@ChasidyLove You are so sweet. Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy the story and welcome to the forums!
So, honestly...I wrote that last post like a year ago. But yeah I mentioned that I would return to the Holland Family after my Sam Beckett (Quantum Leap) fanfiction was concluded and now it is.
I've had tons of other story ideas bouncing around in my head now that I've finished writing that story, and have been dying to write them up, but one thing that's really been poking at my brain is to FINISH the Holland Family Story! So I think that's the first thing I need to do.
***Anyway, to those of you who are unfamiliar with the story please go to my blog here where the story has been kept and preserved and where the images are actually showing up. (whereas on here they don't. Long story... )
Once you're caught up (and that's finishing reading "The Next Gen" part of the story as well) I should be starting on the continuation of the story. Keeping my fingers crossed!***
Alrighty everyone! A brand new chapter in my Holland Family Next Generation story (which I left unfinished around 4 years ago ) will be written tonight!
I feel it necessary to write out a synopsis (it's gonna be LONG because this is a crazy involved story!) of the entire story to get those of you who aren't familiar with the it up to speed (and remind those who are ) and to also introduce you to all the characters.
*A short disclaimer here before I begin: I want to inform you all that this story includes events, topics, and struggles that can be bothersome or triggering to some of you so I hope you'll respect that it's just a story and that I'm not trying to cause you any mental pain by reading it. Also please know that as an author, some of the things I write about in my stories are not always things that I personally believe in or condone, but are placed therein to give the story and characters more realism and to appeal to many different audiences.
So anyway, with that being said, lets get this party started shall we?
This story started out as a challenge save. The "Single Dad with 5 kids Challenge." And it's set in the town of Twinbrook. Little did I know just how much of a vast and entertaining story this challenge would become.
We have the main character and Patriarch of the family: Michael Holland; he was the single dad in question. His wife, Bronwyn, died early from struggles with anorexia, and left him with their 5 children.
The children in order from oldest to youngest:
Bailey, Derrick, Andrea, Molly and Tristan. (Bailey and Derrick started out at teens, Andrea and Molly were children, and Tristan was a toddler).
So Michael is a medical doctor and he had to quit his full time medical practice (as per the challenge rules) and take up a part time job so that he could be there for his kids, but also provide for them. (Barely! )
During that time he met Jenni Jones-Brown and the two hit it off pretty quickly. So much so that it surprised Michael, as he just lost his wife, and it greatly angered the kids for a time. But the poor man was lonely...and he was really struggling caring for his kids all on his own. One day Jenni broke the news to Michael that she was pregnant...with his child. And let me not forget she already had a child of her own, out of wedlock and gave birth to as a teenager, named Sue. (Her father is Goodwin Goode). You got all that so far everyone?
In the meantime, during Michael and Jenni's courtship, Bailey was turning into a rebellious teen, getting cozy with a not so very good guy named Shark Rackett. Derrick was having girl troubles, especially trying to woo his crush Jade Greenwood. It took some time, but he managed to capture her heart and they've been inseparable ever since. Andrea was doing very well in school and was planning to become a doctor like her dad. Molly had some struggles trying to get everyone in the family to notice her because she felt sorta neglected and Tristan was just focusing on growing up into a child.
Eventually the kids took a liking to Jenni and Michael asked her to marry him I think...after she gave birth to their son, Ken. I'm sharing this all out of memory and sometimes it's poor.
At one point in the story Bailey ran home informing her father that Shark tried to ra'pe her using the "date ra'pe drug" and she collapsed to the floor. Needless to say she learned a big lesson and reverted from her rebellious ways, developing trust issues with men along the way. She grew up to become a Reporter. Derrick and Jade married straight out of high school and he became a Fireman. They wanted children right away, but struggled getting pregnant and it was heartbreaking. Andrea continued to excel in school and then enrolled in University. (I played that out for a time) It was there she met Daniel Vaughn and he was quite a persistent one in getting her to court and eventually marry him as she was SO focused on getting her degree. When Molly became a teen, the local "strange looking" boy, Tay Bayless, asked her to the Prom. She didn't want to hurt his feelings so she said Yes. Their Prom night turned into something magical and before the two knew it they were getting frisky. She ended up getting pregnant and naturally there was a bit of drama there between her parents and Tay's parents (His parents not liking Michael and Jenni to begin with so that was a struggle). They told Tay they would disown him if he stayed with Molly to raise their kid and strongly encouraged - rather ordered - her to give it up for adoption. Neither Molly or Tay wanted that as they wanted to be together for their child. So Tay was disowned and it was at that point in time that Michael (who'd started up his medical practice again for a while now) graciously offered to pay for Tay to go to college to gain a higher education to better provide for his daughter and grandson, Shawn. Tay did just that and got a degree in the Science field. So once he and Molly were adults, they married and moved to an apartment of their own. Tristan went through the typical stuff children do. He did average in school and took a liking to music. He'd also taken a liking to Jade's younger sister Emerald and they pretty much dated all throughout high school.
You still with me?
Let's go back to Sue, Jenni's daughter from Goodwin Goode. So she had always been a good girl, knew that her step father (Michael) truly loved her as he always made sure to take time out for her, and that love is something she'd carry with her for the rest of her life.
But she got a little boy crazy in high school. Dated this kid, but then he moved away and promised to keep in touch with her, but...we all know how long distance relationships go most of the time. He dumped her, I think through text message, and she became extremely depressed and heartbroken. She felt like she could never be happy without a boyfriend.
Now let's bring in Sinbad Rotter, her biological father Goodwin's old roommate and now nemesis. Interestingly enough, Sinbad and Goodwin had recently become familiar with a lovely reporter named Bailey Holland. The three soon became fast friends, hanging out often. Sinbad wanted Bailey, but ultimately she went for Goodwin - feeling a great connection to him, and trusted that he was a changed man - and married him. (Which created some CRAZY drama there in the Holland family! Just think about it ok?? I don't have time to explain). You can imagine how much this hurt and angered Sinbad so he was out to hurt Goodwin in return...and in a very horrible way.
His target was Goodwin's daughter Sue. (She's still a teen (17) and he's like her dad's age ok).
He saw Sue all sad and vulnerable out on the town one night and let's just say he wooed her into his bed (after getting her to fall hard for him) and she ended up having secret relations with him. All seemed fine and dandy to poor innocent Sue, but then Sinbad started treating her like...property, if you get my drift. Their relationship turned into him being the dominant one, ordering her to come over at his beck and call, and then, well, doing whatever HE wanted with her once she arrived.
Sue was caught into a horrible mindset thinking that she needed to submit to him or he was going to kill her. When she'd turn up at home with bruises on her, Michael and Jenni grew very concerned and turned to Goodwin, who is a police officer, and asked him to investigate.
His investigation led to spying on Sue entering Sinbad's home and that's when he called in back up and they bust in rescuing Sue and arresting Sinbad. But not before Goodwin beat the snot out of him for what he did to his daughter, physically AND emotionally!
After that very horrible and sad event the Holland family was met with another one as Andrea's husband, Daniel, had been killed in a car accident while returning home from a family reunion. (I believe). That left Andrea in a state to where she refused to ever love again ("This is why I never wanted to get married!") and focused solely on her Medical career.
On the bright side, Derrick and Jade looked into In-vitro to have children and it was successful! It was quite the shock to find out she was carrying Triplets, but not entirely unexpected.
Bailey and Goodwin were also expecting their first child. All the parties in that drama eventually came to peace with it, as we saw in Michael and Jenni turning to Goodwin for help in finding out what was going on with Sue.
Molly, Tay, and Shawn were doing great!
Tristan was dating Emerald and all was good there, expect for the fact that they're more party animals than their parents would've liked...
Ken, Michael and Jenni's blood child, was doing pretty well in school and was really developing a love for fishing as it was something he and his dad did every weekend. As for girls...he wasn't too worried about them, or crushing on them, and even felt the same going into his teen years.
As for Sue, she never recovered from that horrible, domineering relantionship with Sinbad. He caused her to get very messed up in the head. She ended up running away from home and the police weren't able to track her down. But even when the search ended, Michael and Jenni refused to believe that she was dead; especially since her body never turned up.
*And that's where the Holland Family Story ended and I went on to the Holland Family: Next Generation.*
Deep breath...
So the Next Gen part of the story begins with what happened in the last 2 years starting with showing Michael and Jenni aging into Elders. The idea of getting old was weighing heavily upon Michael.
Then Jenni breaks the news to him that where they thought she was going through menopause...she was actually pregnant again and that was a HUGE shocker!
We then find out that Sue escaped to the big city of Bridgeport and supported herself there through Prostitution. We go back to her many experiences with that from time to time, wondering if she'll ever desire to return home. ???
Andrea finally became a Resident and was enjoying the heck out of her career. She bought her own home and life was going pretty well considering her loss. Occasionally she'd hear from an old buddy she met at Uni, Stephen Brackney, and they would text on and off. He was always keen on calling her a "Brainiac." It was an inside joke of theirs. Then one day a lady in town (Beverly Castor) somewhat coerced Andrea into a date with her son, Thomas Castor. Andrea couldn't refuse so we're gonna find out what happens on that date soon.
Molly and Tay...hoo boy how do I put all of this in a condensed form?
Basically, life was going great for them, their son Shawn is a child now, but Tay became too focused on his work and Molly was feeling neglected. They had poor communication skills in their marriage so that wasn't helping either. Molly befriended a man in their apartment complex (Brandon Tirado) and he'd flirt with her sometimes, but she'd inform him she was married and he was trying to respect that and yada yada. Molly tried talking to Tay about feeling neglected, but he didn't seem to get it and nothing was getting better. Finally Molly got fed up and willingly had an affair with Brandon. She's secretly been seeing him ever since, and shockingly through doing that her relationship with Tay was improving...but she was beginning to feel great remorse (especially for Shawn's sake) so she decided it is time to come clean to Tay and break it off with Brandon. She can only hope Tay will forgive her.......
We'll find out what happens there later.
Derrick and Jade were having a crazy life raising triplets (named Madison, Mason, and Allison), but they were also enjoying it. Their love and marriage had always stayed strong through thick and thin. They had help from their "son" Bruce (who was actually a kid that came back with Derrick on one of his time travelling adventures... I wasn't expecting that to happen, didn't know it could at the time, so I had to incorporate that into the story.) Derrick finally became Fire Chief which was good because it kept him mostly away from the fires as he suffers from COPD because of his exposure to all the fire smoke during his career. Bruce expressed his feeling neglected since the triplets were born to his dad, so Derrick decided to take him on a trip to Shang Simla, just the two of them. We'll find out what happens there later.
Bailey, Goodwin, and their daughter Celeste (now a child) are living the good life. Goodwin is ready to retire from the police force, but he can't just yet.
One night he informed Bailey that Sinbad had been killed in prison...to which Bailey's reaction was "Good Riddance! We'd still have Sue around if it wasn't for him!" Goodwin agreed, but it made him realize just how short life can be...
Bailey expressed her desire to him about having another baby and with Goodwin being in his old age, he didn't feel like that was the best idea. We'll find out more on that soon.
Tristan and Emerald inadvertently expressed to their parents that they felt marriage was overrated - when both their parents expected them to marry soon - and Tristan finally revealed to his dad that they would be moving in together. Michael was not happy with that and encouraged Tristan to marry Emerald as that is the right thing to do, but Tristan told him he was living in the "old days" and needed to get into the 21st Century. So yeah, a little drama there and we'll see how life goes for him and Emerald once they move in together.
So finally...that is where we are at now with the story. Whew! Sorry that was so long winded, but there were many details I needed to add so that you could understand all the future events.
I hope the story sounds good enough that some of you will want to read it. I've enjoyed writing it thoroughly. Each chapter feels like a fresh new story since I'm writing about a different family member and their family, so it doesn't get boring. And all this drama.....y'all know I love the drama!
The new chapter is coming soon so be on the lookout.
Gonna paste my list of old followers here, I hope most of you are still around.
The following days passed by normally for Andrea Holland. Get up, drink coffee while reading the newspaper, head to work, stay there for at least 12 hours, come home, maybe read a book or watch TV, and go to sleep. That was her norm in life now and honestly she didn't mind it at all. She was becoming quite content with it.
But there was a disturbance in her schedule now and she wasn't happy about it.
Beverly Castor's waving finger toward her face while saying, Ah ah ah, I won't take No for an answer, kept replaying in her mind like a broken record. The nerve she had telling me I'm not getting any younger, she huffed from within, she knows I lost my husband not too long ago! And how does Thomas feel about her playing secret matchmaker for him? If my step-mom ever did anything like that in regards to setting me up I would be furious! She could feel her cheeks burning, the sweat perspiring on her brow, her fingers tightening into fists, but then she released all the tension through a deep sigh to try and calm herself down. A woman like Beverly wasn't worth the energy.
She kept hoping, with each and every passing day, that Thomas would forget to call her about their date OR if she were lucky, he'd be just as furious with his mother as she was and spare her the awkward situation. It'd been so many years since she associated with him, her old high school crush, that she wasn't even sure how he was going respond to this whole arrangement. He really didn't leave her with the best taste in her mouth after that horrible night at Prom where he humiliated her. A night she promptly made herself forget. But that was years ago and everyone did stupid things in high school.
On her day off one afternoon she invited her father over to share her dilemma with him and gain some sagely advice. He'd always been good at counseling his children; even if some of them only took it with a grain of salt. Andrea never did. She was very close to her father.
"I don't know what to do dad," she concluded. "A big part of me wants to reject Thomas if or when he calls, I have plenty of legit reasons, but," she sighed, "I worry that by so doing Beverly will hunt me down and wave her finger in my face again and demand that I 'stay true to my word!'"
Michael cracked a smile at that, only in slight amusement at her statement. He was rather disappointed in the way Beverly approached his daughter.
"This is just weighing on my chest like a ton of bricks and I hate it! I just want some relief. To be able to breathe! What should I do?"
Michael placed a tender hand on her shoulder. "You relax," he began with a wink, "and then you go on the date with Thomas when he calls."
Her face froze. "Huh!?" That's not the answer she was expecting.
"Trust me Andrea," he went on, "because if you do not satisfy Beverly's desire for you to date her son you may never hear the end of it."
Her eyebrows arched for a moment. "Good point," she acknowledged, "but if that were to ever happen you'd tell her to get off my back right?"
"Believe me that's tempting to do right now," he replied with a chuckle, "but...I'm afraid I cannot fix this one for you honey. I won't deny that I'm a little irked at Beverly for forcing a date on you with her son, but when he calls I trust that you'll know how to handle it and do the right thing. The thing that's best for everyone and that will give you peace."
He smiled lovingly at her.
Andrea couldn't help returning the loving smile, but...
"Why do you always have to give me an indirect answer on how to solve my problems?"
Michael then pat her back with a grin. "Because that's what parents do. We want you to learn how to face your problems head on, by your own accord, and give you loving encouragement along with way."
Andrea half rolled her eyes at the response, but she smiled gratefully anyway. "Thanks dad. I love you."
"Love you too."
Then the two proceeded to talk about work and got in a few laughs about some humorous patients they encountered.
****
Two days later Andrea sat at the bar enjoying her morning coffee and reading the newspaper when her phone buzzed. Her heart skipped a beat for a moment and not in a good way. She hesitantly glanced down to see who the call was from.
Immediate relief washed over her as it was just a text from her college buddy Stephen.
It read: Mornin' Brainiac! Did that B***h's son give you a call yet?
She about spat out her coffee all over the newspaper reading that text. She typed back: Lol! 😂 Not yet. But you sure got quite the laugh out of me. I kinda needed that.
Well I aim to please. 😏
This has just been stressing me out to no end Stephen! I swear she could've picked ANY single woman in Twinbrook to date her son! WHY did it have to be me!?
Stephen had the perfect answer for that, but another thought came in that caused him to pause. Twinbrook? You live there? Yes. I grew up here. I thought I told you that.
You might've and I just forgot. I think I'm supposed to go to a coach's conference there in a couple of weeks. But I could be wrong.
Because of Stephen's Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, which Andrea diagnosed for him back at college, he was encouraged by his doctors and parents not to pursue his professional athlete career like he'd always dreamed of doing. It was heartbreaking for him for a long while there, learning to come to terms with his heart problem, but thankfully he was able to land a position as Assistant Coach for the college Football Team. Just a month previous he'd been promoted to Head Coach. It was such an honor! Especially for someone as young as him.
Oh yeah? Andrea responded with, finally releasing her eyes from the newspaper again to answer the text. Sorry to tell ya, but there's really nothing to see here. Oh I dunno about that, came the reply, there's you. 😉
For some reason that text caused Andrea's heart to skip a beat in the same way it did earlier when she thought Thomas was calling. You could show me around your hometown, he added. I dunno, Andrea felt to type, Most likely we won't get to see each other at all. I've been pulling double shifts lately. We'll see. 😏
Andrea shot a glance at her watch. And speaking of, I have to go now Stephen. Oh alright. Don't kill anyone ok? 😜
Never!
As she stepped out the front door and turned to lock it, she pressed her back firmly against it and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. The last thing she needed was for Stephen to show up in her life. She was just fine texting him, but seeing him again, she wasn't sure she could. He was a blast from the past...the past where she fell in love with her Daniel.
****
During her lunch break Andrea saw that she had a missed call from Thomas Castor. She closed her eyes with a sigh. So it begins...
Late that evening when her shift was over she cringed when the phone rang as she barely exited the hospital. It was Thomas again - after two more attempted calls - and there was no avoiding him now. "Hello?"
"H-Hey Andrea," came the reply. "Thought I was gonna get your voicemail again. It's Thomas Castor. It's been a long time."
"Hey Thomas. Yes, it has been a long time."
"Sorry if I was bothering you during your work hours...guess I kinda forgot that you're a...doctor now."
"Medical Resident actually, but it's all good."
"Right..."
The long pause was getting way too awkward.
"So...what's up?" Andrea asked.
The poor man's breath sounds revealed he was crazy nervous. "Umm, my mom mentioned she had a chat with you and suggested I ask you out and handed me a paper with your number on it. Not sure how she got it..."
Andrea rolled her eyes. "I wonder..."
"Anyway, at first I was gonna leave it alone because I didn't want to bother you, but...my mom keeps asking me when I'm going to ask you out so I figured I better do it before she drives me crazy!"
That actually made Andrea chuckle. Funny they had the same kind of thought. "I understand. So...you're asking me out then?"
"Well...uh...yeah. I mean, Yes, if you'd like to go out with me that is?"
Honestly she really didn't, but she remembered her dad's words, and felt her response would provide the best outcome for everyone involved. "Sure. It will be nice to catch up."
"Sweet!" Thomas happily said. Then he gave her all the details on where they would meet up for their date tomorrow.
****
Andrea was to meet Thomas at the Willowglen Amphitheater at 5 pm for a picnic dinner date.
5 pm came all too quickly.
Normally a woman would get herself all dressed up for a first date, but number one: Andrea was never the type to doll herself up or wear makeup and number two: she really wasn't all that excited to go on this date enough to encourage doing herself up. However she tried to look at it in a positive light especially for Thomas's sake; he too was a victim here. We'll just be two old friends hanging out and catching up after a few years of not seeing each other. This isn't a date, she told herself.
She brought some homemade cookies along that her sister-in-law Jade made for her to be their dessert and drove on over to the Amphitheater trying hard not to dread this whole thing.
Thomas's face lit up brightly at the sight of her and he stood himself up from the "bleachers" to greet her. They exchanged pleasantries and proceeded to set up their picnic dinner which consisted of, turkey sandwiches, chips, bananas and soda. Thomas told her it was very thoughtful of her to bring the cookies and that he couldn't wait to dig into them. Andrea chuckled. She'd honesty forgotten how good looking of a guy he really is...almost as charming as he was back in high school.
