Chapter 38
A Pivotal Year – Don't Annoy Sleeping BearsNolan 18, Lissa 18, Ryder almost 14, Olivia almost 11
Annabelle nearly 6, Victoria nearly 6, Lucas 4½
Sunday, January 2
After a hellish and frantic night in the ER, Owen dragged himself home at 6am. He parked the Boxster in the garage and yawned all the way to the door into the house. Hoping to arrive without waking anyone, he slipped his shoes off and then immediately stubbed his toe on a tiny shoe left in the entry. Rather than check all the doors, his regular routine, he headed directly to the guest room. He could barely make it up the stairs, let alone contemplate the possibility of begging his way into his own comfortable and familiar bed.
On top of the comforter of the small twin bed, Amelia had left two blankets, a set of sheets, a pair of sweats, and a t-shirt. Owen stripped down to his boxers and uncharacteristically threw his scrubs on the floor. Setting the sheets and tomorrow's clothes on a nearby chair, Owen fell on top of the comforter and threw both blankets over his body. Within minutes, he was asleep.
At 7 am, Owen dreamed that he was sleeping in a snow cave and a bear cub kept scratching against the snow in an attempt to climb in. The dream was so real that he could feel the discomfort of his uncovered feet and the hot breath of the cub on his face. The cub whispered to him, "Daddy, I wanna snuggle you." Half-awake and half-asleep, Owen rolled over and barely opened one eye. He shook himself awake at the site of Ria, holding her Torie Malori doll, leaning close to his face.
"Hey, Ree," Owen blinked before rubbing his face with his hands. "Daddy just got home from the hospital, honey. I'm really, really tired."
The little girl's bottom lip began to tremble as she shared, "I had a super scary dream and I went into your room and you weren't there and then I heard your voice and came in here and… and… I need my daddy."
"Oh, baby…" Owen responded as he attempted to soothe his little girl. Unable to move his head off the pillow, he explained, "Ria, this is just a little bed. I'm not sure there's room for both of us in here."
"Please…" Ria sniffled. "I'll be super tiny."
Unable to put up any resistance, Owen lifted the blankets and nudged his head to the side. Ria climbed in and snuggled close to her daddy's broad chest.
"Torie Malori says thank you, Daddy. She didn't know what to do when I woke up scared," Ria disclosed.
"Mmm Hmm," Owen sounded as he faded off.
Ria studied her daddy's stubbly face and auburn eyelashes. Fascinated by the color, she pet the hair of his eyebrows with her index finger.
"Ree?" Owen mumbled without moving.
"Yeah?" she responded.
"What are you doing?" Owen inquired.
"Petting you. Your eyebrows are pretty and they match your hair," she mused.
"Daddy can't sleep when you do that, sweetie. Daddy needs to sleep," he mumbled.
Ria admitted, "I wish I had hair your color and Anna had hair like Mommy."
"Shhhhhh," Owen encouraged.
Trying her best to fall back asleep, Ria attempted to be quiet. She looked around the room as the morning sun slipped in through the blinds. Noticing Owen's scrubs on the floor, she wondered why her normally tidy Daddy had thrown his clothes all over. She planned to ask him about it when he woke up.
Torie Malori was struggling to fall asleep, too. With the assistance of Ria's hands and imagination, Torie danced on Owen's belly then tiptoed to his pillow. After an impressive jump from the top of the bed to the foot, she slid off and landed on the floor. Ria hopped out from under Owen's protective arm to save her pal.
In a loud whisper, Victoria explained, "Torie, now it's sleeping time. If you can't be quiet, you'll have to go in our bed all alone."
"Ria," Owen growled.
"Daddy," she imitated his tone playfully.
"Go. To. Bed," Owen ordered. Ria walked to the side of the twin bed and began to climb in, only to be told, "In your own bed."
"But, Daddy…" Ria whined as she planted her feet on the carpet.
With far more volume than necessary, the exhausted father began, "One…"
In a tiny and sad voice, Ria protested, "I want to snuggle you. You've been working forever and I missed you for days and days."
"Two…" Owen growled.
"Daddy, please," she persisted.
"Three…"
"Nooooo. I wanna stay with you," Ria begged.
Owen reached his hand down and slapped her rear firmly, "Go."
Ria, unaccustomed to anything other than her daddy's adoration, howled beyond necessary. The shock of being punished by Owen was almost more painful than the actual spanking. As her ear-piercing wails filled the upper floor, Amelia awoke from a sound sleep while Owen threw a pillow over his head.
Running into the guest room, afraid that Ria was seriously injured, Amelia inquired with concern, "Ria, are you ok, baby?"
"Get her out of here," Owen snarled.
"What happened, Owen?" Amelia stated firmly as she held her little girl and stroked Ria's hair. The sound of Ria's sobs continued to fill the room.
"Mia… I need to sleep," Owen protested angrily. "Please."
"Baby, what happened? Did something scare you? Shh… shhh…. What's wrong, Ria?" Amelia questioned, having gotten nowhere with Owen.
"Daddy spanked me," Ria communicated between gusts of air.
"Oh, for f #%'s sake, Owen. Really?" Amelia fought.
Owen stood up with fury in his eyes, glared at Amelia, and stormed past her. As she followed him into the hallway, he realized his limited attire and turned back to the guest room. He grabbed his sweats, t-shirt, and a blanket, then proceeded back into the hallway. With varying stages of curiosity, the kids stood in their doorways watching the battle unfold.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Amelia badgered her husband as she handed Victoria to a disoriented, sleepy Ryder. Olivia immediately ran over and attempted to tend to her little sister. For his part, Ryder swayed as he hugged Ria tightly.
