Chapter Fourteen Caring

The ride to the Walker ranch that night was quiet. Corrie and Damien could tell something had happened that day. The tension in the RAM was smothering. Once at the house, Angela quickly exited the truck and entered the house going straight up to her room closing the door quietly. Walker ignored the actions of his oldest as he made dinner. Corrie quietly went about setting the table as Daymee snuck up the stairs and slipped into his sisters' room. Angela was sitting at her desk working on her homework not even acknowledging his presence.

"What happened, Angela," questioned Daymee walking over to stand beside her, "You weren't at the Center after school today." Angela kept on writing never pausing in the least as he placed his hand on her shoulder. Damien frowned. Something was wrong. More wrong than usual that is. He knew that Angela hadn't been okay for awhile now, but she had gotten better. Now it seemed as if she was right back where she had been this summer. He glanced at what she was writing, but it was in cursive and he hadn't learned to read cursive yet.

"Damien, go downstairs and eat," came Walker's voice from the doorway. Demon shook his head, "I want to talk to Angela." Walker gave his son a stern look, "That wasn't a request." Damien took one last look at his sister before sulking out of the room.

They were half way through dinner when Walker sat down at the table to eat. "What's wrong with Angie, Daddy? Isn't she going to eat?" asked Corrie. Walker glanced at Corrie's worried face, "Don't you worry about her, Princess. She'll be fine. How was your day at school?" Corrie quickly began to fill her father in on all the happenings of the day. Walker grinned at how excited his youngest got when telling a story. She was so like her mother. The smile faded as he looked over at his son. Damien was pushing the food around on his plate scowling at it as if the food had personally offended him.

"Eat, Damien," ordered Walker quietly. Demon glared up at his father, "I'm not hungry," declared the insolent boy. "Then go up to your room and complete your homework," stated Walker with a pointed looked that said to lose the attitude. Throwing down his silverware Demon stomped up the steps and slammed the door to his room ignoring the warning look he had received.

The look of worry was once again in Corrie's sky blue eyes, "I'll do the dishes, Daddy." Walker smiled reassuringly down at her, "Thanks, Princess. I'll help and we'll be done in no time." Together the father and daughter cleaned up the dinner dishes. Laughter could be heard from the kitchen as Corrie did her best to relieve the tension in the house. Few could resist the girl's cheerful nature.

Damien's anger grew as he heard the laughter coming from the kitchen. How could they? Angela was in pain, and they were laughing. He punched his pillow several times trying to relieve his anger. The door to his room slowly opened. Demon glared at the intruder, "Don't you ever knock?"

Corrie took a step back, but quickly changed her mind. She was not going to be intimidated by her brother. Calmly walking into the room, she smiled and asked, "Would you like to do our math homework together, Daymee?"

Seeing his sister's happy face just gave fuel to the fire inside of the boy. He flung his pillow across the room startling her, "I can do it by myself. I'm not stupid you know. Surely someone as GIFTED as you are could see that." Guilt filled him when he saw the hurt that he had caused in his little sister's eyes, but he pushed it away. "Get out of my room."

"I just wanted to help, Daymee. I don't think you're stupid," cried Corrie tears filling her eyes. "Will you….." Demon lost it, " I SAID GET OUT," he yelled pushing her out the door hard. The push sent the small girl flying into the wall opposite of the room banging her head quite hard.

Angela and Walker came running into the hallway at the sound of Corrie's cry. Both went running to the small girl curled up in pain checking to see if she was alright. Walker, seeing that Corrie would be fine and that Angela would care for her, stormed into his son's room. Demon's temper had not left him. Anything that he came into contact with was thrown, torn, or destroyed. The once neat room now looked like a tornado had struck. Walker scooped his son into his arms and took him to the basement. Damien had gone too far this time, and it was going to stop NOW.

Walker placed the still struggling boy on the mat of his workout room in from of the punching bag, "You want to hit something you hit this. Not anything or anyone else." He let Demon go and the boy flung himself at the bag attacking it as if there was not tomorrow. Walker watched for a half an hour as his son took all his anger out on the punching bag. Tears began to poor down the small boys face, and he fell to the floor physically exhausted.