When they finished eating and cleaned everything up, they went on to finish the conversation they were having about Thomas's older brother Jeffrey.
"Yeah he's been through some rough patches since graduating high school," Thomas continued, "he got really into drugs in college and started gambling. It's become somewhat of an addiction so my parents encouraged him to come back home and live with them as a kind of 'rehab' to help him overcome it."
"That's good," Andrea remarked.
"Buuuut...how can they help him get over his addiction if they have an old slot machine in the living room and play around with it from time to time?" He shrugged.
"I have no idea!" she laughed.
He laughed too. Oh the irony!
"So now he's gotten so used to all the luxuries of my mom waiting on him hand and foot that he absolutely refuses to move out and get on with his life!"
"That su'cks," was all Andrea could think to say.
"Yeah," he sighed. "I get the feeling my parents feel like they failed him so they're going back to coddling him, which I don't think is helping him in the least bit! It kinda puts a lot of pressure on me though...as my mom, as you've noticed, keeps hounding me to hurry up and find a girl and get married. 'To give us grandbabies!' Because Jeffrey let them down in that regard you know? Do you have any idea how insufferable that is to deal with!?"
Andrea glanced away for a moment. "Ohhh yes..." She had a feeling that Thomas would ask her about her deceased husband so she quickly changed the subject. "So is your father feeling any better?"
"Yes," came the relieved reply. "Thank you for asking. You're dad's a great doctor and knows all the right meds to get him on."
Next they went on to chat about High School and some of their old classmates. The kind of "Do you remember so and so, and how do you think they are doing?" kind of conversations.
That prompted a few shocked faces and laughs out of them both.
The Amphitheater slowly began to darken as the sun lowered more and more behind the mountains.
"So there's this 'miracle pill,' that's blowing up all over the internet," Thomas began to ask her about, "that guarantees at least a 15 pound weight loss in a week! It's called Slimsim. Have you heard about it? And if so is it legit?"
"No I've never heard about it," she frankly answered, "and I honestly don't follow that kind of stuff. All weight loss pills are a load of cr'ap, and none of them ever work no matter what new exotic ingredient they put in it or which kind of TV doctor promotes it! There's no easy way out when it comes to weight loss. You have to lower your caloric intake and portion sizes, eat more fresh foods, and exercise at least 30 minutes a day to see any progress. Remember that and don't risk your life on those pills! I've seen too many cases where they've done some serious damage to people's organs."
"Wow!" Thomas stared at her blankly, but then brightly smiled. "You should totally get on to Dr. Simoz's TV show and say exactly THAT!"
"Oh I wish I could..." Then her phone started ringing.
"Sorry I gotta take this, hang on a sec," she said while lifting a finger and stepping away.
A few minutes later, as the darkness of night finally made its appearance, she returned to Thomas's side. "Sorry. Just a little emergency at the hospital, but it's ok now."
"You don't have to go in and help?" he asked.
"Nope."
"Good...because I was hoping we could hang out a little more as this has been fun." He blushed, but she couldn't see it in the dark.
"Yeah...it has been," she could honestly admit. If anything it was just nice to get out and talk to and hang with a friend when all she'd been doing is working for months! "So what do you have planned now?"
Thomas stared up intently at the clear night sky as he replied, "I was thinking we could catch a movie, but seeing how brilliant these stars are shining I'd rather just stay here and watch them while catching up some more if that's alright with you."
Andrea shrugged. "Sure." Going to a movie was so cliche anyway, she thought. She liked his idea better, even if it had a hint of romance to it.
"I'd heard this was the best place in town to go stargazing," he said, lowering himself to the ground, "but I didn't remember that until now."
Andrea joined him on the ground trying not to sit too closely, but with it being so dark she didn't realize just how close she'd gotten. Their arms nearly touched.
"Wow," she breathed, gazing, "they really do look gorgeous tonight. I can even see the Milky Way..."
"Yeah..."
Something about this setting finally brought out Thomas's sensitive side.
"I know this is long overdue," he began, "but I wanted to sincerely apologize for the way I treated you at the Prom. I was such a je'rk back then and...not a day went by after that I didn't wonder how my behavior affected you."
Andrea smiled at his sweetness. "I got over it more quickly than I expected so...you're alright. Thank you."
He blushed again.
For a moment there they sat in silence until Thomas gulped hard enough to where Andrea could hear it.
"I hope you don't think me forward by asking this, but...those feelings you had for me back then," he paused, "is any of it...still present?"
It was a bold thing to ask, but Andrea couldn't blame him after all the pressure he was under from his mother. She had to choose her words carefully.
"Well...it's certainly nothing against you--"
"Ohhh boy..."
"No really you still have that sweet side that I always saw in you back then." They gazed into each others eyes for a moment. "But," she continued, "I moved on. You moved on. I went to college, met a wonderful man and then married him. Then I finally graduated from medical school. So because of all that, No, my teenage feelings for you are no longer present." She hoped that didn't sound too harsh. "I'm so sorry."
She could see a twinge of disappointment in Thomas's eyes, but he casually waved it off. "Ah, it's alright. It was a long shot. I appreciate your honesty."
After that all there was left to do was gaze up at the stars, gasp for a moment if they saw a shooting one, and that's how the two stayed for several minutes.
Thomas finally broke the silence.
"I'm sorry you lost your husband Andrea. That news affected all of us who know you and your family."
Andrea tried to hold back the tears. Daniel's death still felt like it happened yesterday. "Thank you. I'm sorry your mother keeps putting pressure on you to marry, but hang in there. Don't rush into relationship with just anyone just because that's what your mom wants. Be in a relationship because it feels right. And trust me...you'll know when it feels right."
Thomas looked upon her with great appreciation. "Thanks Andrea. So.....friends?"
"Yeah...friends." And she was happy to call him one again.
They both stood up to prepare to leave.
Thomas took who once could've been his love into his arms and said, "Thank you for a nice time out tonight Andrea. Maybe we can do it again sometime over coffee or something?"
Andrea kindly accepted his embrace. "Maybe. I sure get super busy with work, but when I'm available...I'd like that."
That evening when Tay returned home from work he shared the happy news with Molly that he was being considered for a promotion and that came with less LONG hours in the Science Lab doing research, conducting tests, and all that stuff. Which meant more time with his family.
Molly was honestly thrilled! "Tay! That's so wonderful! Oh I hope you get it!"
"Yeah. I'm sure keeping my fingers crossed!" He then took his wife in for a tight hug. "Thank you for being such a great support to me Molly. I couldn't have gotten this far in my career without you by my side and encouraging me. I love you."
Molly pressed Tay's cheek closer to hers, trying to fight back the tears as she thought about how this gave her all the more reason to break things off with Brandon; whom she loved too. "You're welcome," she finally said, "and I love you too."
She truly did. She was in love with two men so breaking it off with either one of them would be crazy hard. But she and Tay had a history, they were each other's first loves and they had a child together. So it only made sense that she stay with the man she is married to and break if off with the man she is not. But oh how I don't want to break his heart either! If she could go back in time, she wished she never would've been so foolish as to invite Brandon into their home on that fateful day and seduce him into making love to her. If only she hadn't been so consumed by all the hurt and selfish anger and thought of another option to help the situation, like marriage counseling, she wouldn't be in this mess. A mess that where doing the right thing...would most likely result in her losing everything she holds dear.
Next thing she knew Tay was gently kissing the side of her neck down to her shoulder; it sent erotic chills down her spine like it always did and he knew it.
"You know," he whispered, "it's been a little while since we've..." he stopped now gliding his tongue up her neck. "Shawn's asleep right?"
"Mmm," she moaned, savoring the brush of his lips upon her ear. All thoughts of her affair were gone. "Yes."
Upon hearing that Tay happily swooped her up into his arms, causing her to squeal, and then very carefully carried her up the spiral stairs to their bedroom, touching many of her "buttons" along the way.
It didn't take long for the two of them to get undressed and make love.
It was wild. Filled with intense passion. Something Molly thought had been long lost between them.
********************
Fall was coming in Twinbrook. It could be felt in the air and in the early morning rain's chilling drops.
Shawn waited for the Bus underneath his umbrella and saw a very large rain puddle just across the street. The corners of his mouth turned up into a bright grin. Quickly glancing both ways he made his way over to it.
Mom will kill me for doing this, he thought, but I'm going to school so she'll never know!
The boy was having one heck of a joyous time splashing around in that "forbidden" puddle, but once the bus arrived he couldn't help thinking about how things weren't so joyous with his mom...and they hadn't been for a while.
She'd act happy around him and his dad, as if everything was fine, but he could always sense there was something more going on with her. Like something...bad. He could never pinpoint it though and tried not to feel too anxious about it as he sat down in a seat. He once approached his dad about her acting differently, but he assured him she was fine and just had a bad day. He believed it for a time, but then his mother started to act strangely again and his worries came flooding back. A big part of him felt like he needed to tell someone else about this, like his Grandpa. But another part of him wondered if it was just "grown up stuff" they'd never tell him about, so he should let it be. He wasn't sure which voice to listen to.
****
Molly tenderly kissed Tay goodbye on his way out to work, in the foyer area outside their apartment door.
"Last night was amazing!" he turned to whisper in her ear and then smiled at her. "I'll see you when I get home."
All she could do was nod.
Once the door closed behind him, Molly stepped into the laundry nook and carefully glanced out the window to make sure he was completely gone before going to buzz Brandon's apartment.
Her heart pounded as she pressed the button, told him to meet her in the laundry nook, and struggled to breathe as she sat down in a chair and waited for him to arrive. The wait was torture. She wasn't exactly sure how her lover was going to react to this, but it probably wouldn't hold a torch to how Tay was going to react to it; being blissfully unaware that his wife had secretly been cheating on him for two whole years.
"Hey babe!" Brandon happily greeted upon seeing her.
Molly was instantly snapped out of her thoughts and turned to gaze up at him as he moved closer to stand before her. She couldn't help what she did next.
"Woah--"
"Oh Brandon!"
When she released her lips she pressed her forehead against his and stared down at the floor with a frown, trying desperately to hold back the tears.
"What's wrong?" he asked with concern.
"Brandon," she choked, stepping back to get some breathing room. "Gosh I don't even know how to begin this," she cleared her throat and tried to muster up all the courage she had within her.
"C'mon it's me," Brandon assured her. "You can tell me anything."
"I know it's just...I don't want to tell you this, but...I have to."
His eyes narrowed a bit as he slightly co'ck'ed his head to the side.
Gulping she started with, "Brandon I've been thinking about a lot of things lately. About us and about me and Tay. And this guilt has been weighing on my heart for too long and...I can't keep pretending that everything is ok when it's not."
Brandon shifted his gaze away from her towards the floor.
"I look into Shawn's eyes each and everyday," she continued, "and I feel like I'm cheating on him just as much as I'm cheating on his father. It's not fair to him Brandon. He's an innocent victim in all this and I am SICK with myself because of it!
I don't want to hurt his daddy anymore, but mostly I don't wanna hurt my baby!" Now the tears began to well up.
Then Brandon finally spoke. "So what are you saying then?"
"I'm saying that," she blinked to release the tears, "as much as I love you Brandon, I've gotta do what's right here and come clean to Tay. I know it will most likely break up our family and cause them to hate me, but I can't live with this guilt anymore. It's time to accept the consequences of my actions."
Brandon nodded, eyes still looking down at the floor.
"I'm so so sorry honey! You know I have to do this don't you?"
She fully expected Brandon to become angry and shout out in protest, but surprisingly he took her by the hand and quietly replied, "Yeah."
Now she curiously gazed into his eyes.
"It pains me to hear you say it, but...I knew this day would eventually come," he admitted. "It sure was fun in the beginning but, I'd be lying if I said I didn't eventually start feeling some guilt too."
Molly wiped the tears from her eyes and begged him with them to go on.
"I've always known you love Tay and I know how much you love Shawn. Every time I would see that kid it would dawn on me what I was doing: screwing up his life and his family. Honestly Molly...I never wanted to become that guy who breaks up a family."
"Then why did you indulge me?" she couldn't help asking.
"Because you are...hot! And you were quite the temptress that day. I'd gotten the feeling you'd fallen out of love with Tay; that he wasn't in love with you anymore and you wanted a better life, but as it turns out...I was wrong." His eyes now seemed to bore into her soul. "Because I could always feel your love for him Molly. I could see it in the way you'd look at him. That's when I realized that we'd never have a future together and that's when the guilt started."
Molly nodded, surprised and yet relieved by his honest response. "How long have you felt that way?"
Brandon slipped his hands into his pockets while thinking. "Oh I dunno...maybe after like a year of seeing each other on and off."
"Why didn't you come to me about it?"
He shrugged. "Probably for the same reason you didn't come to me earlier about how you're feeling."
She knew what he was saying. Their relationship had mostly been physical and it was good. Really good. Hard to resist. But her love for him developed when he became that shoulder she could cry on, and that listener, that Tay wasn't at the time.
"So things are better now between you two?" he asked her.
She nodded.
"That's good at least..." He lowered his head in dejection.
Molly then stepped forward and took his hand. "I really am sorry Brandon. You don't know how much it pains me to do this, but I thank you for being so understanding and," she paused, "being there for me when I needed it. Even if it was a grave mistake."
"I'm sorry too," he said in more ways than one. "For Shawn's sake I really hope Tay can forgive you."
"I do too. I guess...if he doesn't it probably wouldn't be the best idea for us to get back together huh?" She just had to know his thoughts on that.
Grimacing he replied, "Probably not."
She nodded while staring down at the floor herself now.
"Besides I got offered another job that's all the way across town and I was thinking of moving to an apartment that's closer."
Molly's head shot up, gazing at him with heartbroken eyes.
"I guess this is my answer that I should take it."
Molly's love for him wanted to beg him to stay, but she knew it was for the best. It would help considerably during the aftermath of her confession to Tay. This break up turned out surprisingly better than she'd imagined. Almost like it'd been...a blessing. Funny how that works? she thought as she shot a glance up toward the ceiling.
"So I guess...this is goodbye then?" Brandon asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
With a slight nod she replied, "Yes," and then leaned in to give him one last kiss.
"It's been a beautiful two years that I'll always cherish Molly," he said to her. "Best of luck to you."
When Molly got back into her apartment she thanked God for a moment, but then immediately begged Him that Tay would be just as understanding. But odds are...he wouldn't be. And she wouldn't blame him.
****
When Shawn returned home from school and conversed a little bit with his mother, he knew then more than ever that something was definitely wrong. He could see she was holding back tears the entire time they spoke and wouldn't ever look him in the eye when it was her turn to talk. That was unusual.
When she told him, "Mommy's gotta go upstairs and fold some laundry," he took that opportunity to step into a secluded spot in the kitchen where the wall phone was and called his grandpa.
"Hey Grandpa, it's Shawn," he whispered. "Something's been wrong with mommy for a while."
"How so?" Michael asked in a tone of worry.
"She always looks like she's gonna cry, but she doesn't, and just pretends to be happy," he paused to look back toward the stairs and make sure she wasn't coming down. "I think she's keeping a secret grandpa and I don't know why."
Now most people would probably find that response a little humorous coming from a kid, because in reality parents do keep some secrets from their children mostly for their well-being. But Michael Holland had no such thought. He believed his grandson instantly that something was wrong or he wouldn't be whispering and he'd learned long ago that kids know and sense more than parents realize.
With a pit in his stomach he said to Shawn, "Don't you worry too much little buddy ok? I'll talk to your mommy and see what's going on. Thank you for telling me."
"You're welcome Grandpa. I love you."
"Love you too."
@emorrill I really am amazed at the drama in this story. I generally don't think much of women who sleep around on their husbands, and generally I don't usually have much trouble calling them the appropriate names except I'm not supposed to use that kind of language on the forum or be so judgemental either. haha You got me feeling sorry for her with your story....almost, sorta. That is the mark of a true writer to be able to shake up my thoughts and emotions like you do. I have such mixed feelings about her now. I almost hope Tay does forgive her...but gosh that is gonna be a hurdle I'm sure.
I just want to pick Shawn up and take him to his grandpa though. He's gonna need lots of loving once she opens up to Tay about it. I just don't see how anyone can forgive something like that. I know people do it every day, but it sure would be hard for me to do it so I don't understand how this is gonna work. Can't wait to read it though. Get busy writing!
I love the happy interlude with Shawn playing in the water puddles!
@emorrill I really am amazed at the drama in this story. I generally don't think much of women who sleep around on their husbands, and generally I don't usually have much trouble calling them the appropriate names except I'm not supposed to use that kind of language on the forum or be so judgemental either. haha You got me feeling sorry for her with your story....almost, sorta. That is the mark of a true writer to be able to shake up my thoughts and emotions like you do. I have such mixed feelings about her now. I almost hope Tay does forgive her...but gosh that is gonna be a hurdle I'm sure.
@bekkasan Aww...your compliment here just warmed my heart. Thank you.
Yes it will be one LARGE hurdle for her.......
My heart is seriously breaking inside for little Shawn, but I'm thankful he has his grandparents and Aunts and Uncles in town that he can turn to if he ever needs to.
It was so cute watching him play in the puddle that I had to take a pic and incorporate it in somehow.
I'm still here, I am just a year behind on your big thread, and I am not posting my stories anymore. But I still read and respond. I have this one and your Sam story bookmarked.
I'm a 48 year old married man, with a beautiful wife, a cat, and a simverted personality.My Sims 3 Pictures
You'll have to visit my blog to read it though as it has content that is not suitable for the forums...
(Pretty much any time I write about Sue, you'll have to be directed to my blog.)
I hope you all enjoy it. Here's a preview:
“I just...can’t stand the thought of getting old, you know? Truthfully, it frightens me because I’ve seen every worse case of it.”
and then...
Now Sue was ready to hit up one of the private Lounges in one of the many high rise buildings.
Naturally once she got to the floor of the Lounge, the doors were guarded by a Bouncer. She rolled her eyes slightly, but then threw on a grin as she stepped forward and did what she always did in this situation: use her wiles to try and seduce the Bouncer.
Oh my, I've got the vapors!! (fans self and clutches pearls)
I didn't know you had that in you, girl. Your husband is a lucky man.
Nice update to the story!!
@KevinL5275 Oh...well...I kinda go off what I've seen in movies and stuff. And...I try to get into her character (and try to get inside a man's head too! ) and with Sue it's hard...VERY hard to get into her character!
It's nice to know I've succeeded at it. Thank you for the compliment.
And I'm just as lucky to have my husband as he is to have me.
I thought I would post the first scene of Chapter 12 in the Holland Family Next Gen story for you before I move on to the next scene as it's a completely different, happier setting. This is a deep scene and one that I've had to read over and rewrite quite a few times. I hope I delivered on all the emotions I was trying to portray; l even shed some tears towards the end. But don't let that discourage you. Read on and you'll see.
Thanks everyone.
(If you need to catch up, you can give yourself a refresher by starting here on my Blog. )
Chapter 12
On this morning, Michael made his way over to his daughter Molly’s apartment. Her son, and his grandson, Shawn’s revelation about his unhappy mother who was possibly keeping a secret had been weighing heavily upon Michael’s heart ever since. He could no longer contain his curiosity, but mostly his great concern.
Molly happily opened the door at the sight of her father and invited him inside. It’d been a while since he stopped by for a visit. Usually any family gatherings they had happened at his house. The official home of the Holland Family; where everyone grew up.
“It’s nice to see you dad,” she said. “What brings you here this morning?”
