Hidden Burdens (working title)

A Crack in the Wall

Ben tossed and turned that night, causing Kayla to shake him awake, making sure he was okay. It took a bit, but he told her about the talk he had with Claudia. It wasn't like they never told a kid they loved them. Mary and Miguel heard it all the time. It was easy with most of them, at least for Ben anyway. It was usually the hardest the first time because he never knew how the kid would react. 

But seeing Claudia flee upon hearing him say it, caused some anxious thoughts to race through his mind. Ben tried to pray when his mind got like this. It never seemed to help. His mind would still be filled with anxious thoughts no matter how many times he gave them to God. Throughout the Bible it said not to be anxious yet Ben was.

Kayla reassured everything would be fine, including him. “Claudia hasn't heard that from a parental figure since she was little,” she explained. “It's probably overwhelming for her as well, especially from a father figure.”

Ben sat there, rubbing his face in his hand.

Kayla offered to pray, leaving everything in God's hands. When she finished Ben did not feel any better. She reminded him all he needed was faith the size of a mustard seed. "You have that, right?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Ben swallowed before he mustered an "Of course."

Since it was four in the morning by then, Ben decided to get up early. He asked Kayla if he could use one of her bath bombs and relaxed in their tub while she got another hour of sleep. Though, now that Kayla was awake, she too got up for the day and made breakfast. To let Ben try and get some rest, Kayla also took the kids to school on her way to work.

Despite being out of the way, Kayla dropped Claudia off last so they could chat before school. Claudia brushed her off like it wasn’t a big deal. Apparently, it was more of a big deal than she was letting on because the truck door was slammed shut when she climbed in that afternoon. 

Ben was still anxious from the night before, but still gently probed it out of her until Claudia finally snapped she had broken up with Jake.

“Satisfied?” she asked, bitterly while staring out her window.

“We weren't intending on you to break up,” he tried to offer, sincerely.

Claudia slouched in the front seat, with her arms lightly folded. “Well, we did.”

“Can I ask why?” Ben asked, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

She shrugged it off. “You wouldn't have liked him anyway.” 

“The only way I wouldn't have liked the guy is if he was a piece of crap and treated you as such.” Since Ben stopped at a red light, he looked over to ask, “was he?”

Claudia shook her head.

The light turned green, prompting Ben to lightly press on the gas. "As long as he is cooperative and willing to accept the few rules we have, he's cool in my book."

There was a moment where no one said anything. The radio wasn't even on.

After a few minutes, Claudia was the one to break the silence. “Jake doesn't go to school. He dropped out his junior year.”

“So did my dad,” he said with a slight shrug. "Doesn't make him less of a man."

Claudia didn't respond to that. At least not right away. “He's nineteen.”

Ben's eyebrows rose. “So, in other words, you were jailbait.” 

“Only if we sleep together,” she replied, with some sarcasm.