Author's Note: Hi everyone! Sorry about the slightly long wait for this chapter. I've been trying to think of the best way to write how Eddie tries to go back, and it's been so frustrating that I skipped to Chapter 9 and 10. I'll try posting the next three chapters as soon as possible and hopefully finish the story before May ends since school season is about to start in my country.

Chapter 8

Eddie had such a crappy childhood that he never took the time to stare at what his house looked like from the outside. Back then, all he cared about was making sure his dad had no reason to beat him, and then ending up raped at the end of the day for no reason. Looking at the house after six years, he couldn't feel the dread he was expecting during the drive going to his father's house, but one look at it, and he knew he wouldn't enjoy coming back for it.

Across the street, the Dalton House brought better memories than his house did. As he stood just by the driveway gate, he remembered seeing Mara for the first time, balancing herself on their SUV just to reach her bike on the bike rack. He remembered the first conversation him and Mara had, laughing about her father after he practically tried to sell her to him. He remembered the first Saturday he had the guts to ask her out, and then the Saturday after that when they went to watch a movie and then went to Burger King afterwards to laugh at how bad the movie was. He remembered the week before he moved out of his father's house when class ended early and he snuck off with her to the hills to watch the sun go down, the whole time thinking in his head that if he could live over and over again, he wouldn't change the moments he spent with her.

But the Dalton house was now run-down, neglected by the Dalton's former landlord now that Mr. and Mrs. Dalton were in Washington, with the heat of California unbearable to Mr. Dalton's health. And he was there to make sure that he and Mara would continue this dream of his.

He opened the gate, making his way across the dry lawn, taking one last look at the Dalton house. He noticed that almost every house here was deserted, but tried clearing his head quickly for the task that was at hand. It was past ten in the evening, but knowing his dad, he'd probably still be awake. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

He had expected to see the cold, dumpy face of his father, so he was surprised to see that it wasn't him who opened the door. "Can I help you?" Said the girl.

"Umm, who are you?" Eddie asked. He looked back at the driveway to check if that was his father's car, which it was. "Is…is Edward Gluskin still living here?"

"Yes he does," She smiled invitingly. "I'm his caregiver." Eddie tried to hide his revulsion. She had extremely large breasts, blonde hair that sprouted black roots, a loud southern accent, and a tan that made her resemble a human Cheeto. Did dad hire a caregiver from Brazzers or something?

"Well, I'm his son," Eddie said curtly. "Can I speak to him?"

Eddie saw the recognition in her eyes. "Oh, you're Eddie?" She smiled even wider. "I've seen your pictures. Yes—come in, close the door behind you. I'm Pamela by the way—call me Pam. I'll go talk to Edward."

For a second, Eddie was about to frantically ask what pictures she meant, and then comforted himself that if she were a real caregiver, she'd have done something if she saw his father's "special" photos of him.

But as he entered, he saw that, despite him being practically disowned and his mother gone, the place did not look that different than the last time he was there. The photos of him and his parents still hung. He picked up one of the photos on the fireplace—it was him and his dad sitting on either side of his mother's bed during her birthday on the year Eddie left. He noticed that despite being younger than he was at the moment, the boy in the photo looked scared, and the creases on his face showed just how strained he was to make even a really small smile. He imagined having a photo like this with his own family—it would be a lot more genuinely happy than this. Christmas was six weeks away and he thought of having their first family photo—one with just the four of them and another one with the Daltons. He imagined himself, tall and heavy built, next to his slender, mid-height Mara, and if their friends' and family's predictions were right, would look adorable carrying brown-haired, light-blue-eyed babies.

"Ed says you've been gone for a long time," He turned to see her give a seductive smile. "You must be lonely after being gone for such a long time."

"Not really—didn't he tell you? I'm married." Eddie replied curtly. Pam's smile faltered a bit, but she smiled the same way Alice did when he tried to refuse her come-ons.

"Well then, I'll let you in on a little secret," She was practically kissing Eddie's ear. "I'm fucking your daddy. Do you mind?"

He could smell the alcohol on her breath, and the musk of something else he didn't want to guess. He shrugged. "Not really."

"Good." She smiled tightly. "So we're kinda doing things informal than what my company don't usually agree on—but he doesn't mind giving me a few things now and then so it's all good."

She lead him upstairs to his dad's bedroom, her hips swaying dramatically and her staggering a bit in high heels he didn't think a caregiver ought to be wearing. Eddie didn't really care to see his father, but he felt impolite to just dart into his room and get what he needed. Besides, his father knew he was here and didn't send him out. She pushed his bedroom door open, smiling, motioning him to enter.

"Eddie?" He heard his father's voice call out hoarsely. In the last three years since Eddie had moved out, he had had nightmares that he carried with him even until marriage, and it was only after Mara announced that he was going to be a father did Eddie stop having nightmares. Yet suddenly, three years of coping had dissolved into nothing as he froze on his spot.