Michael slid his hands into his pockets and replied, “Oh nothing much. I just thought I’d stop by and see how my Molly is doing.” He smiled.
Molly returned the smile. “Aww, that’s sweet dad. I’m doing...fine. Umm,” she paused, running her fingers through the back of her hair, “there’s really not a whole lot going on around here. Just the usual life stuff.”
Michael nodded and figured he was going to have to ease his way into his inquiry.
He started off by asking her how things were going at Tay’s work and also how Shawn was faring in school. They carried on a pleasant conversation about those things and he was happy to hear that all was well in those areas.
“So what’ve you been up to?” he asked. “Doing anything fun with all this free time you’ve been given since Shawn is now in school all day?” He winked.
Molly cracked a smile. “Oh, not much...just taking care of the house, managing the bills, going grocery shopping, reading my book and occasionally visiting with Jade and the triplets. You know, normal house wife stuff.” She gripped her hands behind her back and curled her lip nervously. Uh huh… “Have you given any more thought about going back to school? I remember you mentioning it.”
“Yeah,” she replied with her nose scrunched, “but I dunno if I really want to. It’s just so much money and I’m not sure if I’d qualify for any scholarships.”
“You never know unless you try,” he said, “or have you changed your mind because you two are planning to have another child?” He winked. He wasn’t usually this prying and Molly gave him a look like she was wondering why.
“Yeeeeah, not right now dad,” was her reply.
“Oh,” he said in a somewhat disappointed tone.
A few moments of silence ensued between them, and during that time Michael studied his daughter’s eyes very closely. He could usually read people’s emotions quite easily that way, but how bloodshot hers were got the better of his attention.
“Are you alright?” he asked. “Your eyes are a little bloodshot.”
He swore he caught Molly roll them for a split second. She stammered in her reply, “Oh...uh...it’s my a-allergies,” and pressed her forefingers on the bridge of her nose. “They’ve been so itchy lately.”
“In the Fall?” he questioned. “Your allergies always seemed to let up by this time.”
She groaned, throwing her hands on her hips. “Okay so I was crying a bit last night. Can’t keep anything from you doctors!”
Now Michael felt he was getting somewhere. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing dad. I’m fine now.”
But he continued to stare at her with concern. “No,” he said, “I don’t think you are.” He could see it now...everything Shawn could see. The little white lies she was feeding him were clearly an attempt to cover up an even more serious problem.
For a moment they stared at each other and tears began to form upon Molly’s eyelids. She tried to hold them back, but failed. “I don’t know what you’re getting at dad…” It hurt her too much to say more. It did pain her to lie to her father, but she should’ve known it would all be in vain as he’d find some loving way to break her. He was good at that.
Michael licked his lips as he started elaborating on Shawn’s phone call to him.
He concluded by saying, “Look honey, I know you have a personal adult life and I respect that, but when my grandson calls me worried sick about his mom - my daughter - not acting like herself and may be keeping a secret...I can’t ignore that. Kids know more than we realize Molly so...there’s something you’re not telling me; not telling any of us.”
“Dad,” she began, her heart pounding. “This is not something you want to know. I took care of it and it’s over now okay.” It wasn’t in the plan to reveal all this to her father before she did Tay.
“But sweetie I want to know...so I can help you.”
“You can’t help me with this one dad.”
“Is it drugs or some kind of addiction?”
“No--”
“Because if it is there’s hope! You don’t have to--”
“DAD!”
The sharpness in her tone silenced him.
With tears rolling down her cheeks she went on. “Okay, you wanna know the truth?” she gulped, blinking rapidly. “For the past two years...I’ve been having an affair with another man.”
Michael’s facial reaction to the news was exactly the way she expected it to be.
Now she began to cry. “I’ve been cheating on Tay,” she barely managed to say, “and I did it willingly.”
Michael’s gaze slid down to the floor, no longer feeling shock now, but great sorrow. He closed his eyes and shook his head whispering, “Oh Molly…”
“Go ahead! Tell me how awful of a person I am!” Molly cried as she threw herself down onto the couch.
Michael shifted his gaze toward her again. “No,” he simply said. “It would seem you’re already aware of that.”
She nodded and said while sniffling, “I’m going to make this right dad, I promise! It was killing me so I broke it off with the other guy and now I’m just trying to muster up the courage to confess to Tay.”
A million different questions poured into Michael’s mind and oh how much he wanted to grill her with them; to scold her for making such a stupid, terrible mistake and stress that he taught her better! But no, he thought, that wouldn’t do any good. He could see she felt ashamed and was reminded that no one, no matter how well raised, is immune to making mistakes. Heaven knows he’d made plenty! No one is perfect, as much as he’d always like to think his children were. It’s all part of the never ending cycle of growth and learning in life. If his faith had taught him anything it was that God still loves His children no matter what they’ve done; that His arms are open, ready and willing to forgive them if they desire it. Michael closed his eyes for a moment and took in a breath. He needed to rise up and be that kind of father too, no matter how difficult and how shattered his heart had just become.
“I’m proud of your desire to make this right,” he calmly said to her as he sat down beside her. “And yes, you need to tell Tay, but you’ll also need to let Shawn know what’s been going on too.”
“I know,” she sniffed, her head still lowered. Soon her shoulders drooped and began to shake rapidly as she sobbed, “I’ll lose them daddy! I’ll lose them!”
Michael instantly pulled his dispirited daughter into a tight hug, gently stroking her hair and “shhing” her while shedding a few tears himself.
“You may not,” he tried to comfort, “but no matter what happens you won’t be without help and support.” Hearing that, Molly nuzzled her face into the nape of her dad’s neck, feeling extremely grateful, but not exactly deserving of it.
“Now,” Michael continued while rocking her. “I want you to tell me how this all happened.”
“Wow!” Bruce Holland whispered in awe as he stood staring up at the storied pavilion Hotel nestled high upon the hill with numerous amounts of steps leading up to the lobby and rooms. It was the most beautiful building he’d seen thus far since arriving in Shang Simla with his dad, and he knew this was only the beginning of all he’d see. He was so excited they finally arrived, it’d practically been a 24 hour flight, and he could do all the exploring his heart desired while also spending precious alone time with his dad. In many ways being here felt like a dream, like they’d landed in a whole new world. The luscious greenery, bamboo, and Chinese maple trees dotted the land so thickly that one could only see the tips of the rolling hills and mountains. It was a gorgeous country, practically a little piece of heaven that fell from the skies. Bruce closed his eyes and inhaled its aroma deeply.
“I’m gonna get us checked in,” Derrick informed him.
“Ok,” Bruce regarded. “You do that while I check this board for some awesome exploring adventures!”
Derrick cracked a smile at his son’s excitement. It reminded him so much of himself at that age. “Now let’s not rush into it, son,” he said. “You’ll wait until I return so we can go over these ‘adventures’ together before you commit to anything.”
Bruce rolled his eyes as Derrick made his way up the tall flight of stairs. He knew his dad was just trying to be cautious and look out for him, but I’m 14 now, he thought confidently, I can handle this stuff by myself! I wish he’d stop looking at me like I’m still a kid!
The job board was chock full of all kinds of requests for brave explorers to enter ancient tombs and retrieve treasures and relics for a handsome payment. Others asked for someone who’d be willing to do a little detective work for them, which could possibly lead to tomb exploration. One was even a plea for someone to go back into a forbidding underground Shrine to find a precious item the person lost in there, but was too afraid to go back in and get themselves. Bruce cracked a smile at that one. If it’s as scary as this guy describes, Dad would never let me attempt it...
When Derrick finished checking them in, he made his way down the long flights of stairs and then stood beside his son to check out the jobs on the board together. It was eventually decided, mostly by Derrick, that Bruce could accept a small job from a local woman asking for someone to retrieve a relic from the Halls of the Lost Army and return it to her. She mentioned the relic had something to do with her family history and also that her husband forbade her to go in and get it. But Bruce didn’t care about the details he just wanted to do some exploring and get paid for it! Maybe even find a little treasure for himself…
He called up the woman on his phone informing her that he was interested in taking the job and the two sealed the deal.
He and his dad then took a taxi to her home to get the keystone Bruce would need to enter the underground Shrine. With the heavy stone clutched tightly within his hand the taxi driver drove them to their next destination: the center of the city where stood the Forbidden Palace which contained the Halls of the Lost Army.
Once again the two were met with many flights of stairs, though shorter, leading up to the simple old Palace with a pagoda roof.
Bruce skipped up the stairs with haste.
“Slow down son,” Derrick asked breathlessly. He’d gone up enough stairs already for one morning and wished his COPD didn’t weaken him so.
“Come on dad...these steps aren’t that bad.” Nothing could stop the teenager from the mysterious adventure that lay within.
Once inside, Bruce took a look around. The place was void of people and for being a Palace, it didn’t really look much like one. The only thing fancy about it was the jade statues outlining the room behind short, ornate fences, the furniture, and elaborate flooring. It was an odd set up and there weren’t any other rooms or stairs in sight. Where’s the entrance to the underground Shrine then? he thought, rubbing at his chin. The woman didn’t provide him with any details. She simply said, “You’ll know what to do when you arrive.”
It was then that Derrick finally caught up to his son inside. As Derrick looked about, admiring the decor in the grand room, Bruce’s eyes met with a foot plate standing out among the other floor tiles like a sore thumb. Ah! Now I see.
“Looks like you found the ‘way’ to the entrance,” Derrick said with a grin.
Bruce grinned brighter in return. “Now if I can position my feet just right on this plate--”
“Hey, come here for a second,” his father beckoned.
Bruce’s shoulders instantly slumped as he let out an exasperated sigh. He swiveled his body in the direction of his father and teetered toward him. “Can’t you just let me go exploring already!?”
“I will,” Derrick replied, “but first we need to set down some ground rules while we’re here pursuing our interests in this foreign country.”
The length of their vacation was only 5 days.
Bruce folded his arms impatiently waiting for his orders.
“In the morning as soon as we both leave the Hotel, like we’ve done now, you’re free to go on your exploring adventures while I head off to the Phoenix Martial Arts Academy. That’s where I’ll be for most of the time okay, and I trust that you’ll take care of yourself while we’re apart and use your better judgement when faced with any sticky situations.”
“Of course dad! I’m not a dumb kid anymore!”
Derrick disregarded that comment and continued with a straight face. “Both of us must keep our cell phones close at ALL times with the sound ON.”
“I always keep my cell phone close to me.”
“Please Bruce, don’t interrupt me. Now, there’s pretty much cell service everywhere, but since I know that once inside of shrines and tombs you may not get any reception, I ask that you check in with me at least every 3 hours; send me a text or call. I want to be sure that you’re alright and safe. No wandering off anywhere without letting me know where you’re going, you understand all that?”
“Yes dad,” Bruce muttered. “I promise if a mummy attacks me I’ll be sure to run for my life, straight out of the tomb, and call you.” The sarcasm wasn't subtle.
Derrick twisted his lips as he gave Bruce an unamused look. “I don’t know what dangers may lie in some of those underground places,” he said, “so if anything looks too dangerous, or it doesn’t feel right being there, I want you to turn back immediately and get out okay?”
“Dad,” Bruce calmly said this time, sensing his father’s concern. “I will, don’t worry. Trust me okay? I’ve studied up and prepared myself for all this. I’ve got my granola bars, water, lighter, flashlight and other tools. I promise I won’t do anything stupid and I’ll check in with you every 3 hours.”
Derrick gave him a relieved smile and patted his son’s shoulder. “That’s my boy. I really appreciate that son.” Then he chuckled. “It’s a good thing mummies aren’t real or I’d sure as h’ell never let you explore those tombs! At least not without me!”
“Trust me dad, I wouldn’t want to!”
The two hugged.
Then Derrick sent Bruce back to the foot plate to begin his very first exploring adventure.
Positioning his feet upon the foot impressions, the plate seemed to light up as the floor tiles began to peel apart off to his left. They lowered down about an inch and then slid under the surrounding tiles opening to reveal a staircase leading down into the Shrine.
Bruce glanced over his shoulder at his father with the biggest, brightest grin ever.
Derrick grinned in return. “Have fun down there kid,” he said. “You know where to find me when you’re done. Got your money for the taxi?”
“Yup!” Bruce replied. “Then we can head out to lunch?”
“Sounds good!”
“Alrighty! See ya dad!”
A cool, musty air permeated Bruce’s senses as he descended the stairs into the Shrine. At the base he was met with a locked door and it didn’t take long for him to spot where he needed to insert the keystone. He didn’t pay any mind to the plaque on the wall as it was written in Chinese. Nothing felt ominous about the place so he retrieved the weighty keystone from his pocket and inserted it into the stone slot beside the door.
The chains broke free from the door and bid Bruce enter through it.
The next room was rather small, containing a tall, peculiar looking statue and an interesting looking floor plate. When he stepped on it, he could hear a click signifying that the door to the next room unlocked, but once he stepped off of it, he heard the click again as the door returned to being locked. Hmm, he thought, his eyes travelling towards the tall statue. Aha! The light bulb came on.
With all the strength he could muster, he pulled the statue towards the plate, providing the necessary weight on it to keep it in place to unlock the door.
Oh yeah, I’m awesome, he proudly thought as he strutted through the door.
The next room was equally small, but this one had flecks of shiny stones within the wall bricks that glistened amidst the pale torch light, like glitter, and Bruce gazed around at it in wonderment.
Once again, all there was in the room was another tall statue and a switch plate. Knowing just what to do he pushed the statue toward the plate and stopped, instantly realizing he hadn’t triggered the plate and needed to push it farther. For some odd reason, instead of doing that, he wiped the sweat from his brow and went around to the other side, pulling the statue the rest of the way onto the plate.
This time instead of the door unlocking, a foot plate suddenly appeared a couple of tiles away and Bruce was quite curious as to how it just formed itself there, but he shrugged it off. Positioning his feet just right on it caused the next door to unlock.
In the fourth room his feet came to an immediate halt as he discovered that he was surrounded by many of those familiar tall statues. “Aww man,” he whined, knowing full well that he was gonna have to push or pull one of those heavy things again to get to the next room. “When will I reach the treasures?” There was more puzzle solving to this Shrine than he expected.
Peering in between the statues to see what lay ahead of him, his eyes widened as they caught hold upon a plethora of electrical currents shooting up into the air just behind them. He winced, throwing his body back a couple of steps. Clearly it was an ancient trap and one that he wasn’t expecting to run into. “Holy c’rap! How the hey am I supposed to get past THAT!?” he cried. He held his hand to his heart, trying not to panic. He remembered his father’s words that if he felt uncomfortable he should turn back and he easily could, but...he also made a deal with that lady to get her relic. He couldn’t break a deal, but mostly he didn’t want to look like a weak chicken to her, his dad, or anyone else! He really had to put his brain to work on this one.
Chewing on his lower lip he thought, If I carefully push one of these statues onto the electrical currents then they will focus on electrifying that so I can sneak past unscathed. Hopefully…
There really wasn’t much else he could do.
Saying a quick prayer then drawing in a deep breath, he carefully pushed one of the statues toward the electrical trap.
To his astonishment, the flashes of electricity instantly died the moment the statue made contact with them. He gaped for a moment, but then cried out, “AWESOME!” with a giant grin on his face. What a thrill this was! So empowering!
He sprinted past the dead trap and was now met with another locked door. In the corner of the wall beside it sat a tall pile of rubble. He thought he could see a switch plate underneath it...or more likely it was a foot plate since that weight would’ve activated the switch. Promptly he started to dig through the stuff with his hands, but nothing would budge after years of resting on top of each other with sediments from the musty air nestling between the cracks and causing them to forge together. The tips of his fingers got scratched up rather quickly. “Ow!” he cried, stepping back and releasing a hiss of frustration.
This side of the room was poorly lit so he tried looking around for something else to break the rubble apart to reach the plate. There HAD to be something!
Gazing upon the darkest wall behind him he thought he could see something hanging on it. Stepping over with his hands outstretched to meet with the wall, he felt around to make sure what he was seeing wasn’t just an illusion. Sure enough it was a physical object, a pick-axe actually, and he smiled triumphantly as he lifted it from the brackets on the wall and promptly used it to break away the rubble.
Meanwhile…
Back at the Phoenix Martial Arts Academy Derrick was learning the secret art of Sim Fu faster than he had expected.
He sure impressed the Master who stood in the corner of the room, telling him what to do and pressing him on. So much so that he awarded Derrick with his own Sim Fu uniform and his very first Belt, all within an hour of practicing!
In celebration of that Derek struck a pose to show off his new found skill.
“Easy grasshopper, there is no room for arrogance within the disciplined mind,” the Master said.
Derrick slightly grimaced as he stood up straight before the man, hands pressed together and bowing. “Yes Master.”
Back in the underground Shrine…
With the rubble broken apart and shoved out of the way, Bruce grinned at the foot plate and promptly stepped upon it. He fully expected the chains on the door to break open, unlocking it, but instead he heard another click come from somewhere within the room. Huh? Once again he had to do a little more investigating. Man, I really should’ve expected it wouldn’t be THAT easy to get in to the next room. I’m clearly getting closer to the treasures!
Within a pitch black alcove to the left of the locked door, Bruce felt around and found a hole in the wall. Remembering his flashlight now, he shined it into the old hole making sure there weren’t any spiders or bugs before sticking his hand inside. This had to hold the switch that would unlock the door.
Deeming it free from creepy crawly life, he slowly stuck his hand inside and then felt around.
Feeling the knob of a switch within, he pressed his fingers on it and not only did the chains break free from the locked door, but another secret door, on the wall where he found the pick-axe, swiveled itself open scraping the grainy floor which sent a piercing sound that rattled Bruce’s eardrums. His teeth clenched and he covered his ears until the door came to a stop.
Naturally the secret room piqued his interest more than the unlocked door so through the threshold he went.
He found three, ornate red treasure chests within the room and about squealed with excitement! Carefully opening each one they held ancient coins and gems which Bruce happily pocketed as much as he could.
As far as he understood they were free to the taking to whomever was exploring the Shrine. There was plenty left over for another explorer.
No relic was found so he figured it must be within the next room.
All that lay within the previously locked room was a large dive well and Bruce froze in his tracks once his eyes met with it. Oh boy…
Was the relic inside a chest deep within the well or would he find a tunnel that led to another room containing the relic? He wouldn’t know for sure unless he ventured in and shuddered at the thought. He enjoyed swimming as much as the next person, but diving was not his strong suit and even more so he hated opening his eyes underwater without goggles. I really didn’t plan for this...
He pressed his hands upon the walls all around the room, hoping for another option like a secret door, but there wasn’t one. There WAS however, a locked door in the shadows with a stone upon the wall beside it where another keystone was to be placed. The keystone certainly wasn’t present in this room so he glanced nervously over at the well once more. It was either enter the well or turn back in defeat.
Squeezing his eyes closed he thought, C’mon Bruce you can DO this! He had to do it. He’d regret it forever if he didn’t. You’ve come so far you can't turn back now. Stepping up onto the edge of the well, he drew in a deep breath and tried to attempt the best dive he could. There was a loud splash as his arms pierced the water and soon all he could hear was the swishing, bubbling sound of under water all around him.
A couple of times he had to return to the water’s surface for some air, obviously because he was no pro at this. He quickly discovered there was no underwater chest, so he returned to the surface a third time. He thought there had to be a tunnel somewhere beneath that led to another room and he was really going to have to peer through the murky water to find it. He held his breath and descended into the water once more.
YES! His mind exclaimed triumphantly as he found a lever and pushed it down, revealing a tunnel leading towards another well. He quickly swam through and shot his way up towards the other well water’s surface! He gasped frantically for air.
