CLIFFORD:
Your sixteen-years-old daughter tiptoed barefoot into the living room trying to not wake anybody up. It was way past her curfew and she knew that if she got caught she was in big trouble. Pair of heels in one hand, her leather jacket in the other as she rapidly climbed up the stairs. She let out a deep breath that she had been holding in since she walked in, relieved she didn’t bump into anyone. She mentally high-fived herself, opening the door to her room when she got greeted by her dad who was waiting for her on the bed. ‘’Hi dad,’’ she smiled up at him, she had Michael wrapped around her finger. But this time Michael promised himself not to fall for his smiling princess with her big eyes and small pout. ‘’You are late.’’ Michael stated in a monotone voice. Your daughter flinched at his cold voice and dead stare. ‘’Sorry, Mia was suppose to bring me home but I couldn’t find her anywhere.’’ ‘’You should have called,’’ Michael was furious, she was only sixteen for god’s sake. ‘’Sorry, my phone had no battery.’’ Just on queue her phone started ringing. Michael raised an eyebrow at her, ‘’doesn’t sound like it had no battery.’’ ‘’I was just having a lot of fun okay, happens sometimes.’’ She tried to reason with her dad, but Michael didn’t flinch. ‘’Have you been drinking?’’ Michael knew she was, he could smell it, of course he didn’t want her drinking but he knew what it was like to be sixteen. ‘’No.’’ Michael snapped, he wouldn’t be pissed at her for drinking if she was honest with him, and maybe if she had called and informed him that she was coming late. ‘’You have been drinking don’t lie to me I can smell it!’’ Michael raised his voice and stood up from the bed. ‘’No I have not,’’ ‘’I can smell it’’ he stated again. Then his daughter did something which he hated immensely, she rolled her eyes. ‘’Whatever,’’ ‘’Don’t talk to me like that young lady!’’ Michael had to contain himself from yelling, waking up the whole house. ‘’Whatever,’’ his daughter hissed again, loving how she could wind up her dad. ‘’Give me your phone, you are grounded!’’ Michael’s voice was low, it was 1:30 he was tired and he did not need his teenage daughter against him. ‘’WHAT NO, WHY DO YOU ALWAYS RUIN EVERYTHING’’ his daughter yelled, after he repeated the sentence again, adding that she was grounded. ‘’I am your dad, I make these rules to protect you’’ Michael stated calmly. His daughter narrowed her eyes at him, grabbed her phone and threw it in his hands. ‘’You are not allowed to call yourself my dad, I am fucking adopted you are not my fucking dad! You will never be my fucking dad! Never you hear me, stop calling yourself my dad! You are not.’’ And with that she turned around and jumped in bed. Leaving Michael standing there, stunned and heartbroken at her outburst. Yes she was adopted but Michael did everything in his right mind to be there for her, to be her dad. It stung hearing her say those words. Michael turned around, tears forming in his eyes as he walked back to your shared bedroom. He couldn’t sleep, all he did was stare at the ceiling, the words repeating over and over in his head, wondering where and what he did wrong.
HEMMINGS:
Luke stood against the wall watching the simple teasing developing into bullying when he decided to get in between your fifteen-years-old son and your six-years-old daughter. You had left Luke in charge for the day so you could go and catch up with friends. But so far the only thing that your children had been doing was bicker over stupid things. Despite the large age gap and the fact that your son was adopted, your kids normally got along very well so this was something new for Luke. ‘’Hey, hey stop it both of you!’’ He raised his voice, stepping in between both kids. Luke looked at his son, eyes filled with anger, his daughter on the other hand looked like she was about to cry. Luke crouched down to your daughters height and grabbed her hands. Her eyes filled with tears, he kissed her cheek. ‘’Go upstairs and play yeah, I will talk to you when I finish talking to your brother okay princess?’’ She nodded and slowly walked up the stairs. ‘’And for you,’’ Luke stared, his blood begining to boil as he saw how his son had made his little girl sad. ‘’Kitchen!’’ Luke knew what it felt like to be the youngest in the family, always getting teased. ‘’You should not tease your sister like that!’’ Luke hadn’t got a clue which way his lecture was going but he sure as hell was going to make his son understand how it felt like to be always picked on. ‘’She started it!’’ Your son defended himself, crossing his arms over his chest. ‘’Listen buddy, you are the older person here. You need to know when to stop’’ ‘’SHE STARTED’’ your son yelled back, letting out a loud huff. Luke did everything in his right mind to keep calm, knowing screaming back won’t help. ‘’Listen, I do not care who started it, you are the older person in that argument and you need to know when to stop.’’ He explained surprisingly calm. ‘’WHY DO YOU ALWAYS CHOSE HER SIDE’’ Your son was furious, throwing his hands in the air. ‘’I am not choosing anyone’s side I am on-‘’ ‘’whatever you cannot tell me what to do or what not to do.’’ Your son rolled his eyes at Luke. ‘’Yes I can, I am your dad.’’ ‘’NO! NO YOU ARE NOT MY DAD, YOU ARE NOT THE PERSON WHO CREATED ME YOU ARE NOT MY DAD! YOU WILL NEVER BE MY DAD!’’ Your son exploded, running out of the kitchen into his room. Luke stood there stunned at his son’s words. As on queue you walk in, eying up Luke’s posture; head low between his arms whom are supporting his body weight on the kitchen counter. ‘’Hey there’’ you coo, not knowing what just happened. Mostly Luke would look up and grin at you. You frowned and decided to wiggle yourself between his arms, cupping his face. ‘’Hey’’ you tried again, only being greeted by red eyes and fresh tears rolling onto his cheeks. Immediately his arms wrap around your body, pressing you against the counter and sobbing into your shoulder. ‘’He, he, w-walked off, s-s-saying I am n-not hi-his dad’’ Luke cried into your shoulder.
