One afternoon: Lee Fuller was walking out of a high school with a girl her age. As they were walking together Lee said, "Ugg. Why does high school homework have to be such a killer? I mean we're at that age where some of us want to get after school jobs now. Why do teachers make us suffer like this Maddie?" The other girl Maddie then said, "I don't know Lee. I'm just glad I was able to make a new friend so soon after I moved here. It's hard being the new girl." Lee then said, "We're both high school freshmen Maddie. We're all new here." Suddenly Lee heard the voice of Ramona yell, "Hey Lee!" Lee turned her head and saw Ramona stepping out of the car in the nearby parking lot. Maddie seeing Ramona then said, "Is that your mom?" Lee looking a little nervous said, "Well... I..." Then Lee's mother Tien stuck her head out of the car and waved as Ramona said, "Come on and get in my little grand-kid. I picked up your mom from her grand day of work, so we can all head home and have a grand time together." A confused looking Maddie then looked at Tien and said, "Wait? That woman is your grandmother? But she looks like she's in her 40's. What's going on Lee?" Lee began to sweat as she said, "Ugg."
Lee was sitting in the living room of her home with Tien and Ramona, as a confused Ramona said, "I don't get what the problem is Lee. I've been picking up up at school for years." Lee then said, "Yeah grandma, but now I'm in high school with people that don't know me. And... it's just... difficult to explain when they realize... well..." Tien sighed and said, "You mean when they realize you're a teenager with a half-Asian mother in her 20's and a Latina grandmother in her 40's?" Lee sighed and nodded her head. Ramona then looked right at Lee as she said, "I'm sorry Lee. I know firsthand how family can be embarrassing at times. And I understand you're a teenager that needs space now. So we'll give you that space at school if you really need it." Lee took a deep breath and then said, "Thank you."
A few days later in the evening, Lee was sitting in the dining room of her grandparent's home as she was drawing on a large chart. Soon Jackson walked into the room and said, "Hey kiddo. You look like your brain is really wrapped up in something. What's the matter? Hard math homework again?" Lee sighed and said, "No. For social studies I was supposed to make a family tree and talk about my family history." Jackson then said, "Oh. Do you need any help with it?" Lee then said, "No. I got plenty of notes from great-grandma DJ. And it's only now I'm starting to realize how weird it is to have a great-grandmother who is in her 60's, along with grand-parents who are in their 40's. You know there's a kid at my school who has parents who just turned 60. Yeah. I have a great-grandmother who is nearly the same age as my friend's mother." Jackson then sat next to Lee and said, "I'm sorry Lee. I know we don't have the most ordinary family to give you."
Lee then pointed at her chart she was drawing and said, "I don't even know what's supposed to connect to what here. Do I make a branch here representing my birth father who is in jail for life? Or do I add a branch for my mom's wife? Over my mom's name: do I have the branches extend to my mother's birth mother whose extended family disowned her? Or do I add the branch of my mom's step-mother who married her cousin?" Jackson then said, "Now hold on. Me and your grandma Ramona are not cousins." Lee then said, "Are you sure? Because your Aunt Stephanie married Grandma Ramona's Uncle Jimmy. Meaning you both are cousins." Jackson then said, "But that marriage didn't happen until later. And me and Ramona didn't grow up as cousins. Our moms were close to one another and lived together, so it was more like we grew up as siblings." Lee's eyes got wide and she suddenly looked freaked out as she said, "You are so not helping your case Grandpa." Jackson sighed and said, "I'm sorry Lee. Mistakes have been made in our family. Wrong things have occurred. But we still love each other and we all love you." Lee sighed and said, "It's just... ugg... why can't I have a normal family!?" Lee then got up and stormed out of the room, leaving Jackson alone and looking slightly upset.
Several days later Lee was walking around the outside of her high school when she heard the sound of crying. Lee walked around a corner and then saw her friend Maddie sitting next to a dumpster crying. Lee rushed over to Maddie and said, "Maddie? What's going on?" Maddie seeing Lee wiped some tears from her eyes and said, "Nothing Lee. I'm fine. Totally fine." Lee sat next to Maddie and said, "You were just crying next to a dumpster. Things are not totally fine. And what are you doing next to a dumpster anyway? Why weren't you in class today?" Maddie looked up as she said, "Classes are stupid. School is stupid. Everything is stupid." Lee then said, "Everything is stupid?" Maddie then looked down as she said, "I... I just couldn't go inside that building today. Because people would ask me how I'm doing or they'd ask me how my weekend was. And I'd either have to lie about it... or tell the truth... and doing either thing would wind up with me having to cry." Lee then said, "Well... if you don't want to talk about it, we can just..." Maddie then kicked an empty soda can near her and said, "My parents are getting a divorce."
Lee's eyes widened as she said, "I... oh my." Tears began to come out of Maddie's eyes again as she said, "My mom caught my dad doing it with her own sister in the hot tub. Mom started yelling so loud, I couldn't help but hear everything. Said she knew dad had been cheating on her with various woman from work for years, but said doing it with her sister was the last straw. And then my mom packed a bag and left. I mean, I get why they're gonna split up, but my mom didn't even want to take me with her and hasn't called me since she left. And now my dad is just drinking all day, and has barely said a word to me and... my life sucks Lee. My family sucks. My family just really, really sucks." Maddie then began to sob as she leaned towards Lee, and Lee simply wrapped her around Maddie and hugged her.
That evening: Jackson, Ramona, and Tien were setting up dinner together in a dining room as Tien said, "Thanks guys for letting me and Lee have dinner here tonight. With Grace gone all week, it's just nice to have dinner with a little more company around." Ramona smiled as she said, "You know you all are always welcomed here." Suddenly from a nearby door, Lee walked in. The three adults looked at Lee walking towards them with a slight serious look on her face. The three adults all stopped what they were doing and went towards Lee as Tien said, "Hey sweety. Everything okay?" Jackson then said, "School all right today?" Tears then began to appear in Lee's eyes, and then she held her arms out wide and hugged Tien, Jackson and Ramona all together. The entire family then engaged in a big group hug as Tien said, "Hey, hey now. You okay? What brought this on?" As a few tears continued to come from Lee's eyes she said, "It's just... I'm sorry for being such a brat for the last few weeks; complaining about how messed up my family is. Because when you get down to it... I've been blessed enough to be surrounded by a large family that does nothing but love each other." The family then all continued to hug each other as Tien said, "Oh, I love you so much Lee. And I'm sorry we've never been able to give you a normal family but..." Lee then said, "No mom. Screw normal family. Because I've got the best family there is right here."
THE END
*Author's Note - Hoped you all enjoyed this chapter. This story essentially spun from the idea of how a realistic teenager would react to well... the scenario I wrote her into. Any teenager would be ashamed or embarrassed at some point from having such a bizarre family dynamic. But hopefully the message in the end made the point clear of what really matters most when it comes to family. Anything you want to see happen next in this series? Any unanswered questions about people connected to the Fuller family you want answered, or things you want to see happen to the characters? Just drop a comment or message, and we'll see what happens from there.