A chest sat directly in his line of sight and he smiled. “Hello keystone,” he said, pulling his heavily soaked self out of the well.
His stomach grumbled so he figured this was as good a time as any to curb his hunger with a protein bar.
Sure enough, the keystone did lay within the chest on an ancient, faded pillow. He swapped it promptly, causing a bit of dust to scatter all through the air. Turning towards the well, he whined a bit thinking of having to go back underwater and through the tunnel again, but his instincts told him that the relic was surely beyond the locked door if it required a keystone to unlock it. That was all the determination he needed to return to the previous room.
Once out of the well, he pulled out the keystone from his soggy pocket, placed it into the stone slot beside the door and it unlocked. Excitedly, he headed on through.
The torches on the wall lit up brightly upon his entrance into the room and Bruce found himself surrounded by treasure chests. His eyes fixated upon the chests with a glint in them. The single one off to the right surely contained the relic, so he planned to open the other two on the Left to see what treasures he could pocket there before grabbing the relic and making his way out of the Shrine.
“Woo! I did it!” he cried, lifting the very ornate vase out of the treasure chest below the right wall. It was a shiny green, two handled vase, with real gold plated designs engraved all around it. The age of such an item fascinated him as he traced the designs with his finger. He carefully held it close to his body under the weight of his arm. Fortunately for him there was a foot plate in the room that when he stood upon it, it opened up a secret door leading to the stairs that descended into the Shrine. Perfect! This was the BEST adventure ever!
Meanwhile…
Derrick gained another rank in Sim Fu and was presented with a new, darker uniform and yellow belt.
This has to be the most disciplined man I’ve ever met, the Master thought looking upon Derrick with great admiration.
Bruce checked in with his dad like he promised and eventually met up with him at the Academy. Then the two headed out for a late lunch and talked about nothing but the exciting events they both experienced that morning.
@emorrill I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter with Bruce and Derrick.
The pics of Shang Simla are super and love seeing it through their eyes.
I'm amazed that Derrick is letting his son go exploring in tombs by himself. I think he didn't read the pamphlets about the potential hazards in the tombs!
That was smart to set up some ground rules, but I'm surprised they didn't do the adventure together.
Bruce did a great job of working his way around the tomb and figuring out the puzzles.
I had to giggle at Derrick's leg in the first picture of him learning MA's. I call that one 'he's been riding the horses too long' pose.
Congrats to Derrick on getting his next belt and Bruce for completing his first adventure!
Look forward to more!
@bekkasan Thanks for your comments.
I'd like to believe that Derrick was pretty nervous about sending his son into a very old underground Shrine, but I think it was one of those where he needed to pick his battles. Also, he just really wanted to go learn Sim Fu and Bruce really wanted to go exploring so.....
I'm sure they'll explore another tomb together.
I had to giggle at Derrick's leg in the first picture of him learning MA's. I call that one 'he's been riding the horses too long' pose.
^Oh my GOSH that's hilarious!!!
Yeeeeah, I didn't catch the best shot there (or maybe I did in the humorous sense. ). I honestly didn't notice it before until I started writing their story again and going through the pictures and was like:
"Oh well!"
Hopefully I gain the motivation to write more soon....
@emorrill I hope you get the motivation soon too as I really am enjoying the story. At least you didn't leave us with a kid trapped in the tomb and Dad running around trying to find him!
Hey everyone. Forgive how long it's taken me to get this newest chapter written and posted (well, the first half of the chapter anyway. ) Depression coupled with anxiety is a crazy struggle!
Before I do that though, allow me to ask: You know those times where you're playing out your story in the game, but then the game throws a curve ball situation in your characters way...and you decide to just roll with it? This chapter is mostly based on that very thing. The game made a certain sim do something unexpected so I just went along with it and figured I'd find a way to cleverly add it to the story.
Also forgive me if the Chinese language shown is not correct in conjugation and grammar compared to what I originally wrote in English...it's Google Translate's fault if it isn't right!
I just wanted to give the situation a little more realism by adding the language in.
I read over this a million times it seemed to make sure everything flowed right and sounded right...because of how broken my mind has been lately. I hope my efforts were not in vain. I'm curious what your thoughts will be on the "event." There's more words than pictures, sorry, so I hope that doesn't turn any of you off from reading it.
So without further adieu, enjoy the first, long half of Chapter 13!
EDIT: Reworded a few things and made it better. Chapter 13 Part 1
After a delicious lunch of Chinese cuisine, Derrick took Bruce back to the Phoenix Martial Arts Academy to show him everything he learned so far with Sim Fu.
Bruce tried practicing with the training dummy to humor his father, but honestly he wasn’t getting into it. Perhaps I’m not ‘disciplined’ enough, he thought with a snicker. I just wanna go and explore more places! Find some more treasure! But Derrick said he’d had enough exploring for one day and wanted them to spend the rest of it together. It’s not that Bruce didn’t want to, but he was especially anxious to return the woman’s relic, whose name is Lin Hua, but she texted him that her family wouldn’t be home until dusk. He sighed and would just have to grit his teeth about the Sim Fu stuff until then. He could honestly admit it was fun watching his father learn all the ropes.
For dinner they tried out a sushi bar and never had such single bites of food made their taste buds dance!
“I could get used to eating the food in this country EVERY day!” Derrick expressed.
“Agreed!” Bruce said, as much as he could with a mouth full of sushi.
The time came for Bruce to return the beautifully ornate vase to Lin Hua. Derrick was extremely exhausted after the day’s activities and darn near fell asleep on the bed in their hotel room when Lin texted Bruce informing him that her family was home and he could come over.
“Uh...dad?” Bruce asked, squatting a bit with his hands on his knees trying to look into his father’s eyes to get his attention. “We gotta go drop the relic off to Mrs. Hua.”
“Huh?” Derrick muttered, half asleep.
“It’s time for me to return the relic!” he replied, shaking his father’s shoulder. “C’mon!”
“Mmm...uh...just take a taxi and...come right back okay? I’m beat!”
Bruce froze for a second in bewilderment. “You...trust me to call a taxi, head on over there - to a stranger’s house in a foreign country - and head back here all by myself? In the dark?”
“Uh huh…”
To say Bruce was surprised was an understatement. He smiled proudly as he rose to his feet, standing tall with his fists resting upon his hip. Golly, dad’s really been trusting me a lot lately. Maybe he doesn’t still consider me a little kid anymore. He promptly called for a taxi and made sure to grab the room key on his way out.
“I’ll be back soon dad!”
********************
Upon arriving at the Hua’s home, Bruce took a moment to admire the exterior of the vintage home as the taxi drove off. The open windows without screens caused him to question whether most of the citizens here preferred to have bugs getting into their homes over modern windows, swarming around their ears and food. Mosquitoes! Yuck!
In a firm, yet respectful way, he knocked on the door and stepped back a bit. Within seconds Lin Hua opened the door with a smile. “Young Mister Bruce,” she greeted with a hint of an accent, bowing slightly before him, “please come in.”
Bruce was pleasantly surprised at the respect she was giving him.
Once inside, he couldn’t help but notice how brightly her eyes lit up as they met with the relic and feelings of gratification began to surge through him as he handed the vase to her and said, “I believe this is yours Mrs. Hua.”
“Oh thank you!” she expressed, taking it and then running her finger along the golden traceries just as Bruce had when he first laid eyes on it. “I can’t thank you enough for retrieving this for me. My fourth great grandmother made this vase and painted it, in honor of her daughter who passed long before her time, but one day it was stolen from her home and she never found out who took it or what came of it. It has taken me years of going through our family history and other’s and researching to find it. Apparently someone from the royal family had gotten their hands on it.” She clutched the vase gently to her breast with tears forming in her eyes. “Thank you again dear. Here,” she paused to reach into her dress pocket, “here is your payment.” Bruce took it with a smile and tucked the bills into his pocket.
“Lin?” A sharp voice addressed, coming from the next room. “Shéi zài ménkǒu?" - "Who is at the door?”
It was a man’s voice, which Bruce could only assume was her husband, and naturally he spoke in Chinese. He stepped into the foyer, eyeing Bruce with a look of disdain.
(Translation to the couple's exchange of words in the spoiler )
Lin happily approached him. “Zhang,” she began in Chinese, showing him the relic. “Zhè wèi láizì měiguó de tiánměi niánqīng rén jiēshòule zhè fèn gōngzuò, zhǎo huíle wǒ zǔmǔ de huāpíng, kàn qǐlái...... Zuìhòu shì wǒmen de! Nà bùshì hěn bàng ma?”
But Zhang showed no enthusiasm.
“Nǐ gùle yīgè shí jǐ suì de nánhái lái wánchéng rènwù? Nǐ zài xiǎng shénme?” he practically yelled.
Bruce noticed Lin cower a bit. “Wǒ fābù qǐngqiú yǐjīng liù gè yuèle,” she said. “Tā shì wéiyī yīgè xúnwèn tā bìngqiě yuànyì jiēshòu zhè xiàng gōngzuò de rén.”
“Yúchǔn de niánqīng měiguó rén” he said with a sneer at Bruce and then turned to face his wife again. “Lín yúchǔn nǐ! Rúguǒ zhège nánhái zìshāle zěnme bàn? Tā de jiārén huì lái zhǎo wǒmen bìng ràng wǒmen fùzé!”
Lin lowered her head. “Duìbùqǐ zhāng...... Wǒ méi xiǎngdào. Wǒ fēicháng kěwàng dédào wǒ de zēngzǔmǔ de huāpíng. Wǒ xiǎng... Ràng wǒmen de zǔxiān gǎndào jiāo'ào.”
“Yīgè háo wú jiàzhí de zìzhì huāpíng duì tāmen yǒu shé me yǐngxiǎng?” he asked sharply, fiercely shoving his wife to the point that she almost dropped the heirloom.
Lin happily approached him. “Zhang,” she began in Chinese, showing him the relic. “This sweet young man from America accepted the job to retrieve my great grandmother’s vase and look...it is finally ours! Isn’t that wonderful?”
But Zhang showed no enthusiasm.
“You hired a teenage boy for the task? What were you thinking?” he practically yelled.
Bruce noticed Lin cower a bit. "It has been six months since I posted the request,” she said. “He is the only one that inquired about it and was willing to take on the job.”
“Foolish young American!” he said with a sneer at Bruce and then turned to face his wife again. “And foolish of you Lin! What if the boy had gotten himself killed? His family would come looking for us and hold us responsible!”
Lin lowered her head. “I am sorry Zhang...I did not think of that. I was just so desperate to get my great grandmother’s vase back. I wanted...to make our ancestors proud.”
“What does a worthless, homemade vase matter to them?” he asked sharply, fiercely shoving his wife to the point that she almost dropped the heirloom.
Upon witnessing that, Bruce’s blood instantly boiled.
“HEY!” he roared, stepping forward. He didn’t care if the man didn’t understand English. “You don’t push your wife like that!”
Zhang stepped closer with rage in his eyes, boring them into Bruce’s while Bruce stood tall, bravely meeting them.
“Please!” Lin implored, gripping Bruce’s arm. “Just go...he doesn’t understand English.”
But her words fell on deaf ears as Zhang said to Bruce through gritted teeth, “Nǐ bù zūnzhòng nǐ de cháng lǎo ma!?"
- “Have you no respect for your Elders you puny little American!?” and then firmly shoved him too.
In the heat of the moment Bruce lunged himself at Zhang and Lin gasped as she clutched the vase close again and ran into the kitchen sobbing.
Zhang put up a good fight and so did Bruce to the man’s amazement. He was sure he could take down the boy, but Bruce’s youthful energy and shorter stature had the advantage. And with the Hua’s young daughter appearing on the scene and shouting, “Tíngzhǐ!" - "Stop!” didn’t help Zhang hold his concentration on the fight. With a piercing kick to the knee cap, Zhang went down to the floor flat on his butt and his pride went with him.
“That’ll teach ya not to abuse women!” Bruce hissed at him. His heart was pounding from the adrenaline rush as he struggled to catch his breath.
Oh my gosh what did I just do!?
“Māmā!” young Bebe Hua cried, but her mother never emerged from the kitchen. She shot Bruce a tearful look before running into the next room to find her mother.
Zhang pressed his hand to his lower back as he struggled to get himself up off the floor. He turned to Bruce and glowered at him. “Gǔn chū wǒ de fángzi!" - "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!” he yelled, pointing at the door.
Bruce got the message and instantly ran out.
On the ride back to the Hotel all Bruce could think about was how much his father would kill him if he told him what happened. His conscience encouraged him to do so, but then he figured if he kept silent his father would have no way of finding out and he could forget the whole thing. At least he hoped his father wouldn’t find out. How long was the grapevine in this vast city? He feared it wasn’t long enough.
He buried his face into his hands and tried not to cry.
********************
Once the taxi drove away, Bruce stared up at the tall, dimly lit staircase leading up to the Hotel rooms with nervousness in his eyes.
He wished that what had transpired hadn’t...and he had to hope that his father would understand why he acted in the way he did. Even then, he knew he was in for some kind of punishment regardless.
Just as he was about to ascend the stairs he heard his father worriedly call out his name from the top. “BRUCE!”
Derrick made his way down the stairs in a flash, barely taking his eyes off his son. “What took you so long?” he asked once he reached the base.
“Sorry,” Bruce lightly replied. “I was...talking with Mrs. Hua a little longer than I expected. I didn’t mean to worry you. I thought you were fast asleep.”
Derrick slightly nodded his head at that. “Well, I did fall asleep for a little bit there, but when I woke up to find you weren’t in the room, I felt a little disoriented and was trying to remember where you said you were going.”
“Oh...well it’s all good,” Bruce assured, trying to end the conversation quickly so that he could just go to sleep and forget the whole thing. “I returned the relic to Mrs. Hua and she was excited to have it back and I’m pretty beat so…” he was stopped by Derrick’s hand gripping his arm as he tried to go up the stairs. He could feel his heart begin to palpitate.
Derrick gently took his son’s chin for a moment turning his face to the side to get a good look at the obvious bruise on his cheek. He also took notice of a long tear at the base of Bruce’s shirt as well as a few scratch marks on his arms. The boy gulped and found it hard to look into his father’s eyes.
“What happened?” Derrick asked directly. “How’d you get that bruise?”
Bruce gulped again. There was no way he could lie his way out of this one; his father always outsmarted him before. He had to hope that being truthful would encourage Derrick to be more lenient in his imminent punishment. Because surely his dad wouldn’t understand and just get upset.
“Dad please don’t get mad okay?” he chose to say to start this revelation out. “It was an impulse and I can explain…”
“You darn well better!” Derrick agreed, folding his arms and encouraging his son on with his piercing gaze. He found himself becoming quite fearful over what he was about to hear.
Bruce nervously rubbed at the back of his neck before saying, “So, I arrived at the Hua’s door with the relic and Mrs. Hua invited me inside. She told me how happy she was that I brought back her grandmother’s vase and handed me the payment for it. Then, out of nowhere, her husband shows up glaring at me and then rips into her in Chinese about something...I’m pretty sure he was talking smack about me.” He partially rolled his eyes. “But then he got so angry that he shoved her and dad...when I saw him do that, I couldn’t help getting up in his face and telling him he shouldn’t do that to his wife!”
Derrick’s eyes widened.
“Mrs. Hua told me to just leave, but then her husband said something mean to me and shoved me too! So I shoved him back and,” he hesitated, “we sorta...got in a fight. I won,” he added with a cracked smile.
Derrick had his head lowered, pinching the bridge of his nose while trying to process what he was hearing until the fight part and his head shot upward. “Bruce Michael Holland, you didn’t!? Were you out of your mind!?”
“Yes! Well…...no,” he corrected. “Because honestly, when I saw him shove his wife--”
“You should’ve stayed out of it and took your leave!” Derrick finished for him. “I mean, my gosh Bruce!”
“But dad you always taught me that we men should never hurt women. That was really sad to see that because she's such a sweet lady! And,” he stopped, growing emotional, “I started to imagine that she was mom and if I saw you do that to her…” He couldn’t finish and lowered his head, tears forming in his eyes.
Soaking in his son's emotions, Derrick tried to hold back his deep concern while stepping closer to Bruce and placing his hands on his shoulders. He drew in a breath and released it before saying, “I admire your chivalry and good heart son...but that did not warrant the need to attack her husband. Have I not also taught you to treat your Elders with respect?”
“He didn’t deserve any respect!” the boy frankly answered through gritted teeth, meeting his father’s gaze with raging eyes.
“No...he didn’t,” Derrick acknowledged. “But you still should’ve just walked away after the confrontation.”
“But dad...when he shoved me I thought he was gonna hurt me,” he choked, “He sure looked like he wanted to! So I felt like I needed to defend myself. And...if that was the wrong thing to do than...I’m sorry…” he concluded with slumped shoulders and a lowered head.
Feeling extremely conflicted, Derrick looked down at the ground himself and shook his head. He needed a moment to process all of this or all the wrong words and tone would come out of him when this situation needed to be handled with care. “Stand over there while I figure out what to do about this,” he ordered, then turned his back toward his son to think.
Bruce wasn’t sure what that meant for him, but either way he couldn’t help fearing their trip was going to get cut short.
Derrick replayed the entire scene in his mind twice and all things considered, he was honestly proud of his boy. He couldn’t fault him for stepping in when he most likely would’ve done the same in that situation. It was certainly justified. Although, another part of him kept trying to convince himself that Bruce getting into a fight with the man was wrong when in all actuality...he didn’t DO a single thing wrong! He was warmly invited into the home, the man carelessly caused a scene in front of a stranger, so Bruce defended the woman - who is most likely a victim of domestic abuse - and when the man turned on him he was very much within his rights to protect himself!
Would it have been better if Bruce had just decided to leave after witnessing what he did, maybe, but most men would never feel right within themselves after doing so, perhaps haunt them for the rest of their life. But beyond that, women in those situations need to see that they don’t have to put up with that kind of treatment; that not all men behave the same. Bruce may very well have saved a life today and there was no way Derrick could be upset with nor punish him for that.
However there was a chance for a lawsuit here, albeit a slight one with them being foreigners on vacation who’d be gone soon, but Derrick wasn’t familiar with the laws in this country, or the people, so he felt the need to make everything right. For Bruce’s peace of mind, but mostly for his. He gazed up toward the stars and whispered a prayer for guidance.
“Alright,” he addressed Bruce, coming toward the boy and placing his hands on his shoulders again. With a loving gaze he said, “After giving it some thought I can honestly say that...I’m proud of what you did son.”
Bruce’s eyes bugged out. “Really!?” he asked, a smile creeping upon his lips. That was unexpected!
Derrick nodded. “I can understand why you thought I’d be upset because of my initial reaction when you told me the news,” he paused with a frown. “But giving myself a moment to think about it, I realized that you were thrown into quite the sticky situation. One that most people never find themselves in and you didn’t hesitate to protect a sweet lady. I admire that. It brought me joy as a parent. And I completely understand why you felt the need to defend yourself against Mr. Hua. Was assaulting him a bit rash, yes,” he admitted, “but overall I’m proud of what you did.” And he was very proud that his son came out victorious, but he wasn’t going to say that.
Bruce was smiling so brightly in such relief that his cheeks began to ache. “Thanks dad!” he expressed. “I really did feel like I was doing the right thing, I was just...afraid you wouldn’t understand. Since I tend to be a bit bold sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” he said with a wink.
Bruce playfully slapped his dad’s shoulder.
Now it was time for Derrick to get serious. “Now with that being said...I’m concerned about Mr. Hua reporting your assault to the police. He could make it sound very believable that some ‘insane teenage American’ burst into his home and attacked him.”
