Part of the Plan (Book 2 in the 'part of' series)

Chapter 3 News and Tension

Chapter 3 News and Tension

Aiden and I walked downstairs slowly, we were prolonging the inevitable interactions we had to have with our father. Aiden didn't really know the entire story when it came to how dad reacted to mother getting ill. I've never really had the chance or the guts to tell him. He probably knew that dad was a workaholic, working all hours fo the day. I wasn't sure he knew about other aspects though.

"Hey dad." Aiden said as he took dad's coat away for him. I stayed silent behind my brother. We each had small smiles on our faces, it was the best option for now. I was still a little bit hyper from the pillow fight if I was honest. Dad seemed a little bit out of breath, he must have rushed home. It wasn't unusual, he wasn't the healthiest as he disregarded his health for work. He used to be a lot healthier.

"Ah, Aiden didn't realize you'd be here." Dad seemed to have a sort of bitterness in his tone, it made me narrow my eyes at him slightly. "I was at work all day." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. It was nothing out of the ordinary. I felt a little bit guilty for having such a negative opinion of my father, I was picking up every negative thing that he did. I couldn't help it, He used to be so much kinder, nicer and fatherly. I wanted that back and honestly cursed whatever had caused the negativity.

"Yeah, I must've come just after you left." Aiden said calmly. That made me furrow my eyebrows, I was still here when dad left. Maybe he came back and then left again? I wasn't too sure. "But the door was open?" The question made me raise an eyebrow in slight panic. The door definitely should not have been left open, I definitely locked the door once I left. "Were you expecting anyone?"

"Yes." dad said rather quickly as he crossed his arms and leant on the shoe box. It was news to me, I wasn't informed that we were expecting any visitors."Your mother's doctor was supposed to be stopping by...I think." He ran a hand down his face and looked towards Aiden with an exhausted expression. "I don't know how I get through the days." Aiden looked back to me with worry which matched my own expression. I shook my head and mouthed 'tomorrow' to him. It was starting to get alarming, the fact that the door has been unlocked the majority of the day.

We entered the living room and I stayed next to the door. I had work to do so I may as well get it done now. Dad and Aiden sat next to the television. I wasn't too interested in their conversation, even though I could hear it rather clearly. "-maybe you could get a job there." I looked up from ym work with alertness in my eyes. That was something which angered both me and Aiden. Honestly, we had been told this at least once a week since it was legal for us to get jobs. I had a simple job, it was just going door to door and asking for people to sign things. Along with that I did the odd babysitting or dog walking. Sometimes I did jobs and didn't even tell my dad.

I could tell that Aidenw as acting a little bit odd. I know that he hated the fact that habitats and trees were being destroyed, I wasn't much of a fan either. This behaviour of his was just a little bit odd for him. He leant back and crossed his arms over his chest. Usually he would've argued, he would've gone on a full on debate about the ethics of such actions. I saw the smile he sent my way, a feeble attempt to convince me everything was alright.

I often ignored when father talked about his job. I knew it was nothing more then what I did, except he got paid a certain percentage more. He would do odd jobs, like the one that he currently had was at a construction company, He also worked in an office before that , and a carpenter before that. He did anything he was qualified to do. That didn't give him a lot of options. Mother was the one who had the well-paid job. She used to be an orthodontist before she grew ill.

I raised my eyes as father pointed to the television, pointing out where the construction was going to be. I furrowed my eyebrows and turned to my brother. "Isn't that the forest you were staying in Aiden?" Aiden had told me about the wolves, and now the bears, which lived in that forest. I was certain that he would try his hardest to fight dad on this. It didn't work out too well last time.

Aiden didn't have any time to respond to my questions so we heard a very weak voice say "Good morning." My brother and I immediately stood up from where we were sitting and rushed to give our mother a hug. She chuckled at our eagerness. It was like a light had been turned on in the dark room."How was uh- how was the trip? And school?" Her brows were furrowed as she looked towards Aiden, no doubt wondering why he was home so early.

"It was fun and relaxing but I had to cut it short." Aiden said with a smile. I gave him a slightly knowing look. I would have scoffed if I didn't care about causing suspicion. I noticed that dad didn't move. He just looked over at us with a rather sad expression. I couldn't tell if it was regret or guilt but I knew that it wasn't a positive one.

"School was...school." I rolled my eyes slightly but I had a smile on my face. I was rather close with mam, I'd spend a lot of time with her in the evenings. We had ran out of things to do, so I started to tell her about my day. She's a little upset that she hasn't met Emi yet, I kept putting it off. Hopefully when mam is better Emi will be able to visit us. "Other than that, all's going well." There was something that happened that mam was concerned about. I tried to be reassuring and yet not tell anyone else what it was.

"Good to hear." She said happily. "Well...I hope that your happy days continue." It was a sad sentence. It made a lump come to my throat. It made it sound as though she wouldn't be there to see the rest of those happy days. She gave a cough, one which I'd heard hundreds of times. It still hurt me to hear it each time.

"How are you?" Aiden asked mam softly. It was something I didn't hear them talk about, it was something that I avoided talking about. If it wasn't with the doctor, I avoided the topic altogether. I'm in denial, I know that. Yet I would rather live in blissful ignorance then keep thinking about how serious my mother's illness is.

"I'm...same I suppose." She had fondness in her gaze as she looked around the room with a smile. "I don't think anything has changed." I shook my head slightly. I don't think anything has changed in a while, It was rather annoying. I would much rather things stay the same then turn negative.