Disaster Usually Follows

Chapter 8

Pic of Maddie's dad^^^ played by Liam Neeson

Maddie's POV:

I walked in the door with Johnny in tow when I immediately realized something was wrong.

There was a dark leather briefcase on the kitchen table. And that could only mean one thing.

Dad was home.

Taking a deep breath, I turned back to Johnny and put on a cheery expression.

"Hey, bud! Dad's back! But he must be really tired so why don't we leave him be for a bit? You can get your homework done and I'll make dinner." I said with false cheer.

Johnny's eyes lit up and he became energetic.

"Okay!" he said, racing away.

I sighed and started towards the kitchen. Just as I expected, dad was already at the kitchen island, a football game on and beer in hand.

"Hi." I deadpanned, standing in the doorway.

He didn't do more to acknowledge me other than a grunt. His black suit was wrinkled, somewhat framing his growing stomach. His face was worn and wrinkled, some gray hairs starting to peek through.

" Hi, Dad," I said again. Grunting, he muted the game and turned around.

"What?" he grumbled, not looking at me, but choosing a spot over my shoulder. Shoving down my irritation, I continued.

"Where were you?" I said, trying not to reveal that I cared in the least. It wasn't hard.

"Vegas." he muttered, glancing back at the TV.

I shook my head obviously not getting any other sort of communication from him.

"Whatever. Dinner's at six and I'm having a friend over around eight. Johnny's excited to see you for some reason and I don't know why because you clearly don't give a shit." I said before quickly leaving the room.

All I heard was a grunt.

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We were in the middle of dinner when the doorbell rang. Dinner had gone fairly well until then.

When Johnny came down to see dad, I was glad to see that he at least tried to string a couple words together.

I've never seen Johnny so happy.

Then I opened the door.

"Hello, my name is Kirsten Young. Is Ms. Madeline home?" a middle-aged woman in a pressed gray suit and sunglasses said, standing in the door. She looked to be in her 30s, a brown bob and eyes to matchmaking her look like a business woman.

"This is she," I said, skeptical.

"Wonderful. May I come in?" she said, in a tone that tells you not to argue with her.

"Sure," I said, widening the door.

As she walked past, she took out a card from her blazer pocket and handed it to me, then continued through the house like she had been there a thousand times.

"Who is it?" Dad yelled from the dining room, clearly irritated.

"A Ms. Young," I said, reading off the card.

And then I saw the description.

Kirsten Young

Social Services

Oh no. Dad was not going to be happy.

"I'm sorry," I said, trailing behind Kirsten.

"I think you have the wrong address," I said.

"I don't think so. I was called by a Mrs. Kathleen Knight?" Kirsten said, finally reaching the dining room, where dads' voice had come from.

"What does that b-woman want?" dad said, stopping himself when he noticed that Johnny was in the room.

"Mrs. Knight called me the other day, concerned that these children are not being properly cared for. Is this true?" Kirsten said, taking a seat at the last spot at the table.

If looks could kill, by my dads' face, I would already be six feet under.

Yep. This is going to be interesting. 

Did you guess it? Well, I know that it seems like "Wow it went from being self dependent to social services" but really, Mrs. Knight has always wanted to do something other than watch these kids grow up alone. This was the last straw because it was the longest her father had ever stayed away. I couldn't imagine staying alone for two weeks by myself. Then again, I'm not 18, I don't have a younger brother, and I don't have this situation. Thank you for getting this far and keep reading! ( I wont do this section for the next couple chapters because I don't want to take away from the actual story)  :)