The small boy turned his tear-stained face towards his father and screamed, "WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO BE SO HAPPY AND HELPFUL ALL OF THE TIME? I CAN DO MY HOMEWORK BY MYSELF. I'M NOT STUPID. YOU ALWAYS DEFEND HER. YOU FORGET ABOUT ME. YOU FORGET ABOUT ANGELA. SHE'S IN PAIN. I CAN FEEL IT AND YOU DON'T CARE. EVERYONE IS ALWAYS SAYING THAT THEY CARE BUT THEY DON'T. THEY DON'T CARE. CORRIE DOESN'T CARE. ANGELA DOESN'T CARE. YOU DON'T CARE. NOTHING MATTERS ANYMORE. NOTHING. IF YOU DON'T CARE THEN I'M NOT GOING TO CARE," the boy broke down into sobs whispering, "……I don't care…….I don't care…….I don't care," as he curled into the fetal position sobbing as if his heart was breaking.

Walker quickly and gently picked his young son up and cradled him in his arms whispering soothing words to the broken boy. All these months Damien had been trying not to care that his family was breaking apart. All these months he had been struggling with his anger and pain, emotions that only showed themselves when a raw nerve was struck and the anger became obvious.

Once Walker felt the tension leave Damien, he forced his son to look him in the eyes. Quietly, but firmly he said, "You do care, Damien. You care that Angela is hurting and that you can't do anything about it. You care that it looks like Corrie and I are ignoring her pain. You care that people are always saying how smart Corrie is making you feel as if you aren't just as intelligent when in your own way you are. You care that it seems as if no one sees how much pain you are in. Most of all, you care that your mother is no longer here when you need her that she's not here to tuck you in at night that she's not here to take away all your insecurities, that she not here to say that she loves you. You care, Damien Walker, and don't you ever say that nothing matters. How you feel matters to me, to your sisters, to your aunts and uncles, and to your friends. It matters to your mom who watches you every second of every day. You matter, Damien John Walker, and we all love you." He pulled his son into a tight hug and held him that way for a long time as the boy grieved for all that had happened.

Finally, Damien pushed out of his father's arms still sniffling, "I need to go say sorry to Corrie." He looked into his father's caring yet stern eyes. He knew he wasn't out of trouble yet. Throwing things in anger was one thing, but purposefully hurting someone else was another altogether, especially when that someone is a girl who is not only younger and smaller than you but your sister as well. His father had never and would never allow any of his kids to strike out at each other in anger.

Father and son walked quietly up the stairs and into the girls' room where Angela was putting a tear-stained Corrie to bed. Damien walked over to his little sister and whispered, "I'm sorry I yelled at you and then pushed you into the wall. I shouldn't have lost my temper. Can you forgive me, Corrie." He looked at her with pleading eyes before dropping his gaze to the floor in shame.

Corrie wasn't having any of that. She threw herself at her brother and pulled him into a hug, "I forgive you and I'm sorry too. I don't think you're stupid. You just don't like math. I should have left when you told me to and 'spected your privacy." (AN: Sorry, but she was sounding just a little too grown up. I know she's smart, but she is only four.)

Walker smiled as he watched his youngest children make up. The two had come a long way in the last day. He glanced at his oldest who was ignoring them all once more. She was once again writing at her desk. Walker frowned. She had not been entirely truthful when he had questioned her about her actions that day. He sighed and shook his head as he walked over to check out the bump on Corrie's head once more. Angela had always been a hard person to get answers out of when she didn't want you to know something. It had only gotten worse since Alex had died. He had made headway with two of their children but Angela was going to be the toughest. If only Alex were still here……………….

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Boy was that tough to write. I'm sorry it took so long but I've been a little distracted since coming back to school. What Angela told Walker about going to see Becca will be in the next chapter. I know this chapter is short but it was a spur of the moment idea. I hope I get back on track soon and can update more often. Enjoy the story and thanks for all the wonderful reviews.