Children of the Boss

Prologue

Being a parent is hard. I knew it was going to be hard going into it but I still wasn't prepared for how hard it would be. My kids love me and I love them. Lafayette loves them too, but it hasn't always been easy. The kids grew up with nosy reporters wanting to know everything about them. The house Lafayette built for us did a good job at keeping us private, but it was hard on the kids. There were times when I would so badly not want to go out in public even if the kids wanted to and so they would be cooped up in the house or back yard. By the time they were teenagers, the paparazzi died down and they were able to handle the fame with ease. 

Faye and I taught them to be humble, and with age we made them work as interns at the company. Fetching coffee, running errands, doing really boring things while learning what it's like to earn money for working. If they survived the internship, which they took when they were old enough, we liked to really help them achieve their dreams. Working for a place that sucks the life out of you is suicidal, but so necessary for many people. After getting a taste of that, we helped them learn how to channel their passions into careers. 

Luckily with having family and friends so close the kids grew up with them. Alisha and Clovis's kids made great cousins, Alex and Emily. Carla and Marion's daughter, Gloria, along with Micah and Jeremy's daughter Alyssa, and Owen and Liam's son Tamir, were best friends with the kids. We always hosted slumber parties for them. Since all the kids were in close ages of each other it was easy to go through the stages and motions with them. Like when it was time for "the talk," we told them together. 

When they went through puberty it was the worst. They were angry all the time, so awkward, and even though I still thought they were beautiful with their braces, acne, weird bodily proportions, puberty is just gross. They got older and they stopped hating things as much, but still struggled with growing up, as is the norm.

As they started to care too much about the things they would later regret caring too much about, it made me miss the times when they were kids, before they were in middle school. The photos of them I had in my wallet were from when Dean wasn't even ten yet. Seeing them get older made me realize how much older I was getting. I had published books after getting married to Faye. I did pretty much everything on my bucket list. The only thing was to see my grandkids - if the kids ever wanted any - and then just make sure the kids grew up to be happy. It was weird not really having anything to do with my life other than let my kids live their lives. They were still kids, but they were slipping through my fingers more and more everyday. 

I was worried that they wouldn't want me in their lives as much anymore, or that I wouldn't be needed. However, it turns out they were like me when I was still a young adult. I still needed my parents desperately. And if I thought my life was messy, theirs became even messier in their young adult lives. 

Nonetheless, I love them dearly, and I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Thanks for reading,

Emerson Jeff-Lane

As Emerson ends his biography, his children begin their story...