Bruce’s face grew pale. That thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.
“I don’t mean to frighten you by saying that, but you can understand why I’m so concerned.”
The boy nodded.
“So we’re gonna have to make this right. First thing in the morning we’re gonna head on over to the Hua’s home and you’re going to formally apologize for what you did.”
Bruce gaped, with a slight glare. “But dad I shouldn’t have to apologize when--”
“I know Bruce...but in Mr. Hua’s mind you were in the wrong and you need to apologize so that he won’t try to press charges. Assuming he hasn’t already reported the incident…”
“Ok,” Bruce mumbled, surrendering. “Now I’m scared dad…”
Derrick took his boy into his arms. “I’m sorry," he whispered, rubbing at his back. "I just don't want anything to happen to you. Hopefully you knocked some sense into the man to where he’s thinking twice about the way he treats his wife and consider it a lesson learned. And if not...then we’ll just do what we can to make it right as soon as possible. Don't worry. God will be there to help us.”
Bruce hugged his dad tighter and couldn’t help thinking how blessed he was to have a dad like him, in more ways than one.
During the rest of the evening it was difficult for the two to fall asleep, but eventually fatigue caught up to them and they swiftly drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
@emorrill I took a break from paperwork and popped in to see that you had posted an update!
I was glad to see they got to spend a bit of time together even if Bruce was bored with the simfu stuff!
I liked the story of how her many great grandmother had made the vase, but was stolen. So nice that it was recovered for her.
Wow!! What a scary situation for a teenager to be in and he handled himself so well.
I don't blame him for speaking up. Men who hit women don't deserve respect even if they are older.
I'm glad that he won the fight. The guy deserved it!
The little girl coming in the room kinda scared me. I was afraid she might accidentally get hurt.
Well Derrick was more understanding than I thought he would be. I laughed when he used his full name! My Mom and Dad used to do that when they were particularly ticked off at us kids!
I hope he won't take losing out on his wife and child!
I don't think Bruce should have to apologize!! I have to disagree with Derrick on that.
I would think the man would be more humiliated to admit to losing the fight so would not press charges.
Looking forward to the next part. I'll need another break from paperwork soon! LOL
@bekkasan I so thought I replied to you already... Thank you for your comments.
Glad you liked the great grandmother story. That one just came to me; I didn't even have to think hard about it.
Wow!! What a scary situation for a teenager to be in and he handled himself so well.
^I was thinking the same when writing it. Thanks.
True. Zhang and his kind don't deserve any respect!
Little Bebe Hua was coming back home after being somewhere and nearly stepped right into the fight. Good thing she didn't get sucked into it like what would probably have happened in real life.
I hope he won't take losing out on his wife and child!
^Gotta be honest, my imagination has gone wild thinking about that. It makes you wonder...
Yeah...Derrick is just scared, and as coco mentioned the laws in China are pretty strict and fierce - I'd heard the same - so even though he knows Bruce didn't do anything wrong, he hopes apologizing can help mend things and Zhang won't allow his bitterness to consume him.
I would think the man would be more humiliated to admit to losing the fight so would not press charges.
Most normal men would, but Zhang is not a normal man. He strikes me as the type who'd do anything to get revenge if he was defeated in "battle." He's the "boss" and wants everyone to know it.
I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and I really should get working on the next part... I just have to figure out how something is going to play out first. I gotta get it right!
Comments
So, honestly...I wrote that last post like a year ago.
I've had tons of other story ideas bouncing around in my head now that I've finished writing that story, and have been dying to write them up, but one thing that's really been poking at my brain is to FINISH the Holland Family Story! So I think that's the first thing I need to do.
***Anyway, to those of you who are unfamiliar with the story please go to my blog here where the story has been kept and preserved and where the images are actually showing up. (whereas on here they don't. Long story...
Once you're caught up (and that's finishing reading "The Next Gen" part of the story as well) I should be starting on the continuation of the story.
Stay tuned!
I feel it necessary to write out a synopsis (it's gonna be LONG because this is a crazy involved story!) of the entire story to get those of you who aren't familiar with the it up to speed (and remind those who are
*A short disclaimer here before I begin: I want to inform you all that this story includes events, topics, and struggles that can be bothersome or triggering to some of you so I hope you'll respect that it's just a story and that I'm not trying to cause you any mental pain by reading it.
So anyway, with that being said, lets get this party started shall we?
This story started out as a challenge save. The "Single Dad with 5 kids Challenge."
We have the main character and Patriarch of the family: Michael Holland; he was the single dad in question. His wife, Bronwyn, died early from struggles with anorexia, and left him with their 5 children.
The children in order from oldest to youngest:
Bailey, Derrick, Andrea, Molly and Tristan. (Bailey and Derrick started out at teens, Andrea and Molly were children, and Tristan was a toddler).
So Michael is a medical doctor and he had to quit his full time medical practice (as per the challenge rules) and take up a part time job so that he could be there for his kids, but also provide for them. (Barely!
During that time he met Jenni Jones-Brown and the two hit it off pretty quickly. So much so that it surprised Michael, as he just lost his wife, and it greatly angered the kids for a time. But the poor man was lonely...and he was really struggling caring for his kids all on his own.
In the meantime, during Michael and Jenni's courtship, Bailey was turning into a rebellious teen, getting cozy with a not so very good guy named Shark Rackett. Derrick was having girl troubles, especially trying to woo his crush Jade Greenwood.
Eventually the kids took a liking to Jenni and Michael asked her to marry him I think...after she gave birth to their son, Ken. I'm sharing this all out of memory and sometimes it's poor.
At one point in the story Bailey ran home informing her father that Shark tried to ra'pe her using the "date ra'pe drug" and she collapsed to the floor. Needless to say she learned a big lesson and reverted from her rebellious ways, developing trust issues with men along the way. She grew up to become a Reporter. Derrick and Jade married straight out of high school and he became a Fireman. They wanted children right away, but struggled getting pregnant and it was heartbreaking.
You still with me?
Let's go back to Sue, Jenni's daughter from Goodwin Goode. So she had always been a good girl, knew that her step father (Michael) truly loved her as he always made sure to take time out for her, and that love is something she'd carry with her for the rest of her life.
But she got a little boy crazy in high school. Dated this kid, but then he moved away and promised to keep in touch with her, but...we all know how long distance relationships go most of the time.
Now let's bring in Sinbad Rotter, her biological father Goodwin's old roommate and now nemesis. Interestingly enough, Sinbad and Goodwin had recently become familiar with a lovely reporter named Bailey Holland.
His target was Goodwin's daughter Sue. (She's still a teen (17) and he's like her dad's age ok).
He saw Sue all sad and vulnerable out on the town one night and let's just say he wooed her into his bed (after getting her to fall hard for him) and she ended up having secret relations with him. All seemed fine and dandy to poor innocent Sue, but then Sinbad started treating her like...property, if you get my drift.
Sue was caught into a horrible mindset thinking that she needed to submit to him or he was going to kill her. When she'd turn up at home with bruises on her, Michael and Jenni grew very concerned and turned to Goodwin, who is a police officer, and asked him to investigate.
His investigation led to spying on Sue entering Sinbad's home and that's when he called in back up and they bust in rescuing Sue and arresting Sinbad. But not before Goodwin beat the snot out of him for what he did to his daughter, physically AND emotionally!
After that very horrible and sad event the Holland family was met with another one as Andrea's husband, Daniel, had been killed in a car accident while returning home from a family reunion. (I believe).
On the bright side, Derrick and Jade looked into In-vitro to have children and it was successful! It was quite the shock to find out she was carrying Triplets, but not entirely unexpected.
Bailey and Goodwin were also expecting their first child. All the parties in that drama eventually came to peace with it, as we saw in Michael and Jenni turning to Goodwin for help in finding out what was going on with Sue.
Molly, Tay, and Shawn were doing great!
Tristan was dating Emerald and all was good there, expect for the fact that they're more party animals than their parents would've liked...
Ken, Michael and Jenni's blood child, was doing pretty well in school and was really developing a love for fishing as it was something he and his dad did every weekend. As for girls...he wasn't too worried about them, or crushing on them, and even felt the same going into his teen years.
As for Sue, she never recovered from that horrible, domineering relantionship with Sinbad. He caused her to get very messed up in the head.
*And that's where the Holland Family Story ended and I went on to the Holland Family: Next Generation.*
Deep breath...
So the Next Gen part of the story begins with what happened in the last 2 years starting with showing Michael and Jenni aging into Elders. The idea of getting old was weighing heavily upon Michael.
Then Jenni breaks the news to him that where they thought she was going through menopause...she was actually pregnant again and that was a HUGE shocker!
We then find out that Sue escaped to the big city of Bridgeport and supported herself there through Prostitution. We go back to her many experiences with that from time to time, wondering if she'll ever desire to return home. ???
Andrea finally became a Resident and was enjoying the heck out of her career. She bought her own home and life was going pretty well considering her loss. Occasionally she'd hear from an old buddy she met at Uni, Stephen Brackney, and they would text on and off. He was always keen on calling her a "Brainiac."
Molly and Tay...hoo boy how do I put all of this in a condensed form?
Basically, life was going great for them, their son Shawn is a child now, but Tay became too focused on his work and Molly was feeling neglected. They had poor communication skills in their marriage so that wasn't helping either. Molly befriended a man in their apartment complex (Brandon Tirado) and he'd flirt with her sometimes, but she'd inform him she was married and he was trying to respect that and yada yada. Molly tried talking to Tay about feeling neglected, but he didn't seem to get it and nothing was getting better. Finally Molly got fed up and willingly had an affair with Brandon. She's secretly been seeing him ever since, and shockingly through doing that her relationship with Tay was improving...but she was beginning to feel great remorse (especially for Shawn's sake) so she decided it is time to come clean to Tay and break it off with Brandon. She can only hope Tay will forgive her.......
We'll find out what happens there later.
Derrick and Jade were having a crazy life raising triplets (named Madison, Mason, and Allison), but they were also enjoying it.
Bailey, Goodwin, and their daughter Celeste (now a child) are living the good life. Goodwin is ready to retire from the police force, but he can't just yet.
One night he informed Bailey that Sinbad had been killed in prison...to which Bailey's reaction was "Good Riddance! We'd still have Sue around if it wasn't for him!" Goodwin agreed, but it made him realize just how short life can be...
Bailey expressed her desire to him about having another baby and with Goodwin being in his old age, he didn't feel like that was the best idea. We'll find out more on that soon.
Tristan and Emerald inadvertently expressed to their parents that they felt marriage was overrated - when both their parents expected them to marry soon - and Tristan finally revealed to his dad that they would be moving in together. Michael was not happy with that and encouraged Tristan to marry Emerald as that is the right thing to do, but Tristan told him he was living in the "old days" and needed to get into the 21st Century. So yeah, a little drama there and we'll see how life goes for him and Emerald once they move in together.
So finally...that is where we are at now with the story. Whew!
I hope the story sounds good enough that some of you will want to read it. I've enjoyed writing it thoroughly. Each chapter feels like a fresh new story since I'm writing about a different family member and their family, so it doesn't get boring.
The new chapter is coming soon so be on the lookout.
Gonna paste my list of old followers here, I hope most of you are still around.
@peach77 @katgirl @hardfamily @ariel0105 @knippybunny @tadolson @lanlyn @enchantedprey @msbeckycat @amaresity @redvelvet @lovelylisac @lablue0314 @jillbg @ACB44 @Surreal @thuggishsplicer @puddinroy @PalmArrow @karritz @moonandstars83 @cravenlestat @texansky @GaiaHypothesis @KatNip @meeoun @cupcake12 @epochism @busyv1954 @bekkasan
Happy Simming my friends.
Holland Family: The Next Generation
Chapter 9
The following days passed by normally for Andrea Holland. Get up, drink coffee while reading the newspaper, head to work, stay there for at least 12 hours, come home, maybe read a book or watch TV, and go to sleep. That was her norm in life now and honestly she didn't mind it at all. She was becoming quite content with it.
But there was a disturbance in her schedule now and she wasn't happy about it.
Beverly Castor's waving finger toward her face while saying, Ah ah ah, I won't take No for an answer, kept replaying in her mind like a broken record. The nerve she had telling me I'm not getting any younger, she huffed from within, she knows I lost my husband not too long ago! And how does Thomas feel about her playing secret matchmaker for him? If my step-mom ever did anything like that in regards to setting me up I would be furious! She could feel her cheeks burning, the sweat perspiring on her brow, her fingers tightening into fists, but then she released all the tension through a deep sigh to try and calm herself down. A woman like Beverly wasn't worth the energy.
She kept hoping, with each and every passing day, that Thomas would forget to call her about their date OR if she were lucky, he'd be just as furious with his mother as she was and spare her the awkward situation. It'd been so many years since she associated with him, her old high school crush, that she wasn't even sure how he was going respond to this whole arrangement. He really didn't leave her with the best taste in her mouth after that horrible night at Prom where he humiliated her. A night she promptly made herself forget. But that was years ago and everyone did stupid things in high school.
On her day off one afternoon she invited her father over to share her dilemma with him and gain some sagely advice. He'd always been good at counseling his children; even if some of them only took it with a grain of salt. Andrea never did. She was very close to her father.
"I don't know what to do dad," she concluded. "A big part of me wants to reject Thomas if or when he calls, I have plenty of legit reasons, but," she sighed, "I worry that by so doing Beverly will hunt me down and wave her finger in my face again and demand that I 'stay true to my word!'"
Michael cracked a smile at that, only in slight amusement at her statement. He was rather disappointed in the way Beverly approached his daughter.
"This is just weighing on my chest like a ton of bricks and I hate it! I just want some relief. To be able to breathe! What should I do?"
Michael placed a tender hand on her shoulder. "You relax," he began with a wink, "and then you go on the date with Thomas when he calls."
Her face froze. "Huh!?" That's not the answer she was expecting.
"Trust me Andrea," he went on, "because if you do not satisfy Beverly's desire for you to date her son you may never hear the end of it."
Her eyebrows arched for a moment. "Good point," she acknowledged, "but if that were to ever happen you'd tell her to get off my back right?"
"Believe me that's tempting to do right now," he replied with a chuckle, "but...I'm afraid I cannot fix this one for you honey. I won't deny that I'm a little irked at Beverly for forcing a date on you with her son, but when he calls I trust that you'll know how to handle it and do the right thing. The thing that's best for everyone and that will give you peace."
He smiled lovingly at her.
Andrea couldn't help returning the loving smile, but...
"Why do you always have to give me an indirect answer on how to solve my problems?"
Michael then pat her back with a grin. "Because that's what parents do. We want you to learn how to face your problems head on, by your own accord, and give you loving encouragement along with way."
Andrea half rolled her eyes at the response, but she smiled gratefully anyway. "Thanks dad. I love you."
"Love you too."
Then the two proceeded to talk about work and got in a few laughs about some humorous patients they encountered.
****
Two days later Andrea sat at the bar enjoying her morning coffee and reading the newspaper when her phone buzzed. Her heart skipped a beat for a moment and not in a good way. She hesitantly glanced down to see who the call was from.
Immediate relief washed over her as it was just a text from her college buddy Stephen.
It read:
Mornin' Brainiac! Did that B***h's son give you a call yet?
She about spat out her coffee all over the newspaper reading that text. She typed back:
Lol! 😂 Not yet. But you sure got quite the laugh out of me. I kinda needed that.
Well I aim to please. 😏
This has just been stressing me out to no end Stephen! I swear she could've picked ANY single woman in Twinbrook to date her son! WHY did it have to be me!?
Stephen had the perfect answer for that, but another thought came in that caused him to pause. Twinbrook? You live there?
Yes. I grew up here. I thought I told you that.
You might've and I just forgot. I think I'm supposed to go to a coach's conference there in a couple of weeks. But I could be wrong.
Because of Stephen's Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, which Andrea diagnosed for him back at college, he was encouraged by his doctors and parents not to pursue his professional athlete career like he'd always dreamed of doing. It was heartbreaking for him for a long while there, learning to come to terms with his heart problem, but thankfully he was able to land a position as Assistant Coach for the college Football Team. Just a month previous he'd been promoted to Head Coach. It was such an honor! Especially for someone as young as him.
Oh yeah? Andrea responded with, finally releasing her eyes from the newspaper again to answer the text. Sorry to tell ya, but there's really nothing to see here.
Oh I dunno about that, came the reply, there's you. 😉
For some reason that text caused Andrea's heart to skip a beat in the same way it did earlier when she thought Thomas was calling.
You could show me around your hometown, he added.
I dunno, Andrea felt to type, Most likely we won't get to see each other at all. I've been pulling double shifts lately.
We'll see. 😏
Andrea shot a glance at her watch. And speaking of, I have to go now Stephen.
Oh alright. Don't kill anyone ok? 😜
Never!
As she stepped out the front door and turned to lock it, she pressed her back firmly against it and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. The last thing she needed was for Stephen to show up in her life. She was just fine texting him, but seeing him again, she wasn't sure she could. He was a blast from the past...the past where she fell in love with her Daniel.
****
During her lunch break Andrea saw that she had a missed call from Thomas Castor. She closed her eyes with a sigh. So it begins...
Late that evening when her shift was over she cringed when the phone rang as she barely exited the hospital. It was Thomas again - after two more attempted calls - and there was no avoiding him now. "Hello?"
"H-Hey Andrea," came the reply. "Thought I was gonna get your voicemail again. It's Thomas Castor. It's been a long time."
"Hey Thomas. Yes, it has been a long time."
"Sorry if I was bothering you during your work hours...guess I kinda forgot that you're a...doctor now."
"Medical Resident actually, but it's all good."
"Right..."
The long pause was getting way too awkward.
"So...what's up?" Andrea asked.
The poor man's breath sounds revealed he was crazy nervous. "Umm, my mom mentioned she had a chat with you and suggested I ask you out and handed me a paper with your number on it. Not sure how she got it..."
Andrea rolled her eyes. "I wonder..."
"Anyway, at first I was gonna leave it alone because I didn't want to bother you, but...my mom keeps asking me when I'm going to ask you out so I figured I better do it before she drives me crazy!"
That actually made Andrea chuckle. Funny they had the same kind of thought. "I understand. So...you're asking me out then?"
"Well...uh...yeah. I mean, Yes, if you'd like to go out with me that is?"
Honestly she really didn't, but she remembered her dad's words, and felt her response would provide the best outcome for everyone involved. "Sure. It will be nice to catch up."
"Sweet!" Thomas happily said. Then he gave her all the details on where they would meet up for their date tomorrow.
****
Andrea was to meet Thomas at the Willowglen Amphitheater at 5 pm for a picnic dinner date.
5 pm came all too quickly.
Normally a woman would get herself all dressed up for a first date, but number one: Andrea was never the type to doll herself up or wear makeup and number two: she really wasn't all that excited to go on this date enough to encourage doing herself up. However she tried to look at it in a positive light especially for Thomas's sake; he too was a victim here. We'll just be two old friends hanging out and catching up after a few years of not seeing each other. This isn't a date, she told herself.
She brought some homemade cookies along that her sister-in-law Jade made for her to be their dessert and drove on over to the Amphitheater trying hard not to dread this whole thing.
Thomas's face lit up brightly at the sight of her and he stood himself up from the "bleachers" to greet her. They exchanged pleasantries and proceeded to set up their picnic dinner which consisted of, turkey sandwiches, chips, bananas and soda. Thomas told her it was very thoughtful of her to bring the cookies and that he couldn't wait to dig into them. Andrea chuckled. She'd honesty forgotten how good looking of a guy he really is...almost as charming as he was back in high school.
