Author's Note –It has definitely been a long time since my last update. Thank you so much for your patience. I've been totally stressed out at work and at home too. More exciting chapters coming up!
Chapter 39 - It's Not Your Fault; It's Mine – Part 1
Brandon is awoken by an alarm clock. He wakes up confused as he realizes he is not familiar with his current surroundings. He panics to find the off switch to stop the alarm. He then sits up on the bed. He rubs his eyes so that he can see clearly. He looks at the alarm confused as he does not remember setting it the night before.
As he looks around the room, he began to recall what happened the night before with Kelly. At first, he had hoped that it was all a bad dream. Unfortunately, in this case, it wasn't. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
He didn't mean to drive all the way to Steve and Janet's house. He just needed a place to go; somewhere really far so that he'll have a reason to just keep driving. Brandon had a lot of time to think on his way to Steve and Janet's house. He thought that by the time he arrived there, he would have fully thought the situation over and maybe things would've gotten better. Unfortunately, it didn't. In fact, he felt worse about accusing Kelly for cheating on him with Dylan. But at the same time, he felt worse for Kelly lying to him. The conclusion he came to was that if only he had agreed to see Dylan himself at the hotel, this entire conflict could've been avoided. After all, it was a misunderstanding. Nobody cheated on nobody. So why wasn't he ready to go home?
Brandon opens his eyes as he hears a knock on the door.
"Come in," said Brandon waiting to see who is behind the door.
Steve pokes his head into the room.
"Hey. I heard your alarm go off. I thought you might want some breakfast," said Steve.
"Breakfast? Sure," said Brandon.
"Did you set my alarm?" asked Brandon.
"Follow me, Brandon," said Steve without answering Brandon's question.
Brandon gets up from the bed and follows Steve out the door.
They walked into the kitchen.
"Sit down," said Steve offered Brandon.
Brandon sat down at the table. He sees eggs, toast, and bacon on the Brandon's plate.
"Wow, you made all this?" asked Brandon.
Steve smiles.
"Janet did, right?" asked Brandon.
"Hey hey hey; I helped," replied Steve.
Brandon chuckles a bit.
"Where is Janet?" asked Brandon.
"She went to run a few errands with Madeline. She'll be back soon," replied Steve.
Brandon starts to eat.
"Mmm...good," said Brandon.
Steve sat down to the chair next to Brandon. Brandon notices Steve looking at him.
"Aren't you gonna eat?" asked Brandon.
"I already ate. Thanks," replied Steve.
"Ok," said Brandon go back to this meal.
Brandon looks up and notices Steve is still looking at him.
"Are you just gonna sit there and look at me the entire time?" asked Brandon feeling uncomfortable.
"Sorry. I was just curious on when you're gonna tell me what happened between you and Kelly," said Steve.
"I'd rather not talk about it," said Brandon.
"C'mon. You came here late at night, frustrated and depressed; it's gotta be something," said Steve.
"I came here to return your car. I was planning on doing that anyway," said Brandon.
"That's it?" asked Steve.
"That's it," replied Brandon.
"Ok. Thank you. Now that you've done that, should I call Kelly to come by and pick you up?" asked Steve.
Brandon looks at Steve for a bit.
"No, that's ok. She's busy. I told her that I'll be staying here for a while," replied Brandon.
"But you just told me that you're just here to return the car," said Steve.
Brandon takes a few moments to come up with a good answer.
"...and to spend some time with my best friends," added Brandon.
Brandon notices a look from Steve that lets him know that Steve is not buying what Brandon is saying.
"Look, I'm sorry for showing up late and unannounced. If it makes you feel any better, I'll be out of here today," said Brandon.
"Relax Brandon. You don't have to leave. It's good to see you. I just want to make sure that everything is ok," said Steve.
Brandon looks at Steve.
Brandon explained to Steve what happened the night before.
"So what are going to do now?" asked Steve.
"I don't know," replied Brandon.
"I mean, you guys are still getting married, right?" asked Steve.
"I don't know," replied Brandon.
"Brandon, don't go crazy on me," said Steve.
"I'm not going crazy, Steve. I'm just trying to do what's best, here," said Brandon.
"What's best is that you go back to your family," said Steve.
"If it's about money; I can help," added Steve.
"It's not...and you're starting to sound like Kelly," said Brandon.
