South-Side Renascent || c.g.

"No Thanks" Giving

Carl

Flashback

"Come outside, Cailee!" I yelled as I held open my front door. Cailee appeared in the door frame, already dressed for the cold November weather.

"What do you want? I was watching TV," she said annoyed. I pulled the gun I'd just acquired from under my coat. Her eyes went wide, "Where did you get that?!"

I pulled her outside and shut the door. "Stole it from a drive-by. C'mon, let's go shoot something!" Cailee rolled her eyes like she usually did when I'd hatched a new plan.

We both perched up near the back stairs and waited on something, anything, to come by. I caught Cailee staring at me every once and a while.

"What're you lookin' at?" I finally asked. She turned away immediately and her cheeks turned a dark shade of red.

"Hey, look!" she yelled, pointing toward what looked like...

"A duck!" I aimed at the bird that had landed on our pool and pulled the trigger. "I shot a duck!" Cailee and I ran over to the dead bird. Wait...

"That's no duck," Conrad, the homeless guy said, lifting it up off of the ground. "It's a bald eagle!" Cailee and I's eyes just about popped out of our heads.

End of Flashback

My cold was subsiding and my appetite was back in full force, just in time for Thanksgiving. Everybody was set to be at my old house for dinner, like always. It was still fairly early in the day, so Cailee and I were just chilling on the couch until it was time to leave.

I glanced over at Cailee, who was watching TV with an intense look on her face. I knew it didn't have anything to do with the show— we were watching Big Mouth, which was funny as hell.

I placed my hand on her thigh, "You ok, baby?" Her head snapped in my direction and a small smile appeared on her face. She put her hand on top of mine.

"I'm good, baby," she smiled. Honestly, I didn't believe her. She'd been acting so weird since the day I got sick. She brushed me off every time I asked her about it, so I just stopped prying. I was gonna get it out of her eventually though.

_

"What's up?!" I called out as Aubrey, Cailee, Aunt Lily, and I walked into the house.

"Hey!" Debbie smiled, running over to greet us. Soon Lip, Ian, and Fiona had come to greet us as well.

"Glad you guys could make it," Fiona smiled. "Dinner's almost ready." She disappeared back into the kitchen. Everyone started chatting and catching up with each other. Not too long after we got there, Kev, V, and the girls arrived too. It felt just like the old days.

When I was in the midst of a conversation with Lip, I saw Aunt Lily pull Cailee and Aubrey outside. I tried not to think anything of it and focused on what Lip was telling me.

Cailee

I was surrounded by literally everybody I loved. You'd think I'd be happy, but I just wasn't. I kept thinking about the texts I'd received. How had he found me, and where had he gotten my number from? I honestly didn't want anything to do with him...

Aunt Lily pulled me and Aubrey outside, bringing me back to reality. Her expression seemed sad, almost. She pulled something out of her pocket and held it behind her back.

"Before I give this to you two, I want you to know that I mean no harm," she said. "I was told to give it to you when I thought the time was right."

"Give us what?" Aubrey asked. My aunt pulled what looked like an old picture from behind her back and handed it to Aubrey.

"Holy shit..." Aubrey's voice cracked. I took a look at the photo myself and my heart sank. It was an old polaroid of my mom, dad, Aubrey, and I. The date written on the picture read 'November 28th, 2002.' "M-mom was pregnant? Why can I not remember her being pregnant?"

I looked at the picture harder and noticed the baby bump under my mom's oversized sweater. I couldn't help the tears that fell from my eyes. Aubrey and I had another sibling?

"You were young, and so much was going on around that time," my aunt spoke.

"Why show us this now?" I asked, wiping tears away.

"And where did you get this picture?" Aubrey questioned her. Suddenly, an almost unfamiliar and deep voice spoke from behind us.

"I gave it to her."

Carl

Cailee had been outside for a while and I was wondering why. I peeked out of the front window and saw a strange man getting out of his car in front of the house. What the hell? I excused myself from the conversation I was having with Ian and Debbie and walked out onto the porch.

The man was standing on the walkway, barely inside the gate. Everybody's eyes shot in my direction when I closed the door behind me. The first thing I noticed were the tears rolling down Cailee's face.

I ran over to her immediately, "What's going on?" She faced the man in front of us.

"Why are you here?" she asked him. "How did you get my number?"

"I missed you girls," he responded. "I got it from your aunt." Cailee shot Lily a quick glare.

"Why now, Dad?" Dad? I thought she said she didn't know who her dad was?

"You're all grown up now. I knew seeing me again was gonna be tough, so I decided to come and talk to you when you were mature enough. You clearly are," he motioned toward her belly. I felt all of my muscles tense up. Aubrey and Cailee had spent all of these years without him and now he thinks he can just show up? On Thanksgiving at that. I wanted to rip the guy to shreds.

"Dad..." Aubrey whispered, walking up to him slowly. She pushed his chest and fell into his arms, turning into a sobbing mess. I'd never seen Aubrey cry before (other than when Cailee was in the hospital). She was one of the strongest people I knew. He held her tight in his arms and kissed the top of her head. Cailee wasn't nearly as forgiving.

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, I don't have a fucking dad," Cailee deadpanned before dragging me back into the house.

♡