the last straw

fighting

Angie POV

This morning, at around 6:30, my brother called me to say that our mom was in the hospital. She had a heart attack.

This was a shock for me because she was always healthy, and definitely would have said something if she was sick.

I got up and started pacing in the bathroom connected to our bedroom.

Mike and Avery were still sleep, so i out on headphones while pacing, and tried to calm myself down.

So many questions. Would i need to take time off to be with her? How would the kids react? They were all very close with her.

I guess i woke Mike up, as after a few minutes, he joined me in the bathroom.

I explained what was going on, and we talked for a little bit. He made me feel a lot better about the situation.

Around 7, we went downstairs to get something to drink, and saw George already up with Ty. They were cooking.

"Good morning, Mister and Misses." George greeted as we walked in.

"Morning, George!" We both replied.

"Don't you think it's bit early to be up and about? Wouldn't you rather rest?" I ask George.

"No ma'am! I'm feeling great! Being in the kitchen is bery cathartic for me." He replied with a smile. I nod.

The boys start talking, but i'm completely zoned out. After a while. Ty says something that gets my attention.

"Yea, my calculus professor is out for a few weeks. He had a stroke or something. I don't know."

"Do they know if he's gonna be okay? Do they know what caused it? Does he have a subsitute? Is this gonna affect your grade?" I ramble on.

"Wow. You sound like Sierra." Ty says with a smile. "And i have no idea to any of those questions." I nod.

"Is something bothering you, Misses?" George ask.

"Well... My mom is in the hospital. Pretty stressed out about that." I reply.

"I am so sorry to hear that. Is there anything we can do to help?" He replies.

"I have no idea." I say, shrugging.

It was silent for a few minutes. The only sound was the coffee maker. George went over to fill up a cup for Mike and himself. Mike nods a silent thank you.

"...the other two won't take the news well." Ty says after a while.

"Why would they need to know? Mom will get better, and they'll just know to be careful around her." I snap back, coming off ruder than I intended. Ty just nods.

"Yea, I just thought they would know since secrets are bad, especially in this family." Ty mumbles.

"Huh!? What did you say!?" Mike ask angrily.

"I was just saying since everyone has secrets that build up, then everything goes to sh!t when they got revealed." Ty replies defensivley.

"Language Mr. Tylan!" George chimes in. Ty apologizes.

"Nothing has gone to that. All secrets are kept for a reason." Mike retorts. They were about to starting fighting.

Everyone in the house knows about their fights. They would scream for hours, and nobody could do anything about it, or they'd end up in the fight too.

I'm already in a bad mood, so i don't plan on saying anything unless something out of pocket is said.

They go back and forth for a few minutes before i walk out. George follows me out of the kitchen.

"Wooow. Y'all know im right about this whole secrets thing! Every time someone keeps a secret, Sierra had to schedule and extra therapy appointment, and Avery separates herself from everyone." Ty yells to us before we fully out of the kitchen.

"Ty. It's first thing in the morning, and my mom is in the hospital. I don't feel like arguing, or listening to y'all argue." I reply without looking back. George nods.

"Fine don't listen to me. I see how this will play out." Ty says.

"And how exactly will this play out?" Mike replies, standing up.

Ugh. They're about to find a new place to argue.

Ty follows suit and stands up too. They follow me and George up the stairs, and end up arguing in the middle of the hallway.

The way the hallway is set up, it's so there's a big walkway, and all the rooms are off to the side.  (If you have watched Jessie, the house is set up like the penthouse on the show).

After a few minutes, i come out to find George in the fight. Her doesn't join a side, so it's all of them fighting each other. They are fighting about my mom and if wd should tell Sierra and Avery.

"Hey! All of you, shut the f#ck up! It's first thing in the morning!" I say. It was harsh, but I really don't want to deal with this.

"Oh so you arent gonna tell her that cussing is wrong?" Ty jabs at George.

"No actually, i'm not! She's going through things with her mom." George replies.

"And i'm not!? She is my grandmother, after all!" Ty replies.

"Don't her her as an excuse to cuss, Mr. Tylan. You know she'd make you drink and eat soap. In fact, i should make you." George retorts.

"Ty! My name is Ty! You're my granddad, and you refer to me as a mister. It's too proper!"

"I've tried calling you all by your first names, and we agreed it sounded weird. And that's all you got out of what i said?"

Yep!"

"Are y'all done fighting now!?" I chime in.

"Nope!" Mike replies.

They start arguing again, but I decided to to join in this time. If they were arguing about my kids, and if we should tell them about my mom, I should have a say.

We fought for a while. I guess we woke up Avery, because she left our room and went to Sierra's room.

After a while, Sierra came out, and was most likely woken up by Mike's voice, since he was practically screaming.

She ran down my stairs, so i had to yell at her so she could hear me. I sounded a lot more angrier than i intened too, but oh well.

Around 10, we were still arguing, but nowhere close to a solution. Ty and I wanted to let the girls know, but Mike and George didn't. We a saw how they reacted to George being hospitalized, so they were scared that they'd react worst to this.

Their position is understandable, but that reaction seems inevitable. They will find out eventually, so it's better to have them react now instead of prolonging it. 

We knew that we wouldn't agree. Ty suggest flipping a coin. At first, that seemed ridiculous, but after a few more minutes of pointless arguing, it was the best solution we had.

Heads, they don't find out. Tails, we tell them.

"Hey siri, flip a coin." Ty says to his phone.

...

"Tails." Siri replies.

We have to tell them.

George and Mike take their defeat, and agree to be there when we break the news.

We agreed to tell them tonight at dinner.