes," James said, nodding a little, but still focusing on the directions.

"What's her name?"

"Shanda."

"Is she black?"

He got angry. "Why does it matter?"

"It was just a question, James."

"Why does it matter though?"

"Well…I don't know!"

"Mixed race relationships never work out," Dan commented. "You are mistake enough, James."

James didn't take it offensively. His parents had made it pretty clear with their actions that he was a mistake. An accident, a regret. He didn't care. Why would he?

"You've been married to my mother for years."

Dan just grunted, like he always did when he was backed into a corner. "Well, you want that money or what?"

She followed him out of the room to go get the cash. James sighed, finally giving up on the instructions. There was probably a mistake in them anyways.

Fang and I haven't been talking. Instead, I found better ways to spend my time.

"Max? I need you to- Max!" Tyler walked into the bathroom. "Are you throwing up?"

I looked up, sniffling. "I played in the rain with Lance and Chris yesterday. Now I'm sick."

"But why are you throwing up?"

"Well…Okay, so the rain thing happened a few days ago. This is because I was so bummed by Fang that I ate a lot of ice cream."

"You ate all of that ice cream? Jason was having a class party, Max. That was for him tomorrow. You know sometimes-"

"Okay, first off, I am not feeling well. Leave me alone," I order. "Secondly, watch who you're talking to, Tyler. I'm the adult."

"Max, that was three things of-"

"What's going on?" Fang walked into the bathroom, frowning when he saw me next to the toilet. "Are you sick, Max?"

"Not like you'd care. After all, if you hate Kevin, you have to hate me."

Fang groaned. "Max, get off the ground."

"She ate all the ice cream," Tyler ratted.

"Jason's ice cream?"

"Did everyone but me know about the party?" I asked. Before they could say anything, though, because I started puking again.

"Come here," Fang said, pushing past Tyler to get into the bathroom. He grabbed a washcloth and wet it before coming over to me. He wiped my face, giving me a kiss on the head while he was at it. "You are a lot of work."

I held up my arms. "Carry me."

"Leave, Tyler," Fang said as he lifted me up. "Take my car and go buy more ice cream."

He groaned, but left. Fang went and laid me on the bed, covering me over.

"You think you're okay now?"

"I sure hope so," I said, patting my tummy. "I just know that I've gained, like, a whole pound from this."

"Max."

"Remember that time that we were at the movies and your stepmother was giving your dad head?"

"Adeem, shut up. And it wasn't that long ago."

He snickered. "Anyways, I was just thinking."

"You better not be thinking about Max."

"No," he said, frowning. Max was starting to get old… "I just meant…we should…try some stuff."

"Try some stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Like…?"

"I think that you should blow me."

She hit him in the stomach. "No."

"Why not? I'll do the same for you."

She pushed him away before rolling to lay on her side. Another day wasted away at her boyfriend's house.

"You know that we will eventually."

"Oral sex is stupid and nasty."

"Bet Jenna would do it."

"I bet so too. In fact, I guaranty she would. I'm not a slut though."

"I'm your boyfriend."

"And?"

"Who cares if you blow me?"

"You'll tell all of your friends and then everyone will be talking about me. No, Adeem."

He sighed. "Well, that takes away my plans for tonight. What do you want to do?"

"You act like we ever do something. We always just…hangout."

"Hanging out is cool," he said, reaching over to run a hand down her side. "Wanna listen to the stereo?"

"No."

Shark Bait started nudging on the door and Tabitha got up to open it. The dog ran in, immediately headed for her bed. It was bedtime for her.

"Night, Shark Bait," Adeem called to the dog, making her tail wag. Tabitha petted her for a second before getting back into bed with him. Adeem's parents' house was always cold. Quickly, she got under the covers, smiling when Adeem ran his foot down her leg.

"Where do you parents think you are again?"

"Terra's," Tabitha said. "Where are yours?"

"Dad moved out, remember?"

"I know," she said, reaching behind her to touch him and let him know that she was there for him. "I just meant your mom."

"At my aunt's or something," he said, pulling her closer.

"Ow," she said, pushing him away. "Your toenail scratched me."

"So? You can take it."

She settled into his arms. "Luther called me again today."

"He does everyday."

"And I've never answer!"

"Maybe he just cares about you."

"Maybe..."

"Not like I care about you though," he said, kissing her cheek. "I love you, Tabs."

She smiled a little. "I love you too."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Damien said, getting into bed. "Just fell asleep downstairs and-"

"Okay, never mind. Don't care."

He sighed, closing his eyes. "You need to do clothes."

"You do them."

"I always do them."

"Why mess with a good thing, Damien?"

Taking a deep breath, he thought about his words before speaking. "At the very least, you should do the bathrooms."

"Yeah, right," she said, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"That cat died?"

Damien moved to get up, but then felt stupid because he realized that Peter was right next to Cameron, as always. "What cat?"

"Tyler's cat. Uh…Butterfinger?

"Snickers?" Damien gasped. If Peter died, at least he had the chance of getting his wife back. Snickers' death was just horrible. "Tyler must be crushed."

She shrugged. "Max said that she went out into the garage to do clothes and found the cat."

"You sure that she didn't kill it?"

"Damien! How dare you suggest that?" She shook her head. "While on subject though, I believe in guilty until proven otherwise. Why do you think that she killed it?"

"She hated it, it hated her, and, of course, Max never does laundry. Ever."

"Good point," Cameron mumbled as they both settled down for sleep. "I'll have to bring this up to Fang."

"Yeah, before she gets to Tank."

"No, no. We should let her continue just enough to kill Bone."

"Cameron," he sighed as if she were the dumb one in the situation. "The joke was that she was killing animals."

"Oh, yes, I know."

R.I.P Aaliyah Haughton (1979-2001)