Struggles of a Single Father (Book 1 of the Struggle Puff Series)

Chapter 33

Edited 03/12/2020

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The night came and went, and I heard nothing from Amy.

I wasn't worried though. She made it clear that she needed time and space to thing, and it was completely understandable.

While Ain got dressed in the guest room, I had a moment to press Tilisia for answers.

"So?" I drawled, "You want to talk about why you started acting weird with Ain yesterday?"

She didn't even spare me a glance as she took another bite of her eggs, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

I raised my eyebrow at her, "That's why I asked."

"It's no big deal, dad. It was just a question."

"Are you sure? Because he didn't think that." I pointed out, "In fact, he was trying to figure out why you would even ask. He even asked if he came off as a douche bag."

"That sounds like his problem." She said bluntly.

"No. It sounds like both of your problem. On one hand, he shouldn't be so insecure, but on the other hand, you shouldn't have even asked that which tells me you have an insecurity of your own that you're not telling me."

"Maybe I haven't told you because it's not your business." She muttered. I chose to ignore it for the time being.

"Good morning." We both turned to Ain who was dressed in some of the clothes he had left here.

Both Tilisia and Ain had a closet full of their clothes at each other's place, which was even more proof that Ain wouldn't even have the chance to get into any girl trouble.

"How'd you sleep?" I already knew the answer. He was moving around until three in the morning.

"Not great. Thanks for asking." His voice carried not hint of liveliness, which concerned me.

As he moved around the kitchen to prepare himself a breakfast, Tilisia and I got into a mini glaring contest as I tried to silently pry her to tell me what was on her mind yesterday. It was a stalemate though. She had no intention of telling me and I had no intention of letting it go, but they needed to go to school and I was going to take them on my way to the café.

.

.

When we pulled up to the high school, I stopped in the parking lot and turned to them as much as I could.

I had picked up Cadence along the way, so I was able to knock out this talk at one time.

"So, you're all moving into the next part of your high school careers. I think the most important thing for you guys to remember is to not rush into anything. Now I'm not going to lie and say high school is amazing, but I am going to say that you shouldn't focus on the miserable parts of it. Do your homework when you get it, don't get into unnecessary fights, don't be smartasses to your teachers, and don't get knocked up or knock anyone else." I glared at them all on the last part before relaxing again, "I'm not actually worried about it, you guys are good kids. I'm just nervous, really. Don't worry about being popular, it won't matter in the future. Stand up if you see someone getting hurt, and if you get in trouble for it, tell me immediately and I'll take care of everything. Don't be afraid to talk to me, and-"

"Dad!" Tilisia cut me off before I could speak any further, "We're gonna be fine. Cadence and I will have each other, Ain won't be too far from our reach, and we'll always go to you if we're in trouble. I can't promise you that I won't be a smartass, but I won't cross any lines. And fights follow us wherever we go so be prepared to come in a lot, but most importantly, I think you've taught us enough about life for us to be fine."