Have Faith in Me (Ianthony)

Chapter 5: This is Madness!

Anthony reluctantly opened the door, guiding two of his good friends into the house. 

“It’s cool,” he replied, “but I thought you guys were coming Saturday.” 

Sohinki shrugged. “We were bored so we switched to an earlier flight. We never get bored with you guys.” 

Anthony laughed. “That’s good to know.” 

Just then, Ian walked into the room, toting Audrina. “Anthony, you ought to see what Audrey just did. She-” he stopped when he saw Mari and Sohinki standing in their living room. “H-hey guys,” he stammered. 

Mari and Matt shared a glance and then both looked at Anthony before going back full circle to Ian and Audrina. 

“Who’s this, Ian?” Mari asked, narrowing her eyes at him. 

“It’s-” Ian started, but was interjected by Anthony.

“It’s a long story,” Anthony yelped, “you really don’t wanna know.” 

Matt smirked. “I think we do. Is this you guys’ love child?” 

Anthony scowled at him, but Ian glowed and began to giggle. 

“Hell no,” Anthony snapped, “we’re just watching her for a while. Her mom’s-”

“Anthony, don’t lie to friends,” Ian interjected, giddily. 

Anthony sent a glare Ian’s way as Mari and Sohinki stifled giggles. “Fine. You tell them, Ian. If you’re so damn against lying all of a sudden.” He flopped down on the sofa, grabbing his Wii remote. Within seconds, he was playing Twilight Princess again. 

“Well?” Sohinki asked, glancing from Anthony to Ian quickly. 

Ian nodded. “Guys, this is Audrina. She’s…well, Anthony’s right, we are taking care of her right now. Her bitch-ass mom left her here alone with us because…,” he trailed off, looking nervously at Anthony.

Anthony stared directly at the television, obviously ignoring Ian. 

Ian sighed. “She might be either my or Anthony’s kid.” 

Mari’s jaw dropped; Matt’s eyes widened. 

“You…she is?” Mari asked, biting her lip.

Ian shrugged. “Maybe. We’re not sure.” 

“You’re not sure?” Sohinki asked, “what does that mean?” 

“Well…,” Ian sighed, “the night Audrina was, you know, conceived, Anthony and I were really drunk and her mom was here and we don’t know exactly what happened.”

Ian was sure that Anthony would appreciate the fact that he purposely left out the portion of the story in which he and Anthony had participated in a threesome.

Mari nodded. “Well…all right then! I guess that makes me an aunt!” Ian raised an eyebrow as Mari pranced over to him and lifted Audrina out of her arms. 

“Hi Audrina!” she exclaimed. “I’m your Aunt Mari and you know what? You’re really pretty. I know it’s gonna be weird having these goobers as your dads so whenever you need something, you can just call me. Don’t worry.” 

Over on the couch, Anthony was rolling his eyes. He couldn’t believe that Ian and now Mari, were so obsessed with the idea of being chummy with this kid. They didn’t even know her and already behaved as if she were a princess. Hopefully, Sohinki wouldn’t react the same way. 

“Is there a reason why she hasn’t smiled?” Mari asked, biting her lip. 

It was true. While she had watched Mari with complete interest and attentiveness, her tiny mouth stayed in a line and her eyes stayed dull. 

“Probably because you’re boring her,” Sohinki stated, walking up to them. He placed his fingertips on Audrina’s stomach and began to tickle her. “Coochie coochie coo!” he chuckled at his own actions. 

Audrina only watched him before looking up at Mari.

“Huh…,” Sohinki said, looking up at Ian, “Something wrong with her?” 

Ian shrugged. ‘We don’t know. We haven’t seen her smile since she got here. Not even Pokémon made her laugh. And it was the Jigglypuff episode!” 

Mari suddenly got quiet, handing Audrina back to Ian. 

Matt frowned, looking over at her with concern. “Something wrong, babe?” he asked. 

Mari sighed, sitting down on the other sofa. “It’s…well, it’s probably nothing, but-”

“But what?” Ian asked, plopping down beside Anthony. 

Sohinki sat down beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders. She smiled gratefully at him. 

Even Anthony paused his game to look at Mari. 

“It’s…I’ve read a few articles about certain types of kids and Audrina’s showing the biggest symptom. And it’s really early, so it’s probably nothing, but-”

“What is it, Mari?” Anthony snapped, growing impatient with her cryptic language. 

“She’s showing the biggest sign of neglect at an early age. Not smiling. But you guys have got to realize that this is really severe neglect because neglected kids are usually overly friendly.” 

Ian swallowed hard. “So…what are you saying?” 

“Audrina may never smile. Even worse, she may not grow mentally. Neglected children often die from lack of physical touch,” Mari replied grimly. 

Ian glanced over at Anthony, whose eyes were surprisingly sad. He gave Audrina a good squeeze as Mari continued.

“But she is still young, so she may recover…that is, if she has been neglected. Do you guys know much about her birth mother?” she asked. 

“No,” Ian replied, “but I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised if she did neglect Audrey.”

Mari nodded. “She just needs a lot of love, guys. If she gets that, she’ll probably be okay. And not a lot of negativity.” 

As Mari said this, Ian glanced over at Anthony.

Anthony sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I know. You don’t have to make me feel like a dick, Ian. I’ll try to be a better father figure or whatever.” As if to prove his point, he reached over and took Audrina from his arms and placed her in his own. 

She didn’t smile at him, but he did at her. “I’m sorry I haven’t been the nicest lately, Audrey. I promise I’ll be a good person from here on out. I’ll let you get away with more than Ian will.”

Ian smiled to himself, beyond happy that his suspicions about Anthony were correct. Now, he could hope that he, Anthony, and Audrina could be a family and not feel guilty about it. Maybe they couldn’t be the traditional family and maybe Anthony couldn’t love him, but there was Audrina, who would be their daughter. And they’d always have that closeness. This meant a lot to Ian. 

“I’m starving,” Sohinki exclaimed, breaking the silence. 

Mari, Ian, and Anthony fell into a comfortable laughter, easing the obvious tension in the room.

“Well then, let’s go to Chipotle!” Anthony said, jumping to his feet. 

Ian and Mari followed suit.

“Let me just get Audrina’s stroller and we’ll be all set,” Ian stated, darting to the closet. 

After Ian had successfully gotten Audrina’s stroller, the five of them strolled out to downtown Sacramento. 

Long time no see, huh? Sorry, school’s been a bit hectic and it still is. Anywho, thanks for the feedback. It is much obliged! Next time, Ian and Anthony get another surprise visitor and Anthony does something he might regret in the future…Or will he? :P