I have written a series of 500 word or so drabbles, based on conversations that occur in the Cohen household on the day Ryan is due to leave on the boat, during The Perfect Storm . This is the first one, Sandy/ Kirsten. Thanks to Loracj for betaing.
He's not a man, he's only a boy
"Sandy, he's packing!" Kirsten marched into Sandy's study accusingly. Sandy put down his pen and looked up at his wife.
"I had hoped he'd have come to his senses by now…."
"You know, this mind meld thing isn't going to work!" Kirsten stood in front of his desk, her hands on her hips, her lips tightened with frustration. "You need to talk to him…"
Sandy smoothed back his hair away from his forehead.
"Look, if he doesn't make the decision to stay on his own and we force him, we'll just end up alienating him. Is that what you want?"
"I want him here, where he belongs. He's been abandoned by one family, we're not going to do that to him again. "
"We're not abandoning him."
"If we let him go, we are."
"Even if he doesn't go now, he has the right to leave when he's eighteen, with or without our permission."
"He's not eighteen for another six months. He's a boy, in the eyes of the law at any rate. And in my eyes. He should be at home with a family who loves him."
"It's not like he won't be back. He'll have time off, we'll still see him."
"It's not the same thing and you know it. When we became his guardians, we made a commitment to him. A commitment to take care of him. Not just let him do what he wants regardless of the consequences."
not just let him do what he wants
"Taking care of him doesn't mean making him stay here against his will."
"He's seventeen Sandy! He's not old enough to make the sort of decision you're letting him make. And don't throw that "I left home at seventeen," crap at me again. This is different. You graduated from school, went to college. You didn't throw your future away."
"Like I said yesterday, graduating, college, that's a course we set for him. If he doesn't want to see the benefits of it, we can't force him."
"He's given up, Sandy! Can't you see that? He can see the benefits, he's not stupid, he just thinks they're out of his reach." She fixed her eyes on her husband before she ended with a final stinging remark. "You wouldn't let Seth give up. You wouldinsist he stay and finish school. Because that's what parents do. "
Sandy flushed with anger. "Don't tell me I'm treating Ryan differently because he's not our kid."
"Well, aren't you?"
Sandy bit his lip. "They're different, Seth and Ryan. You know that. What works for one kid doesn't necessarily work for another."
"I know that, Sandy but Ryan needs to know we aren't prepared to let him go."
"Why? So he can resent us and never come back?"
Kirsten swallowed. "That's it, isn't it. You're scared he'll leave and never come back if we force him."That's it, isn't it? You're scared he'll leave and never come back if we force him to stay.
Sandy refused to meet her eyes. Kirsten sighed. When she spoke again, her voice was grave.
"Sandy please, think about this. Ryan may hate us for it, I get that. But deep down, he'll know we're doing it for his own good. If we let him go now, we're no better than his mother."
tbc