Chapter 36 - Mom?

The morning was just like any other morning. Finn woke up very early and went to the gym for a couple of hours. He had kept up his physical condition since his discharge from the SEALs, and he was in prime shape. After his workout, he went home and showered. Dalton wasn't even awake yet, and didn't even wake up when Finn came through the door. Good to know that if they were to get robbed, Dalton would be no help whatsoever. After his shower, Finn started preparing breakfast. Dalton woke up shortly after and Taylor and Ella came from across the hall. They all ate together, and then they went to their respective recording studio. Finn was off from work that day, as he had just finished his fifth song, so he decided to stay in the apartment and work on melodies for the next song.

He had decided on a love song called Falling like the Stars, and was thinking up some ideas on the piano and guitar. He had pretty much come up with the lyrics, and it was now putting it to music that was the next step. In the next few days, he would perform the idea to the producers and if they liked it, they would start recording and adding more instruments. Finn played the keyboard he kept in the apartment, and sang along to his playing. Halfway through his practise session, at around 3 pm, Taylor walked in and watched her brother work in amazement. Finn was very different to Dalton, Ella or herself when making music: rather than forcing out the lyrics and melody, it came almost effortlessly. After Finn had finished, him and Taylor played a couple of rounds of foosball. Finn and Dalton were trying to teach Taylor and Ella how to play, and although they were pretty bad, it was still really fun. Suddenly, the door knocked and Finn and Taylor looked at each other. Who could that be? Dalton and Ella walked in without knocking, and they weren't expecting anyone. Finn got up and walked to the door. A woman was standing there. A woman he hoped he'd never have to see again…

"M… Mom?" He stammered.

"Hello, Finn." she said, and was about to walk into the house, but Finn slammed the door right in her face. He took a deep breath. Taylor ran up to him.

"What happened? Who was that?" She asked, concerned at her brother's facial expression.

"That's my mom." He muttered.

"Your mom? I thought she was in Europe somewhere?"

"No, Taylor. My birth-mom. The one that left when I was 5. I haven't seen her in 18 years." Her mouth dropped. Finn took a deep breath and opened the door again.

"What are you doing here?" he growled. "18 years with no contact, and you show up now. What do you need?"

"I wanted to see you, son. I wanted to see the man you've become. I want to be a part of your life again." She tried to hold his face with her hands but Finn slapped her arms away.

"Every bad thing that happened to me between the age of 5 and 14 was your damn fault!" She looked at him.

"Finn, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what you've been through. But you can't possibly blame me for what your father was like when he got back."

"No, I don't. I blame you for walking out on me, leaving me with a damaged dad. You're just as bad as he was. No, you're worse. You left me with him. You left me to get abused, and eventually shot by him. You're not my family." She was close to tears after this statement, and Finn sighed. He hated trying to argue against crying women. It was impossible not for him to cave.

"Look, Finn. I understand that you don't want to see me. All I'm asking for is to be a part of your life again. Can we at least go and get a cup of coffee now?" Finn looked at her and gave up.

"Fine, let me get my coat." He grumbled and walked into his bedroom, looking for his coat. That left just Taylor and Finn's mom, Abby, in the room. As soon as Finn was out of earshot, Taylor turned to Abby.

"You know, Finn was doing just fine till you showed up. But now that you're back, you have responsibilities to him."

"Look, I still want to be a part of his life."

"Oh, Bullshit!" Taylor stated. "Finn is not a coat that you hang in the closet and pick it up when you're ready to wear it. His life goes on. He's not supposed to be here for you, you're supposed to be here for him!"

"YOU GET OFF MY BACK!" Abby responded. "You think I want this? It just happened! Finn was a baby, and my husband was very damaged. I was scared…"

"CUT THE CRAP!" Taylor shouted, cutting off Finn's mother. "CUT IT!

"I'm sorry. I'm going to go now. Now are you going to tell Finn, or not?"

"I'm not going to do your dirty work for you. Tell him your own damn self!"

"Fine. I'll call him from the road."

"Yeah, you do that," Taylor spat as Abby walked out the door. Just as she was about to leave, Finn walked through the door with his coat.

"Yo, mom. You ready?" She turned around slowly to face him.

"Finn, hey, I'm glad you're here. Ummm… some business came up I gotta handle. So we're gonna have to put our reunion on hold. You understand?"

Finn looked at her and immediately knew what was going on. "Yeah, yeah that's cool."

"Just for a couple of weeks."

"Mmhmm that's fine, yeah." He replied, curtly.

"It may be a little longer."

"Yeah, whatever. I get it."

"Look, I'll call you next week and we'll iron out the details, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Okay."

"It was great seeing you, son," she said. With a stony expression, he replied.

"Wish I could say the same, Abby." Finn's mother closed her eyes and bowed her head down. She slowly walked out the door. Taylor was still standing in the corner of the apartment and had watched the whole exchange.

"I'm sorry, Finn," Taylor said. Finn turned around to face her. He started by trying to suppress his emotions but quickly failed.

"You know what? Actually this works out better for me. One less person I need to know."

"Finn, it's ok to be angry," she said softly.

