CHAPTER 51

When Miguel and Robby walked home from school that day, they were all smiles and laughter. How couldn't they be? After all, it was finally the Christmas holiday, and they had a lot to be happy about! One year ago at this time, Robby had just been let out of juvie and had walked in on Sam and Miguel kissing in the Miyagi-Do dojo. One year ago at this time, Miguel had just been ambushed by Cobra Kai in the home invasion, and was having his broken back get pounded on by Kyler. They had come a long way since then, that was for sure. They were now training with the dojo and sensei they wanted to. They were around their amazing friends, and had the girls of their dreams. Whatever troubles and uncertainties that were in their lives seemed almost irrelevant when you looked at how far they had both come in a year, especially Robby. Having gone from joining Cobra Kai one year prior, to being one of the figureheads of Miyagi-Do… he was almost unrecognizable from the hard-headed, angry kid he had been in December of last year.

Both boys couldn't wait for the Christmas holiday. Not only would they be celebrating Christmas together with their large family, but there was almost so much more to look forward to during this Christmas break. Although they were training with separate senseis for the most part, Johnny, Daniel and Chozen had promised the group that there would be some extremely unique, extremely fun training activities that they'd be doing. Although every training session over the break would be optional as some students were traveling for the holiday and others just wanted a short break from the dojo, for those that were sticking around, the senseis had no intent on going easy on them now. It was going to be full-steam ahead, and the two boys were very much looking forward to all of that.

However, their delight was left at the front door as they stepped into Johnny's apartment and saw that there was someone sitting on Johnny's couch in the living room. It wasn't someone Miguel recognized, but definitely someone Robby knew very well.

"Mom…" Robby stammered, surprised to see his mom at Johnny's place. He had been living with Johnny for the summer, and had continued to live with Johnny during this first term. The plan was for him to live with Johnny until approximately the break, when Shannon would have her job and the rest of her life stabilized enough for Robby to be able to move back in. Although he loved Johnny and loved living with him in the apartment in Reseda, Robby was secretly excited to move back in with his mom. It would allow him somewhere to go when he wanted to get away from the karate saga entirely. Right now, Johnny and Carmen's apartment complex was at the very center of the karate war, so there was always something to do with the karate war that was going on around them. This forced all of them, or at least it forced him to feel constantly wired, like he had to constantly be ready to deal with whatever drama next came their way. Having that refuge from it all would surely be welcome.

Robby walked over to his mom and gave her a hug. As he did though, he noticed the peculiar expression on her face, and on the face of Johnny, who had just walked into the living room from the kitchen. They were both nervous, it was clear to see. They clearly had something to tell him, something important to talk to him about, and that observation wasn't lost on Miguel, who quickly shuffled out of the apartment to give them some privacy. Whatever they had to say, Robby could instantly tell that this wasn't exactly good news, as they were clearly on edge as to how he would react.

"How was school today?" Shannon asked, trying a feeble attempt at small-talk before they dropped whatever bombshell they had to say.

"It was alright. What's going on?" Robby asked them, getting a little anxious at their facial expressions, and the way they seemed to be attempting to cushion the blow of telling him. "You guys clearly have something you want to say to me. Please say it, because you're making me nervous."

Shannon and Johnny nodded, glancing at one another. They seemed to be having a silent argument with their eyes, debating who should be the one to break the news to Robby. It was Shannon who decided to do so. After all, the news was directly relevant to her and not Johnny.

"Alright. I, uh… I don't really know how to tell you this Robby but…" Shannon's hesitation in getting to the point only caused Robby's nervousness to increase.

"Is it the drugs and alcohol again? Are you going back to rehab?" Robby asked, concern evident in his tone. Realizing that that was where Robby's mind was right now, Shannon shook her head.

"No, no, no. Nothing like that." Shannon quickly replied, putting his mind slightly at ease. "You know how for the past little while, I've been doing odd jobs around the city, and I've been looking for a more stable work opportunity?"

Robby nodded. He knew that his mom had been resorted to things such as Uber delivery and other free-lance work as she looked for a full-time job, something that with her credentials (or rather, lack of credentials), she was having a lot of trouble doing.

"Yeah, you found something?" He asked, curiously.

"I did." Shannon replied. "An old friend of mine from back in high school was in town. She's extremely high up in one of those global fashion brands, and she heard that I was looking for a job so she offered me one."

"Mom, that's awesome!" Robby exclaimed, although his smile faded slightly as Johnny and Shannon's expressions told him that there was something else. This wasn't all it was.

"There is one thing though…" Shannon said. "The job is based in New York."

Robby's jaw hit the ground in shock. He almost thought he had misheard his mom. New York? There was no way!