You're a married man now Eddie, He frantically reminded himself. You have a wife and two sons—you have no reason to be afraid. He walked inside.

It was like he had been brought back to 2003, only the roles were switched. His father clung onto his bed like it could float into heaven (or hell, Eddie thought bitterly), and the bed that was always there was now replaced by a bigger one that could recline. He looked as though his muscle turned into fat, and looked like a dying toad.

"Ahh, Eddie," He smiled menacingly, coughing. Unlike Eddie's mother, he could still talk and shift his legs around the bed. "Come to see me after all these years?"

"I'm…just here to get something I left." Eddie had thought of lying, but decided against it, replying coldly. He realized he didn't care at all about his father. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Age and whiskey, boy. Age and whiskey." Mr. Gluskin wheezed. His lips curled into a smile as Pam approached him to hand him his medicine. He placed a greasy hand on her leg, creeping higher until it was up her skirt. She smiled innocently, leaning over to give him a great view of up her blouse. "And this hot piece of ass over here."

"Right," Eddie said quickly. "So I'll just get to my room and—"

"Woah there, Eddie." Mr. Gluskin wheezed. "You didn't get a chance to talk about my daughter-in-law…or my grandchildren."

Eddie stared. "How did you—?"

"When your in-laws live right next door," Mr. Gluskin said bitterly. "you might learn a thing or two about the son who walked out on you."

Eddie stared at him, unremorseful. "Is that all?"

"Not really," Mr. Gluskin smiled menacingly. "You-you put my no-good brother in jail. I'm almost dying—and mind you, I'm leaving the house to this broad—I'd like you to have a little…token…before you leave. It will always be my greatest memory of you. Pam?"

Pam stood up straight, smiling down on him. "Be a peach and open the safe. The password's 3001. Get the stack on the left."

Pam did as she was told and skipped to the safe inside Mr. Gluskin's desk cabinet. Eddie and Mr. Gluskin were locked in a fierce stare that it was only when Pam gasped did Eddie look at her.

"Now give it to my…son, babe." Mr. Gluskin said, leering. Pam flicked through the photographs with a poker face, handing it to Eddie with a lazy hand before joining Mr. Gluskin as he pulled and began to grope her on the bed.

"And this, boy," Mr. Gluskin said as he slipped a hand under his "care giver's" blouse. "is what you call dominance over your woman. If what you do won't be a bad thing to her and she doesn't feel compelled to run away—you know you've won her over. Now…when do I meet the grandkid?"

Eddie was filled with dread. The first photo was of his room, a lump under the blanket on his bed. The photos got closer and more gruesome. His father's hand was on his son's penis, while his uncle was holding down the boy. And then he couldn't see his face, but the photographer's penis was next to a little boy's anus, ready to be rammed. The pictures turned more violent and gruesome, Eddie's boyhood face a mixture of fear and pain and betrayal.

And that was just the first set of photos.

"Why?" Eddie said bitterly after flipping through the photos. "Planning on making another volume like this?"

"Maybe," Mr. Gluskin grinned, and then turned into a deadly snarl. "Now get what you want and then get the fuck out of my house."

Eddie fled the room, rushing to his room and slamming the door behind him. It was 2003 all over again. The boxes were still in the place he left them.

He placed the photos on top of his drawers, opening the first box. In it were a bunch of old text books and photocopies of chapters in his college days. In a hurry to leave three years ago, he had even packed torn notebook papers. He dug underneath them, but stopped, reading a part of the crumpled papers and realizing what they were.

He unwrapped the first one, remembering how he made this letter. During an extremely boring lesson, he had thought of asking Mara out for the first time by sending her a letter. The first letter was only one line, violently crossed out by his frustrated attempt to not sound like a creeper.

Dear Mara,

I've been watching you throughout my window for a while now

The next letter had been too suggestive.

Mara,

I think I feel something between us, do you?

And on his third try, he had decided to pour his heart out…until he realized that the professor was calling his attention.

Dearest Mara,

I know you might think this is weird, but I like talking to you on the Saturdays I see you. I think you're really pretty and…

He folded the papers, tucking it in his pocket, saving it for later. When he realized that it was filled with nothing but college material, he opened the next box. He heard the door open and close, turning to see Pam leaning on the door, smiling at him like a drunken prostitute. He ignored her, and continued to dig until he felt the familiar feeling he desperately tried to find. And then he found it. Pulling it out, he found the golden Rolex from his maternal great-grandfather. It wasn't a rare watch, but he knew it was genuine and could be pawned for enough money.

"Pretty," Pam whistled. "Although I don't think you'd risk your neck for a bit of gold—not with the career you've got that those neighbors told Ed."

Eddie looked at her. "I need it for something else."

"If you say so," She replied, taking one last flip at the photos with a questionable expression.

Eddie looked at her curiously. Partly because she was drunk and probably didn't know she was blocking the door, another because he now knew someone knew what his father was doing.

"Well?" He asked hopefully. She only raised an eyebrow, looking confused as to why he was still there. "What do you think?"

