Broken
Chapter 26
October
The first month, no one saw Cameron at all. She was on maternity leave still and had no need to ever leave the house. After a few days, Damien freaked when she wouldn't answer anyone's calls and thought that she was dead. He tried to get back in the house, but she had changed the locks on him, having left most of his clothes and the girl's stuff on his mother's doorstep one night.
Anyways, after that first month, she had to go back to work. I only knew that she went back because Damien went up to her job. As Cameron was secretary, she saw him immediately. She just threatened security on him and he left.
I think that somewhere in his mind, Damien never expected it to go down like this. He figured that if he gave Cameron a few weeks, she would come after him. If he thought that though, I argue that he didn't know his wife at all.
I didn't have time to focus on them, though. I mean, if Damien, Mr. Straight lace, no divorce without cheating, left his wife, I was screwed. So, I had started trying to act better around Fang. Having sex with him more often, not being such a bitch all the time, eating when he tells me. Now that does not mean that I have given up sleeping, because honestly, I'd give up my kids before I did that…okay, maybe not my kids, but my mother at least.
"Here," Fang said, giving me a coke and plate full of eggs. "Want anything else?"
"No," I said, beginning to eat. Fang smiled. He must think that I'm eating because I want to. In reality, I'm just waiting for him to go up to the attic so that I can go feed it to Tank.
"You want me to rub your shoulders?"
What? I glanced at Fang. "Um, no."
"Oh." He sat down in the chair. "Chris went to your mom's."
"Okay."
"Yeah."
"Wanna watch a game or something?"
"No," he said, shaking his head. "Wanna watch the Kardashians?"
"They're not on today."
"Oh. Not even one of their spin-offs?"
"Nope."
"Oh."
"Do you work today?"
"Yep. You're off."
"That's cool."
"Yeah."
"Fang?"
"What?"
"Don't leave me."
"I won't."
"Not even if I treat you like Cameron did Damien?"
"Baby, if you treat me that good, I might just have to buy you a new car."
I smiled a little. "Last time you bought me a car, you had another girlfriend."
He just smiled at me. "I love you too much to do that to you again. I saw how it hurt you."
I looked down at my eggs. "Fang, my morning sickness is acting up. I can't eat this."
"That's okay," he said, getting up and taking it from me. "I don't remember if I fed Tank last night."
"Tabby did."
"Good," he said, walking out of the room. I moved to lay down on the couch.
"Fang?"
"What?"
"I love you."
"You are really happy today, huh?" He went outback for a few minutes, taking care of the dog, before coming back into the house.
"Wanna go into the bedroom?" Fang asked. "We could cuddle."
"Do you want to cuddle?"
"I was asking you."
"Well, I'm asking you."
Fang sighed. "Two months of this, Max, I can't take it. Stop being a kiss ass. My ass is the last thing I want you kissing."
"…You want me to blow you?"
"No. Well, yeah, but no."
"Then what?"
"You've been tiptoeing on my feels for awhile now and I'm tired of it." He looked at me. "I like you because you push me, because you make me hate you, because you give me something to do. Not because you just go along with me."
"You realized what I was doing all on your own?"
"No. I heard you on the phone with Bone yesterday."
I giggled a little. "But I don't want to give you a blowjob, Fang."
"That's fine," he said, getting up. He lifted me into his arms. "I'm sure I can find something else for us to do."
I smiled at him. "So you have no problem with the more sex part of keeping you around?"
"It worries me, but not enough to make me put a stop to it."
"Of course not."
As Luther was never home now, or ever, it was easy for Damien to move in there. It was nice of Bone to offer up his place, but they weren't that close. They weren't friends like that. They were hardly friends at all. No, Luther was a lot better option.
Vanessa didn't like it though. This crib wasn't her crib. No. No matter how many times Daddy said it was, it wasn't. In reality, it was James's old one, but Damien saw no need to tell her that her pink one was at the house with the changed locks. No, she would have to use the green one and like it.
