Untouchable face

46.

Sometimes, Carolyn wasn't quite sure what to think of her family. She loved them more than anything, but there was no doubt that all of her children had their own personalities and their own ideas. And when they were all together, it was almost like they were all children again, fighting over a toy or the last piece of chocolate. She had spent the last who knew how long expecting it to change. She figured one day her grown children would all gather and sit and talk like the civilized people she knew she raised them to be. But no matter how old they got, they always managed to regress the second they were together.

A part of her did like it, though she would never admit it. Her house had gotten much too quiet since they had all left home and she really did enjoy the grandchildren running around and her children yelling loudly to be heard. It made the house lively, and she imagined Michael would have loved it. And she was more than happy that she had raised them all to be strong enough to argue and fight for what they wanted. While Emily tended to be a little on the quieter side, she knew none of her children could be described as weak or timid. Which was why she wasn't yelling at them to quiet down as she checked on the lasagna. Brian had brought in the asparagus from the grill a few minutes earlier and Kathleen was talking loudly as she tossed the salad. It was loud, but no one was being hurt.

If she was really going to be honest, she really should admit that this was her favourite time of the week, the loudness of her entire family together. And today it was loud enough that she figured no one else noticed how quiet her only son was today. He was sitting at the kitchen table, his walker next to him as he stared at his empty juice glass. He had barely said a word since he had gotten here, except to the grandkids, and she was worried. Usually, Derek was right in the middle of the sibling loudness. She knew he had been through a lot recently, more than he deserved to go through but it wasn't like anything usually knocked her son down very far. And he was already doing so much better physically. She just wasn't sure how he was emotionally.

A week ago, Derek had been...a handful. He had been in a terrible mood and had snapped at anyone who tried to talk to him. He had just been so incredibly angry, and she had tried to be patient with him. But he didn't look angry today. He looked as if the world were sitting on his shoulders. She hated seeing him like this. She knew he was working hard to get back to normal. He hated sitting still, he always had and he had done far too much of that since his accident. But he was using a walker now, and was back to working, even if it was just office work. Things were improving and yet he looked miserable. She had a feeling she knew what was going on. Sophie had talked to her long ago about everything with Derek and his pretty doctor. And she knew her son; she knew he wouldn't know how to handle whatever feelings he had. Also, she imagined it didn't help that Maggie seemed to be hovering constantly.

She could hardly blame the girl. She couldn't imagine how hard this had been on her but she also knew that Derek hated anyone hovering over him when he couldn't do something. He'd push through the worst pain and discomfort if it meant he could do for himself.

"Derek?" Maggie murmured as she leaned down to her boyfriend. "You're out of juice."

"I'm not blind, Maggie," Derek groaned.

"I...I know," Maggie nodded. "I was just...do you want more?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. And I can get my own."

"I can get it for you," she reached to grab his glass.

"Maggie, I can do it!" he snapped.

"I...I know you can. I know. But you did a lot of work today and you were at the office..."

"And I'm fine."