A Deceiving Passion

Family

As Stevie and her dad walked into the house, all the kids gathered around quite happily with the boys, Jessica and Sofia were babbling to one another as they opened their gifts and Lori was supervising as Christopher helped the kids open their new toys. Meantime, Lance and Brandon were talking on and Barbara and Amarice were in the kitchen cooking.

Roman got up and he walked over to hug his mother. 

She wrapped her arms around him and she kissed his head, knowing he was feeling it harder than anybody.

Brandon was heartbroken, but he was better at shoving his feelings to the side that it hadn't really hit him yet---he'd grown up having to be the strong one and it seemed all the terrible ways he had found Samantha half dead in the past had prepared him for the moment he was going to lose his father. 

"Mommy, Santa and reindeers came!" Sofia expressed. "Look, look!" she brought the plate of partially eaten cookies and all the carrots that were expertly gnawed on by Lindsey.

She grinned, "That's so great, my love! Are you opening your new toys?"

"Yes. Look, I got a trycle!" she beamed, unsure of how to say tricycle properly.

She giggled. "That means you must have been a very good girl this year..." 

"Maybe to clear our heads, we can all head to the park today and take our new things to try out," Christopher mentioned to the kids.

"Yeah, that would be so fun! Please, daddy!" Jessica beamed. "I wanna try my new skates."

"Okay, after breakfast, we'll get washed up and go over there," he agreed. 

"Hey, pops?" Eli then walked over, handing the man a small box with a bow on it.

"What's up, kiddo?" he grinned, taking his picture with a camera as he walked towards him. 

"I got you a little something..." he grinned. 

"You shouldn't have," Lindsey smirked. 

"Think of it as an apology for everything this past year, pops... We've been through it..."

Sofia giggled, looking at Eli. 

"What's up, little one?" Eli chuckled.

"Why you call Lindsey pops?" she wondered. 

"Well... I don't really know," he smirked. "I have always called him that," he assured, not knowing when the nickname started. 

"It started when you were about one or two," Stevie mentioned, taking a seat on the floor next to them.

Lindsey took in his wife and to that day, he had no idea what it was that Jess ever said to her.

It was like they were transported back to October of 1982, when Robin died. All she needed were her parents, specifically her father when it came to dealing with grief.

"Amarice used to call Grandpa Morris, pop-pops. He wanted to be called papa since he wanted Jess to have the name grandpa and for a while Nana was Baba," she smirked at her mom. "And Grandma Ruth was always grandma, sometimes grammy."

"I didn't know that," Eli mentioned. 

"Yeah, and for the reason being that Morris was bigger or older, you thought he was pop-pops and I was just pops," Lindsey assured. "It's always reminded me of my dad, so I never corrected you," he patted his back. "I found it really sweet since he had passed soon after..."

"I like that story," the oldest boy replied. "I barely remember him..."

"I know and unfortunately, Lance nor Rhea got to meet him," he added.