Abel walked down the stairs quickly and was met with his family who waited patiently for him. He smiled before taking his jacket from the closet and followed his family out the door to where the cars were parked in the driveway that down the hill. He realized that he would have to ride with his aunt and uncle so he walked to their car. Omar watched him before elbowing Elias who gave him a questioning look. Omar said nothing but motioned to Abel with his head then whispered, "Don't you think he should ride with you, he is your son after all. I mean it's not that we don't want him to ride with us but he should at least ride with his dad."
Elias' brown eyes followed Abel's movements before closing as he sighed, "Alright."
Omar gave a small smile but it was soon followed by a frown, he knew that his brother was still depressed after the Vera's death. Nearly everyone changed after Vera died, but not him and his family. They had changed after the death of his eldest child, Ezequiel. That is one of the reasons as to why they are going out because Abel and Ezequiel's birthdays were so close to each other that every year the two families would throw one big party at each other's homes going in a pattern. But after Ezequiel died picking up some friends who were drunk, the family took an entire year to mourn so they had missed Abel's eighth birthday though that didn't stop Abel from supporting them. Then Abel's mother died when Abel had turned nine, and Omar's family hadn't been there to offer any support for such a difficult time. Omar shook those thoughts away and walked to his car where his family resided. Abel was about to climb into the car when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He craned his neck to see who had grabbed him and was surprised to see his father. He gave his father a questioning look but Elias just motioned to his car with his head. Abel took his hands off the car and followed his father to the truck. Abel climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door, his father doing the same. Elias started the truck up and backed up while turning the wheel to make it easier to drive down the hill before putting the truck in Drive and turning the wheel to head down the hill. Elias arrived at the foot of the hill where his step-wife's and brother's cars were with their blinkers indicating that they were turning right. They all turned onto the road at their own time when it was not so busy with cars. The ride was silent and it was practically killing Abel, unbeknownst to him Elias was also suffocating from the tense silence that filled the car. Not being able to stand the silence any longer, Elias decided to break it by asking, "So how was school today?"
Abel looked to his father who kept his eyes on the road before signing, 'Fine.'
Elias could see his hand motions thanks to the light that emanated from the headlights of cars of which he was thankful for. He then said, "That's good. Anything exciting happen?"
'No not really, just when we played dodge ball today and my team won after I hit Max.' Abel signed.
"Is that why Max's face looked a little red earlier?" asked Elias turning his head to Abel who nodded making him laugh.
"Didn't know you had such a powerful throw!" Elias bellowed before laughing even harder. Elias brought a hand up to his face and scratching his five o'clock shadow. "So sorry about not doing anything for your birthday, Abel."
Abel smiled at his father before signing, 'That's alright, and I know you were busy so you don't have to worry about it.'
'Yeah busy getting drunk.' Abel's subconscious said but he immediately shut it up and ignored its statement. The drive went with Elias talking about what happened while he was at work at the police station. He told Abel of how a mugger had tried to run away only for Elias to get him with a Taser. Abel smiled at his father's story, all traces of discomfort were gone and replaced with ecstatic laughter and jubilance. They soon reached their destination and parked in the parking lot, the two exited the vehicle and headed for the entrance where their family stood waiting patiently for their arrival. At the sight of Evelyn, Elias' smile faded as his eyes were downcast. This didn't go unnoticed by Abel who mimicked his father's actions but instead with a smile as his thoughts drifted back to the small conversation that he and his father had in the car, 'That was the first conversation we've had without him yelling or his dull questions.' he thought.