"Daddy's sorry," Damien said, laying down in one of the guest room beds. He laid Vanessa next to him and pulled her to his side. He liked cuddling with his baby. She was amazing. Not just for cuddling, but for support. Samantha was being really bratty recently, which was understandable considering, but still.
Vanessa made a noise, reaching over to grab his nose. He smiled at her, gently grabbing her hand and removing it. Kissing it, he ran a hand down her face, smiling. He loved his baby. He loved both of his babies. He would love all three of his babies if Cameron was nice to the other girls.
"Daddy thinks that it's naptime," Damien said as she started playing with his fingers. Vanessa looked up at him and smiled. Damien smiled back. "Are you sleepy?"
She let go of his hand and reached up to grab his nose again. Sighing, he grabbed her hand.
"Why do you like my nose so much? Huh?" He kissed her head.
"Damien! Are you here?"
"Yeah, Luther," he said, rolling his eyes. He might be grateful for Luther taking him in, but he still wasn't back to his old, fanboy like admiration for the slightly older man. That was long gone now.
"Good," he said, coming into the room. He looked at the baby. "Hi, Veronica."
"Not Veronica."
"Samantha."
"Nope."
"…Anyways, I just wanted you to know that I won't be home for a few days, so-"
"Why not?"
"Going somewhere," he said. "And don't tell Naomi and that I'm with other women."
"If you hadn't said that I wouldn't have known."
Luther frowned. "Right…then forget I said anything."
Damien sighed, looking back down at Vanessa. "What else?"
"Uh…you know, the usual."
"You mean don't answer any calls to the house phone, because they're either bill collectors or spurned lovers?"
"See, that's why you're my best friend."
Hardly. Damien went back to Vanessa. She was so cute. He loved babies.
"Alright, bro, I'm gone," Luther called a few minutes later from somewhere in the house. "See you around."
"Yeah, see you," Damien said, shaking his head. Stupid little rich boy… No, he didn't mean that. But didn't he? Luther had everyone do everything for him and then could just take off whenever he wanted and not have to worry about anything, not even about his son. Stupid little white boy would be the better term… Damien frowned, shaking his head.
"You know what, Nessa?" He picked her up. "Let's go watch TV in the living room."
She leaned against him, smiling the whole way. Daddy might be annoying, but he was still her favorite person.
Cameron frowned, staring at the empty fridge.
"Damien-" She stopped herself. He wasn't there. "Well, Peter, I guess I have to go to the store."
The cat jumped up onto the counter, meowing at her. It was so wonderful in the house now. Sure, he missed his master, but he was now just a distant memory. It was Peter and Cameron forever, just the way it always should have been. No annoying, smaller humans that cry and tail pull. Nope. Plus, he had the whole house to himself now when Cameron went to work. And, at night, he had Damien's whole half of the bed. Yes, this was the best possible outcome for him and he was loving it.
Cameron, on the other hand, wasn't. Sure, for that first week, after all the crying was over that first night, this seemed perfect. She had never needed Damien or her daughters. Then she ran out of cokes. Which was fine, actually. She needed to drink more water. Then the milk ran out. Fine. Cereal was just as good alone…kind of. Then the water bill needed to be paid. No big deal. She took care of herself forever, before Damien showed up. Then the phone bill. Then the electric bill. Then the TV. Cars too. House. How many bills did people have? All this time Damien had taken care of things and she had forgotten what it was like to fend for yourself. That was all manageable though. Until it happened.
Against common belief, mainly caused by her claims alone, Cameron was not okay. No matter how many times she said she was, it should be painfully obvious that she wasn't. She still held out hope, however, that they were all just wrong. That is, until, she had a nightmare. Normally, when she had one, Damien was right there to comfort her, to hold her, to let her know that he was right there, and nothing would ever happen to her, not again. He wasn't there now, though. It was just her, alone, in a dark house, the same house where it all began. Peter wasn't much help when the nightmares happened, of course not. He was just a cat. As much as she might like him to be, he wasn't Damien, no one was.
