Windows To The Heart

Disagree with them/Page 35

You look over to Maria for guidance, her face has gone pale with fear, this tells you everything you need to know.

"No," you say defiantly, "we can't get rid of Maria, she IS a part of this family, she's my sister, YOUR daughter, she's not some object that can be bought and sold when it's convenient."

Your mom glances over to your dad, "Son, if you love your 'sister'," your dad says in air quotations, "so much, then you can take her back to your apartment when you leave for the holidays."

You sigh, "You know my apartment isn't big enough for two people to share, and that's not what we're talking about, stop changing the subject, we're talking about you guys treating Maria like she's a real human being."

"Lucas, she's not a human," your dad states factually, "she's a catgirl, she was made in a test tube by scientists and engineers, any human she has in her is intertangled with cat DNA, she's no more a person than an intelligent chimpanzee."

You shake your head, "Were you always this much of a heartless bastard?"

"Lucas! That is no way to speak to your father!" your mom scorns.

"Well, what else am I supposed to call him!" you protest, "I mean it's like I don't even know you guys anymore... was it always like this?"

Silence returns, and in desperation, you look back over to Maria, your eyes meet, and she gently holds your hand, "They'll never change, Lucas, you can't convince them, so let's just leave, take me back to your apartment, that way, we'll never be separated again."

Seeing as you had no other choice, you accept, "Ok, you can come back with me when I leave."

Maria wraps her arms around you, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!"

Your mom looks at you disappointedly, "Are you sure about this honey?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," you state.

"Well," your dad says, "if that's your decision, then we'll respect it, caring for such a big creature isn't cheap though, son, so I hope you know what you're doing."

You laugh, "I really don't know what I'm doing, but I have to at least give it a shot," you look over at Maria, "for her..."

Soon, your parents say goodnight, and you and Maria are left alone in the living room.

"Took you long enough to start finally listening to me," she playfully jabs.

"Can you blame me, I mean who wants to think that their parents are so cold, I thought they would listen to reason," you say, exhausted.

You let out a tired laugh, "God, this was a mess, I feel like I could pass out right now."

Maria giggles and scoots closer to you, kissing you on the cheek, she says, "Get some sleep then, tiger, the next chapter of our lives is just beginning, so make sure you're nice and rested for tomorrow." 

Before you can even say a word, Maria stands up and walks off to her bedroom. You stay sitting on the couch in complete shock, your hand covering your cheek, "Yeah," you think, "I definitely don't know what I'm doing."