Author's Note: Forgive me for the long wait, but due to the many things that happened to me during the past week I have been unable to sit down and write this chapter out. I had no desire to write because of the event which took place, plus, I had a very slight case of writer's block, but I think this chapter came out pretty good. I just hope you all enjoy it. Please, do review. Sorry if it's too short, by the way.
Cindy stood there on the porch, looking inside. Mrs. Neutron was standing still, her arms at her sides, looking straight at the man who stood in the doorway. A pile of glass lay at her feet. Her eyes gave away her shock and longing. Rebecca too was in a state of shock. Her eyes held her surprise with a mix of slight fear and confusion. Her little arms dangled at her sides as she craned her neck to look up at the man standing before her. Jimmy stood on the staircase. He looked at the man, who's arms awaited his embrace. But Jimmy would not budge. Cindy noticed that there was something in his eyes besides the shock that Cindy did not like. She hadn't seen the emotion in him for so long and now it seemed out of place, but she knew it was there. She saw it. The fear that gripped him.
"Aren't I gonna get a welcome back hug?" the man asked his family.
Jimmy's anger suddenly appeared once more. "Go to hell," he replied. His hands were balled up into fists and his eyes gave a chilling, cold death glance. Cindy cringed at the site. A quick flashback of Jimmy beating Nick came to her in that sudden moment and as soon as it had appeared it, disappeared back into the darkness of her mind.
"Mommy?" Rebecca asked as she stepped away.
"Hugh," Mrs. Neutron whispered as she began to walk toward her husband. Mr. Neutron advanced forward, his arms wide open. Cindy hesitantly walked inside after him. She now stood in the doorway as she watched the events unfold before her. "I missed you so much. I knew you would be coming back. I had a dream."
"I missed you too, sugar-booger," he replied. Cindy watched Mrs. Neutron. It seemed to Cindy that to Mrs. Neutron time was standing still and she was happy again. Truly happy, but her happiness was short lived. Jimmy stomped down the staircase.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked. A sense of threat seemed to lace in his voice with his anger which made Cindy cringe once more.
"I missed my family. I wanted to come back," Mr. Neutron responded a bit sheepishly. He looked toward Rebecca. The small girl took another step back. Mr. Neutron walked to her, but stopped as soon as she ran behind Jimmy. Being as caring and loyal as he was to her, Jimmy kept her protectively behind him. Rebecca clung to his right leg as she peeked a glance at this strange man inside the house she called home. Cindy couldn't help but feel for her. She wondered how the poor girl felt. Cindy wasn't even sure if Rebecca had ever even actually seen her father and then all of a sudden out of the blue, he returns.
Mr. Neutron frowned, sadly as he looked down at his daughter. Cindy couldn't see the look in his eyes, but she was sure he wasn't too happy. She moved inside and stood off to the side, not sure whether or not to but in and take Rebecca away as she had done so before while Jimmy talked to the principle. But she knew this was not her place and she really shouldn't have been there and when Jimmy noticed her there, if he noticed her there, he'd be angry. But she could not move away. She wanted to stay. For Rebecca's sake. And for. . .Jimmy's sake.
"Go on, sweety," Mrs. Neutron encouraged her daughter as she wiped away the tears from her face. "Greet your daddy."
There it was. Confirmed and out there for Rebecca to know. Cindy's heart ached for the little girl as she watched her reaction. Rebecca's eyes widened with sorrow and great fear. She looked at the man and she seemed to grip Jimmy's leg tighter. Jimmy didn't seem to notice. That's when Cindy realized it for the first time. Rebecca looked thinner and so much more pale. Her new-found weakness was visible in her eyes and in her face. Her eyes suggested that she was a bit exhausted. The girl was fragile and this new turn of events wasn't improving her health one bit.
"Give daddy a hug, Becca," Mr. Neutron coaxed as he walked forward. Rebecca's fear grew and she pulled herself behind the safety of her big brother. This, Jimmy took as his cue to protect her. His instincts seemed to kick in. He stood firm in front of his father and raised his hand to stop him.
"Don't you dare come any closer," Jimmy threatened. "You, stay away from her!"
"Jimmy!" Mrs. Neutron scolded. "Don't talk to your father that way! He's come out of his way to be - "
"With his family?" Jimmy interrupted. "What family?! This isn't a family! Our family went down the drain four years ago when he left us!"