"It's alright," she told the cat, closing the fridge. "I've gone to the store, like, twice since he left. It's not a big deal. So what if I have to deal with that shit again? See? Now I can curse all I want without ever having to listen about that Christian junk. I know what I'm doing, Peter."
He just stared at her as she went to go get ready to leave. After she had left the house, the cat curled up on the counter, where Damien didn't let him get because then he got fur everywhere, and closed his eyes, ready to take a nap. Oh, how he loved life now.
"You sleep a lot."
I groaned, rolling over. "What, Tabitha?"
"I need something."
"What?"
"Money."
I closed my eyes again. "No."
"What?"
"You have money."
"Not anymore."
"Where did it all go?"
"I…This money isn't for me, okay? I just need to borrow some from you, alright?"
"Why can't you use your own?"
"I am. I just won't have enough with only mine."
"Tabitha, you have like four hundred dollars saved up."
"And? Can I borrow some money or not?"
"That depends."
"On what? I said that I'd pay you back."
"It depends on if you tell me what it's for."
She groaned. "Fine. I'll just ask Dr. Martinez."
"Not a good idea at all," I said, cuddling deeper into my bed. "Me? If you don't borrow from me, I won't ask about it again. Her? You'll be forced to tell her whether you take some from her or not."
She was silent for a moment. "Adeem broke a window of his neighbors house and his dad's making him pay for it. I was going to do it for him."
"Must be some window, over four hundred and all."
"…It was more than just glass."
"What did he really do, Tabitha?"
"…He and this kid that he's friends with broke into the neighbors house and busted some stuff up. Now he has a ticket and stuff that he has to pay. I was going to help him."
I frowned, opening my eyes again. "Adeem did this?"
"Yeah."
I rolled my eyes. Boys…and some girls, I guess. "You better not be doing anything like that."
"I'm not!"
"Whatever."
"So are you giving me the money or not?"
"Nope."
"What?"
'Tabitha, what you're doing is nice and everything, but don't. Him paying for that is between him and his parents. You don't factor in at all."
"You might be able to not give me money, but you can't not let me pay for it."
"Oh, yes I can, smart mouth."
"No, you can't."
I sat up. "Tabitha, who are you playing with? Because I know it isn't me.
"I don't even like you, so just shut up! You can't tell me what to do."
"No, but I can."
She turned her head to see Fang come into the room.
"What are you doing, yelling at her like that?" He frowned at me. "Unless you did something."
"I was sleeping," I said, laying back down. "And she just comes in here, asking for money. When I told her no, she got mad at me."
"What do you need money for, Tabitha?" He asked, still suspicious of me. Oh, whatever. Tabitha's a little brat and he's just in denial.
"Nothing," she said, glaring at me.
"Then there's no issue," he said. "Now apologize."
"No," she said, still being annoying. Sigh.
"What did you just say to me?"
She stammered for a second. "It's just…she…she won't let me pay for something for Adeem."
"If she doesn't want to give you money to-"
"Not just that. I was going to use my own money to do something, but she won't let me."
"Max?"
"Hmmm?" I was truly on the edge of falling back to sleep. At least in my dreams Tabitha's not this hard to deal with.
"Why can't she use her own money?"
"To pay for a ticket that her boyfriend got from breaking into a house and breaking things? That should be obvious, Fang."
"What?"
"Max!" She turned her eyes back to me. "God, you're just a little rat."
"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes. "And you're just a little brat. Remember, Tabitha. Boarding school."
"Dad!"
"Max," he sighed.
"What?" I rolled over. "I think it's a very nice solution to things. Get her away from Adeem, get a whole other room in the house. Hell, just getting rid of her is enticing enough."
"Max, stop it," Fang said, frowning at me.
"As if she doesn't deserve it."
"I'm serious. Stop."
I closed my eyes tight, trying to pretend that they weren't there. It didn't work.
