Happy Wednesday, everybody!
First off, I just want to thank RandomWaffle5505, Smile-Like-An-Idiot, Glee Clue Rock 1251, Lady Cougar-Trombone, LabGirl2001, AlienGhostWizard14, Mickey12Boo, daphrose, Jillie chan, and xxWasabiWarriorAlertxx for the reviews! I know I still owe some of you replies, but I figured the best one I could give is an update. ;)
Second, here's the reason why I haven't been updating as frequently as before: we moved to a different house. The past one and a half months had been filled with packing and cleaning. Add a big family reunion and a big project to that, and there's the recipe for lateness.
Lastly, we're an hour and a half away from a new episode! I'm so excited!
I hope everybody enjoy this chapter! Feel free to drop me a line later regarding the one-hour special if you'd like. :)
Twenty-One.
A cloak of silence covered the household that early Friday morning. It was much different from the one that had suffocated their home for a little more than half a year, but Donald was not entirely sure if it was much better. As he stood by the door outside his stepson's room, watching Tasha as she sat on Leo's bed and held her son's hand as he slept, he came to an honest conclusion that he still didn't know how to feel about this.
He was glad – extremely glad, really – that all of their children were finally home, especially their youngest. Watching the four of them get hurt yesterday nearly stopped his heart. Having no way to check on them to make sure if they were still alive drove him into panic. He was only able to calm down after Torrance assured him that she had a contact who could come to the island and retrieve his children. They were even able to get Douglas (it gave him a deep sense of satisfaction to know that his brother would be waking up in jail) and the other three, who had, for some reason, all shut down after that last attack.
However, along with the happiness, there was also the budding seed of hurt. There were many questions he wanted to ask, far too many whys that needed an answer, but Donald knew that it would be some time yet before he could ask. His stepson was in a poor physical state, and it was already evident when he saw him the first time through that video feed, but that magnified blast wave from the third subject made it worse. He and Bree were the closest to the line of impact, and it did some damage. Bree would need about a day or two to fully recover.
In his already horrid condition, he imagined Leo would take longer.
He didn't mind waiting. It was going to be a big conversation, and he thought it best if both of them had a clear mind when they approach it. As it was, though the dust had settled, his mind was still being pulled in many different directions. There were some things that he needed to prepare his family and himself for in the future, like how they would proceed with Douglas and what they would do with his newest inventions who were now in their possession. He also had some things to tend to at the present, like the well-being of everyone in his family and the apparently growing intrigue throughout the country because of people seeing someone with abilities rescue those firefighters from that wildfire during that live news feed in Virginia.
Donald wanted as less distraction for both of them as possible before they sort what happened in the past because he had a feeling that, like them, Leo had suffered, too.
"Mr. Davenport?"
Donald looked back, mildly surprised, and found Adam and Chase standing behind him. "Chase," he said. "Is…is everything okay?"
Chase nodded. "Everything's fine."
"Is Bree doing better?"
"A little. Dr. Evans said she's improving. He's down there with her and Torrance."
Donald nodded. "Good. Good," he said. He gazed at his sons then, and as he did he felt both relief and pity. He was glad that they were okay, but seeing the cuts and bruises on their arms and on their faces and the brace and the sling steadying the fractures they sustained wrung his heart painfully. It was difficult to see them that way. It always was, anyways, whenever they were hurt. Instead of dwelling on these thoughts, though, he just asked, "How about you two? Are you okay?"
"Still a little sore, but I'm alright," Chase said with a weak but consoling smile.
Adam didn't say anything. Instead, he just stared inside the room, particularly at his brother. "Are we sure that that's Leo?" he asked. "That's not the shape shifter, is it?"
"No, he's not. Dr. Evans and I checked, and the DNA matched. That's really your brother," Donald said.
Again, Adam said nothing.
"Dr. Evans said you found the chip?" Chase asked.
Donald silently took a breath as the strong wave of anger he felt against his brother earlier rushed back to him again. "Yeah," he answered.
"Were you able to take it out?"
Donald shook his head. "Douglas knew what he was doing. He hardwired that chip inside him."
"Hardwired?"
"It's either Leo served a purpose, or he didn't."
Adam and Chase both looked at their father with a frown, concerned by what he was leaving out. "And what if he didn't?" Chase prompted.
Lowering down his voice so his wife wouldn't hear them, Donald responded, "That would be it for him. Douglas wound the wires around important veins. He was counting on someone, whoever would rescue Leo, to make the mistake of pulling them out. He was going to have others do his dirty work for him."
Chase stared at his father, sickened and puzzled and enraged by the clear picture being painted for them. "What happened to Douglas?" he asked, deeply troubled by the mentality of his uncle. "How could he have turned out like this?"
Donald remembered, then, those early mornings when he and Douglas were little, when they would play in the living room and how his younger brother would always joyfully share his toys with him even if they were new and very dear to him. Douglas was such a happy, affectionate and thoughtful sibling. Honestly, at times, Donald wondered if that person vanished because of something he had done.
To answer Chase, and maybe even himself, Donald just said, "I don't know."
The three of them fell into silence, watching Tasha and Leo absently. Donald remained contemplative about his younger brother. He realized then that even if he was very upset over what Douglas had done to his family, he still felt a seedling of pity for him. He was still his brother, and Donald knew that he was much capable of being more than what he had ended up to be.
Meanwhile, Chase gradually came to the conclusion that he was drawing close to the doorstep of closure. Everything was still in disorder, but they were not too far from where they needed to be. He was just happy that his family was there with him and that they were safe. Their home was a home again, and that was all he wanted.