Cindy took a deep breath and held it. Four years ago. That's when it had begun? She thought back. This meant that Jimmy had only been 12 when it happened. Rebecca had just been born or so Cindy theorized. Cindy and Jimmy had only begun Middle School then. She went back thoughtfully. Four years ago. When they had entered 6th grade, Jimmy's attitude had indeed changed. About a lot of things. His grades still held up right. He was still very competitive with her about that. As she thought back, Cindy remembered that as soon as they had hit the 6th grade, Jimmy had become a lot more passionate and aggressive about their competition with grades. Maybe he had been running away from everything at home by doing so and he was able to let his feelings out that way. She continued to watch the family as the past returned.
Jimmy suddenly turned and lifted his sister in his arms and raced up the stairs. Mr and Mrs. Neutron looked at one another. Neither one of them had noticed that Cindy was there, but Cindy ran up after Jimmy and Rebecca. Soon after Mr. and Mrs. Neutron were right behind her. They had caught up to Jimmy just as he was about to open his door, Rebecca stood beside him looking at her parents and Cindy, who she had for the first time noticed. Her eyes looked a bit puffy, she looked as if she were going to cry. She pulled at Jimmy's sleeve and he turned. His back straightened as he looked back at his parents. He walked protectively in front of Rebecca.
"Jimmy," Mr. Neutron sighed, "son, let me explain."
"Save it for someone who cares, dad," Jimmy sneered. That's when Rebecca began to cry. The tears had just suddenly begun to fall and Cindy walked to her. She fell to her knees. Jimmy still had not noticed her. Rebecca looked down at Cindy. She smiled weakly. Cindy smiled in return. A sad smile that expressed all her emotions. She embraced the small girl and held her tightly against her. Rebecca sobbed lightly. Jimmy looked down and noticed Cindy for the first time. He was taken aback by it at first. His anger began to rise to another level. He glared at her with cold eyes. A chill went down Cindy's spin, but she looked away as she rubbed Rebecca's back, gingerly for comfort.
"Just listen to your father, Jimmy," Mrs. Neutron begged.
"I don't have a father anymore!" Jimmy protested. "He's dead to me!"
Mrs. Neutron's sobs echoed through the second floor. "Becca, please," Mrs. Neutron weep. "Tell your brother. Tell him to stop acting this way. He'll listen to you." Rebecca grew silent. Her sobs stopped and it became deadly silent. "Becca?"
The small girl removed herself from Cindy's embrace and looked straight into her mother's eyes. "No," she said, simply. Cindy's shock was apparent. For as long as she knew this young girl and from what she understood, Rebecca was not the kind of kid to ever, ever say no to her mother. Especially, her mother.
"What?" Mrs. Neutron asked, her sobbing had ceased.
"I said 'no'," Rebecca replied. "I'm not stopping Jimmy for anything. Not even for you."
Cindy turned her head. Mrs. Neutron looked hurt and way beyond shocked. Mr. Neutron looked back and forth from his wife to his daughter. Cindy guessed that he had figured out something had gone wrong.
"If you just let me explain, Jimbo - " Mr. Neutron began.
"Don't. . .call me that," Jimmy validated.
"Just let me explain, please," Mr. Neutron pleaded. "I missed you all and I now it was a mistake for me to leave the way I did and then pop out all of a sudden. But I'm back and I plan on staying."
Cindy looked to Jimmy. He cocked his head slightly as if to crack his neck and closed his eyes as he scoffed. A small, devilish smile appeared on his face. His hands were balled up into fists. And then he opened his eyes and looked up at his father, his head still slightly cocked. "You think that you can just come back? Just like that? Without even asking me or Rebecca if we approve?" Jimmy asked. Cindy turned her gaze to Rebecca the girl did not move. Her hands turned a bit cold and clammy. She seemed to be in some kind of trance. Her forehead had small beads of sweat. Cindy reached up to feel her forehead. She was becoming very warm. She took Rebecca's hands in her's and looked up at the little girl. Her blank stare did not change.
"What makes you think that you can come back and have things back to the way they were?" Jimmy asked. "What? Tell me?"
"I just thought that - "
"Well, you thought wrong!"
Mrs. Neutron's sobs began again. Cindy's heart raced as she watched Rebecca. This family thing was not making things any better for her. She looked as if she was getting worse and she wasn't moving. The blank stare, began to scare Cindy. She didn't like it one bit. It was just horrible to witness a girl like Rebecca going through a sudden numbness. She wasn't responding to anything. Not even as the argument heated up.
"Listen, Jimmy," Mr. Neutron said. "I'm not very proud of myself for leaving you and your mother."
"And Rebecca," Jimmy added as he crossed his arms over his chest, looking away.