"I'm not going to say sorry when she acts like that," Tabitha said.
"Good," I told her. "I don't want a fake apology from you."
"Good, because I'll never mean it."
"Good."
"Good."
"Tabitha, get out," Fang said.
"But-"
"Now," he said. "Go to your room. I'll deal with you later."
"Fine!" She ran off. Rawr. Whatever.
"Max, really?" Fang closed the door behind him. "Really?"
"Yes, really."
"You're fighting with a kid, you know."
"No, I'm fighting with a kid that needs to learn that when she doesn't get her way, she can't just whine."
"Where do you think that she learned that from?"
"Not me. I always get my way."
He sighed. "Just stop it, alright? Tabitha is my daughter, you know."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Whatever you want it to mean, Max," he said, turning towards the door. "Just leave her alone."
"Fine, Fang," I yelled as he closed the door. "If that's how you want to play, fine!"
Samantha wasn't stupid. She knew that her mother had kicked them out because she was mean and couldn't accept her as her daughter. It must be hard for her, after all, having such a wonderful stepdaughter and then having a stupid real daughter like Vanessa, and Samantha could sympathize. She didn't hate her mother at all for making them move. And, of course, Luther's big, flat screen in the living room didn't hurt. It made music videos so much better.
"What are you watching?" Damien came into the room, grabbing the remote. "And why is it so loud? Vanessa is sleeping."
Ugh, her again. You'd think that Vanessa was his kid or something. Hello, clearly if someone is taking away from his Samantha time, he should get rid of them. Like Mom.
"BET," Samantha said.
"What?" He groaned. "Samantha-"
"Nicki."
"Nicki, why don't you watch something else? You're not supposed to watch that. Music videos are bad. You're not even allowed to watch MTV or VH1. Plus, Sam, BET is for…black people."
She gapped at him. "You are not allowed to say things like that! You racist."
"Me? I didn't make the station."
"Still," she said, wagging a finger at him. "And why can't I? For all you know, I could be black. Race is only skin deep, Dad. Didn't you go to school?"
"Yes," he said, putting it on Nick.
"Well, you should go again. I might have to tell Grandma on you," she said, sitting back down.
"Sam," he sighed.
"Ew, Spongebob?" She frowned at him. "I don't wanna watch this!"
"Stop being so-"
"I have to finish watching 106 & Park! Please?"
"No, Samantha."
"Why not? Racist."
He groaned. "It's not even just that. It's way too mature for you."
"Says you."
"What?"
She nodded. "I am a very mature person. Mature enough not to be a racist, unlike some of us in the room."
He was going to respond, but Vanessa started crying. "Be right back."
She smiled as he walked out of the room. The blonde just reach over and grabbed the remote, turning it back to her show. Yay! Her idol's video was on. Gee, did she love Nicki Minaj.
"Have you seen Luther?"
Bone thought for a second. Luther did owe him twenty…but he'd never get it if he told… Bone shook his head.
Naomi sighed, a frown falling on her face. "He hasn't been answering my calls. Do you think that he's dead?"
He's was probably more alive than he had been in awhile. From what Luther had told him, Naomi wasn't all that great under the sheets…or on top of them, depending on the night. Vickie only ever did it under…
Sighing, Bone sat down. "Fine."
"How do you know, though? He could be hurt or something and I'm not there for him."
According to Luther, she was never there for him, in the most important way. Bone shrugged.
"Oh, I just wish I knew where he was."
No, she didn't, Bone decided. It'd kill her if she knew. He smiled a little. Naomi was annoying. Trying to change the way things were… It was so wrong. Things were fine at the store. Weren't they? He thought that they were. It would kill her…but was it worth twenty bucks? He did have rent to pay now. Hmmm…
"Well, Max is supposed to be here now," Naomi said, sighing. "If she would hurry up and get here, I could leave. But, no. God. I wish Luther had fired her when-"
"Go," Bone said before he blurted out the secret. She was disgracing Max! As if Max was some kind of bad person, yeah right. She was wonderful…to an extent. "Quickly."
