He knew as soon as he stepped inside the house to see the glass on the floor that he'd messed up as a father. Lincoln had clearly taken out his frustrations on the family trophy shelf, and he couldn't say he blamed the kid. After all, what would he have done if it had been him that had been told by his own father that he had to "step away' from his own house because his father believed he was bad luck and didn't want to risk it?
He knew that Lincoln had been faking, how could he not, but he and his wife had always believed in natural consequences for their kids, allowing them to learn on their own why doing something was wrong. But the more he thought about it, the more he was smacking himself in the head for allowing things to go so far. He and his wife had agreed when they had talked about it that if Lincoln was going to pretend to be bad luck just to get out of doing things he didn't want to do, then they weren't going to allow him to go do the fun things either. Then, he had allowed his own daughter to board up his only son's room, had sold all of his furniture, and had forced Lincoln to sleep outside.
It was a miracle, he reflected, that no one had seen Lincoln sleeping outside and called the police. Heck, thinking about his boy being forced from the home, he was surprised Lincoln hadn't made the call himself. If that had happened, there would be no explaining that they were only trying to teach the boy a lesson. There would only be jail time , loss of work, loss of their children, and a good well deserved thrashing form his father in law. He had allowed his son to be forced from his own home, had allowed his sisters to board up his son's room, had even sold his furniture. Just how bad did the punishment have to be for lying?
One thing was for sure, he was going to have a long talk with both Lincoln and his sisters going forward. This kind of behavior was not appropriate. First things first, he sent all of the girls to bed without supper and let them know that there was going to be a family meeting in the morning. Secondly, he swept up all of the glass from the trophy case, and all of the shards of Lincoln's singular trophy. Thirdly, he took a crowbar he borrowed from Lana to pry the boards from Lincoln's room.
God, what was he thinking when he sold the boys furniture? Lincoln was going to be devastated. He vowed to make it up to his son by taking Lincoln to the mall to pick out new furniture. Lincoln deserved at least that.
Then, and only then did he head into the back yard to look for Lincoln, noticing the curtains on the garage window, he didn't have to look far. Screwing up his courage he knocked on the door.
"Lincoln, i need you to open up son, we need to talk"
"Are you sure you want to come in, after all you might catch my bad luck and lose your job" Lincoln said bitterly
He winced "Hey son, i know you are mad, and you have full right to be, but we need to talk. Whether that's through notes in the door or me coming in, we need to talk."
He heard the sound of a board moving from behind the garage's side door, and watching as Lincoln slowly opened the door.
"Thank you for letting me in son." He sat on the edge of the cot, "Listen son, i want you to know that I'm sorry. But i'm sorry isn't enough. I didn't bother to step in when your sisters boarded up your room. I didn't step in when we made you sleep outside. I'm stepping in now. From now on Lincoln i want you to come to me whenever you are having problems with your sisters, or want some alone time. You deserve to feel loved Lincoln, you deserve to feel like your parents have your back"
"I'm not moving back into the house."
"Fair enough. But son, please come inside for breakfast tomorrow. We are having a family meeting and i'll be laying down a few new rules. Do you have anything you'd like to have happen?"
"I'd like to have a proper lock on my door before i come back inside, and for the girls to realize that if they want privacy in their rooms then they can't expect to keep walking into mine whenever they feel like it. I'd also like to have one day a week to have to myself, just to unwind. I love my sisters, and want to support them, but sometimes it feels like I have nothing left for myself. Oh, and i'd like a photo up on the wall, I feel like i'm being left out."
"All very good suggestions son. Never forget I love you."
"Good night dad."
As Lynn Sr. walked away from the garage, he reflected on life. He had always been so proud of his ability as a father to keep things together, but this whole fiasco showed that he needed to step up a little more and put his foot down. It would take time, but he'd make sure that nothing like this ever happened again.
End chapter
So Lincoln forgives his father rather quickly, but think of it this way, Lynn Sr. has had time to reflect on the whole episode, and how he reacted and realized what a shit storm he created, and how far he has pushed his son away. Lincoln's not going to forgive everyone so quickly, but look at what his father is doing. First he apologized, then he told his son that he was going to have a family meeting to set down new rules. He realized that he screwed up in the way he was trying to deliver the lesson to Lincoln and that he needs to do better.