"And Rebecca," Mr. Neutron repeated as he nodded his head slightly. "I never meant to hurt anyone.
"Well, you did!" Jimmy shouted. "You hurt everyone. And you're hurting everyone by just being here!"
"I want to make thing better!" Mr. Neutron said a bit childishly, but Cindy could tell by the sound of his voice that he was genuine. "Let me make things better!"
"How the hell can you?!" Jimmy asked. "You've done so much damage in just four years! Four! You don't even understand the shit I went through! The shit everyone went through after you left! I trusted you and then you just up and leave all of a sudden and leave me behind and mom and Rebecca too! You didn't even have the decency to stay until Rebecca was born! 2 months before mom was due, you left and she needed you! I needed you!"
Cindy looked up at Jimmy. His tears began to escape as well as her own. Her heart sank as she watched him. His voice was full of such raw, deep emotion and he was finally letting it out. He was letting it all out. His anger, his pain, his sorrow, and suffering. As a result she was beginning to see a glimpse of the old Jimmy. The young, fragile, smart, adorable boy she had come to know so well and the boy who she had lost through the years. She suddenly stood as she took Rebecca's hand. She stood beside him and took one of his hands. His body tensed as he felt her fingers on his fist, but he relaxed a bit as she boldly squeezed his hand for comfort. He didn't turn to face her, but Cindy had a feeling he knew what he was doing, for he relaxed his hand and took her's in his. She laced her fingers with his and they held hands as Jimmy continued to speak to his father. It didn't seem to really bother him.
"You don't know what I went through. What mom went through," Jimmy began. His voice trembled lightly as his tears continued to stream down his face. "Rebecca never even got to actually see you in person! She always wondered about you too. Do you know how many times she's asked me about you? How many times I had to answer the questions? No, you don't. But let me tell you the hell that you put this family through. You don't know how many times mom lay in bed crying herself to sleep those many weeks after you left, hoping that you'd return. You don't know how many nights I stayed up, listening to her call out your name as she sobbed. You don't know what mom had gone through in that labor room. Asking, shouting for you! For you! And you weren't there! You weren't there!"
Jimmy suddenly pulled away from Cindy and charged at his father. Mrs. Neutron screamed as Cindy pulled him back. She let Rebecca go and held onto Jimmy. Pulling him close to her, never ever wanting to let him go for fear of what he'd do to his dad and for just wanting to comfort him. "Please, clam yourself, Jimmy," she whispered in his ear as she attempted to chock back her tears, but to no avail. Jimmy's sudden urge to attack his father ceased. He looked at the man who had raised him.
"Why?" he pleaded as he fell to his knees, the tears streaming from his face. Cindy fell with him, holding him tight. "Why? Why did you do such a horrible thing? What excuse do you have for not watching me grow? For not watching Becca grow? For not being there in those last two months of mom's pregnancy when she needed you most? For not being in that labor room, trying to calm her down? What excuse do you have? Tell me!"
Mr. Neutron stayed silent.
"I hate you," Jimmy said, sternly. "Do you hear me?! I hate you!" Cindy noticed Mr. Neutron winced at the words.
"He's a coward," Rebecca's voice suddenly came. Everyone turned their attention to her. Her eyes were full of anger and sorrow. She was no longer afraid of this man who was supposedly her father. "He's a coward and I hate him too!"
"Becca, please," Mrs. Neutron pleaded. "Don't say that about your father."
"He's not my father!" Rebecca disagreed. "A father is a person who watches over you at all times! Who watches you grow! Who helps a mother raise a kid! Who takes care of their family when they're in need of it or when they're not in need of it! Someone who's there all through your life and devotes their life to making your own life as meaningful and as safe and healthy as possible! Someone like Jimmy not like him!"
Cindy hadn't really thought much about it, but Jimmy was much like Rebecca's father. He was indeed a father figure for her. He took care of her and he loved her. He protected her, helped his mother raise her, and he watched her grow. He was there for her when she needed him and when she didn't. He was always there, ready to give her advice or for whatever questions she asked. Cindy guessed that's why she was so much smarter than other four year olds. Hanging around Jimmy as much as she had, his intellect had rubbed off on her. But she stood boldly by herself in front of Jimmy's door. That courage had always been there. She always had that. She was strong and Cindy knew that without her strength, Jimmy wouldn't have kept his feelings so safely hidden. That is until now. . .
"I never want to see your face again!" she shouted as she opened the door to Jimmy's room. "And I hate you, mommy! For accepting him so fast!" She walked inside the room and slammed the door.