"Fine," she said, standing up and walking out. Bone was so weird.
Now that he was alone, Bone decided to turn on the stereo. Then he could really get away and forget about this awful day. Awful week. Awful month. Awful year. Awful decade. Awful life. This awful life.
At some point, he was brought out of his trance by his music being turned off. Huh? He turned his head and saw that it was Max. She smiled at him before sitting down next to him and going to sleep. He shook his head. Tiny, little extent.
"If six six six is the devil's numbers, is three three three half as bad?"
"What? No," Dan said, frowning at his adopted grandchild. "And six six six is not the devil, child, it is the antichrist."
It was a week later and Samantha was stuck over at her grandparent's house. Her dad had work and her mom hated her, so she had nowhere else to go after school. Vanessa was lucky. She got to sleep. Instead of that, Dan had her reading a bible. Gag.
She made a face. "Anyways, can I watch my show now?"
"No," he said, turning his attention back to FOX News. "Keep reading your bible."
Samantha frowned. "When Grandma gets here, I'm going to tell on you."
"…What is it that you want to listen to?"
"On this one channel, they're doing a story on Nicki Minaj-"
"Who?"
"Remember? She's the one that I've named myself after?"
"That rapper? No," he said, frowning at her. "Rap is the downfall of America."
"That's what you said about rock music. So they both are?"
"Yes. Anything that does not have to do with God is-"
"You're really a downer, huh?"
He frowned. "You are lucky that your grandmother would get me if I spanked you."
"Does spanking have to do with God? I don't think so."
"You little-"
"Grandma!"
The front door opened at the right moment. Frowning, Trinity let Samantha hold onto her.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"He's going to spank me!"
"Dan," she said, closing the door. "Honestly."
"What? We spanked the kids."
"Yeah, when they did something wrong."
"She talked back to me!"
Trinity just rolled her eyes, dismissing him. Unbelievable. How could she believe that girl over him? Clearly he was the most reliable!
I was sleeping, as usual, when I heard a voice.
"Shhh, baby, don't wake Mommy."
I felt cold, small hands on me. They pushed up my shirt up slightly before resting on my bare stomach.
"Are you okay, baby?"
Chris.
"Huh?" He laid his head against my stomach, his ear pressed against my belly. "I can't hear you. Can you talk yet? I'll teach you."
"Chris."
He froze.
"What are you doing?" I looked at him.
"Talking to the baby," he said, removing his hands and head. "I thought we should talk. I'mma be its brother. Big brother Chris!"
I smiled at him. "Where's Daddy?"
"Work."
"Where's Lance?"
"Homework," he said, frowning. "He's got too much work. I don't like it."
"I doubt he does either."
"Yes! Says he loves school," Chris told me, frowning. "Used to love me."
"Shhh," I said, running a hand down his face. "Chris, you just need a friend your own age."
"Where?"
"Well, I can't just find you one," I told him, frowning.
"…Bill."
"Hmmm?"
"This is Bill," he said, pointing to nothing. "Bill is yellow. Bill is funny. Bill is my best friend."
Great. Tyler talks to himself and Chris sees imaginary people. Can I go ahead and say that Fang's got some messed up genes?
Lucas was outback, practicing flying. After awhile, he had to teach himself how to fly, using only the one time his father had tried to teach him as reference. He knew that his parents were probably skilled fliers, but they never flew now.
"I wanna be like him," James said as Lucas flew by overhead.
"Don't let Dad see him," Cody mumbled, continuing to draw on the sidewalk with chalk. "Told him not to be flying in the day, people might see him."
"Fang went to work."
Cody shrugged, not looking up.
"I wanna fly," Jason said, pulling off his shirt. Cody did not have wings, but Jason did. They were black, like Fang's in most every way.
"Put your shirt back on," Cody told him.