"It also involves a lot of traveling." Shannon continued. "It's going to be all about talking to people and organizations we want to sponsor, so although it might be based in New York, I might be spending long periods of time out of the country entirely. Unfortunately, that means that you won't be able to live with me anymore."

Robby really didn't know what to say. His mind was spinning at the revelation. His mom was moving to New York. With the distance that was to L.A, it was basically like she was moving to another country.

"Your father has already agreed to have you stay with him for as long as you need." Shannon said, at which point Johnny spoke up.

"Yeah, even after graduation, if you need a bit more time to get settled with whatever you're doing next, you can definitely stay here." Johnny replied.

Robby managed to nod slightly at his father to silently thank him for the offer, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. His mouth had gone dry and his mind had completely blanched in shock. The only thing he could think of were two words, 'New York', that were rattling around in his head. He was rooted to the spot, his brain unable to order his body to move. His mouth gaped in shock, locked in an enormous O shape. He stood there, in that exact position, for an eternity, as his parents watched on with concern, waiting for him to say something, praying for some kind of reaction. It took Robby a while, but he finally managed to drag his brain from the ice block it seemed to be trapped in, and he forced himself to finally speak.

"Wow, uh… mom, I'm… I'm really happy for you…"

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But he wasn't. He wasn't happy. No, that wasn't fair. He was plenty happy for his mom and what she had managed to achieve, especially after how much she had overcome in the recent past. But to say that Robby was altogether overjoyed about what was going to happen next would be a lie, because if he was brutally honest, there was a small voice in the pit of his stomach that wasn't altogether thrilled about what would be happening now.

After leaving Johnny's apartment a little while later, Robby decided to go for a walk to clear his head. He debated going over to Miguel's place, debated going over to Tory's place to talk about what was going on, but he decided in the end to remain alone. Whatever he had to say to them would definitely sound a little bit selfish, as neither of them had both parents that actively wanted to, or could physically be part of their lives. Robby, on the other hand, did and yet his insides were still in turmoil about what was going on.

However, selfish as it might sound, Robby couldn't help it. He couldn't help that this was how he felt. He desperately wanted to feel differently. He wanted nothing more than to be 100% ecstatic for his mom and have no negative feelings about what was going to happen next. After all, he would still be able to talk to her on the phone while she was gone, would probably be able to visit at times, and most importantly, his mom still did indeed want to be part of his life. This wasn't a way of her escaping responsibilities or trying to get away from them. Not only this, but his father, with whom things were finally close to perfect with, was opening his home to him for as long as Robby needed it. What did he have to complain about?

Robby's whole life, when his father had abandoned him and his mom had all but done so too, he had still always dreamed about what it could be like. What it could be like if he actually had both parents around. As a child, it had always been a dream of his mom and dad being together, and them being a proper family. But as he had grown up, Robby had been more than happy to settle for them not being together, but still both being around. Because even that would have been infinitely better than what he had been living with as a child.

As a child, Robby had to do everything for himself. He got into fights; he'd get beaten up because nobody had taught him how to fight. Afterwards, he'd have to clean his scrapes up as there would be no one there to help him with that. He had to learn how to drive by himself, how to shave by himself, how to be a normal person all by himself, because neither parent was around long enough to do so for him. But now… now things were better. He figured that now that his mom had gone through rehab, and things with his dad were better than they had ever been, this was the time that he'd finally have the two parents around that he had always dreamed of.

But he wasn't. And now, he would likely never get that. Because Robby wasn't an idiot. He knew exactly what was going to happen in the near future. It was another reason why he was so apprehensive about what was going to happen next. In February, Johnny and Carmen's baby was going to arrive. At that point, Johnny was probably going to permanently move in across the hall to be with the baby. Even if he continued to rent out his apartment for Robby to live in, Robby knew that that wouldn't be forever. That would probably be until graduation, when everyone else Robby knew moved on to do whatever they had planned next. Except him. With absolutely no future plans, Robby knew that when he was forced to move out of Johnny's apartment after graduation, he wasn't going to move very far. He was going to be stuck in some cupboard of an apartment, working a meaningless trade, doomed to spend the rest of his life in the Valley. At least if his mom was still living there, he'd have somewhere to properly plant roots before he pushed off and found something genuinely meaningful to do next.

Fear of the future was a fear that constantly lived within Robby's head. He couldn't help it. However, he was distracted from thinking about it once more when he saw a message from Johnny. As he read it, he could practically feel the pity and sympathy emanating through the phone as Johnny tried to find a way to cheer Robby up.

Are you doing anything right now? Come back to the apartment. Me, you and Miguel are going to go and cut down a Christmas tree for the dojo together