Fourth of July

Chapter 25

I remember when lockdown drills just used to be us locking the door and turning off the lights. Now that there's so many mass murders and school shootings we have to barricade the doors (furniture is stacked all the way to the ceiling), arm all the students with anything they can use as a weapon (baseball bats, hockey sticks, chairs, textbooks) while ppl are running around screaming through the halls (being told to pretend it's a real shooting) while one man (usually a cop) is walking around with a speaker playing the sound of gunshots while trying to break into classrooms where we're hiding

~~

I got home from another show, my head hurting from crying so much this past week. I walked up the front walk and found Gee and Mr. Way sitting on the front porch. Gee squealed, jumping into my arms. I smiled, taking in a deep breath as I smelled his strawberry shampoo.

"Princess," I muttered.

I tried to set him down but he refused to let go. I held him on my hip as I looked at Donald when he stood up.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"We were waiting for you, it's almost midnight," he said.

"I know, I had a show," I said, opening the door.

It was so cold outside, little specks of snow drifted down from the sky. I sighed as I pried Gee off, wrapping him up in a blanket.

"You want some coffee?" I asked.

"No, I'm not staying long," Donald said.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

We sat on the couch and Gee sat on my lap, wrapped up in a blanket as he nuzzled against me.

"Gee is a lot harder to take care of than we thought," he said. "We don't think we can take care of him anymore."

"He's your son," I said. "You're just gonna toss him away when you realize he was different than you thought? You only had him for a week, he would need time to adjust."

"He wears princess dresses and plays with toys," Donald said.

"Yes and that is your son and you should love him for who he is," I said. "Who cares if your son is a little bit different? He was the one who was kidnapped because you weren't paying attention to him. He is like this because of you."

"He's just a lot more than we signed up for," Donald said.

He got up and walked to the door while I followed, Gee sitting on the couch happily.

"Your son is more than you signed up for?" I asked. "You don't even care about him."

"He's the one that always kicks us," Donald said.

"You are the fucking adult!" I shouted. "He is developmentally disabled, he is the one who needs you. He needs you to teach him things and care for him."

"Yeah, we didn't really sign up for a retarded adult," Donald said before walking out.

I gasped, wanting to chase him out before I just shook my head. I sat next to Gee, wrapping my arms around him.

"I missed you so much," I said.

"Daddy you weren'ts there and it was scawy," he said.

I kissed his cheek and smiled. I wrapped my arms around him, smiling happily.

"It's late, Baby," I said. "I think you should head to sleep."

I carried him upstairs and got him changed into pajamas. I tucked him into his princess bed, smiling when he pulled me to cuddle with him. The two of us quickly passed out together.