Memorizing You

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Alice walked in her house with a smile on her face. But the smile faded when she saw her mother crying on the living room couch with Ted's arm around her shoulder.

"What happened?" she asked, Ted sighed.

"It turns out that you were right about your instinct on dad. He has autophobia." Ted said and looked at Ellen, "Elle just went out to buy some groceries, she told me to tell Edgar if he ever comes home. But I got some call ten minutes after she left, my friend told me that he's in town and wanted to meet me. Dad arrived while all of us were not here and got frantic."

Then the phone rang, Ellen dived to it and answered it quickly, "Hello? Yes, this is Mrs. Steele." she exhaled loudly, "Thank God he's okay. I'll pick him up. Thank you Sam." then she hung up.

"Well, where is he?" Alice asked.

"He's two blocks away from the station, Will is there with him now." Ellen said and grabbed the keys from the coffee table, "I'll pick him up."

"I'll go with you." Alice said and followed her mom to the car, Ted couldn't help but feel a bit jealous that they were working together to fix their problems. Because he knows that he could never get a whole family like Alice have.

"Aren't you coming?" Alice asked. Ted looked up and frowned, "Well, he's going to want to get all the reassurance that his family won't leave him. Come on!"

Ted stood up from the couch and followed them to Ellen's car, she frantically started the car and drove out of their driveway. Alice held on her arm.

"Mom, calm down. We'll get to Dad, okay? Will's already there to calm him down." Alice reassured him.

Of course Ellen knew that. But she couldn't help but feel anxious, this wasn't the first time that Edgar broke apart because he didn't found anyone at home. It's been going on before they got married.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath, she knew about his phobia and it kills her that it makes him feel alone. She looked at the rearview mirror and saw Ted looking at her, he gave her a smile.

If he only knew that it was his mother's fault that caused Edgar's phobia to grow. Now, Alice is also suffering because Edgar doesn't want her to leave town. He wants her to attend college at Watson Community College.

They arrived at the curb where Will was handing coffee to Edgar, his dirty blonde hair was dishevelled, a sign he ran his hands like a thousand times over it. His emerald eyes were glassy, like a mosaic. It was obvious that he was really scared when he realized no one was at home.

Ellen got out of the car and ran to her husband, hugging him tightly, "I'm here." she whispered and felt his arms wound around her.

"Don't leave me." he said and took a deep breath, a gesture to reassure himself that Ellen was real. The scent of vanilla infiltrated his nose, making him believe that Ellen was indeed real and with him now.

I'm not alone,

he told himself.

Ted was the last one to get out of the car, Alice was already hugging her parents, when Ted approached, Edgar smiled up to him.

"Son, aren't you going to give your old man some hug?" he joked, but Ted had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Nah, you got enough hugs to last a lifetime." he said, he knew there was something that Ellen was keeping. Something that involved his mother and his father, something that caused this phobia of his.

When Ellen pulled away, she cupped Edgar's cheeks, "I'm sorry I left, I was just going to buy some groceries. I forgot to leave you a note." she said, Edgar wiped his tears.

"It's fine, dear. I'm okay. Will found me." the cop nodded his head and gave the coffee to Alice, "Thanks, Will."

"No problem, Ed." then the tall cop left.

"Let's go home." Ellen said and ushered Edgar to the car, Alice looked at her parents and saw Ted staring at them to, Ellen looked back, "Aren't you guys coming?"

Alice shook her head, "Ted and I are going to have some sibling time." she said and saw Ted whip his head to her. When Ellen got in the car, Alice turned to Ted, "I can tell you about his phobia."

Ted nodded once and walked to the direction of the library where Alice would probably have lots of resources. Alice frowned and caught up with him.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Library. You'll want some books to explain it to me." he said with a nonchalant tone.

Alice shook her head, "Silly, that's not what I meant." this made Ted stop in his tracks, "I mean that I can tell you the reason why Dad has Autophobia." then she gestured to the bench.

Ted sat down and stared at his younger half-sister. She was only eighteen yet she knew a lot. A vast knowledge can be a weight on a person's shoulder but she didn't looked tired of being so smart.

"Mom and Dad met two years after he graduated. He was a cop on a local police station here in Watson. Mom was handling some cases when they saw each other at the court. It was funny because Dad was the one filing a case against Mom's client but Mom was a great lawyer, he wooed her and they got together.

"Mom found out that Dad got a woman pregnant when he was still in college, when she threatened to divorce Dad, he begged her not to leave him. He was really depressed when he found out that Mom wants to divorce him.

"I was four that time when Dad was grovelling at Mom, he looked really sad, crying and wailing like a child. Mom has a heart and didn't pushed through the divorce. She wanted Dad to talk to the woman but Dad thinks that Mom will just leave him.

"But Mom found your mother and they talked, I was eight that time. I followed Mom and heard her cry for the first time. She found out that Dad had a son. But what was worse that Mom found out why Dad so badly didn't want her to leave.

"It broke my Mom's heart that Dad didn't became a responsible father to your mother. That's why she wanted to divorce him. When your mother told Mom what happened, it's that your mother has a boyfriend when she and Dad hooked up at college. Dad wanted to court your mom but your mom left him.

"When your Mom found out that she was pregnant, Dad wanted to take responsibility but your Mom pushed him away. After my Mom met your Mom, my Mom finally understood why Dad didn't want someone he cares and loves to leave him. He doesn't want to repeat history." Alice took a deep breath and wiped a tear away from her cheek.

"How did you know all of this?" Ted asked.

Alice smiled and looked at her brother, "I'm a daughter of the investigator, Teddy. I have my own ways."

Ted raised an eyebrow and slung an arm around his sister, "Now that we know the whole story, what are we going to do?"

Alice scratched her chin, "Well, I was thinking of attending college here in Watson. How about you?"

"Hmm. Maybe I can settle down here." Ted said with the weight out of his chest, now that he knew the whole story, "Find a girl, get married, have a family."

"That doesn't sound like you." Alice teased.

"Or deal drugs." Ted joked and recieved a jab on the ribs.

The two Steeles laughed and realized a new connection build stronger between them. They knew they were much more than just half-siblings. They are the children of Edgar Steele and it simply means that they're siblings. Not halves.