"Good, because I'm starting to agree with her too," said Steve.
"Steve, let me ask you something," said Brandon.
"What?" asked Steve.
"How did you know that Janet was the one for you?" asked Brandon.
"I love everything about her," replied Steve.
"But how did you know that she loves you the same way?" asked Brandon.
"She tells me...and she shows me," replied Steve.
"Do you believe her?" asked Brandon.
Steve gives Brandon a weird look.
"Steve, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. You two are great together," explained Brandon.
"Ok. Could you just tell me what you are trying to say without insulting my wife?" asked Steve.
"Of course. I'm sorry. I know that I love Kelly. I love everything about her and I've know that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her for the longest time. But every time something like this happens to me, I start to second-think it," replied Brandon.
"Sounds like you're over-thinking it. Look, from what learned after almost 10 years of marriage, there are no guarantees. You just gotta take things as they come along and hope for the best," said Steve.
"Thanks pal," said Brandon.
"Hey, anything I can do to secure my spot as best man," said Steve.
Brandon gives Steve a look.
"Seriously Bran, I couldn't see either any of you guys ending up with anyone else. I see it and I just hope that you can see it too," said Steve.
Brandon looks at Steve but doesn't respond.
Meanwhile back at home, Kelly slowly wakes up from the couch. Her hair is a mess and some parts of her face are covered by the residue from her tears. It's obvious that she's been crying throughout the night. She sits up from the couch remembering what happened the night before.
She takes a breath, looks at the clock, and sees that it's past 7am. Her eyes budged wide opened as she realizes that she's going to be late for work.
"Sammy; Silver, it's time to wake up," shouted Kelly.
She quickly goes into her room to get dressed. A few minutes later, she comes out of her bedroom with her clothes kinda of shuffled. Silver walks by noticing Kelly's mess.
"Rough night?" asked Silver.
"Yeah; I'll tell you about it later," replied Kelly.
"I'm going to be late for work," said Kelly.
"You've had a rough night. You know you can just call out sick," said Silver.
"No, it's better if I have something to distract me from yesterday," said Kelly.
"Sammy, you ready?" asked Kelly outside of Sammy's door.
"Almost," replied Sammy from inside his room.
"Ok. Hurry up, please. We're late," said Kelly.
Sammy comes out of the room ready to go. Kelly and Silver start to walk towards the front door.
"Can I spend the day with daddy?" asked Sammy.
Kelly looks at Sammy realizing that she has to explain what happened to Brandon.
She kneels down to Sammy's height level.
"Honey, daddy is spending some time with Uncle Steve and Aunt Janet," replied Kelly.
Sammy looks sad and worried.
"But why?" asked Sammy.
"Well, Uncle Steve and Aunt Janet live far away. This is the only time that daddy has some free time to visit. Because when he gets another job, he's going to be too busy," replied Kelly.
"Oh," said Sammy.
"Don't be sad, honey. You'll see daddy soon, ok?" asked Kelly giving Sammy a sympathy smile.
"Ok," replied Sammy.
"Good," smiled Kelly.
"C'mon guys; let's go," said Silver.
"Right, let's go," said Kelly.
They leave the house.
In the car, Kelly is driving Sammy and Silver.
"When will daddy be back?" asked Sammy.
Unnoticed to Sammy who is in the back seat, Silver gives Kelly worried look. Kelly looks at Silver too trying to come up with a good excuse.
"Soon, honey," replied Kelly.
"When?" asked Sammy.
"Honey, I don't know. In a few days maybe," replied Kelly.
"Are we still going to give him our surprise?" asked Sammy.
"What surprise?" asked Silver confused.
"I ruined the mommy's surprise to daddy," replied Sammy.
"Sammy, honey, you did not ruined the surprise," explained Kelly.
"Then why did he leave? He didn't even say goodbye to me," asked Sammy.
"He didn't say goodbye because he didn't want to wake you up. Besides, he'll be back really soon," replied Kelly.
Silver and Kelly look at each other worried.
The car arrives at the daycare center.
"Ok Sammy, here we are," said Kelly getting out of the car.
Kelly opens the Sammy's door so that he can get out of the car.
"No, I want to see daddy," cried Sammy refusing to get out of the car.
"Sammy, I told you already that daddy will be back in a few days," said Kelly who is getting stressed out.
"Can I call him?" asked Sammy.
