This is a piece in Seth's POV when his parents tell him they're going to become Ryan's legal guardians. I made up the community service thing, as I thought they needed another option, and I just hope I've captured Seth, that I've written him convincingly, 'cause it's more difficult than I anticipated. Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated, thank you.
Is that a knock at my door or did I just imagine it ? I rub the sleep from my eyes and flip over to the other side of my bed to see what ungodly hour of the morning it is. Ridonkulous, isn't it, Captain Oats, what could be more important than my beauty sleep ? Ugh, how can it be 11 am, I can't have been asleep that long. More knocking, sigh. Some people just don't know when to give up, do they ? Using my brilliant powers of deduction, I'll take a guess that it's Dad wanting a father-son chat about God-knows-what.
« Go away, I'm sleeping » I mumble in the direction of the exit of my sanctum. Dad used to say that to me when I'd bound up to his & Mom's bedroom in the early hours of the morning, when I was little, wanting to watch TV or be read to and they were tired. It actually worked for a while, apparently.
I hear a snort of laughter and a giggle from behind the door, followed by a more forceful knock. Damn, it's a DPA, or Double Parent Attack for those of you unfamiliar with my awesome acronyms and alliterations.
It's with a yawn and an ominous sense of doom that I declare that my parents are allowed to enter my room.
Dad greets me with a warm « Hey », so I'm guessing they haven't seen the coffee stain on the rug yet, that's something. Still, they both look serious, not 'someone's died' serious though, thank goodness. Dad's got his lawyer face on though, and that usually means the topic of conversation is going to be pretty serious. I need to rule out the 'someone's died' scenario first though, as I don't think I could cope with that first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, but, as my parents, they should know that…
Dad sits on the end of the bed, and gestures for me to join him, so I crawl out from under the covers and slide over beside him. His arm goes round my shoulder as Mom moves CDs and clothes off my desk chair, that she wheels over to face me before seating herself in it.
« Seth, do you remember how we said we were looking into what Ryan's options are now, in terms of accommodation ? », my father begins. God, accommodation, that's quite a word to start the morning with. I mention this to him and he and Mom both give me a look that unmistakably says « Be quiet and listen, Seth », so I comply. I nod, recalling the options being foster home (apparently totally sucky and craptastic), some kind of community service thing, basically just a polite name for an organisation that likes to keep nearly-criminals out of The Real World TM and then there was some legal foster/guardian thing that Dad thought would be awesome, but Mom was unconvinced. And by unconvinced I mean completely opposed to and impervious to Dad's Jedi mind games and persuasiveness, so it's really not going to be that, which really and truly sucks, something I may have mentioned a few times to her after I heard her reaction. No, I wasn't eavesdropping, they were arguing. Loudly. I think whatever life form there is on Mars was disturbed by it, to be honest.
I should probably listen to what Dad's saying, it's probably important. I tune back in, thankful neither of them has noticed my lapse in attention. Ah, I'm just in time for the important bit, the moment where Dad gently explains that Ryan's going back where he came from or to somewhere worse, but that we'll all stay in touch with him and he'll come and stay if he can, and that it's OK for me to be upset, that he's upset too and that he's the one to talk to if I need to. Hang on, he's saying something about Ryan staying permanently? Here? In the Pool House? Yup, that is indeed true, there are just some papers that need to be filled in and then Mom and Dad will be his legal guardians! My mouth falls open in shock at these words, I can't quite believe I've heard them correctly.
Mom smiles at the look on my face, Dad runs a hand through my tousled Jew-fro as a sign of affection, though I've told him a million times not to do that and I, for what must be the first time in history, am actually speechless! Dad grins at me and winks at Mom, and all of a sudden, I'm off again, needing answers to my questions : Just how did Dad win Mom over? Why wasn't she so amenable when I wanted a puppy when I was 7? Will he go to Harbor too? What about college? Does he get to change his surname to Cohen? Does he even know or are you going to surprise him ? It's just he doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who likes surprises, you know ?
I manage to thank them, once some of my questions have been answered. In a moment of sheer abandonment, I hug Dad and then Mom, something I haven't done in ages, not properly anyway. Mom touches my face and gives my hand a squeeze, while Dad explains Ryan doesn't yet know of their cunning plan and that I'm to keep it a secret until the forms have been signed and it's all been made official. I grin conspiratorily - Is that even a word ? Thesaurus is my friend, I shall have to check later. – and promise the secret's safe with me. We do the special handshake we invented as a sign of my oath, with Mom watching as an amused witness.
I remind them that they now have two male teenage bottomless pits, uh, I mean mouths to feed so they'd better get back to their work if they are to provide for all our wordly needs, which will, of course, include a copious amount of delicious Thai food to celebrate the decision they've come to. For some reason, I get a pillow thrown at me for that. I state that I was only pointing out an obvious fact which surely doesn't warrant such bedding-related cruelty. Dad tries not to laugh at my comment but fails and Mom just shakes her head and smiles at me, giving me one of her long perfected « I love you dearly, sweetie, but have no clue what you're talking about » looks.
I grin back and wave them out of my chamber. Once they are gone, I flop down on the bed and simply lie there, after punching the air with my fist several times, taking in the fact that I now have a brother. My parents really are awesome sometimes!