Caught In Suspension: Chapter 5
Disclaimer: It's two like in the freakin' morning and I'm too tired to make up a disclaimer. I'm just going to say that the same apply.
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Seth just wanted to talk to his father at his beach-front office but instead of finding him there, he had an idea where his father could be. Walking down the beach, he got a couple of weird looks from the beach goers and Seth couldn't agree with them more. He was on his lunch break and he was wearing part of his business suit. It was sunny and warm, so Seth had to ditch his jacket and resorted to unbuttoning his cuffs and rolling up his sleeves above his elbow.
His hunch was right as he just seen his father paddling back to shore. Sandy was in his fifties but he serious didn't look his age. He still look like he did ten years ago, with the exceptions of a few more white hairs but other than that, he was still in great condition. Sandy was still the same and continued to love surfing. He never regretted getting his office more than ten years ago. That was the best decision he has made, even if his wife didn't think it was a suitable workplace.
Sandy picked up his towel off the sand and noticed Seth standing a couple of yards away. He made his way towards his son and wondered what he was doing there.
"How's it going son?" Sandy greeted.
"Can we talk in your office?"
Sandy nodded and they started to walk back to his office. He automatically picked up that Seth wanted to talk him about something serious. The last time he asked to talk to him about something important was the time when Seth wanted to propose to Summer. Seth was sure that he wanted it but he was afraid of what Summer would've said.
As they stepped in, Seth sat on the couch while Sandy leaned his long board against the wall. Since Sandy's surf-shorts was still damped, he resorted to pulling out a folding chair made of metal to sit on.
"What's going on?" Sandy asked as he sat across from Seth.
Seth sighed. "A lot of things."
"Is there something bad going on with the business?"
Seth shook his head. "No dad. It's more in the lines of my personal life."
Sandy nodded. "Continue."
"Well...I recently told Summer that I wanted to try for a baby."
"And she said that she didn't." Sandy concluded.
Seth nodded. "Yeah and after that, things between us been weird."
Sandy raised a brow. "Weird how?"
Seth shrugged. "I don't know but it seemed like we try to avoid each other as much as possible, or more like I'm the one who tries to not be in the same room as her."
"I know that your hurt son, but you have to understand that she's the one who's going to go through most of the changes. Both physically and emotionally. She's the one whose body is going to change and she's the one who has to take time off work to take care of the baby. Sure you will be there to help out, but for the first couple of months, the baby is going to need their mother."
"I know that Dad, but I'm just afraid that she might not want to have kids at all."
"If she never wants to have any, then what would you do?"
Seth looked at his father and remained sitting down quietly. He didn't need to think about it because he spent a significant amount of time doing so. He already knew what he would do.
Sandy placed a hand on his shoulder. "It takes work and compromise to make a marriage work. You may not agree on everything but you find a middle ground. Don't be part of the statistic that this country should not be proud of." He chuckled. "I think Newport makes up a fourth of the percentage in divorces and I don't want you to add to it."
Seth nodded and stood up. "Thanks for the talk, Dad."
"Anytime kid. Now stop this avoidance crap and talk to her. She has her reasons and all you need to do is understand her logic and be supportive."
Seth nodded one last time and walked out of the door.
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Summer came home after a much needed shopping spree and called out for Seth. She definitely did some damage on the Visa, but she didn't care. Heading upstairs to their bedroom, she hoped to find him there so they could finally talk because the past two days was the same as it was last week. She hoped that they could resolve this thing quickly and without yelling this time. There's nothing more she would want than some lovin' from her husband. She laughed to herself as it rhymed in her head.
Dropping the shopping bags on the bed, she peered outside the window and looked at the oceanic view. Glancing down at the pool, she noticed that Seth was doing laps. That explained why he didn't hear her earlier.
Digging through the drawers, Summer randomly picked out a bikini and quickly changed in the bathroom. Maybe this will help them bring the end to the drift that the issue has formed.
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Feeling like he had enough, Seth stopped as he touched the wall for the last time. Noticing the sun starting to set, he turned to face the side of the ocean, putting his arms on to the concrete to watch the sun go down. The sunsets were the number two thing that Seth always thought was beautiful in Newport. Summer being his number one, of course.
"You know, the view is equally beautiful here."
Seth turned around to face where the voice came from. He didn't expect to see Summer sitting in the hot tub that was connected to the pool.
"How long have to been there?" Seth quizzically asked.
Summer shrugged. "Enough to see you go a couple of times non-stop."
Seth nodded. As he started to swim, Summer knew that he was heading towards the steps to get out of the pool.
"Hey Seth, can you just sit with me in the tub?" She shyly asked.
Seth stopped swimming and stared at Summer. He was apprehensive but seeing the look in her eyes, Seth always caved whenever she gave her puppy-eyes.
Seth did what she requested and sat next to her. Catching her a bit off guard, he intertwined their fingers together under the water. She turned her head towards Seth and gave a small smile. Seth smiled back and couldn't help but to softly kissed her. Even though they might not be on the best of terms, he would always be there beside her whenever she asked. It was another reason from a long list to answer why she love him.
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Turning off the TV, Seth placed the remote control on the coffee table in front of him and turned to Summer. They just sat on the couch and ate their take out dinner that arrived while he was waiting for Summer to get out of the shower. They really didn't say anything to each other. Instead, they just sat back and ate dinner together. That was something that they didn't do for a long period of time.
Seth had a burning question inside of him that he still didn't ask Summer, which was the reason why he turned of the TV.
"Sum, I have to ask you something and please don't get offensive." Seth cautiously asked.