"Not now. Sammy, please just go to daycare. We're late enough already," replied Kelly.
Silver sits there afraid. She does not know what to do.
"No, not until I see daddy," said Sammy.
"Sammy, you're making me angry. Please come out of the car," said Kelly.
"No, you made daddy leave," said Sammy.
Kelly looks like she's out of patience.
"Damnit, it was more of your fault than it was me," said Kelly out of frustration.
A look of disbelief came on Kelly's face as she can't believe what she just said.
Silver and Sammy looked shocked as well.
Sammy starts to cry.
"Sammy, sweetie. I'm sorry I said that. I didn't mean it," said Kelly trying to undo what she said.
Sammy doesn't reply but continues crying. Kelly looks as if she is about to give up. She leans against the top of the car with her hands on her forehead. She starts to get a little teary herself.
Seeing that Kelly is overstressed, Silver steps out of the car.
Silver kneels down to Sammy's level of sight. She sees that he's still crying.
"Sammy, it's ok. You didn't do anything wrong," said Silver.
"No, I know daddy left because of me," said Sammy.
"No, your dad loves you very much," said Silver.
"Then why did he leave?" asked Sammy.
Silver looks at Kelly to think of a good answer for Sammy. After a brief moment, Silver looks back at Sammy.
"Sammy, did he say goodbye to you?" asked Silver.
"No," replied Sammy.
"Has he ever left without saying goodbye before?" asked Silver.
"No," replied Sammy.
"Then that means, he'll be back," said Silver.
"When?" asked Sammy.
"I don't know, honey. When he's ready," replied Silver.
"When will he be ready?" asked Sammy.
"I don't know. But we can call him and ask him tonight; what do you say?" asked Silver.
"Really? You mean it?" asked Sammy.
"Yeah. You can talk to him for as long as you like," replied Silver.
"Ok," said Sammy.
"But first, you have to go to daycare," said Silver.
"Can we call him now?" asked Silver.
"No, because your dad knows that you have daycare. He will be disappointed if you didn't go, right?" asked Silver.
"Yeah, I guess so," replied Sammy.
"And you want your dad to be happy so he can come back, right?" asked Silver.
"Yes," said Sammy quietly.
Sammy leans in to hug Silver.
"Ok, now c'mon; say goodbye to your mom and let's go in," said Silver.
Sammy turns and looks at Kelly who looks back at him with a sad face.
"I'm sorry, mommy," said Sammy.
"Oh no, I'm the one who's sorry," said Kelly.
"Come here, honey," said Kelly who goes in to hug Sammy.
"I love you very much," added Kelly.
"I love you too, mommy," said Sammy hugging Kelly.
With Sammy's back turn, Kelly mouths "thank you" to Silver who is smiling at them. Silver gives Kelly a silent smile.
Inside daycare, Sammy hangs his jacket and backpack up on the rack. He then goes to a table and sits down. He looks around and sees all the other kids laughing and playing. He didn't feel like joining in the fun. He was too sad. But it didn't take long for one of the kids to join him.
"Hey Sammy," said a kid coming to Sammy's table.
"Hey Brian," said Sammy with a sad tone.
"Where were you yesterday?" asked Brian.
"With my dad," replied Sammy.
"He came to visit?" asked Brian.
"No, that's my uncle Dylan. I meant, my real dad," replied Sammy.
"Oh. You look sad," said Brian, who notices Sammy who is constantly looking down.
"He left last night," said Sammy.
"Why?" asked Brian.
"I don't know. I think I did something that made him mad," replied Sammy.
"Like what?" asked Brian.
"I ruined a surprise for him. Now my mom is angry at me too because it was her surprise," replied Sammy.
"Oh; so what are you going to do?" asked Brian.
"I don't know," replied Sammy shrugging his shoulders.
"Aunt Silver said that I can talk to my dad tonight on the phone," said Sammy.
"I don't know. My parents said the same thing to me once," said Brian.
"Really?" asked Sammy who quickly looks up at Brian.
"Yeah. A few years ago, my big brother did something bad and my parents sent him somewhere," replied Brian.
"Where?" asked Sammy.
"A special school," replied Brian.
"My mom and dad told me that he will be back soon," added Brian.
"And?" asked Sammy who looks really interested.
"And that I would get to talk to him every day on the phone," replied Brian.
"Did you?" asked Sammy.