"Hey, why should I be mad? At least she said goodbye this time."

"I'm so sorry. You know if there was something that I could do…"

"Hey, you don't have to do anything, Taylor. It isn't like I'm still five years old. I'm not sitting up every night asking when's mommy coming home, and getting beaten by my dad for it. Who needs her? She wasn't there to help teach me how to shoot my first basket but I learnt, didn't I? And I got pretty damn good at it didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did," she nodded.

"Got through my first date without her, I learnt how to drive, I learnt how to shave, I learnt how to fight without her. I had 18 great birthdays without her. She never even sent me a damn card! TO HELL WITH HER!" Finn bellowed, finally letting out all of the emotions he was feeling. He continued, and was on the brink of tears.

"I didn't need her then and I don't need her now."

"Finn…"

"No, you know what, Taylor? I got through the military without her. I got myself a great job without her. Imma marry an amazing girl without him, and I'm going to have a whole bunch of kids. I'll be a better parent than she ever was. And I sure as hell don't need her for that, CAUSE THERE ISN'T A DAMN THING SHE COULD EVER TEACH ME ABOUT HOW TO LOVE MY KIDS! Tears started to run down his face, and his voice cracked as he said his next sentence quietly.

"How come she doesn't want me?" He asked, quietly. Taylor grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug. A five minute conversation with his mom had completely unraveled Finn, and she empathised with every bit of pain he was feeling. He cried into her shoulder for the next few minutes.

The next day, Finn was feeling a lot better. Him and Taylor were walking back from the supermarket that evening, and cut through Central Park to try and save time. They were walking through an alley when suddenly, 5 men with guns and knives stepped in front of them.

"Your money or your life bitch!" he growled, pointing his weapon at Taylor, who was petrified. She was trembling and crying and clung to Finn's arm like a vice. Finn stepped in front of her bravely.

"Listen man, I suggest you leave now, unless you want a broken nose."

"Get out the way, asshole or I swear, I'll shoot you, then the bitch." a man snarled.

"That's my sister, you piece of shit." Finn snapped and proceeded to beat the crap out of all five guys. He always had at least one guy close to his body, so the other men couldn't shoot, and ended up knocking them all out. When they were all out cold, Finn and Taylor ditched their shopping bags and sprinted all the way back to the apartment building. Less than 10 minutes later, they made it up to their apartment floor, and they sprinted through the door of Taylor's apartment and Taylor fainted from stress and exhaustion. Finn wasn't even out of breath though. He caught his sister as she fell and carried her over to the couch. Dalton and Ella were sitting at the kitchen table, and were extremely confused as to what was going on. When Taylor had regained consciousness and she had drank some water, Finn and Taylor started to explain what had happened. Ella and Dalton's mouths dropped when they heard what had happened, and when Ella embraced Finn and tried to kiss him, he groaned quietly in pain. She jumped back.

"Are you OK, honey?" she asked, concerned. Finn shrugged and pulled off his coat, and Ella gasped when she saw him. Finn looked down and his eyes widened. There was a small blade jutting out from his stomach.

"FINN! YOU WERE STABBED!" She screamed and started sobbing. Dalton came over and carefully walked Ella away from her boyfriend. She was on the verge of a panic attack and was hyperventilating. Taylor was also doing similar, so it was pretty hard for Finn to think straight. He only needed a couple of stitches as the blade wasn't much bigger as a Swiss Army Knife. He grabbed the first aid kit and took out a home suturing kit from it. He proceeded to remove the blade from his body and stitch up his small wound. Once he had finished, he threw away the materials and relaxed. Ella threw herself into his arms when he finished. She was still crying slightly and he gently stroked her back and comforted her. Eventually she calmed down. They ended up going out to a nearby pizzeria for dinner. They had all had such a weird day and they needed to all relax. After the meal, they were walking back to an apartment when Dalton tripped over a cardboard box and fell over. He swore at up. Suddenly, the box quacked back at him.

"I don't mean to point out the obvious, but I don't think boxes are meant to quack." Finn pointed out. They cautiously approached the box and Dalton opened it. Inside were a baby chick and a baby duck.

"Awwwwww," Taylor and Ella exclaimed.

"Oh, me and Finn keeping them for sure," Dalton said, handing the baby chick to Finn.

"Not so fast, buddy," Finn laughed.

"Why? You look him in the eye and tell him you don't want him!" Dalton said, shoving the adorable duck an inch away from Finn's face. Finn laughed.

"Don't get me wrong. I'd love to keep them. But we need to take them to the vet first. Get them checked out."

Dalton nodded and first thing the next day, they went to a vet clinic to get the animals checked out. They were all clear of diseases, and the vet set up medical files for the animals. Finn and Dalton came home after the vet appointment, and hung out in their apartment with Taylor and Ella.

"So what are you going to name them?" Ella asked.

"Well," Dalton started. "Me and Finn thought very long and thought about it, and we think we have found the perfect names for them."

"Well, what are they?" Taylor asked.

"Chick and Duck," Dalton said, proudly. They laughed, and welcomed Chick and Duck into their family. Little did Taylor and Ella know that the adorable creatures would soon be their downfall.

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