When they finished eating and cleaned everything up, they went on to finish the conversation they were having about Thomas's older brother Jeffrey.
"Yeah he's been through some rough patches since graduating high school," Thomas continued, "he got really into drugs in college and started gambling. It's become somewhat of an addiction so my parents encouraged him to come back home and live with them as a kind of 'rehab' to help him overcome it."
"That's good," Andrea remarked.
"Buuuut...how can they help him get over his addiction if they have an old slot machine in the living room and play around with it from time to time?" He shrugged.
"I have no idea!" she laughed.
He laughed too. Oh the irony!
"So now he's gotten so used to all the luxuries of my mom waiting on him hand and foot that he absolutely refuses to move out and get on with his life!"
"That su'cks," was all Andrea could think to say.
"Yeah," he sighed. "I get the feeling my parents feel like they failed him so they're going back to coddling him, which I don't think is helping him in the least bit! It kinda puts a lot of pressure on me though...as my mom, as you've noticed, keeps hounding me to hurry up and find a girl and get married. 'To give us grandbabies!' Because Jeffrey let them down in that regard you know? Do you have any idea how insufferable that is to deal with!?"
Andrea glanced away for a moment. "Ohhh yes..." She had a feeling that Thomas would ask her about her deceased husband so she quickly changed the subject. "So is your father feeling any better?"
"Yes," came the relieved reply. "Thank you for asking. You're dad's a great doctor and knows all the right meds to get him on."
Next they went on to chat about High School and some of their old classmates. The kind of "Do you remember so and so, and how do you think they are doing?" kind of conversations.
That prompted a few shocked faces and laughs out of them both.
The Amphitheater slowly began to darken as the sun lowered more and more behind the mountains.
"So there's this 'miracle pill,' that's blowing up all over the internet," Thomas began to ask her about, "that guarantees at least a 15 pound weight loss in a week! It's called Slimsim. Have you heard about it? And if so is it legit?"
"No I've never heard about it," she frankly answered, "and I honestly don't follow that kind of stuff. All weight loss pills are a load of cr'ap, and none of them ever work no matter what new exotic ingredient they put in it or which kind of TV doctor promotes it! There's no easy way out when it comes to weight loss. You have to lower your caloric intake and portion sizes, eat more fresh foods, and exercise at least 30 minutes a day to see any progress. Remember that and don't risk your life on those pills! I've seen too many cases where they've done some serious damage to people's organs."
"Wow!" Thomas stared at her blankly, but then brightly smiled. "You should totally get on to Dr. Simoz's TV show and say exactly THAT!"
"Oh I wish I could..." Then her phone started ringing.
"Sorry I gotta take this, hang on a sec," she said while lifting a finger and stepping away.
A few minutes later, as the darkness of night finally made its appearance, she returned to Thomas's side. "Sorry. Just a little emergency at the hospital, but it's ok now."
"You don't have to go in and help?" he asked.
"Nope."
"Good...because I was hoping we could hang out a little more as this has been fun." He blushed, but she couldn't see it in the dark.
"Yeah...it has been," she could honestly admit. If anything it was just nice to get out and talk to and hang with a friend when all she'd been doing is working for months! "So what do you have planned now?"
Thomas stared up intently at the clear night sky as he replied, "I was thinking we could catch a movie, but seeing how brilliant these stars are shining I'd rather just stay here and watch them while catching up some more if that's alright with you."
Andrea shrugged. "Sure." Going to a movie was so cliche anyway, she thought. She liked his idea better, even if it had a hint of romance to it.
"I'd heard this was the best place in town to go stargazing," he said, lowering himself to the ground, "but I didn't remember that until now."
Andrea joined him on the ground trying not to sit too closely, but with it being so dark she didn't realize just how close she'd gotten. Their arms nearly touched.
"Wow," she breathed, gazing, "they really do look gorgeous tonight. I can even see the Milky Way..."
"Yeah..."
Something about this setting finally brought out Thomas's sensitive side.
"I know this is long overdue," he began, "but I wanted to sincerely apologize for the way I treated you at the Prom. I was such a je'rk back then and...not a day went by after that I didn't wonder how my behavior affected you."
Andrea smiled at his sweetness. "I got over it more quickly than I expected so...you're alright. Thank you."
He blushed again.
For a moment there they sat in silence until Thomas gulped hard enough to where Andrea could hear it.
"I hope you don't think me forward by asking this, but...those feelings you had for me back then," he paused, "is any of it...still present?"
It was a bold thing to ask, but Andrea couldn't blame him after all the pressure he was under from his mother. She had to choose her words carefully.
"Well...it's certainly nothing against you--"
"Ohhh boy..."
"No really you still have that sweet side that I always saw in you back then." They gazed into each others eyes for a moment. "But," she continued, "I moved on. You moved on. I went to college, met a wonderful man and then married him. Then I finally graduated from medical school. So because of all that, No, my teenage feelings for you are no longer present." She hoped that didn't sound too harsh. "I'm so sorry."
She could see a twinge of disappointment in Thomas's eyes, but he casually waved it off. "Ah, it's alright. It was a long shot. I appreciate your honesty."
After that all there was left to do was gaze up at the stars, gasp for a moment if they saw a shooting one, and that's how the two stayed for several minutes.
Thomas finally broke the silence.
"I'm sorry you lost your husband Andrea. That news affected all of us who know you and your family."
Andrea tried to hold back the tears. Daniel's death still felt like it happened yesterday. "Thank you. I'm sorry your mother keeps putting pressure on you to marry, but hang in there. Don't rush into relationship with just anyone just because that's what your mom wants. Be in a relationship because it feels right. And trust me...you'll know when it feels right."
Thomas looked upon her with great appreciation. "Thanks Andrea. So.....friends?"
"Yeah...friends." And she was happy to call him one again.
They both stood up to prepare to leave.
Thomas took who once could've been his love into his arms and said, "Thank you for a nice time out tonight Andrea. Maybe we can do it again sometime over coffee or something?"
Andrea kindly accepted his embrace. "Maybe. I sure get super busy with work, but when I'm available...I'd like that."
************************
That evening when Tay returned home from work he shared the happy news with Molly that he was being considered for a promotion and that came with less LONG hours in the Science Lab doing research, conducting tests, and all that stuff. Which meant more time with his family.
Molly was honestly thrilled! "Tay! That's so wonderful! Oh I hope you get it!"
"Yeah. I'm sure keeping my fingers crossed!" He then took his wife in for a tight hug. "Thank you for being such a great support to me Molly. I couldn't have gotten this far in my career without you by my side and encouraging me. I love you."
Molly pressed Tay's cheek closer to hers, trying to fight back the tears as she thought about how this gave her all the more reason to break things off with Brandon; whom she loved too. "You're welcome," she finally said, "and I love you too."
She truly did. She was in love with two men so breaking it off with either one of them would be crazy hard. But she and Tay had a history, they were each other's first loves and they had a child together. So it only made sense that she stay with the man she is married to and break if off with the man she is not. But oh how I don't want to break his heart either! If she could go back in time, she wished she never would've been so foolish as to invite Brandon into their home on that fateful day and seduce him into making love to her. If only she hadn't been so consumed by all the hurt and selfish anger and thought of another option to help the situation, like marriage counseling, she wouldn't be in this mess. A mess that where doing the right thing...would most likely result in her losing everything she holds dear.
"You know," he whispered, "it's been a little while since we've..." he stopped now gliding his tongue up her neck. "Shawn's asleep right?"
"Mmm," she moaned, savoring the brush of his lips upon her ear. All thoughts of her affair were gone. "Yes."
Upon hearing that Tay happily swooped her up into his arms, causing her to squeal, and then very carefully carried her up the spiral stairs to their bedroom, touching many of her "buttons" along the way.
It didn't take long for the two of them to get undressed and make love.
It was wild. Filled with intense passion. Something Molly thought had been long lost between them.
********************
Fall was coming in Twinbrook. It could be felt in the air and in the early morning rain's chilling drops.
Shawn waited for the Bus underneath his umbrella and saw a very large rain puddle just across the street. The corners of his mouth turned up into a bright grin. Quickly glancing both ways he made his way over to it.
Mom will kill me for doing this, he thought, but I'm going to school so she'll never know!
The boy was having one heck of a joyous time splashing around in that "forbidden" puddle, but once the bus arrived he couldn't help thinking about how things weren't so joyous with his mom...and they hadn't been for a while.
She'd act happy around him and his dad, as if everything was fine, but he could always sense there was something more going on with her. Like something...bad. He could never pinpoint it though and tried not to feel too anxious about it as he sat down in a seat. He once approached his dad about her acting differently, but he assured him she was fine and just had a bad day. He believed it for a time, but then his mother started to act strangely again and his worries came flooding back. A big part of him felt like he needed to tell someone else about this, like his Grandpa. But another part of him wondered if it was just "grown up stuff" they'd never tell him about, so he should let it be. He wasn't sure which voice to listen to.
****
Molly tenderly kissed Tay goodbye on his way out to work, in the foyer area outside their apartment door.
"Last night was amazing!" he turned to whisper in her ear and then smiled at her. "I'll see you when I get home."
All she could do was nod.
Once the door closed behind him, Molly stepped into the laundry nook and carefully glanced out the window to make sure he was completely gone before going to buzz Brandon's apartment.
Her heart pounded as she pressed the button, told him to meet her in the laundry nook, and struggled to breathe as she sat down in a chair and waited for him to arrive. The wait was torture. She wasn't exactly sure how her lover was going to react to this, but it probably wouldn't hold a torch to how Tay was going to react to it; being blissfully unaware that his wife had secretly been cheating on him for two whole years.
"Hey babe!" Brandon happily greeted upon seeing her.
Molly was instantly snapped out of her thoughts and turned to gaze up at him as he moved closer to stand before her. She couldn't help what she did next.
"Woah--"
"Oh Brandon!"
When she released her lips she pressed her forehead against his and stared down at the floor with a frown, trying desperately to hold back the tears.
"What's wrong?" he asked with concern.
"Brandon," she choked, stepping back to get some breathing room. "Gosh I don't even know how to begin this," she cleared her throat and tried to muster up all the courage she had within her.
"C'mon it's me," Brandon assured her. "You can tell me anything."
"I know it's just...I don't want to tell you this, but...I have to."
His eyes narrowed a bit as he slightly co'ck'ed his head to the side.
Gulping she started with, "Brandon I've been thinking about a lot of things lately. About us and about me and Tay. And this guilt has been weighing on my heart for too long and...I can't keep pretending that everything is ok when it's not."
Brandon shifted his gaze away from her towards the floor.
"I look into Shawn's eyes each and everyday," she continued, "and I feel like I'm cheating on him just as much as I'm cheating on his father. It's not fair to him Brandon. He's an innocent victim in all this and I am SICK with myself because of it!
I don't want to hurt his daddy anymore, but mostly I don't wanna hurt my baby!" Now the tears began to well up.
Then Brandon finally spoke. "So what are you saying then?"
"I'm saying that," she blinked to release the tears, "as much as I love you Brandon, I've gotta do what's right here and come clean to Tay. I know it will most likely break up our family and cause them to hate me, but I can't live with this guilt anymore. It's time to accept the consequences of my actions."
Brandon nodded, eyes still looking down at the floor.
"I'm so so sorry honey! You know I have to do this don't you?"
She fully expected Brandon to become angry and shout out in protest, but surprisingly he took her by the hand and quietly replied, "Yeah."
Now she curiously gazed into his eyes.
"It pains me to hear you say it, but...I knew this day would eventually come," he admitted. "It sure was fun in the beginning but, I'd be lying if I said I didn't eventually start feeling some guilt too."
Molly wiped the tears from her eyes and begged him with them to go on.
"I've always known you love Tay and I know how much you love Shawn. Every time I would see that kid it would dawn on me what I was doing: screwing up his life and his family. Honestly Molly...I never wanted to become that guy who breaks up a family."
"Then why did you indulge me?" she couldn't help asking.
"Because you are...hot! And you were quite the temptress that day. I'd gotten the feeling you'd fallen out of love with Tay; that he wasn't in love with you anymore and you wanted a better life, but as it turns out...I was wrong." His eyes now seemed to bore into her soul. "Because I could always feel your love for him Molly. I could see it in the way you'd look at him. That's when I realized that we'd never have a future together and that's when the guilt started."
Molly nodded, surprised and yet relieved by his honest response. "How long have you felt that way?"
Brandon slipped his hands into his pockets while thinking. "Oh I dunno...maybe after like a year of seeing each other on and off."
"Why didn't you come to me about it?"
He shrugged. "Probably for the same reason you didn't come to me earlier about how you're feeling."
She knew what he was saying. Their relationship had mostly been physical and it was good. Really good. Hard to resist. But her love for him developed when he became that shoulder she could cry on, and that listener, that Tay wasn't at the time.
"So things are better now between you two?" he asked her.
She nodded.
"That's good at least..." He lowered his head in dejection.
Molly then stepped forward and took his hand. "I really am sorry Brandon. You don't know how much it pains me to do this, but I thank you for being so understanding and," she paused, "being there for me when I needed it. Even if it was a grave mistake."
"I'm sorry too," he said in more ways than one. "For Shawn's sake I really hope Tay can forgive you."
"I do too. I guess...if he doesn't it probably wouldn't be the best idea for us to get back together huh?" She just had to know his thoughts on that.
Grimacing he replied, "Probably not."
She nodded while staring down at the floor herself now.
"Besides I got offered another job that's all the way across town and I was thinking of moving to an apartment that's closer."
Molly's head shot up, gazing at him with heartbroken eyes.
"I guess this is my answer that I should take it."
Molly's love for him wanted to beg him to stay, but she knew it was for the best. It would help considerably during the aftermath of her confession to Tay. This break up turned out surprisingly better than she'd imagined. Almost like it'd been...a blessing. Funny how that works? she thought as she shot a glance up toward the ceiling.
"So I guess...this is goodbye then?" Brandon asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
With a slight nod she replied, "Yes," and then leaned in to give him one last kiss.
"It's been a beautiful two years that I'll always cherish Molly," he said to her. "Best of luck to you."
When Molly got back into her apartment she thanked God for a moment, but then immediately begged Him that Tay would be just as understanding. But odds are...he wouldn't be. And she wouldn't blame him.
****
When Shawn returned home from school and conversed a little bit with his mother, he knew then more than ever that something was definitely wrong. He could see she was holding back tears the entire time they spoke and wouldn't ever look him in the eye when it was her turn to talk. That was unusual.
When she told him, "Mommy's gotta go upstairs and fold some laundry," he took that opportunity to step into a secluded spot in the kitchen where the wall phone was and called his grandpa.
"Hey Grandpa, it's Shawn," he whispered. "Something's been wrong with mommy for a while."
"How so?" Michael asked in a tone of worry.
"She always looks like she's gonna cry, but she doesn't, and just pretends to be happy," he paused to look back toward the stairs and make sure she wasn't coming down. "I think she's keeping a secret grandpa and I don't know why."
Now most people would probably find that response a little humorous coming from a kid, because in reality parents do keep some secrets from their children mostly for their well-being. But Michael Holland had no such thought. He believed his grandson instantly that something was wrong or he wouldn't be whispering and he'd learned long ago that kids know and sense more than parents realize.
With a pit in his stomach he said to Shawn, "Don't you worry too much little buddy ok? I'll talk to your mommy and see what's going on. Thank you for telling me."
"You're welcome Grandpa. I love you."
"Love you too."
*********************
To be continued.
Thanks @KevinL5275 !
I just want to pick Shawn up and take him to his grandpa though. He's gonna need lots of loving once she opens up to Tay about it. I just don't see how anyone can forgive something like that. I know people do it every day, but it sure would be hard for me to do it so I don't understand how this is gonna work. Can't wait to read it though. Get busy writing!
I love the happy interlude with Shawn playing in the water puddles!
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
@bekkasan Aww...your compliment here just warmed my heart.
Yes it will be one LARGE hurdle for her.......
My heart is seriously breaking inside for little Shawn, but I'm thankful he has his grandparents and Aunts and Uncles in town that he can turn to if he ever needs to.
It was so cute watching him play in the puddle that I had to take a pic and incorporate it in somehow.
I'm still here, I am just a year behind on your big thread, and I am not posting my stories anymore. But I still read and respond.
Interesting results to the affair. At least Brandon does not want to ruin the family
You'll have to visit my blog to read it though as it has content that is not suitable for the forums...
(Pretty much any time I write about Sue, you'll have to be directed to my blog.)
I hope you all enjoy it.
“I just...can’t stand the thought of getting old, you know? Truthfully, it frightens me because I’ve seen every worse case of it.”
and then...
Now Sue was ready to hit up one of the private Lounges in one of the many high rise buildings.
Naturally once she got to the floor of the Lounge, the doors were guarded by a Bouncer. She rolled her eyes slightly, but then threw on a grin as she stepped forward and did what she always did in this situation: use her wiles to try and seduce the Bouncer.
I didn't know you had that in you, girl. Your husband is a lucky man.
Nice update to the story!!
@KevinL5275
It's nice to know I've succeeded at it.
And I'm just as lucky to have my husband as he is to have me.
I thought I would post the first scene of Chapter 12 in the Holland Family Next Gen story for you before I move on to the next scene as it's a completely different, happier setting.
Thanks everyone.
(If you need to catch up, you can give yourself a refresher by starting here on my Blog.
Chapter 12
On this morning, Michael made his way over to his daughter Molly’s apartment. Her son, and his grandson, Shawn’s revelation about his unhappy mother who was possibly keeping a secret had been weighing heavily upon Michael’s heart ever since. He could no longer contain his curiosity, but mostly his great concern.
Molly happily opened the door at the sight of her father and invited him inside. It’d been a while since he stopped by for a visit. Usually any family gatherings they had happened at his house. The official home of the Holland Family; where everyone grew up.
“It’s nice to see you dad,” she said. “What brings you here this morning?”
Michael slid his hands into his pockets and replied, “Oh nothing much. I just thought I’d stop by and see how my Molly is doing.” He smiled.
Molly returned the smile. “Aww, that’s sweet dad. I’m doing...fine. Umm,” she paused, running her fingers through the back of her hair, “there’s really not a whole lot going on around here. Just the usual life stuff.”
Michael nodded and figured he was going to have to ease his way into his inquiry.
He started off by asking her how things were going at Tay’s work and also how Shawn was faring in school. They carried on a pleasant conversation about those things and he was happy to hear that all was well in those areas.
“So what’ve you been up to?” he asked. “Doing anything fun with all this free time you’ve been given since Shawn is now in school all day?” He winked.
Molly cracked a smile. “Oh, not much...just taking care of the house, managing the bills, going grocery shopping, reading my book and occasionally visiting with Jade and the triplets. You know, normal house wife stuff.” She gripped her hands behind her back and curled her lip nervously.
Uh huh… “Have you given any more thought about going back to school? I remember you mentioning it.”
“Yeah,” she replied with her nose scrunched, “but I dunno if I really want to. It’s just so much money and I’m not sure if I’d qualify for any scholarships.”
“You never know unless you try,” he said, “or have you changed your mind because you two are planning to have another child?” He winked. He wasn’t usually this prying and Molly gave him a look like she was wondering why.
“Yeeeeah, not right now dad,” was her reply.
“Oh,” he said in a somewhat disappointed tone.
A few moments of silence ensued between them, and during that time Michael studied his daughter’s eyes very closely. He could usually read people’s emotions quite easily that way, but how bloodshot hers were got the better of his attention.
“Are you alright?” he asked. “Your eyes are a little bloodshot.”
