A/N: Here's Chapter 9. Glad you all like my fic! I'm not sure how long Stan was actually in prison for so I'm just going to say that he was inside for a year and a half. This might be wrong though, so sorry! Enjoy!
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The Walker children had grown up a lot in the last eighteen months. They had grown accustomed to not having their father around all the time. They both got used to feeling slightly jealous of Elliot and Jack. They got used to the other kids' cruel teasing, although they got mocked less often now. Visiting a jail was now a regular occurrence for them. Luckily, for them, life was going to get better.
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Elliot had grown up a lot in the last eighteen months also. He got used to felling slightly guilty when talking about what he had done with his dad, knowing that Olivia and Mason couldn't really do anything with their dad. He had grown accustomed to defending and comforting Olivia and Mason after kids teased them, although this happened less often. Listening to his two best friends complain about how awful the prison was had become a regular occurrence for him.
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'Kids, Uncle Will coming over in about an hour.' Karen yelled up to her stepchildren. Karen had even grown used to being a single parent. She wasn't even their real mum.
'Okay.' Olivia shouted in reply. Will visiting was nothing out of the ordinary. At least, not since their dad went to jail. Their Uncle Will was their dad's lawyer, so he would stop by every week to let them know what was happening in regards to Stan's case. Every time Will visited, Olivia and Mason hoped that it would be the time that they would be told that Dad would be coming home. But it never was.
'Do you think Dad's getting home soon?' Mason asked, not really expecting a helpful answer.
'I'm not holding my breath.' Olivia sarcastically replied. 'Don't give me that look, you were thinking the same thing.' Olivia dismissed her brother's look of hurt.
'What do you think it will be like when Dad does eventually get home?' Mason innocently asked. Olivia didn't answer. Truth be told, she didn't know. She wondered if Karen would be angry with Stan. Olivia worried that they would start arguing again. One good thing about Stan being in prison was that Olivia and Mason didn't have to hear any shouting or arguing between their dad and Karen. That's if there was any. Olivia didn't know.
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An hour or so later, the doorbell rang. Olivia and Mason were still sitting upstairs. They both became slightly nervous when they heard Will enter. Olivia and Mason looked at each other before walking down the stairs to greet their visitor.
'Hey, Uncle Will!' Mason greeted on behalf of himself and Olivia.
'Hey kids. Why don't you sit down? I've got stuff I need to tell you. That includes you too, Karen.' Olivia and Mason hoped that hoped that they were all about to be given some good news. 'Well, good news is…' Will decided to create an artificial pause. After waiting for a few seconds Will said: 'Are you ready?'
Olivia couldn't wait any longer. 'Just get on with it already!' Olivia shouted in a very Karen-like manner.
'Oh my god, Karen. She's turning into you!' Will laughed, before getting evil looks from all three people sitting in front of him. 'Okay then, good news is your dad's coming home!' Will watched as the three people were left speechless before Mason broke the silence after a minute or two.
'Did I hear you right?'
'You did! Your dad's coming home in two weeks.'
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The next day, Olivia and Mason couldn't wait to tell Elliot the good news. Secretly, they were both glad that their dad was coming home for another reason. Elliot didn't know that they were jealous of him being able to spend lots of time with Jack. He didn't know that they felt upset whenever Elliot spoke of what a great time he had had with Jack at the weekend. Hopefully, now that their dad was coming home, all those bad feelings would go away.
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The two weeks before Stan returned home passed extremely slowly for Olivia and Mason due to how excited they were. When the day of Stan's return arrived, Olivia, Mason and Karen were all bags of nerves.
'What time does Dad get home?' Mason asked Karen, who was playing with her hair.
'6:30.'
'What time is it now?'
'3:30.'
'Another three hours. Great!' Mason said sarcastically.
'Karen, can you take us to Auntie Gracie's office for a little while instead of us sitting around doing nothing?' Olivia inquired.
'I suppose so. Go and get your coats.'
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When the three arrived at Grace's office, they were surprised to find Will, Jack and Elliot there as well.
'Hey, what are you three doing here?' Grace cheerily asked.
'We got bored waiting at home.' Karen answered.
'What you working on Auntie Gracie?' Olivia asked. She loved helping Grace work. Olivia was quite good at picking out fabrics.
'I'm designing a cabin. Would you like to help?' Grace knew she was asking an obvious question.
'Do you even have to ask!' Olivia joked.
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Half past five rolled around and Karen, Olivia and Mason had agreed to head back home so that they were home in plenty time for Stan arriving. When they arrived home, they were shocked to find Stan already there.
'Dad?' Olivia asked
'Come here you two, give me a hug!' Stan said while plastering a fake smile on his face. He was boiling mad that they hadn't been there for him arriving, but he wasn't going to let his kids know that. Olivia and Mason both ran to hug him. They were so happy. However, their happiness was short lived by Stan's comments to Karen.
'Where the hell have you been?' Stan angrily asked Karen.
'We were at Grace's office. You said you weren't going to be here until 6:30. It's only 5:45 just now.' Karen answered quietly. She didn't want to make the kids unhappy.
'You should have been here.' Stan coldly said. Olivia and Mason looked at each other. They knew what was coming next.
'Did you really expect us to sit around the house all day just because you were supposed to be coming home ant half past six?' Karen snapped back. Olivia and Mason slyly went upstairs into Olivia's bedroom before the real shouting began.
'My god, we've all only been home five minutes and they're already bickering!' Mason said out loud to himself.
'Well at least everything's back to normal.' Olivia unhappily joked. This was what she had been afraid of all along.
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Olivia and Mason were sitting in their own bedrooms listening to the fighting adults on the floor beneath. Both were wondering the same thing: How long before they get a divorce?
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A/N: There's chapter 9. Thanks to Panema for reviewing the last chapter. Enjoy!