Everything fell silent.
Mrs. Neutron fell to her knees shortly after, breaking the silence. Mr. Neutron hurried to comfort her. Cindy, gingerly helped Jimmy to his feet and he allowed her to help him. Cindy thanked him silently for it. She was happy to lend a helping hand. Jimmy allowed her hands to slid from his shoulders to his hands. She led him to his room and opened the door. She took brought him inside and closed the door. Rebecca lay on the bed in the fetal position. She sucked her thumb and looked up when Jimmy and Cindy entered the room. She bolted up on the bed. Cindy smiled, weakly.
"How are you?" she asked, speaking for the first time in what seemed like ages. Jimmy suddenly pulled away from her as she asked the question. She turned to him a bit confused and very disappointed. She turned to Rebecca. She took slow, easy steps toward the young girl and sat down beside her. Rebecca looked into her eyes, silently answering her question. She threw herself on Cindy and Cindy embraces her. She stroked the little girl's hair as she cried in her arms.
"I don't want him here, Cindy," Rebecca sobbed.
"I know, I know," Cindy replied as she continued to stroke her hair. Her heart went out to the small, fragile girl in her arms. Her heart ached at the thought of Rebecca and Jimmy with this new dilemma. "But something tells me that he won't be leaving anytime soon."
Rebecca sniffed as she pulled away. She wiped the tears from her face and propped herself on her knees. She placed her hands on her thighs. "What makes you say that?" Becca questioned.
Cindy shrugged. "Call it woman's intuition," she offered with yet another weak smile.
Cindy could see Rebecca's wondering eyes. The small girl caught a glimpse of her brother and looked back to Cindy. She looked back and forth one more time. Cindy inhaled deeply as she blushed, knowing what Rebecca meant. Cindy gave Becca an award smile as she shrugged, exhaling sharply.
About two hours or so later, Rebecca was asleep on Jimmy's bed. Cindy sat in the computer chair in the corner and Jimmy stood by the window, never once glancing else where. Cindy wanted to know what he was thinking. He hadn't spoken a word since the fight had ended and she wanted to someway, somehow help him. He didn't seem angry or sorrowful. He wasn't anything. He didn't even have a blank stare like Rebecca had. He just looked out the window, observing everything and everyone. She sighed as she turned her attention to the alarm clock that sat on his night stand beside his bed. It was already 10 minutes to mid-night. Time seemed to go by so quickly. She stood from the chair and walked to the door. She reached for the knob, but stopped. She turned around.
"I'll be on my way now," she said, but he didn't move. He didn't even say a word. She walked back to the bed and kissed Rebecca's forehead before whispering a "good night" in her ear. Jimmy still said nothing. She walked back tot he door and just as she reached for the door knob, Jimmy spoke.
"Take that with you," he said.
Cindy turned. She looked at him, but he still did not turn around. "Take what?" she inquired.
"That," Jimmy answered, pointing off to his side, revealing a small metal box by his computer. Cindy hesitantly walked to it. She lifted it up and brought it to eye level.
"What is it?" she asked.
"The project," Jimmy replied. "It's the diorama. I built it in the lab."
"When did you have time to do this?" she questioned.
He ignored the question. "Press the blue button on the left side to activate it and then the red button to stop it or then if you don't press it when it's finished displaying information, then it'll repeat the entire thing over again," he explained.
"Are you sure this works?" she asked, skeptically. "Because you know none of your others have ever worked. How do I know this one is even safe?"
Jimmy turned to her at that. She smiled, teasingly as she lifted her brows, shifting her weight on one foot, and crossing her arms over her chest. She waited for him to answer. Despite how Cindy could only guess he actually felt, he smiled at her. A genuine, sweet smile which made Cindy's heart skip a beat. Her face flushed.
"It works," he replied as he turned to look out the window. "I made sure of it."
After a long pause Cindy asked," So where will you sleep?" Though she knew the answer to the question.
He didn't look at her, but he answered her. "On the floor."
"Well, good night. See you to - "
"You'll see me around," Jimmy said. She nodded, though he hadn't seen it. She sighed and walked out of the room. She worried about the next day. What would happen to them the following day? How would they get by? Should she come over? Would she even be aloud to see either of them? She doubted it.
Cindy held the metal box close. She forgot to asked what he called the thing. She shrugged as she walked down the stairs. Mr. and Mrs. Neutron sat in the livingroom, holding one another. They spoke softly to one another as they cried on one another. She felt bad for them all. How would they live their lives as one, when they were separated down the middle?