Ocean Eyes

Past & Future

"To hurt is as human as to breath."
-JK Rowling

Ryder had always loved the sound of rain on tin roofs. It had an echoey, calming appeal, a lull to a happier state of being. It reverberated through the small garage, combining softly with the quiet rock playing from a dusty old radio.

"Aw son of a bi- birch! Birch tree! Son of a birch tree!" Jacob winced, holding tightly onto his foot. A wrench had fallen onto his sneaker clad toes and he had edited his favorite cuss in a desperate bid to save the children's ears.

It hadn't worked.

Jackson and Violet stared at him in disapproval, wearing matching frowns. Neither was particularly partial to curses, but both were especially prickly when it came to lying.

"You were about to swear!" Violet accused, her eyes narrowed.

"No I wasn't!" Jacob took a step backwards, sending a pleading look towards Ryder. The girl just smirked, leaning back against the bonnet of her car and raised an eyebrow.

Something in her cars engine had blown out the day prior and Jacob had graciously offered to fix it. She had been pretty hesitant at first, seeing as last time she had let a little boy play around with her car, it had costed her $1200. But Jacob had insisted and he actually seemed to know what he was doing. They'd spent the last few hours in his garage, talking idly while the kids played with the forgotten tarp that lay in a corner.

"You're lying!" Jackson yelled, crossing his arms in indignation. "Birch trees don't have children!"

"Uh, yeah they do!" Jacob spluttered. "They definitively do!"

"Whatever, Jacob Liar Black!" Violet cried.

"Yeah, you're not fooling anyone!" With that, Jackson and Violet glared at Jacob and retreated back to their game. The older Quiluete boy turned back to Ryder, his eyebrows raised high and his mouth half open. He looked as if he'd just been hit over the head.

"What just happened?"

"You just got whacked by the dynamic duo." Ryder snorted, watching after her siblings with a fond grin. "That's what happened."

"Are they always like that?" Jacob shook his head with a startled grin, looking away from the kids and back at Mongos engine.

"Yup." Ryder winced slightly. "More so when ones father is dating their newly recovered mother."

"Right." Jacobs paused, standing up straighter and looking awkwardly at Ryder. "My dads a nice guy, really. I know your mom hasn't always had the best taste in guys but my dad is not a bad person."

"I know." Ryder smiled softly, nodding. Over the time her mother had been with Billy, Ryder had gotten to know him pretty well. Billy Black was a genuinely kind man, who truly wanted to make people happy and who loved his children more than anything. "You don't have to convince me, Jacob. Billy's an amazing guy and I think he's really good for my mom."

Jacob smiled, clearly relieved. His shoulders sagged, and he looked clearly overjoyed. "Really? Awesome! He's a good dad, always really supportive."

"Much better than my dad, that's for sure." Ryder smiled bitterly, playing with a a wayward set of pliers. Jacob looked up in surprise, never having heard Ryder talk about her father before. In fact, he'd never heard anyone talk about her father.