Family Doesn't End in Blood, But it Doesn't Start There Either

Missing Home

Tyler and I walked in the restaurant. "Why are we meeting your dad?" He asked.

"Because I haven't seen him in almost a year and I want him to meet you." Tyler nodded in understanding and I found Jared at a table waiting for us. "Dad." He wrapped me in a hug and held me tightly.

"I missed you, kiddo."

"I missed you too. Dad, this is Tyler my boyfriend." I said the last word cautiously. He shook Tyler's hand.

"How long have you two been together?"

"Almost 6 months." Tyler replied. Jared nodded.

"Is he treating you right, Sarah?"

"Yes, dad. He's very nice. He respects my boundaries and he loves me a lot."

"Well good. I'm glad you found someone to make you happy." Jared added sincerely. I nodded at how accepting he was being. We ordered and talked and Tyler opened up quickly. Once it got late, we parted ways and Jared went back to his apartment.

"Sarah," Tyler started when we got in his car. "Jared is really your dad? I thought he just had 2 boys and you don't look anything like him or his wife so I'm wondering what's going on."

"Way back, I was on a competition thing they were hosting and I won. I got to hang out on set and get a part in an episode. In the process, I found out my mom tried to adopt me again. I was taken from her and my dad when I was really little, along with my brother because my dad was a robber and abuser and my mom turned to drugs. I didn't want to go back so Jared and Gen adopted me and changed my last name. He is my dad and Gen is my mom and no one will ever get me to say otherwise." I stated quickly before tears fell.

"Why are you upset? I'm sorry I asked. What's wrong, Sarah?"

"Just that I haven't seen him in almost a year and he's in the same city. I haven't seen my mom or little brothers in equally as long if not longer. I miss them but we're filming all the time and my agent keeps making me do other roles when we're off." I explained. I didn't fully explain but I explained enough." He rubbed my back softly.

"Tell your agent to stop. There's no rule that says you can't go home. I love you and don't want to be away from you, but if you want to go home when we finish filming in a couple weeks, that's fine. I'll support you and be right here when you come back." He offered. I nodded. He kissed the top of my head. "It's ok." He took me back to my apartment and I called Jared.

"Sarah?" He asked and it was clear he had been crying too.

"Dad, I miss you. When we're done filming in a couple weeks, I want to go home with you. Forget my agent. I need my family. I'm so sorry." I cried out.

"What the heck are you apologizing for?"

"I screwed up with you and mom and I can't fix it." I explained.

"Hold on. I'm coming over. What's your apartment number again? I know where your building is."

"316."

"Ok. Be there in 20." He came up soon after. I let him in and sobbed into his chest. "Come on, let's sit down and talk." We sat on my couch. "Why are you so upset? You haven't done anything wrong."

"Yes I have. I've done a lot wrong. I left you and mom to take this role, when we finish filming, my agent keeps booking me parts and I should be telling him no but I'm not, and I hardly talk to you or mom anymore. Mom's mad at me and hates me, Tom practically hates me, and Shep is still pretty little so he doesn't say a whole lot. He hardly recognizes me anymore."

"Wait, Gen is mad at you?"

"Yeah. Last time I got a chance to video chat, she was mad and asked what happened to the promise of keeping in touch. She had been understanding but she isn't anymore. I was so upset by what she said that I paused the video part of it and pretended it was frozen. Tom hates me too, dad. I promised him I'd never leave like I did back when you thought I stole from you and I can't explain leaving for this role in a way that he can understand. And I know you hate me too, dad." I cried out before another wave of tears came. "I shouldn't be crying so much. I'm 21." I added.

"Sarah, you should know better than to feel bad about crying in front of me. And I don't hate you. If anyone understands, it's me. It's not like I've been doing a great job at trying to make time for you. I'll talk to Gen. Ok?" I didn't reply. "Sarah, I still love you and so do Gen and the boys. Why are you still upset?"

"Do you think Tyler is a good guy?"

"Yeah. I think he's polite and treats you right. Why? Should I think otherwise?"

"No, just I should have told you and mom about him sooner and I wanted to know if I had your approval first. When you're talking to mom, can you mention him?"

"You haven't told her?"

"I haven't had time to call her. I haven't talked to mom in months." I explained.

"Wow. Ok. Yeah, I'll mention it. What are you gonna do about your agent?"

"I'm going to finish out this season of the show I'm on, tell my agent no to any other offers and fire him, then I'm quitting the show. The show is not worth me losing and shoving away the only family I have. I'll do the same living arrangements we were doing before but I'm not doing the show anymore. I'll still date Tyler but I'm done with acting. It's not the life for me." He nodded in understanding.

"Ok. I get it. I'd just hate to see you give up something you're passionate about."

"It's fun, but family is more important. Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad. Quit thinking I am. I'm just tired. If you have time though, I was hoping we could just sit and talk for a while, just father and daughter." I nodded and grabbed 2 beers from the fridge. We sat and talked and before we knew it, hours had passed. It was now after 1am and Jared and I both had 6am call times.

"Dad, it's getting really late. We both need sleep."

"Yeah. I'll head back to my apartment now."

"Dad, by the time you get there, you won't have much time for sleep. Just crash here. We both have to get up at about the same time. I have an air mattress. You can take the bed if you want it." He shook his head.

"Take the bed. I'll take the air mattress." He sent a quick goodnight text to Gen. She came back with a response quicker than we expected. Jared's face dropped.

Jared, why are you texting so late? I haven't heard from you in days either. What is going on? Is there someone else or something going on?
He called her. "Hello?" She asked.

"Gen, what the hell kind of a response is that? How can you accuse me of being with someone else? I've been busy filming and I've been filming for hours straight to where I haven't had a chance to text or call you for goodnight and by the time I'm done, it's late to call you. I texted you tonight because I told you I would. It's late because I met up with Sarah and she's upset so she and I were talking for a while. I actually still care about her unlike how you seem to feel." He snapped.

"What do you mean unlike how I seem to feel?"

"She thinks you hate her because she's busy and doesn't get time to call."

"I don't hate her at all. I love her just as much as I always did. She's always gonna be our daughter and I'm always gonna love her. How she doesn't get that by now is beside me."

"Ok. I'll talk to her about it. I still want to say goodnight and I love you. Sorry if it seems like there's something going on."

"Jared, I'm sorry. I'm half asleep and I feel like I never hear from you anymore. I trust you a lot more than that. I didn't mean to accuse you."

"I know, babe. It's ok. I love you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight. Love you too." Jared hung up.

"I heard through the phone, dad. You don't need to talk to me about it. I think she was just frustrated last time I talked to her. Let's just get some sleep." He nodded and we did just that. We got up in the morning, got ready, and went our separate ways, excited for the two weeks of filming to be over.