"Once or twice but every time I try to call him, my mom and dad would say that he's too busy to talk to me," replied Brian.
"They lied to you?" asked Sammy.
Brian nodded.
"Now, I only get to talk to him once or twice each year," said Brian.
"I miss him," added Brian.
"Well, my dad didn't do anything wrong. Why would my mom make him leave?" asked Sammy.
"I don't know. Maybe she's planning to send you to the school," replied Brian.
Sammy has a scared look on his face.
"What? I don't want to go there," said Sammy, who looks very scared.
"I'm sorry, Sammy," said Brian.
"What am I going to do?" asked Sammy.
"You can stay with me," replied Brian.
"Really?" asked Sammy.
"Yeah. I'm sure my mom and dad would be ok since my brother is not coming back," replied Brian.
"Wow, thank you. I promise I won't do anything bad. I don't want to go to that special school," said Sammy.
"Me neither. They said that my brother has to wake up very early and do chores," said Brian.
"Oh this will be so cool. We can be like brothers and share a room together," added Brian.
"Yeah," said Sammy sad.
"What's wrong? I'm saving you, man," said Brian.
"I know. But I'm going to miss my mom and Aunt Silver," said Sammy.
"My mom says that sometimes you just have to let things go," said Brian.
"Yeah," said Sammy looking down sadly.
Meanwhile at Steve and Janet's, Brandon is playing with Madeline Sanders in the living room.
"Uncle Brandon, do you know a lot about boys?" asked Madeline.
"Well, I am one," replied Brandon.
"You're not like the boys I know in class. You're so nice and handsome," said Madeline.
"Thank you, Madeline. What are the boys in your class like?" asked Brandon.
"They always make fun of me and picking on me, especially this boy, Danny," replied Madeline.
"What did Danny do?" asked Brandon.
"He made fun of my hair and my dress," replied Madeline.
"Did you tell your teacher and your parents?" asked Brandon.
"Yeah. They said that he's only doing that because he likes me," replied Madeline.
"Maybe he does," said Brandon.
"Then why does he make me so mad?" asked Madeline.
"Boys have a funny way showing how they feel sometimes. He might think that his friends will make fun of him for liking a girl," replied Brandon.
"It doesn't matter anyway. I'm too mature for the likes of him," said Madeline.
Brandon laughs.
"Oh are you?" asked Brandon.
"Yes. My boyfriend will be handsome and sweet; and he will love me for who I am," replied Madeline.
"Well, that's great Madeline. Whoever you choose will be one lucky guy," smiled Brandon.
"I hope so," said Madeline.
Steve sees them together and comes in.
"Honey, are you bothering Uncle Brandon?" asked Steve.
"No, we are just having an intelligent conversation, weren't we, Uncle Brandon?" asked Madeline.
"Yes, we are," replied Brandon.
"Madeline, why don't you go to your room and do your homework?" asked Steve.
"If that's a sign for me to go, then I shall go," replied Madeline getting up and leaving.
"Thanks honey," smiled Steve.
"You owe me one," joked Madeline while leaving.
Steve has a weird look on his face.
"She's too cute to be your daughter," joked Brandon.
"Funny; that's what Janet said," said Steve.
"What were you two talking about anyway?" asked Steve.
"Boys," replied Brandon.
"Oh really?" asked Steve.
"Yes, I believe your young maiden has caught the eye of a boy named Danny?" asked Brandon.
"Yes, I know all too well of young Danny. He's ok. He's just confused when it comes to women," replied Steve.
"Unlike you, of course," said Brandon.
"Well, Mr. Walsh, I believe you're familiar with my reputation with the ladies," smirked Steve.
"Yes, I do. I'm still in shock how you managed to get yourself happily married with children," joked Brandon.
"Haha...and here I thought that you were gonna beat to me to that," said Steve.
"If it helps, I thought so too," said Brandon.
"Speaking of marriage and children, isn't it about time you gave Kelly a call?" asked Steve.
"I spoke to her last night," replied Brandon.
"Bran...she's worry about you," said Steve.
"How do you know?" asked Brandon.
Steve waits a brief moment before answering.
"Look, I promised her I won't tell you this but I just have to. I spoke to her this morning. She's really hurting," said Steve.
"Good, now she knows how I feel," said Brandon.
"Bran, you don't mean that," said Steve.
