Distorting Destiny

Cause for Concern

After that singular day, their dad never missed another kiss before they went to sleep. Perhaps their mother had told him how she thought they were distressed by his absence. Big words, yet their mental vocabulary was leagues bigger than the one for their family's native language. It was difficult to define words without enough context clues.

Rarely used words were the hardest to learn and translate. One of these rare words was used sometime the same month or week. They had heard it before, they were certain, but they had trouble matching it with their mental language.

This day in particular was one where their mother was dressed differently. The beige outfit with that green bandana around her neck. Lloyd knew this meant that she was leaving their home. Every once in a while their mother did this, and every time it made their dad somewhat upset.

His irises were completely red as they bickered. The glowing was minimal though, which was a good thing. "Why do you always have to go on these-" That was where a rare word showed up, too confusing or complex to define without context. She had a suitcase packed and ready, so it had to be related to a trip. Their mother had never brought it into their room before, so they never had this piece of context until now. Despite their best efforts, telling time was very hard when they were so little, so sometimes it felt like forever since their mother left for these trips, even when it could have easily been only a day or so.

The perfect solution to this issue came up in their presence this time. They were very glad they pieced together the words for day, week, month, and year. "I'll only be gone a month." Their mother said in exasperation, yet the words only seemed to gain a negative reaction from their father.

"And what if you're gone longer? Lloyd's birthday is in less than two months." He practically growled out his response, and Lloyd was extremely glad for the ability to know up to four numbers in their family's language. They had recognized the word birthday from the tune sung for their first, and it was a miracle that they pieced it together that it wasn't the word happy instead. They now knew they were extremely close to being two. "It'd be cutting it close, Misako. He's our son!"

Their mother however seemed to get particularly annoyed at this retort from their dad. "I know that! But this is an important—!" She had used a word that she rarely used around them, so they weren't certain the meaning of this at all- even with context. "I have a-" This is why they usually tuned out these fights, they couldn't figure out what their parents were arguing about most of the time. "-and this is it! I'm not staying cooped up here, Garmadon." The word finally clicked when she made eye contact with their dad and poked his chest aggressively. It was a name, their father's.

It was odd, but this let them know that Misako was a name as well. As they had the realization that their parents had names, the bickering had quieted down. They had zoned out into their thoughts. When their attention on the argument had been regained they noticed how the two were both looking at them. The much calmer adults now resumed the conversation in a civilized manner. The cause of the newly found peace in their room was unknown to them, though it was more than welcome.

Lloyd's mother soon put her hand on their head. "Garmadon, I will be back for his birthday." She assured him. "I'll even bring something back for my favorite boys." They felt content as their mother placed a kiss on their head.

She followed this up by giving both a hug and kiss to their father. The glowing of his eyes had gone down significantly and he even hugged her back. "Alright." He backed down from the argument with a word, yet the hug lasted longer than their mother intended it to, as she now gained tension. "Be safe, and do your best to get back in time." They watched from their crib as their father held her like a lifeline. "I love you, Misako."

The tension fell away for their mother at the warmth that had come from the voice of their father. She gave him an extra kiss and managed to break the hug. "I will. I love you too, Garmadon." Her hand rested on the handle of the suitcase as she gave a smile to them. "And of course, I love you Lloyd." The smile was genuine enough for them, despite the gnawing feeling there was something wrong.

In their recollection of their favorite sentence, they said it back to their mom. "Love you, Mama!" Lloyd had squeaked out with little difficulty.

The way they saw their mother's eyes look close to watering made them worried. The trip wasn't a bad thing, and they were certain they said the words right. Their mother even said she would bring back something for them, much like a birthday gift or souvenir.

The sorrow expressed in her eyes was misplaced to them, as their mother would always come back. This was nothing to be so sad about. She'd return in however long a month was, four weeks according to their mind, and they'd be together for a birthday celebration. So they tried to dismiss the sight of their mother keeping in her tears. She clutched the handle of her suitcase tightly and rolled it out of their room, even as their dad's eyes bore into her as one last plea for her to stay.

Lloyd couldn't be left alone for some reason, so their father had to remain in their room. They had to watch as he tried his hardest not to have a breakdown right then and there. This couldn't be normal, and it did concern them greatly.

Other times their mother had gone out he was much less demanding about it. The arguments had seemed louder the last few times. They didn't quite know how relationships worked, though emotions were starting to be easier to pick out. Lately their father seemed more desperate, to be around both them and their mother. His voice and its tone both expressed this along with the way he clung to their mother for each goodbye.

So when their father seemed to have to restrain himself in this moment, it just added onto the growing list of things that made them worried about their father. If they could pick this up from the last while, they wondered why their mother didn't. Or if she did notice why hadn't she addressed it yet? In their almost-two-year-old opinion that was not a good response. Their father was getting worse. Even though they weren't sure what was going on completely, they should be doing their best to help him.