Summer curiously looked at him and slowly nodded.
Seth closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I just have to know if..." He trailed, receiving a look from Summer telling him to spit it out already. "...if you'll ever be ready."
Summer didn't expect that and sat there speechless. Will she ever be? Now Summer had a question to ask, hoping that she wouldn't hear the answer that would shatter her on the inside.
"If I never will be, would we get a divorce because of it?"
Summer could've swore that she held her breath after she asked the question, waiting for his response. She could feel her eyes starting to prickle and didn't notice a tear roll down her face until Seth wiped it off with his thumb.
"I love you way too much to ever consider that as a reason to do so." Summer sniffled and Seth gave her a tissue. "Although, I would feel devastated if you don't want any children because I think that we would be great."
"How do you know that we'll be great?" She shyly asked.
Seth smiled. "Because I have faith in our love and our relationship. That's all we need." He didn't have to pause for his answer, it just came out naturally.
Summer smiled a bit. "But aren't you afraid? We're talking about taking care of a child, not some puppy that you found on the side of the road."
Seth shrugged. "I'm scared shitless. But hearing the 'I love you's, the 'thank you's, or the simple laughter, it's enough to make your heart melt. Even if we may get the occasional 'I hate you's, it still makes it worthwhile. Knowing that you're the reason for bringing up a wonderful human being in the world is equally rewarding to know that you did a tremendous job in the parenting department. Watching them grow up and helping them to reach their highest potential. There's nothing better than seeing your child succeed, knowing that you partially had a part in that. When it comes down to us Sum, that's what I see. Growing up in a house full of love in Newport, when a lot of homes here are broken."
The tears freely flowed down Summer's face throughout Seth's heartfelt speech. She chuckled, wiping her eyes and sniffing in the process. She looked at Seth and smiled. She was just in awe with what Seth just said and wondered how long it took him to come up with that.
Seth let all of what he felt in his heart pour out and he didn't know how to respond when he saw her crying. When she smiled at him, he couldn't help but smile back. He cupped her face, wiping a few tears that still found it's way down.
"You still didn't answer my question." Seth sweetly stated.
"What did you ask again?"
"If...you'll ever be ready." Seth seemed sad when he had to ask that again.
Summer placed her right hand on his left cheek. "Seth, not right now because I finally landed a high-profile account. When having a baby, I feel that both people should be into it. It takes two people to make a baby, not only one. I don't want to ask myself the should've, could've, or would've ."
Summer closed her eyes, putting her hands over them and started to sob. It wasn't light sobs, but real-hard emotionally driven type of sobs. Concerned and confused, Seth pulled her into a hug and rubbed soothing circles on her back. Summer hugged back, clinging on for dear life. Hearing herself saying the last three words stirred up something inside of her. She knew that Seth would ask her what's going on and Summer felt that this would be a good time to tell him. It was also another reason why she didn't feel like the timing was right to have a baby, but hasn't told Seth yet. Once she revealed this piece of information, she hoped that he would finally understand where she was coming from.
They sat on the couch and hugged for a while. Summer's the one who pulled away when she finally felt calm enough to talk.
"Seth...Do you know why my parents divorced?"
Seth scratched his head, not knowing where this would lead to. "I heard a few stories from the Newpsies, ranging from affairs to doing some type of criminal activity, but I never believed any of them because you can't really trust Newport gossip."
Summer took a deep breath and sniffled. "Not even Marissa knows this. She thinks what I told her is the reason why, but I made up that excuse because I was deeply hurt for knowing the truth behind the breakup of my parents."
Summer looked at Seth in the eyes and she can see that he's paying closely attention, giving her courage to continue.
"They say that it's never the children's fault for splitting the marriage, but sadly, that was the case between my mother and father. My mother was a workaholic and she loved her job. She was the best in what she did and was steadily climbing up the ladder. She wasn't at her prime yet and she was only going to get better. That was the case until she found out she was pregnant with me. My dad was ecstatic, but my mom wasn't so much. My dad had to coax her into the idea of having a baby and eventually she agreed. Not all times were bad though, I do remember some good memories with my mother. When she got laid off from work when I was about six, that's when I would say that the relationship between my parents started to crumble. They would constantly fight about everything; money, the fact that my dad worked a lot, or the accusations that one was being unfaithful to the other. One night when my parents were fighting, my mother told my father why she was acting the way she's been recently. I was hiding in the livingroom closet, a place where I would always go to get away from reality. I would sit there for hours, dreaming about goals and things that I would want to do in my life. Anyway, my heart crumbled when I heard my mother blaming the birth of me for her being laid off or any one of her misfortunes. I was the person who ruined her life and she resented me for taking away her career. My father defended my honor and the next day, divorce papers were served."
Seth sat there speechless, processing all of the information that just been presented. That would explain why Summer's father was that close and protective of his daughter. Now, Seth fully understood where she was coming from. He doesn't want to push her into something that she felt she wasn't ready for. Summer didn't want what happened between her parents happen to them. Now he felt like an major ass for acting like the way he did for the past couple of days.
Looking at Summer, he can see the pain of reliving the memory but also the relief of telling someone. Seth cupped her face and kissed her deeply.
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So, what do you folks think?
Big thanks goes to kursk for your review from chapter 2. Although it's not what you exactly suggested, it's what you implied that got me to write the Seth and Sandy conversation in the beginning of this chapter. I originally didn't think of having Seth to talk to anyone about what was going on in his relationship, so thank you for that.
Remember, don't forget to review and give me your thoughts on this. Thanks again for taking the time to read and review this story. Seriously can't thank enough the people who already done so.