"When are you gonna get past this? You know you're gonna eventually go back to her," asked Steve.
"I don't know. I just need time," replied Brandon.
"You know that if you wait too long, time will run out," said Steve.
"Steve, I know but I just can't go back right now," said Brandon.
"But...," started Steve who gets interrupted by Brandon.
"Steve, I know how you feel. But could we just drop this whole Kelly thing for a bit? C'mon, I'm here to visit you guys. Let's have some fun," said Brandon.
"Yeah, ok. I just want you two together," said Steve.
"I know you do. And if Kelly and I are meant to be, we'll be together," said Brandon.
Steve looks at Brandon without a reply.
They hear the front door open. Janet comes in. She walks into the living room and sees Brandon and Steve.
"Hey Brandon," said Janet.
"Hey Janet," said Brandon.
"Hey sweetie," said Steve who goes and kisses Janet.
"Hey," said Janet who smiles.
"Where's Madeline?" asked Janet.
"If you're checking up on me, she's in her room doing her homework," replied Steve.
"Very nice," smiled Janet who kisses Steve again.
"Oh Brandon, Kelly called me," said Janet.
Brandon looks down.
"Honey, let it go," said Steve to Janet.
"What?" asked Janet confused.
"It's not a good time," replied Steve.
Janet still looks confused. Brandon looks down sad.
That evening after dinner, Silver is in Sammy's room trying to call Brandon.
"Sammy, we'll try again later, ok?" asked Silver.
"But why isn't he there? You said he would be," asked Sammy.
"Maybe he's busy," replied Silver.
"But I want to talk to him," said Sammy.
"I'm sorry but there's nothing we can do if he's not picking up the phone," replied Silver.
"Do you still want to leave a message for him?" asked Silver.
"No, it's not the same," replied Sammy.
"I know. We'll try again later, ok?" asked Silver.
"Ok," replied Sammy.
Silver goes and hugs Sammy.
"I'll be back in an hour, ok?" asked Silver.
"Ok," replied Sammy who is still sad.
Silver leaves.
Sammy goes and sits down on his bed.
Sammy starts to look around his room. He stops looking when he sees a photo on his desk. The framed photo is a group shot of Sammy, Silver, Brandon and Kelly. Brandon and Kelly are holding Sammy in the middle, while Silver is in the back. All of them are smiling. In his mind, he remembered when they took that photo. It was taken after Brandon had moved in. There was a lot of love in that house.
He had gotten his dad back. Brandon was someone who Sammy was starting to look up to. He was looking forward to spending a lot of quality father and son bonding with Brandon. And he knew that Brandon was too. Also, Sammy had never seen his mom happier. Even though he was still too young to understand the power of love, he could see that Kelly had gotten the love of her life back. And now that because he had ruined Kelly's surprise to Brandon, Sammy feels that he had not only ruined his relationship with Brandon but Kelly's as well.
He started to think about what Brian had said to him earlier that day at daycare. The thought of Kelly punishing him by sending him to the same school that Brian's brother was sent to scares him. He was deeply sorry for what he did. He started to recall what happened this morning in the car when Kelly abruptly yelled at him and said that the reason why Brandon left was because of him. The more he thought about it, the more certain that he will have to go to that place.
Sammy considered his options. He could either stay, wait for Brandon who obviously didn't care enough to come back, and eventually get sent to the school. Or, he can stay with Brian and have a clean slate with a new family. He knew he didn't want to leave Kelly or Silver behind but he knew that they weren't happy with him around after what ruined the surprise. While Sammy feels that there is no hope to save his relationship with Brandon, he hoped that once he leaves, Brandon can come back and the three of them can be a happy family again without him.
The thought of him not being a part of the family made him sad and his eyes teary. As he closes his eyes, he held the frame photo close to his heart.
An hour later, Kelly and Sammy knock on Sammy's door. From outside the door, she notices that Sammy's bedroom lights weren't on.
"You think he's asleep already?" asked Kelly.
"No, he knows that I was going to come back in an hour," replied Silver.
"Well the lights are off," said Kelly.
"Sammy?" asked Kelly who quietly opens the door.
The light from the hallway shines into Sammy's room showing that he's asleep.
"I guess he didn't want to wait," said Silver.
"C'mon; let's let him sleep," said Kelly.
Kelly closes the door.
To be continued….