He swore he caught Molly roll them for a split second. She stammered in her reply, “Oh...uh...it’s my a-allergies,” and pressed her forefingers on the bridge of her nose. “They’ve been so itchy lately.”
“In the Fall?” he questioned. “Your allergies always seemed to let up by this time.”
She groaned, throwing her hands on her hips. “Okay so I was crying a bit last night. Can’t keep anything from you doctors!”
Now Michael felt he was getting somewhere. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing dad. I’m fine now.”
But he continued to stare at her with concern. “No,” he said, “I don’t think you are.” He could see it now...everything Shawn could see. The little white lies she was feeding him were clearly an attempt to cover up an even more serious problem.
For a moment they stared at each other and tears began to form upon Molly’s eyelids. She tried to hold them back, but failed. “I don’t know what you’re getting at dad…” It hurt her too much to say more. It did pain her to lie to her father, but she should’ve known it would all be in vain as he’d find some loving way to break her. He was good at that.
Michael licked his lips as he started elaborating on Shawn’s phone call to him.
He concluded by saying, “Look honey, I know you have a personal adult life and I respect that, but when my grandson calls me worried sick about his mom - my daughter - not acting like herself and may be keeping a secret...I can’t ignore that. Kids know more than we realize Molly so...there’s something you’re not telling me; not telling any of us.”
“Dad,” she began, her heart pounding. “This is not something you want to know. I took care of it and it’s over now okay.” It wasn’t in the plan to reveal all this to her father before she did Tay.
“But sweetie I want to know...so I can help you.”
“You can’t help me with this one dad.”
“Is it drugs or some kind of addiction?”
“No--”
“Because if it is there’s hope! You don’t have to--”
“DAD!”
The sharpness in her tone silenced him.
With tears rolling down her cheeks she went on. “Okay, you wanna know the truth?” she gulped, blinking rapidly. “For the past two years...I’ve been having an affair with another man.”
Michael’s facial reaction to the news was exactly the way she expected it to be.
Now she began to cry. “I’ve been cheating on Tay,” she barely managed to say, “and I did it willingly.”
Michael’s gaze slid down to the floor, no longer feeling shock now, but great sorrow. He closed his eyes and shook his head whispering, “Oh Molly…”
“Go ahead! Tell me how awful of a person I am!” Molly cried as she threw herself down onto the couch.
Michael shifted his gaze toward her again. “No,” he simply said. “It would seem you’re already aware of that.”
She nodded and said while sniffling, “I’m going to make this right dad, I promise! It was killing me so I broke it off with the other guy and now I’m just trying to muster up the courage to confess to Tay.”
A million different questions poured into Michael’s mind and oh how much he wanted to grill her with them; to scold her for making such a stupid, terrible mistake and stress that he taught her better! But no, he thought, that wouldn’t do any good. He could see she felt ashamed and was reminded that no one, no matter how well raised, is immune to making mistakes. Heaven knows he’d made plenty! No one is perfect, as much as he’d always like to think his children were. It’s all part of the never ending cycle of growth and learning in life. If his faith had taught him anything it was that God still loves His children no matter what they’ve done; that His arms are open, ready and willing to forgive them if they desire it. Michael closed his eyes for a moment and took in a breath. He needed to rise up and be that kind of father too, no matter how difficult and how shattered his heart had just become.
“I’m proud of your desire to make this right,” he calmly said to her as he sat down beside her. “And yes, you need to tell Tay, but you’ll also need to let Shawn know what’s been going on too.”
“I know,” she sniffed, her head still lowered. Soon her shoulders drooped and began to shake rapidly as she sobbed, “I’ll lose them daddy! I’ll lose them!”
Michael instantly pulled his dispirited daughter into a tight hug, gently stroking her hair and “shhing” her while shedding a few tears himself.
“You may not,” he tried to comfort, “but no matter what happens you won’t be without help and support.” Hearing that, Molly nuzzled her face into the nape of her dad’s neck, feeling extremely grateful, but not exactly deserving of it.
“Now,” Michael continued while rocking her. “I want you to tell me how this all happened.”
********************
At least Molly was honest about what happened
Continuation of Chapter 12
“Wow!” Bruce Holland whispered in awe as he stood staring up at the storied pavilion Hotel nestled high upon the hill with numerous amounts of steps leading up to the lobby and rooms. It was the most beautiful building he’d seen thus far since arriving in Shang Simla with his dad, and he knew this was only the beginning of all he’d see. He was so excited they finally arrived, it’d practically been a 24 hour flight, and he could do all the exploring his heart desired while also spending precious alone time with his dad. In many ways being here felt like a dream, like they’d landed in a whole new world. The luscious greenery, bamboo, and Chinese maple trees dotted the land so thickly that one could only see the tips of the rolling hills and mountains. It was a gorgeous country, practically a little piece of heaven that fell from the skies. Bruce closed his eyes and inhaled its aroma deeply.
“I’m gonna get us checked in,” Derrick informed him.
“Ok,” Bruce regarded. “You do that while I check this board for some awesome exploring adventures!”
Derrick cracked a smile at his son’s excitement. It reminded him so much of himself at that age. “Now let’s not rush into it, son,” he said. “You’ll wait until I return so we can go over these ‘adventures’ together before you commit to anything.”
Bruce rolled his eyes as Derrick made his way up the tall flight of stairs. He knew his dad was just trying to be cautious and look out for him, but I’m 14 now, he thought confidently, I can handle this stuff by myself! I wish he’d stop looking at me like I’m still a kid!
The job board was chock full of all kinds of requests for brave explorers to enter ancient tombs and retrieve treasures and relics for a handsome payment. Others asked for someone who’d be willing to do a little detective work for them, which could possibly lead to tomb exploration. One was even a plea for someone to go back into a forbidding underground Shrine to find a precious item the person lost in there, but was too afraid to go back in and get themselves. Bruce cracked a smile at that one. If it’s as scary as this guy describes, Dad would never let me attempt it...
When Derrick finished checking them in, he made his way down the long flights of stairs and then stood beside his son to check out the jobs on the board together. It was eventually decided, mostly by Derrick, that Bruce could accept a small job from a local woman asking for someone to retrieve a relic from the Halls of the Lost Army and return it to her. She mentioned the relic had something to do with her family history and also that her husband forbade her to go in and get it. But Bruce didn’t care about the details he just wanted to do some exploring and get paid for it! Maybe even find a little treasure for himself…
He called up the woman on his phone informing her that he was interested in taking the job and the two sealed the deal.
He and his dad then took a taxi to her home to get the keystone Bruce would need to enter the underground Shrine. With the heavy stone clutched tightly within his hand the taxi driver drove them to their next destination: the center of the city where stood the Forbidden Palace which contained the Halls of the Lost Army.
Once again the two were met with many flights of stairs, though shorter, leading up to the simple old Palace with a pagoda roof.
Bruce skipped up the stairs with haste.
“Slow down son,” Derrick asked breathlessly. He’d gone up enough stairs already for one morning and wished his COPD didn’t weaken him so.
“Come on dad...these steps aren’t that bad.” Nothing could stop the teenager from the mysterious adventure that lay within.
Once inside, Bruce took a look around. The place was void of people and for being a Palace, it didn’t really look much like one. The only thing fancy about it was the jade statues outlining the room behind short, ornate fences, the furniture, and elaborate flooring. It was an odd set up and there weren’t any other rooms or stairs in sight.
Where’s the entrance to the underground Shrine then? he thought, rubbing at his chin. The woman didn’t provide him with any details. She simply said, “You’ll know what to do when you arrive.”
It was then that Derrick finally caught up to his son inside. As Derrick looked about, admiring the decor in the grand room, Bruce’s eyes met with a foot plate standing out among the other floor tiles like a sore thumb. Ah! Now I see.
“Looks like you found the ‘way’ to the entrance,” Derrick said with a grin.
Bruce grinned brighter in return. “Now if I can position my feet just right on this plate--”
“Hey, come here for a second,” his father beckoned.
Bruce’s shoulders instantly slumped as he let out an exasperated sigh. He swiveled his body in the direction of his father and teetered toward him. “Can’t you just let me go exploring already!?”
“I will,” Derrick replied, “but first we need to set down some ground rules while we’re here pursuing our interests in this foreign country.”
The length of their vacation was only 5 days.
Bruce folded his arms impatiently waiting for his orders.
“In the morning as soon as we both leave the Hotel, like we’ve done now, you’re free to go on your exploring adventures while I head off to the Phoenix Martial Arts Academy. That’s where I’ll be for most of the time okay, and I trust that you’ll take care of yourself while we’re apart and use your better judgement when faced with any sticky situations.”
“Of course dad! I’m not a dumb kid anymore!”
Derrick disregarded that comment and continued with a straight face. “Both of us must keep our cell phones close at ALL times with the sound ON.”
“I always keep my cell phone close to me.”
“Please Bruce, don’t interrupt me. Now, there’s pretty much cell service everywhere, but since I know that once inside of shrines and tombs you may not get any reception, I ask that you check in with me at least every 3 hours; send me a text or call. I want to be sure that you’re alright and safe. No wandering off anywhere without letting me know where you’re going, you understand all that?”
“Yes dad,” Bruce muttered. “I promise if a mummy attacks me I’ll be sure to run for my life, straight out of the tomb, and call you.” The sarcasm wasn't subtle.
Derrick twisted his lips as he gave Bruce an unamused look. “I don’t know what dangers may lie in some of those underground places,” he said, “so if anything looks too dangerous, or it doesn’t feel right being there, I want you to turn back immediately and get out okay?”
“Dad,” Bruce calmly said this time, sensing his father’s concern. “I will, don’t worry. Trust me okay? I’ve studied up and prepared myself for all this. I’ve got my granola bars, water, lighter, flashlight and other tools. I promise I won’t do anything stupid and I’ll check in with you every 3 hours.”
Derrick gave him a relieved smile and patted his son’s shoulder. “That’s my boy. I really appreciate that son.” Then he chuckled. “It’s a good thing mummies aren’t real or I’d sure as h’ell never let you explore those tombs! At least not without me!”
“Trust me dad, I wouldn’t want to!”
The two hugged.
Then Derrick sent Bruce back to the foot plate to begin his very first exploring adventure.
Positioning his feet upon the foot impressions, the plate seemed to light up as the floor tiles began to peel apart off to his left. They lowered down about an inch and then slid under the surrounding tiles opening to reveal a staircase leading down into the Shrine.
Bruce glanced over his shoulder at his father with the biggest, brightest grin ever.
Derrick grinned in return. “Have fun down there kid,” he said. “You know where to find me when you’re done. Got your money for the taxi?”
“Yup!” Bruce replied. “Then we can head out to lunch?”
“Sounds good!”
“Alrighty! See ya dad!”
A cool, musty air permeated Bruce’s senses as he descended the stairs into the Shrine. At the base he was met with a locked door and it didn’t take long for him to spot where he needed to insert the keystone. He didn’t pay any mind to the plaque on the wall as it was written in Chinese. Nothing felt ominous about the place so he retrieved the weighty keystone from his pocket and inserted it into the stone slot beside the door.
The chains broke free from the door and bid Bruce enter through it.
The next room was rather small, containing a tall, peculiar looking statue and an interesting looking floor plate. When he stepped on it, he could hear a click signifying that the door to the next room unlocked, but once he stepped off of it, he heard the click again as the door returned to being locked. Hmm, he thought, his eyes travelling towards the tall statue. Aha! The light bulb came on.
With all the strength he could muster, he pulled the statue towards the plate, providing the necessary weight on it to keep it in place to unlock the door.
Oh yeah, I’m awesome, he proudly thought as he strutted through the door.
The next room was equally small, but this one had flecks of shiny stones within the wall bricks that glistened amidst the pale torch light, like glitter, and Bruce gazed around at it in wonderment.
Once again, all there was in the room was another tall statue and a switch plate. Knowing just what to do he pushed the statue toward the plate and stopped, instantly realizing he hadn’t triggered the plate and needed to push it farther. For some odd reason, instead of doing that, he wiped the sweat from his brow and went around to the other side, pulling the statue the rest of the way onto the plate.
This time instead of the door unlocking, a foot plate suddenly appeared a couple of tiles away and Bruce was quite curious as to how it just formed itself there, but he shrugged it off. Positioning his feet just right on it caused the next door to unlock.
In the fourth room his feet came to an immediate halt as he discovered that he was surrounded by many of those familiar tall statues. “Aww man,” he whined, knowing full well that he was gonna have to push or pull one of those heavy things again to get to the next room. “When will I reach the treasures?” There was more puzzle solving to this Shrine than he expected.
Peering in between the statues to see what lay ahead of him, his eyes widened as they caught hold upon a plethora of electrical currents shooting up into the air just behind them. He winced, throwing his body back a couple of steps. Clearly it was an ancient trap and one that he wasn’t expecting to run into. “Holy c’rap! How the hey am I supposed to get past THAT!?” he cried. He held his hand to his heart, trying not to panic. He remembered his father’s words that if he felt uncomfortable he should turn back and he easily could, but...he also made a deal with that lady to get her relic. He couldn’t break a deal, but mostly he didn’t want to look like a weak chicken to her, his dad, or anyone else! He really had to put his brain to work on this one.
Chewing on his lower lip he thought, If I carefully push one of these statues onto the electrical currents then they will focus on electrifying that so I can sneak past unscathed. Hopefully…
There really wasn’t much else he could do.
Saying a quick prayer then drawing in a deep breath, he carefully pushed one of the statues toward the electrical trap.
To his astonishment, the flashes of electricity instantly died the moment the statue made contact with them. He gaped for a moment, but then cried out, “AWESOME!” with a giant grin on his face. What a thrill this was! So empowering!
He sprinted past the dead trap and was now met with another locked door. In the corner of the wall beside it sat a tall pile of rubble. He thought he could see a switch plate underneath it...or more likely it was a foot plate since that weight would’ve activated the switch. Promptly he started to dig through the stuff with his hands, but nothing would budge after years of resting on top of each other with sediments from the musty air nestling between the cracks and causing them to forge together. The tips of his fingers got scratched up rather quickly. “Ow!” he cried, stepping back and releasing a hiss of frustration.
This side of the room was poorly lit so he tried looking around for something else to break the rubble apart to reach the plate. There HAD to be something!
Gazing upon the darkest wall behind him he thought he could see something hanging on it. Stepping over with his hands outstretched to meet with the wall, he felt around to make sure what he was seeing wasn’t just an illusion. Sure enough it was a physical object, a pick-axe actually, and he smiled triumphantly as he lifted it from the brackets on the wall and promptly used it to break away the rubble.
Meanwhile…
Back at the Phoenix Martial Arts Academy Derrick was learning the secret art of Sim Fu faster than he had expected.
He sure impressed the Master who stood in the corner of the room, telling him what to do and pressing him on. So much so that he awarded Derrick with his own Sim Fu uniform and his very first Belt, all within an hour of practicing!
In celebration of that Derek struck a pose to show off his new found skill.
“Easy grasshopper, there is no room for arrogance within the disciplined mind,” the Master said.
Derrick slightly grimaced as he stood up straight before the man, hands pressed together and bowing. “Yes Master.”
Back in the underground Shrine…
With the rubble broken apart and shoved out of the way, Bruce grinned at the foot plate and promptly stepped upon it. He fully expected the chains on the door to break open, unlocking it, but instead he heard another click come from somewhere within the room. Huh? Once again he had to do a little more investigating. Man, I really should’ve expected it wouldn’t be THAT easy to get in to the next room. I’m clearly getting closer to the treasures!
Within a pitch black alcove to the left of the locked door, Bruce felt around and found a hole in the wall. Remembering his flashlight now, he shined it into the old hole making sure there weren’t any spiders or bugs before sticking his hand inside. This had to hold the switch that would unlock the door.
Deeming it free from creepy crawly life, he slowly stuck his hand inside and then felt around.
Feeling the knob of a switch within, he pressed his fingers on it and not only did the chains break free from the locked door, but another secret door, on the wall where he found the pick-axe, swiveled itself open scraping the grainy floor which sent a piercing sound that rattled Bruce’s eardrums. His teeth clenched and he covered his ears until the door came to a stop.
Naturally the secret room piqued his interest more than the unlocked door so through the threshold he went.
He found three, ornate red treasure chests within the room and about squealed with excitement! Carefully opening each one they held ancient coins and gems which Bruce happily pocketed as much as he could.
As far as he understood they were free to the taking to whomever was exploring the Shrine. There was plenty left over for another explorer.
No relic was found so he figured it must be within the next room.
All that lay within the previously locked room was a large dive well and Bruce froze in his tracks once his eyes met with it. Oh boy…
Was the relic inside a chest deep within the well or would he find a tunnel that led to another room containing the relic? He wouldn’t know for sure unless he ventured in and shuddered at the thought. He enjoyed swimming as much as the next person, but diving was not his strong suit and even more so he hated opening his eyes underwater without goggles. I really didn’t plan for this...
He pressed his hands upon the walls all around the room, hoping for another option like a secret door, but there wasn’t one. There WAS however, a locked door in the shadows with a stone upon the wall beside it where another keystone was to be placed. The keystone certainly wasn’t present in this room so he glanced nervously over at the well once more. It was either enter the well or turn back in defeat.
Squeezing his eyes closed he thought, C’mon Bruce you can DO this! He had to do it. He’d regret it forever if he didn’t. You’ve come so far you can't turn back now. Stepping up onto the edge of the well, he drew in a deep breath and tried to attempt the best dive he could. There was a loud splash as his arms pierced the water and soon all he could hear was the swishing, bubbling sound of under water all around him.
A couple of times he had to return to the water’s surface for some air, obviously because he was no pro at this. He quickly discovered there was no underwater chest, so he returned to the surface a third time. He thought there had to be a tunnel somewhere beneath that led to another room and he was really going to have to peer through the murky water to find it. He held his breath and descended into the water once more.
YES! His mind exclaimed triumphantly as he found a lever and pushed it down, revealing a tunnel leading towards another well. He quickly swam through and shot his way up towards the other well water’s surface! He gasped frantically for air.
A chest sat directly in his line of sight and he smiled. “Hello keystone,” he said, pulling his heavily soaked self out of the well.
His stomach grumbled so he figured this was as good a time as any to curb his hunger with a protein bar.
Sure enough, the keystone did lay within the chest on an ancient, faded pillow. He swapped it promptly, causing a bit of dust to scatter all through the air. Turning towards the well, he whined a bit thinking of having to go back underwater and through the tunnel again, but his instincts told him that the relic was surely beyond the locked door if it required a keystone to unlock it. That was all the determination he needed to return to the previous room.
Once out of the well, he pulled out the keystone from his soggy pocket, placed it into the stone slot beside the door and it unlocked. Excitedly, he headed on through.
The torches on the wall lit up brightly upon his entrance into the room and Bruce found himself surrounded by treasure chests. His eyes fixated upon the chests with a glint in them. The single one off to the right surely contained the relic, so he planned to open the other two on the Left to see what treasures he could pocket there before grabbing the relic and making his way out of the Shrine.
“Woo! I did it!” he cried, lifting the very ornate vase out of the treasure chest below the right wall. It was a shiny green, two handled vase, with real gold plated designs engraved all around it. The age of such an item fascinated him as he traced the designs with his finger. He carefully held it close to his body under the weight of his arm. Fortunately for him there was a foot plate in the room that when he stood upon it, it opened up a secret door leading to the stairs that descended into the Shrine. Perfect! This was the BEST adventure ever!
Meanwhile…
Derrick gained another rank in Sim Fu and was presented with a new, darker uniform and yellow belt.
This has to be the most disciplined man I’ve ever met, the Master thought looking upon Derrick with great admiration.