"Where am I going?! Where am I going?!" Owen huffed at full volume. "To find a place to sleep uninterrupted, Amelia."
Following him down the stairs, Amelia pressed, "You come home, create chaos, storm off, and leave me to clean it all up?"
Sarcastically, Owen snapped, "I have faith in you, Mia."
Grabbing his upper arm and pulling him toward her, Amelia seethed quietly, "You have faith in me, huh? Isn't that a drastic change from last night?"
Exhausted, Owen did not immediately recall the previous evening. Lowering his eyebrows and drawing them toward the bridge of his nose, Owen shook his head and challenged, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Get the hell out of my house and away from my children, Owen," Amelia commanded quietly, so the kids would not hear her.
"Your house? Your children?" Owen exhaled as he dropped everything in his arms, placed his hands on his hips and leaned toward Amelia.
"Get. Out," Amelia repeated through clenched teeth.
He bent down and gathered his blanket, sweats, and t-shirt before collecting his wallet, phone, and keys. On his way out the garage door, Owen mumbled uncharacteristically, "You bitch."
Stunned, Amelia stood frozen in place. In all the years and through all their arguments and disagreements, Owen had never crossed the line to label her with such hostility. Her heart was beating far too fast to resign to tears, and her reddened face indicated her rising temperature as her blood boiled within.
"Mommy?" Lucas' little boy voice stated tentatively as he approached her.
Without looking over her shoulder at him, Amelia sighed heavily and attempted to breathe deeply. After a slight pause, she responded, "Yeah?"
"Why did Daddy leave? Is he coming back?" Lucas inquired innocently.
With a fake smile, Amelia turned around and picked Lucas up. "Of course he's coming back, silly. Daddy just needs to rest."
"Where'd he go?" Lucas wondered.
Realizing she had no idea where Owen was headed, Amelia's heart skipped a beat. He was beyond exhausted, driving, and fuming. "Let's get some breakfast in that tummy, Mister," Amelia suggested as she lightly tickled Luke's stomach.
Meanwhile, Owen pulled out of the garage and sharply turned the Boxster's wheels as he drove away. Within seconds, he came to the realization that he was wearing only boxers and driving without a destination. He pulled over at the treehouse, gathered his hastily collected belongings, and walked to his temporary home. He reached for the hidden key above the doorframe and opened the door, only to be overwhelmed by the smell of pot. Seething but too tired to react, he stumbled over to the worn out sofa and fell upon it. Patting the cushions, Owen settled into a bearable position and lay his head down on a musty-smelling throw pillow. Despite the less-than-ideal situation, Owen's fatigued body surrendered to fitful, restless sleep within minutes.
~~~~~~~~~~~'
Back at the house, Amelia pasted on a Happy Mommy face. For a special treat, she announced, they'd go out to breakfast. As Olivia assisted Anna and Ryder helped Lucas, Amelia kept Ria close by her side. After showering and dressing, Amelia knelt down to talk with her sullen girl.
"How are you, Ria?" she inquired with concern.
"Daddy hurt my feelings… and my bottom," she pouted slightly. "He hit me hard, Mama."
Amelia grimaced. She did not want to defend Owen's actions, yet was completely unaware of what led up to his decision. Hoping commiserating would help, Amelia disclosed, "I remember one time when Gramma Carolyn spanked me with a kitchen spoon." She winced and continued, "That hurt a long time."
"Why did she do that?" Ria asked innocently.
As Amelia thought back, she recalled that it occurred shortly after her father had died. The reason had long since escaped her memory, but the sense of betrayal and the experience of her mother's anger remained. "I don't remember, Ree," Amelia shared blankly. "But I remember how much it hurt my feelings."
"Why was Daddy so mean to me? I thought he loved me," Ria honestly wondered.
"Oh, Ree Ree," Amelia reassured their daughter, "Daddy loves you very, very, very much. He loves you more than popsicles, more than his fancy car, and more than anything."
"More than chocolate?" Ria questioned.
"More than chocolate and more than ice cream," Amelia promised.
"But he was mean to me," Ria contemplated.
"Why do you think he did what he did?" Amelia asked, out of reassuring responses.
"He wanted me to be quiet and to be asleep, but Torie Malori wouldn't sleep. He told me to go back to bed, and I tried to climb next to him but he told me to go to my bed."
"And…" Amelia encouraged, not sure of the point of Ria's story.
"And I asked super nice if I could stay with him instead and he said, 'One,' so I asked again and he said, 'Two.' Then I really asked super a lot and he spanked me," Ria recounted.
"Hmm… sounds like Daddy tried to let you snuggle with him at first, then became crabby. Is that right?" Amelia reflected.
"Mmm hmm," Ria confirmed.
"Then he asked you to go to your bed and you tried to talk him out of that?" Amelia surmised.
"Well… because I love him and missed him. I wasn't trying to be naughty," Ria explained sincerely.
With her lips stretched toward her cheek, Amelia concluded, "I wonder if super-sleepy, tired Daddy thought you were arguing with him."
"I don't argue. Anna does that," Ria attempted to clarify with innocence.
Amelia chuckled and smirked before pointing out, "Daddy asked you to do something and you didn't do it."
"But you wouldn't spank me for that," Ria attempted to sort out.
Wrapping her arms around her little girl, Amelia whispered in her ear, "Daddy and I sometimes make different choices."
"I don't like his choices," Ria shared sadly.
"I know, baby… I know," Amelia soothed.