"No. Just because you're fat and no one wants to see you, don't mean that I am," he said, running into the middle of the yard. He jumped, trying to flap his wings like he had seen his older brother do. He got half an inch of the ground before fall back down.
"You're not going to be able to do it," Cody told him, finishing his drawing. "Now come on. Let Lucas do whatever and come inside."
"No."
Cody groaned. Tyler and Tabitha could go anywhere in the neighborhood, as long as they told Max first. Lucas could go to any house on the street, after telling someone, but not down to the old park or the library that were a few blocks away. Cody and James had a four house radius unless told otherwise. Unlike Cody and James, Neo and Jason could not even go outside alone. They had to have one of the older kids with them before they even went to go get the mail. Lance and Chris weren't allowed to begin to think about going outside unless Max or Fang was with them. That was alright for them, though, because they only really liked playing with Max and Fang.
"Well, I'm not going to sit out here and watch you, Jason. Neither is James."
"Lucas can watch me," Jason said, taking off running again. He would learn to fly if it killed him…or Cody and James for leaving him outside when Max found out. One or the other.
Damien sighed, pulling up to Luther's house.
"Come on, S- Nicki."
She smiled, getting out of the car. Damien got Vanessa out before leading the way.
"Did you have fun today?" Damien asked, opening the front door.
"Yeah," she said as she followed him into the house. "Do I have to go take a bath now?"
"Yep," he said as she ran off. Sighing, Damien took Vanessa to the room that he was staying in and laid down, putting his baby next to him.
Vanessa made a noise, staring up at her father. He seemed sad today. Though, it's not like she really understood this whole emotion thing yet. She just knew that he wasn't his normal self and that must mean that he's sad.
"Hi, baby," he mumbled, kissing her head. "Are you happy today?"
She started fussing a little. His tone was making her upset.
"Shhh." He ran a hand down her face. "Stop it, baby. Daddy's right here."
But why was he sad? He got up and took her to the room that she was using. He tried to make it as nice for her as possible, but it was hard. This house screamed depression, something you can never mask.
After putting her to bed, he went back to his room to sleep off this funk he had woken up with.
"Daddy?"
He didn't move. "What? Do you need food? I thought that they fed you?"
"They did," she said, staring at him from the doorway. "Are you okay?"
"Baby, you're not supposed to worry about me."
"But are you?"
He sat up. "I'm just sad, Samantha."
She didn't correct him on the name choice. "Why, Daddy?"
He sniffled. "I miss Mommy."
Samantha frowned. "But isn't this good?"
"What?"
"Mom doesn't want us, so she's happy. I don't want someone always yelling at me, so I'm happy. You don't want her to hate us and she can't if she's not here, so you're happy. We're all happy, Dad. Right?"
"No, baby," he said, shaking his head. "Not right. It's not right to be happy that you're mom doesn't want us."
"What about you? Your real mom didn't want you, but you were happy with your new mom," she said. "Can't you just find me a new mom?"
"No, Samantha," he said, frowning at her. "You don't think that, if I could, I would have wanted to know my real mother? I would have loved to have met her, but I never got the chance. And if it wasn't for you and Nessa, I would be with your mom right now."
She took a step back. "So I'm making you sad?"
"What?" He jumped up and ran over to her, hugging the girl to him. "Of course not, Samantha. Never. Nothing you will ever do could cause this. I'm just standing up for you. It's me and your mom's fault, not yours. Never yours. Okay?"
She nodded, though she still felt a little bad. If she wasn't here, Daddy would feel better. He said it himself. He would be with Mommy and be happy…if she wasn't here.
"I love you, Sam," he said, getting down on his knees in front of her. "Okay? More than I love anyone, except for your sister. You and here both share number one, alright? I'm going to do what's best for the two of you. It supersedes my needs, Cameron's needs, and even Peter's needs. Okay?"
"Yeah," she said as he hugged her. "I don't want you to be sad, though."
