What It's Like Being A Sunflower

Chapter 27- When Chico Met Chica

Chapter 27- When Chico Met Chica

When I came back from school I spotted dad snuggling on the couch with Reese besides him, and watching Star Wars. Today was his day off which meant that we could spend the rest of the day together. I closed the door behind me, set my bag down on the floor headed towards the couch.

"Sup dude." I saluted him.

"Sup." He nodded trying to act like the cool father he always was. "So how was school?" He asked the ordinary parent question.

"Same old." I shrugged, slouching onto the couch, and blowing a puff of air.

What I wanted to say that it was amazing. Because for some odd reason, Nolan didn't arrive at school today. Throughout the course of six hours he wasn't seen once. It gave me a chance to relax and not be terrorised every seconds with his face flashing in my mind, fearing that he'd torture me. And since he wasn't here today, he didn't have the opportunity to rip another crane, giving me the benefit of keeping the one I received today.

Reese shifted over to me, settling down on my lap. "Did you get enough sleep?"

From the way his face looked pale, and his hazel eyes had no glow, it was enough to answer my question. "I had a little nap, but it's kind of like sleep hates me."

"Dad!" I complained. "I've told you before that you need to rest yourself. Your constantly working and your stressing yourself out. It's not good for you if your tiring yourself out."

"I know, I know." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's just kind of hard to sleep, you know. But you shouldn't worry about me, I'm fine."

Dad said he was fine. But he wasn't completely fine like how I'd want him to be. Work wasn't the reason why he was unable to sleep, this had been going on for six years. He missed the comfort of mom besides him, and without her he hadn't had a good nine hour sleeps. He just depended on naps which wasn't healthy for him.

"Well you know me." I glanced at the TV as he stared at me from the corner of my eyes. "I gotta look after my old man," I teased as he laughed.

"So what will be having for thanksgiving?" I inquired. "Because I'm starving."

Generally every year we snacked on junk food le go out to Susies Diner. It all changed when mom died, we used to put an effort into it. Yet one person leaving could change everything.

"Possibly turkey," he said with mischief in his eyes.

"Turkey? We never have turkey. You hate it too." I stated.

Dad never was a major fan of eating any type of bird. There was also a stage where he converted into a Vegetarian, only for him to give up and return to his old habits. Cooking a vegetarian meal was difficult and it didn't work out. I couldn't picture forcing through misery like that.

"Well, I invited some guests to come over." He informed me.

"We don't even know anyone," I said, confused.

Funnily enough I'm anti social, and I find it difficult to find anyone who can put up with my weirdness.

He rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Of course we do."

"So who are these 'special guests?" I asked.

"Jillian and her family, and also her nephew is joining us too." When he mentioned her name, I almost choked on air. "I figured it would be nice to finally have a catch up."

This news baffled me soo much to the extent I was unable to form words. After several years he really was ready to catch up with Jillian. The last time he saw her was at the funeral, and they had a few phone calls to check up on each other, but they haven't sat in the same room after everything. This was a big step. It meant if everything went well then maybe we all could spend more time together and bond closer.