Bruce checked in with his dad like he promised and eventually met up with him at the Academy. Then the two headed out for a late lunch and talked about nothing but the exciting events they both experienced that morning.
**************************
The pics of Shang Simla are super and love seeing it through their eyes.
I'm amazed that Derrick is letting his son go exploring in tombs by himself. I think he didn't read the pamphlets about the potential hazards in the tombs!
That was smart to set up some ground rules, but I'm surprised they didn't do the adventure together.
Bruce did a great job of working his way around the tomb and figuring out the puzzles.
I had to giggle at Derrick's leg in the first picture of him learning MA's. I call that one 'he's been riding the horses too long' pose.
Congrats to Derrick on getting his next belt and Bruce for completing his first adventure!
Look forward to more!
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
I'd like to believe that Derrick was pretty nervous about sending his son into a very old underground Shrine, but I think it was one of those where he needed to pick his battles. Also, he just really wanted to go learn Sim Fu and Bruce really wanted to go exploring so.....
I'm sure they'll explore another tomb together.
Yeeeeah, I didn't catch the best shot there (or maybe I did in the humorous sense.
"Oh well!"
Hopefully I gain the motivation to write more soon....
@emorrill I hope you get the motivation soon too as I really am enjoying the story. At least you didn't leave us with a kid trapped in the tomb and Dad running around trying to find him!
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Before I do that though, allow me to ask: You know those times where you're playing out your story in the game, but then the game throws a curve ball situation in your characters way...and you decide to just roll with it?
Also forgive me if the Chinese language shown is not correct in conjugation and grammar compared to what I originally wrote in English...it's Google Translate's fault if it isn't right!
I just wanted to give the situation a little more realism by adding the language in.
I read over this a million times it seemed to make sure everything flowed right and sounded right...because of how broken my mind has been lately.
So without further adieu, enjoy the first, long half of Chapter 13!
EDIT: Reworded a few things and made it better.
Chapter 13
Part 1
After a delicious lunch of Chinese cuisine, Derrick took Bruce back to the Phoenix Martial Arts Academy to show him everything he learned so far with Sim Fu.
Bruce tried practicing with the training dummy to humor his father, but honestly he wasn’t getting into it. Perhaps I’m not ‘disciplined’ enough, he thought with a snicker. I just wanna go and explore more places! Find some more treasure! But Derrick said he’d had enough exploring for one day and wanted them to spend the rest of it together. It’s not that Bruce didn’t want to, but he was especially anxious to return the woman’s relic, whose name is Lin Hua, but she texted him that her family wouldn’t be home until dusk. He sighed and would just have to grit his teeth about the Sim Fu stuff until then. He could honestly admit it was fun watching his father learn all the ropes.
For dinner they tried out a sushi bar and never had such single bites of food made their taste buds dance!
“I could get used to eating the food in this country EVERY day!” Derrick expressed.
“Agreed!” Bruce said, as much as he could with a mouth full of sushi.
The time came for Bruce to return the beautifully ornate vase to Lin Hua. Derrick was extremely exhausted after the day’s activities and darn near fell asleep on the bed in their hotel room when Lin texted Bruce informing him that her family was home and he could come over.
“Uh...dad?” Bruce asked, squatting a bit with his hands on his knees trying to look into his father’s eyes to get his attention. “We gotta go drop the relic off to Mrs. Hua.”
“Huh?” Derrick muttered, half asleep.
“It’s time for me to return the relic!” he replied, shaking his father’s shoulder. “C’mon!”
“Mmm...uh...just take a taxi and...come right back okay? I’m beat!”
Bruce froze for a second in bewilderment. “You...trust me to call a taxi, head on over there - to a stranger’s house in a foreign country - and head back here all by myself? In the dark?”
“Uh huh…”
To say Bruce was surprised was an understatement. He smiled proudly as he rose to his feet, standing tall with his fists resting upon his hip. Golly, dad’s really been trusting me a lot lately. Maybe he doesn’t still consider me a little kid anymore. He promptly called for a taxi and made sure to grab the room key on his way out.
“I’ll be back soon dad!”
********************
Upon arriving at the Hua’s home, Bruce took a moment to admire the exterior of the vintage home as the taxi drove off. The open windows without screens caused him to question whether most of the citizens here preferred to have bugs getting into their homes over modern windows, swarming around their ears and food. Mosquitoes! Yuck!
In a firm, yet respectful way, he knocked on the door and stepped back a bit. Within seconds Lin Hua opened the door with a smile. “Young Mister Bruce,” she greeted with a hint of an accent, bowing slightly before him, “please come in.”
Bruce was pleasantly surprised at the respect she was giving him.
Once inside, he couldn’t help but notice how brightly her eyes lit up as they met with the relic and feelings of gratification began to surge through him as he handed the vase to her and said, “I believe this is yours Mrs. Hua.”
“Oh thank you!” she expressed, taking it and then running her finger along the golden traceries just as Bruce had when he first laid eyes on it. “I can’t thank you enough for retrieving this for me. My fourth great grandmother made this vase and painted it, in honor of her daughter who passed long before her time, but one day it was stolen from her home and she never found out who took it or what came of it. It has taken me years of going through our family history and other’s and researching to find it. Apparently someone from the royal family had gotten their hands on it.” She clutched the vase gently to her breast with tears forming in her eyes. “Thank you again dear. Here,” she paused to reach into her dress pocket, “here is your payment.” Bruce took it with a smile and tucked the bills into his pocket.
“Lin?” A sharp voice addressed, coming from the next room. “Shéi zài ménkǒu?" - "Who is at the door?”
It was a man’s voice, which Bruce could only assume was her husband, and naturally he spoke in Chinese. He stepped into the foyer, eyeing Bruce with a look of disdain.
(Translation to the couple's exchange of words in the spoiler
Lin happily approached him. “Zhang,” she began in Chinese, showing him the relic. “Zhè wèi láizì měiguó de tiánměi niánqīng rén jiēshòule zhè fèn gōngzuò, zhǎo huíle wǒ zǔmǔ de huāpíng, kàn qǐlái...... Zuìhòu shì wǒmen de! Nà bùshì hěn bàng ma?”
But Zhang showed no enthusiasm.
“Nǐ gùle yīgè shí jǐ suì de nánhái lái wánchéng rènwù? Nǐ zài xiǎng shénme?” he practically yelled.
Bruce noticed Lin cower a bit. “Wǒ fābù qǐngqiú yǐjīng liù gè yuèle,” she said. “Tā shì wéiyī yīgè xúnwèn tā bìngqiě yuànyì jiēshòu zhè xiàng gōngzuò de rén.”
“Yúchǔn de niánqīng měiguó rén” he said with a sneer at Bruce and then turned to face his wife again. “Lín yúchǔn nǐ! Rúguǒ zhège nánhái zìshāle zěnme bàn? Tā de jiārén huì lái zhǎo wǒmen bìng ràng wǒmen fùzé!”
Lin lowered her head. “Duìbùqǐ zhāng...... Wǒ méi xiǎngdào. Wǒ fēicháng kěwàng dédào wǒ de zēngzǔmǔ de huāpíng. Wǒ xiǎng... Ràng wǒmen de zǔxiān gǎndào jiāo'ào.”
“Yīgè háo wú jiàzhí de zìzhì huāpíng duì tāmen yǒu shé me yǐngxiǎng?” he asked sharply, fiercely shoving his wife to the point that she almost dropped the heirloom.
But Zhang showed no enthusiasm.
“You hired a teenage boy for the task? What were you thinking?” he practically yelled.
Bruce noticed Lin cower a bit. "It has been six months since I posted the request,” she said. “He is the only one that inquired about it and was willing to take on the job.”
“Foolish young American!” he said with a sneer at Bruce and then turned to face his wife again. “And foolish of you Lin! What if the boy had gotten himself killed? His family would come looking for us and hold us responsible!”
Lin lowered her head. “I am sorry Zhang...I did not think of that. I was just so desperate to get my great grandmother’s vase back. I wanted...to make our ancestors proud.”
“What does a worthless, homemade vase matter to them?” he asked sharply, fiercely shoving his wife to the point that she almost dropped the heirloom.
Upon witnessing that, Bruce’s blood instantly boiled.
“HEY!” he roared, stepping forward. He didn’t care if the man didn’t understand English. “You don’t push your wife like that!”
Zhang stepped closer with rage in his eyes, boring them into Bruce’s while Bruce stood tall, bravely meeting them.
“Please!” Lin implored, gripping Bruce’s arm. “Just go...he doesn’t understand English.”
But her words fell on deaf ears as Zhang said to Bruce through gritted teeth, “Nǐ bù zūnzhòng nǐ de cháng lǎo ma!?"
- “Have you no respect for your Elders you puny little American!?” and then firmly shoved him too.
In the heat of the moment Bruce lunged himself at Zhang and Lin gasped as she clutched the vase close again and ran into the kitchen sobbing.
Zhang put up a good fight and so did Bruce to the man’s amazement. He was sure he could take down the boy, but Bruce’s youthful energy and shorter stature had the advantage. And with the Hua’s young daughter appearing on the scene and shouting, “Tíngzhǐ!" - "Stop!” didn’t help Zhang hold his concentration on the fight. With a piercing kick to the knee cap, Zhang went down to the floor flat on his butt and his pride went with him.
“That’ll teach ya not to abuse women!” Bruce hissed at him. His heart was pounding from the adrenaline rush as he struggled to catch his breath.
Oh my gosh what did I just do!?
“Māmā!” young Bebe Hua cried, but her mother never emerged from the kitchen. She shot Bruce a tearful look before running into the next room to find her mother.
Zhang pressed his hand to his lower back as he struggled to get himself up off the floor. He turned to Bruce and glowered at him. “Gǔn chū wǒ de fángzi!" - "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!” he yelled, pointing at the door.
Bruce got the message and instantly ran out.
On the ride back to the Hotel all Bruce could think about was how much his father would kill him if he told him what happened. His conscience encouraged him to do so, but then he figured if he kept silent his father would have no way of finding out and he could forget the whole thing. At least he hoped his father wouldn’t find out. How long was the grapevine in this vast city? He feared it wasn’t long enough.
He buried his face into his hands and tried not to cry.
********************
Once the taxi drove away, Bruce stared up at the tall, dimly lit staircase leading up to the Hotel rooms with nervousness in his eyes.
He wished that what had transpired hadn’t...and he had to hope that his father would understand why he acted in the way he did. Even then, he knew he was in for some kind of punishment regardless.
Just as he was about to ascend the stairs he heard his father worriedly call out his name from the top. “BRUCE!”
Derrick made his way down the stairs in a flash, barely taking his eyes off his son. “What took you so long?” he asked once he reached the base.
“Sorry,” Bruce lightly replied. “I was...talking with Mrs. Hua a little longer than I expected. I didn’t mean to worry you. I thought you were fast asleep.”
Derrick slightly nodded his head at that. “Well, I did fall asleep for a little bit there, but when I woke up to find you weren’t in the room, I felt a little disoriented and was trying to remember where you said you were going.”
“Oh...well it’s all good,” Bruce assured, trying to end the conversation quickly so that he could just go to sleep and forget the whole thing. “I returned the relic to Mrs. Hua and she was excited to have it back and I’m pretty beat so…” he was stopped by Derrick’s hand gripping his arm as he tried to go up the stairs. He could feel his heart begin to palpitate.
Derrick gently took his son’s chin for a moment turning his face to the side to get a good look at the obvious bruise on his cheek. He also took notice of a long tear at the base of Bruce’s shirt as well as a few scratch marks on his arms. The boy gulped and found it hard to look into his father’s eyes.
“What happened?” Derrick asked directly. “How’d you get that bruise?”
Bruce gulped again. There was no way he could lie his way out of this one; his father always outsmarted him before. He had to hope that being truthful would encourage Derrick to be more lenient in his imminent punishment. Because surely his dad wouldn’t understand and just get upset.
“Dad please don’t get mad okay?” he chose to say to start this revelation out. “It was an impulse and I can explain…”
“You darn well better!” Derrick agreed, folding his arms and encouraging his son on with his piercing gaze. He found himself becoming quite fearful over what he was about to hear.
Bruce nervously rubbed at the back of his neck before saying, “So, I arrived at the Hua’s door with the relic and Mrs. Hua invited me inside. She told me how happy she was that I brought back her grandmother’s vase and handed me the payment for it. Then, out of nowhere, her husband shows up glaring at me and then rips into her in Chinese about something...I’m pretty sure he was talking smack about me.” He partially rolled his eyes. “But then he got so angry that he shoved her and dad...when I saw him do that, I couldn’t help getting up in his face and telling him he shouldn’t do that to his wife!”
Derrick’s eyes widened.
“Mrs. Hua told me to just leave, but then her husband said something mean to me and shoved me too! So I shoved him back and,” he hesitated, “we sorta...got in a fight. I won,” he added with a cracked smile.
Derrick had his head lowered, pinching the bridge of his nose while trying to process what he was hearing until the fight part and his head shot upward. “Bruce Michael Holland, you didn’t!? Were you out of your mind!?”
“Yes! Well…...no,” he corrected. “Because honestly, when I saw him shove his wife--”
“You should’ve stayed out of it and took your leave!” Derrick finished for him. “I mean, my gosh Bruce!”
“But dad you always taught me that we men should never hurt women. That was really sad to see that because she's such a sweet lady! And,” he stopped, growing emotional, “I started to imagine that she was mom and if I saw you do that to her…” He couldn’t finish and lowered his head, tears forming in his eyes.
Soaking in his son's emotions, Derrick tried to hold back his deep concern while stepping closer to Bruce and placing his hands on his shoulders. He drew in a breath and released it before saying, “I admire your chivalry and good heart son...but that did not warrant the need to attack her husband. Have I not also taught you to treat your Elders with respect?”
“He didn’t deserve any respect!” the boy frankly answered through gritted teeth, meeting his father’s gaze with raging eyes.
“No...he didn’t,” Derrick acknowledged. “But you still should’ve just walked away after the confrontation.”
“But dad...when he shoved me I thought he was gonna hurt me,” he choked, “He sure looked like he wanted to! So I felt like I needed to defend myself. And...if that was the wrong thing to do than...I’m sorry…” he concluded with slumped shoulders and a lowered head.
Feeling extremely conflicted, Derrick looked down at the ground himself and shook his head. He needed a moment to process all of this or all the wrong words and tone would come out of him when this situation needed to be handled with care. “Stand over there while I figure out what to do about this,” he ordered, then turned his back toward his son to think.
Bruce wasn’t sure what that meant for him, but either way he couldn’t help fearing their trip was going to get cut short.
Derrick replayed the entire scene in his mind twice and all things considered, he was honestly proud of his boy. He couldn’t fault him for stepping in when he most likely would’ve done the same in that situation. It was certainly justified. Although, another part of him kept trying to convince himself that Bruce getting into a fight with the man was wrong when in all actuality...he didn’t DO a single thing wrong! He was warmly invited into the home, the man carelessly caused a scene in front of a stranger, so Bruce defended the woman - who is most likely a victim of domestic abuse - and when the man turned on him he was very much within his rights to protect himself!
Would it have been better if Bruce had just decided to leave after witnessing what he did, maybe, but most men would never feel right within themselves after doing so, perhaps haunt them for the rest of their life. But beyond that, women in those situations need to see that they don’t have to put up with that kind of treatment; that not all men behave the same. Bruce may very well have saved a life today and there was no way Derrick could be upset with nor punish him for that.
However there was a chance for a lawsuit here, albeit a slight one with them being foreigners on vacation who’d be gone soon, but Derrick wasn’t familiar with the laws in this country, or the people, so he felt the need to make everything right. For Bruce’s peace of mind, but mostly for his. He gazed up toward the stars and whispered a prayer for guidance.
“Alright,” he addressed Bruce, coming toward the boy and placing his hands on his shoulders again. With a loving gaze he said, “After giving it some thought I can honestly say that...I’m proud of what you did son.”
Bruce’s eyes bugged out. “Really!?” he asked, a smile creeping upon his lips. That was unexpected!
Derrick nodded. “I can understand why you thought I’d be upset because of my initial reaction when you told me the news,” he paused with a frown. “But giving myself a moment to think about it, I realized that you were thrown into quite the sticky situation. One that most people never find themselves in and you didn’t hesitate to protect a sweet lady. I admire that. It brought me joy as a parent. And I completely understand why you felt the need to defend yourself against Mr. Hua. Was assaulting him a bit rash, yes,” he admitted, “but overall I’m proud of what you did.” And he was very proud that his son came out victorious, but he wasn’t going to say that.
Bruce was smiling so brightly in such relief that his cheeks began to ache. “Thanks dad!” he expressed. “I really did feel like I was doing the right thing, I was just...afraid you wouldn’t understand. Since I tend to be a bit bold sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” he said with a wink.
Bruce playfully slapped his dad’s shoulder.
Now it was time for Derrick to get serious. “Now with that being said...I’m concerned about Mr. Hua reporting your assault to the police. He could make it sound very believable that some ‘insane teenage American’ burst into his home and attacked him.”
Bruce’s face grew pale. That thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.
“I don’t mean to frighten you by saying that, but you can understand why I’m so concerned.”
The boy nodded.
“So we’re gonna have to make this right. First thing in the morning we’re gonna head on over to the Hua’s home and you’re going to formally apologize for what you did.”
Bruce gaped, with a slight glare. “But dad I shouldn’t have to apologize when--”
“I know Bruce...but in Mr. Hua’s mind you were in the wrong and you need to apologize so that he won’t try to press charges. Assuming he hasn’t already reported the incident…”
“Ok,” Bruce mumbled, surrendering. “Now I’m scared dad…”
Derrick took his boy into his arms. “I’m sorry," he whispered, rubbing at his back. "I just don't want anything to happen to you. Hopefully you knocked some sense into the man to where he’s thinking twice about the way he treats his wife and consider it a lesson learned. And if not...then we’ll just do what we can to make it right as soon as possible. Don't worry. God will be there to help us.”
Bruce hugged his dad tighter and couldn’t help thinking how blessed he was to have a dad like him, in more ways than one.
During the rest of the evening it was difficult for the two to fall asleep, but eventually fatigue caught up to them and they swiftly drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
*********************
To be continued...
I was glad to see they got to spend a bit of time together even if Bruce was bored with the simfu stuff!
I liked the story of how her many great grandmother had made the vase, but was stolen. So nice that it was recovered for her.
Wow!! What a scary situation for a teenager to be in and he handled himself so well.
I don't blame him for speaking up. Men who hit women don't deserve respect even if they are older.
I'm glad that he won the fight. The guy deserved it!
The little girl coming in the room kinda scared me. I was afraid she might accidentally get hurt.
Well Derrick was more understanding than I thought he would be. I laughed when he used his full name! My Mom and Dad used to do that when they were particularly ticked off at us kids!
I hope he won't take losing out on his wife and child!
I don't think Bruce should have to apologize!! I have to disagree with Derrick on that.
I would think the man would be more humiliated to admit to losing the fight so would not press charges.
Looking forward to the next part. I'll need another break from paperwork soon! LOL
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Glad you liked the great grandmother story.
True. Zhang and his kind don't deserve any respect!
Little Bebe Hua was coming back home after being somewhere and nearly stepped right into the fight.
Yeah...Derrick is just scared, and as coco mentioned the laws in China are pretty strict and fierce - I'd heard the same - so even though he knows Bruce didn't do anything wrong, he hopes apologizing can help mend things and Zhang won't allow his bitterness to consume him. Most normal men would, but Zhang is not a normal man.
I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and I really should get working on the next part... I just have to figure out how something is going to play out first. I gotta get it right!