"How old were you in these photos?" She asked quietly.

"Nine," And for the first time, Pam looked more sober than when she opened the door. Eddie hoped he would at least comfort him, tell him that the company would hear about this.

Instead, she tossed the photos onto the bed, yawning.

"What the hell?" He asked angrily.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked, annoyed.

"How about call the cops?" Eddie said hotly. "You do realize your boyfriend—my father—is a rapist and a pedophile. How does that not mean anything?"

"I really couldn't give a flying fuck whether or not he forced himself on you as a boy," She sneered, leaning on him, placing her hands on his chest. He could smell the alcohol and the scent of his father's on her mouth. "Let alone giving a fuck for whether or not you wanted it. Do you really think I'd tell on him? And ruin what I've got goin' on here? Doll, I make moot with the salary I have. Without Ed, I live in a shoebox with two bitches I can't stand. Your daddy gives me a good life. I get this house, your momma's jewels, and everything once he dies—and all I gotta do is bounce on him a couple of times like a little boy at night, screaming 'Daddy' a bunch of times, and suddenly I make a year's worth of—"

Eddie couldn't remember what happened next. He remembered a painful blow on his right hand, but after that, he found Pam on the floor of his room, cradling a wound on her head as the blood blended with her dyed hair. He looked at the watch—it had a crack and it was smeared in blood, but it was still intact.

Did I just hit her? Eddie thought. He looked at her bewildered face, showing fear and rage at the same time. At that point, he realized that he didn't care. If she didn't give a damn about the fact that her boyfriend once raped his son, he shouldn't care about her possibly damaged skull—he cared about Mara, and holding the watch was enough reason for him to be gone. Whores like this one here shame the entire female species. He nodded curtly, heading out the door. "Learn your place, you ungrateful slut." He called as he reached the living room and out the door.

As soon as he exited the house, his phone began to ring. Twiddling the watch around his hand, he checked the caller ID to find Mara's name on the screen.

"Mara, my love?" Eddie said giddily. "How are you?"

"Eddie? It's Alice." He nearly dropped the phone in surprise. Alice sounded urgent and worried. "My phone's in my office."

"Where are you?" He asked, gripping the watch tightly, rubbing away some of the blood on it to no avail. He started walking to the gate. "Where's Mara? Is she okay?"

"Mara's going into labor," Alice said sharply. From the phone, he could hear her yelling at some nurses, ordering them to get Mara prepared. He heard her complain why she didn't get the nurses who she was used to before she talked to him. "Eddie, you might wanna get your ass here right now—remember what I told you about the odds of a regular birth a—what the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Eddie didn't feel sure about the nurses with his wife, and sprinted towards his car. He threw the watch to the other seat and slid the key into the ignition. Out of panic, Eddie kept turning up the engine too short and had to calm down for a second before he got a firm grip on the key. "What's going on? Talk to me Alice!"

He heard her barking more instructions before the sound a door slam shut and the background noise became quiet. "They've sent new nurses to take on this birth," Alice said, obviously irritated. "I could do this with Santos and Kipper—or you, for that matter, but it's your day-off so they didn't think about sending you to me—but with something as delicate as your wife's case…Christ."

"Get her on the operating table, Alice," Eddie pleaded as he sped off. "I can get her the C-Section now. I'll be there in about twenty minutes—if I'm not there and you have to do it, just do it already."

"W-what?" Alice asked incredulously. "Eddie—it's too late for a C-Section."

"Why the fuck not?" He yelled, losing his temper.

"I've been trying to call you for the last twenty minutes—you weren't responding, I had no authority, and Mara couldn't change the employee benefits because she was just your spouse, so I couldn't make the decision in time. I'm sorry."

Eddie was unsure of what to say. She's suffering without me. "Alice…what can I do now?"

"You? Nothing." She said flatly. "But Mara? I'm giving her an epidural. The pain won't kill her, but if she can't hold her breath, she might suffocate. There's also other chances, but they're all equally risky."

In other words, Mara can die today. "What are…um…Is it possible for Mara or…the twins to…"

"Not make it?" Alice suggested. "Honestly—yes. Mara can die from any problem at this point—and her data proves the chances to be higher than I'd like it to be—but the ultrasounds prove that your twins are healthy, and…well, if Mara won't make it…the twins could…but they're in just as much danger as their mother is."

He heard a scream from the background. "Is the door closed?"

Alice's voice was quiet. "Yes. Oh God, Eddie, I'm gonna go help Mara. Get over here—now."

Alice hung up. He looked at the watch on his side. It still had traces of Pam's blood and was staining the white seat cover. He went back to the past he hated just to retrieve it and met an unremorseful father and a whore whose job was to care for others yet didn't care that the man who she worked for openly raped his own son. He would probably face charges and spend some jail time if Pam or his father reported him, and he knew he would try blackmailing Pam into keeping quiet.

He had risked all that—and was too late.