"Don't worry about me," he said, pulling back to stare at her. "Trust me, the things your mom does to me don't even make the top hundred of the worst things. You, your sister, and your mom though make top three, every time. Alright?"
"Okay."
"And I'm sorry if I can't be happy about this, Sammy, but that doesn't mean that I'm going back to your mom. Not unless she starts to treat you better."
She frowned, looking down at the ground. "So you'll go back to her?"
"Not until you tell me I can," he said, hugging her again. "Never without you wanting it. You know that, right? If she's too much for you, you just tell me. I'll make it to where she never hurts you again."
"Like now?"
"Like now."
She hugged him back. "Don't cry, Daddy."
"I'm not."
"I mean when I go to bed. Mom's not worth it."
He glanced at her face. "No, she's not."
Cameron was watching TV, when Peter suddenly jumped up. He ran out of the room. Sighing, she got up to get him. Now she knew how much Damien must hate her. Now that she was taking care of her own needs, she knew how stupid and time consuming they all were.
When she found the cat, he was curled up on the coffee table. Sighing, she picked him up to take him back into the bedroom with her. Then she saw what he had been laying on top of.
"One missed message," Cameron mumbled, picking up her phone. As she started up the stairs, she played it, expecting Max. She didn't know, of course, that Max had slept the whole day away and had forgotten about leaving her the daily message that she normally did. Instead, it was Damien.
"Cammie? Hey. Uh…Vanessa was laughing again today. And Sam was nicer. Anyways, I know that we haven't talked in a long time, but please call me," he begged. "It's been months, Cameron. I thought we were in love? I mean, even if you don't love me anymore, at the very least, you should still know that you've loved me at one point and that you take care of the ones that you've loved. I don't know where to go from here, Cameron, but if we're going to divorce, you need to talk to me. If we're not, you really need to talk to me. Just talk to me… Uh-oh. Nessa's crying. I have to go. I'll talk to you later. I love you, Cameron. Goodbye."
She frowned, laying her phone on her dresser before getting back into bed, setting Peter in Damien's spot.
"Goodnight, Peter," she said, turning off the TV. "I love you."
In the dim light that the digital clock gave off, Cameron was able to see some of the pictures on the dresser. They were off her, Samantha, one of Vanessa, and a few with Max's kids in it. Then there was one of her and Tommy, the only one that she could stand to still keep up. As she stared at it, she tried hard to remember how his voice sounded, but it was getting harder and harder every day. It had been so long… Though, there was one dead person's voice that she would never forget.
"Do you ever think about your mom, Peter?" She asked the cat, who was laying there, watching her. "I mean, you had one too and you don't need her, right? Damien's stupid. He's trying to force me to be someone I'm not. I'm not the motherly type, never planned to be."
Peter just stared at her.
"Okay, yes, I did plan on having a daughter one day, named Samantha, but don't look at me like that, Peter. She's not what I wanted."
The cat started licking his paw.
"No," she sighed. "I guess that maybe you're right. It's just…she's not Damien's kid, Peter. Why does he like her so much?"
The cat yawned, stretching a little.
"Alright, alright, so maybe his mom taught him to love kids that aren't your own, and his whole trashy step family, but still! I'm his wife, Peter."
The cat's tail twitched as he watched a fly buzz around the room.
"I know," Cameron sighed. "You're not my kid, but I love you a lot, but you're a cat. I know, you don't think so, but you are."
What was wrong with her? Peter closed his eyes. She had never talked this much.
"Well…goodnight, Peter. I guess you kind of helped me. You think it's okay that I don't like my mom, right? And that I don't like Samantha? Huh? Or Vanessa?" She sighed. "I just don't see why you should love someone because they're family. That's just stupid. You should love someone for who they are, not what they are. Right?"
The cat started to drift off.
"I love you, Peter," she mumbled, closing her own eyes. As she fell asleep, she couldn't help, but feel a little uneasy. She was right about family. Right? Of course. Besides, she had Peter. What more did she need?