I have the story outlined essentially through the rest of the "Khary" arc, but I can't tell you how many chapters that will be as I tend to add chapters into the story before reaching certain conclusions. I appreciate everyone who reads and follows the story and everyone who reviews. You're all lovely :3
Enjoy!
Also, go read Heroes of Flowers because TheSparklyKitten is trying to get just 24 more reviews by chapter twenty, which really isn't a lot if like three more people went and reviewed half the chapters from this point. It's so good and it's definitely worth the investment. Updates every Saturday, which is more consistency than you'll ever get from me. Also, better character descriptions than you'll ever get from me, haha.
"What did you guys get for Christmas?" Beckett asked Reese and Luca as they settled into their seats at the play. The kids sat on the left, the parents on the right, with Wasabi acting as the divider as he talked to his brother and sister-in-law.
"Oh, you know, clothes, shoes, stuff," Luca said with a shrug.
"Dad always makes us these cheesy sweaters and scarfs," Reese added.
"I like the scarves," Luca argued, wearing his new blue and white checkered one that moment.
"Of course you do. You can have mine." Reese was wearing Wasabi's sweater now, It was in their school colors, purple and black, and was similar to her jersey, just missing a number or two.
"You didn't get anything big?" Beckett asked, not exactly surprised, knowing how their family differed from his. He'd gotten a new bike that he could take for college when he started. He was well on his way to either SFIT or SFAI.
"We didn't really ask for anything big. Got a couple of gift cards as well," Reese remembered.
"And we're going to get to pick out some furniture for when we move into the new house since we'll have our own rooms then. All my friends always want to do complicated makeup things when I shoot for them so I'm gonna get a vanity desk combo so they can do it in my room while I'm prepping for the shoots."
"That's cool. I bet you're excited to have your own space." Beckett glanced over to where his brother was happily playing on his phone and remembered the brief stint of time when he'd had to share a room with Wyatt. It didn't matter how much he loved his little brother, that had been terrible.
"I guess," Reese shrugged, "I'm excited to have somewhere to play basketball."
"The kids are talking about your new house," Damon mentioned, "how's that whole process going?"
"Exhausting. But it's good that we're getting it done now. We were careful with the apartment contracts, so we'll be able to move out mid-January into our new place," Wasabi said.
"Is it nice? I'd hate to see you guys committing to something that won't be good for you in the future."
"It's very nice, very spacious. I feel like we've spent our whole lives crammed into one little space or another. Now that the kids are getting older, it'll be nice to spread out a little." GoGo didn't mention their upcoming arrival, not thinking it fair to bring up to Damon before Khary got a chance to hear. Despite their current relationship GoGo and Wasabi still loved Khary and they were excited to see him after he got done on stage. The production of It's A Wonderful Life was about to begin and they were all very excited.
"You'll have to have us over sometime when you move in! And of course, we'll help you guys with the moving process," Damon added hastily.
"Thanks, Damon." Wasabi felt more at ease right now, trying not to think of any possible confrontations waiting after the curtain call. He'd grabbed a program as he had for every single one of Khary's productions, intending to have his brother sign it at the end. It was almost like nothing had changed, but of course, everything had.
No one knew that Khary was facing the worst stage fright he'd ever had. They were minutes away from the start of the show and Khary was keeled over in his costume trying not to hurl, feeling so sick inside, from nervousness or something else. He wasn't scared about delivering the lines he knew by heart, he didn't worry about missing a single cue, but when he was done acting and had to put on a different mask, what if he couldn't sell the role? He'd done a terrible job so far of hiding the changes going on in his life, now as secrets piled up, he was afraid he was going to lose it.
If he made eye-contact with Wasabi he'd break. If he had to stare at his brother and say that everything was fine, that he hadn't made the worst mistake of his life over and over again these past three months, it would be all over for him. What if he wasn't that good of an actor? But he got on stage and pretended that it was Christmas and that it being Christmas was all that mattered. That the only thing that concerned him was getting his wings. His back and neck ached and when he wasn't on stage his whole body shuddered. He just had to contain it a little longer. Just had to lie a little longer. It was Christmas. He could be okay for Christmas. He could be an angel for Christmas.
He wished, more than anything, that he could ask for forgiveness for Christmas. He wanted to confess, wanted to come clean. But to confess would be to risk losing his family forever. It didn't matter how rocky their relationship had been lately. He couldn't do that. He just had to play his part.
"Uncle Khary you were awesome!" Luca praised, fist-bumping his uncle when Khary came to meet them in the lobby. Khary beamed at his nephew, momentarily forgetting his shuddering shoulders and unbearable guilt.
"Thanks, Luca!" Then Khary looked up and met Wasabi's eyes and it all came crashing down.