Adam, on the other hand, didn't know what to feel. Being happy about them coming home alive was a given, but at the moment, his focus fell on the way Tasha regarded Leo. Her back was turned on them, but he could imagine a smile on her face. How she felt was evident through the way she remained by his side and tended to him. It was only natural, he knew; her child had just come back to them after being presumed dead for a long time, after all.
However, for some reason, all he could think about were those months when his stepmother directed that type of affection towards the three of them. He felt like a bad person thinking this way. His youngest brother had been through so much, and here he was envying the love that he more than likely missed out on for months. He was trying his hardest not to be jealous, but seeing them, he couldn't help it.
Breathing out slowly, Adam faked a chipper attitude. "Welp, I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry," he said. "If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen." Then, he turned on his heels to head to his destination.
Bewildered, Chase looked at his father.
It only took Donald one quick look at his oldest to understand. "Something's bothering him," he said. "Go talk to him."
Chase nodded then did what he was told.
When he came into the kitchen, he found Adam taking out the bread then a jar of jam from the fridge singlehandedly.
Adam looked at him before closing the fridge door. "Oh. You hungry, too?" he asked as he took out a butter knife from one of the drawers.
Chase lightly shook his head. "No," he answered, watching his older brother closely as he prepared his food.
"Okay. What's up?"
"I should be the one asking you that question," Chase said. "You look like you got something on your mind."
Adam rolled his eyes. "Ha ha. Very funny."
"You know what I meant," Chase said. His brows wrinkled. "Are you okay?"
A smirk came to Adam's mouth as he opened his mouth to answer.
Chase held up a hand. "Spare me the sarcasm, Adam," he said. "Don't you think we're both old enough to avoid this part where we dance around the issue?"
As Adam thought about it, the smirk on his face diminished into nothing. He smiled sadly. "When did you get to be so grown?" he asked.
"Adam…"
Adam sighed. "I just – I just remembered something, that's all. It's nothing big, really."
"Well, it must be. It's enough to bother you," Chase pointed out.
Adam debated at first whether he should tell him. Then, when he had decided, he said, "I really liked the idea of having a mom, you know? It was nice to have someone welcome me back home with food and call me sweetheart and ask me about my day. It was nice having someone just be there for me, for us."
Chase nodded, because he understood. He smiled. "Tasha was a great mom," he agreed.
"I mean, Mr. Davenport is a good dad to us," Adam added. "He gives us food to eat and clothes to wear and a place to stay. He also teaches us to be good people. It's just that…it's different when you also have a mom. It's just more complete."
"And you're thinking that, since Leo's back, we won't have Tasha anymore."
Adam smiled sheepishly but also sadly. "Of all the dumb things I've thought about, huh?"
"No, no, it's—" Chase took a breath and released it. "It's not dumb."
"It's still selfish, though," Adam said.
Chase thought about it. "Is it really selfish for us to want both a dad and a mom?" he asked no one in particular.
Adam shrugged. "All I know is that I don't want it under the same condition we had it. I want all six of us, together, like what we are right now," he said. "But I don't know if we can have both. A dad, a mom, and all four of us? Maybe there's just not enough room, Chase. At least not for the three of us."
"Why not?"
Adam and Chase looked to the source of the voice and found Tasha standing by the walkway.
"Why wouldn't there be enough room for you?" Tasha asked kindly.
Adam looked away guiltily.
Chase did, too, at first, but he was more inclined to address her. However, he found it hard to do so, so he looked to Adam for help.
Though still embarrassed, Adam muttered, "Sorry, Tasha. I…I didn't mean for you to hear that."
Instead of tackling the issue, Tasha decided to divert the conversation to the reason of her following them. "While the three of you were on the mission, I stayed here upstairs, just waiting. Your father thought that it could get too much for me to get involved in, and I agreed. I guess that's the reason why I never really got involved in the things you do. I was scared of what I would see," she said. She drew closer to them. "But I was so worried when you were away, and when they brought you back, I realized that I had a good reason to. Donald didn't want to tell me what really happened – but it's not like he could. He was so busy trying to save all of you. So Torrance told me everything, while we were waiting. She told me how you risked your lives."
The embarrassment and guilt weighing down on Adam and Chase vanished when they heard their mother sniffling. Looking up, they saw her wiping tears from her face. "I just wanted to say thank you. You brought my baby back home. He's here with me, with us, because of all of you," Tasha said. "There are…no words to explain how much it hurts for a parent to lose their child. But now he's back. Right now, I have all of these words I want to say, but I'm having a hard time to." She sobbed, her face wet with tears, worn down with exhaustion but glowing warmly with appreciation. "I am indebted to you, to all three of you, for this. I guess that's the sum of what I want to say," she finished out.
"You don't owe us anything, Tasha," Chase said empathetically. "Leo's our brother. There wouldn't have been anything we wouldn't do to get him back."
"Yeah," Adam agreed, regarding her worriedly.
Tasha sniffled. "But I don't want you to think for one second that I'd rather have him over the three of you, that I wouldn't have cared what happened to you as long as he's with me. That's not how a mother thinks," she said. She looked at them. "It touched my heart to see how far you were willing to go, but it also hurts me to see you like this. It makes me angry that someone would even think of doing something like this to you. I always want you safe."
After a pause, she said, "I can't promise you that things will be the same as they were these past six months, but what I can promise you is that I will try my best to love you as my own. You're my children, all four of you. There will always be room."
Adam only stared at her as her promise sunk in. Then, he came forward and embraced her warmly, letting her know that he appreciated the love and the future she offered of having a mother there for them, not just for himself, but for his two younger siblings, too. Tasha gathered him into her arms, taking Chase in, too, when he stepped forward to let her know that he, too, was grateful to be told that they belonged and would now be complete.
to be continued.