"Sign my program?" Wasabi asked, as he had been doing for 16 years, ever since he discovered that performing was Khary's passion.
"Of course. Thanks for coming." Khary tried to keep his tone light, tried to swallow the lump in his throat and make it seem like it wasn't a big deal that his brother had come to his play. This program was an olive branch. A peace offering. Khary wished there could be peace.
"Always," Wasabi said and meant it, "we'll let you change and then we can all head to the restaurant." Khary nodded. Maybe if he wiped all the stage makeup off his face no one would think that he was still acting when he said that he was fine and sat down for Christmas pleasantries. Maybe Damon wouldn't say anything about getting phone calls. Maybe Wasabi wouldn't apologize, the way he always did for things that weren't his fault. Maybe things could feel normal for a minute, for a day. Khary would do his best to fake it no matter what.
"So the point of the play," Wyatt asked his cousins, "was that you're not supposed to wish that you were never born? But that's stupid, why would anyone ever wish they weren't born?" Wyatt had not gotten the point of the play.
"Maybe you'll get it when you're older," Luca said, thinking about the many times when he'd felt unwanted or unnecessary, goaded by his own delusions.
"Sometimes the world is just so big and you feel so small," Reese said with surprising eloquence.
"I'm not that little," 10-year-old Wyatt whined.
"We're all little, compared to the size of the world, or the moon, or the sun, or the stars," Reese corrected.
"I'm bigger than a star, stars are tiny," Wyatt argued.
"Stars are just super far away, bro. They're actually pretty big," Beckett finally chimed in.
"Oh. Do you think ants wish they had never been born? Because we're so much bigger than them?"
"I bet they do," Khary said, returning to the group looking refreshed and happy, "and I bet they have their own little antgels showing them why they're important." Everyone groaned at his joke except for Luca, who laughed a little.
"Let's head out." Damon decided, not letting there be any time for any awkwardness between Wasabi and Khary. He hadn't been there for their Thanksgiving blow up and he never intended to bring it up. One month of solitary should have given Khary enough time to realize the error of his actions. If Khary hadn't realized by now that he was in the wrong, there was nothing Damon could do to intervene to show him. But like Wasabi, Damon had no idea how in the wrong Khary actually was.
"So, Khary, how's your new apartment?" Wasabi asked when they reached the restaurant.
"Oh, it's good."
"Is it near Good Luck Alley?" Wasabi asked, holding his breath in fear of the response.
"Yeah, near the theatre."
"What's your roommate like? Can we meet them?" Khary shifted uncomfortably at the interrogation.
"He's cool. Super smart, has a bright future once he figures things out."
"Not brighter than you, I'm sure," GoGo joked, "you're already a star." Khary blushed a little.
"Thanks, GoGo. I'm glad you guys liked the play. We've all been working really hard on that for some time now."
"I think it's my second favorite of your plays," Luca said thoughtfully.
"Oh yeah? What was your favorite?"
"The Importance of Being Earnest."
Khary chuckled, "that was one of my favorites too. Algernon was a fun character. I think," he paused thoughtfully, "I think that if I ever had a kid I would either name them Ernest, Algernon, or Cecily."
GoGo elbowed Wasabi quickly, "speaking of baby names, GoGo and I actually have an announcement. We just recently found out that we're having another baby!"
"Crap," Khary muttered suddenly, while everyone was congratulating the happy couple.
"What's wrong?" Wasabi asked, staring through Khary in that way of his. Khary nearly jumped out of his skin.
"I just remembered something I have to do later. It's awesome that you're having another kid! Might I suggest the name Algernon?"
"I would never steal your name idea," Wasabi said with a laugh, feeling much lighter, much less worried for Khary.
"Besides," GoGo added, "the kids have naming dibs."
"Her name is going to be Scarlett," Reese said decidedly.
"Ooh, that's pretty," Crystal praised her niece, who smiled and blushed a little.
"Scarlett Tulip Tomago," Luca suggested.
"We'll talk about it," Wasabi said, laughing a little. His kids definitely got a say on the naming, but that didn't mean it would be Scarlett Tulip.
"I'm really happy for you guys. And you said you were moving?" Khary asked, trying not to squirm under Wasabi's gaze, a spotlight brighter than anything he'd ever been under before.
"Yeah, we started putting down payments and we'll be moving in about three weeks.
"Things are really going fast, huh?" Khary said, almost choking on an ice cube when he went to take a drink of water.
"Faster than you could know. I hardly feel ready for all of this. But so long as I have GoGo with me, it doesn't matter how ready I am or am not. Together we can do anything." GoGo smiled and squeezed his hand, and Khary smiled at the lovely pair. But everything was changing, and it just didn't feel okay right now.
