Prior Rings

Chapter 10: Micky - Hard Choices

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I'm sorry this one is a bit late. My schedule is still crazy, and it didn't help that my cold turned into a sinus infection and was then promptly followed by another cold. Ugh. Anyway, the next chapter will hopefully be posted a lot sooner. In the meantime, thank you as always to my wonderful beta reader, Rosalie! Thank you also to BarbaraK2U, who has kindly agreed to review chapters when I'm running behind and can't give Rosalie the turnaround time she needs for her busy schedule. I really appreciate the help from both of you!

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Chapter 10: Micky – Hard Choices

Luella is nursing Kaylee when I get home, and for a moment I forget all words as I watch the two of them. I don't know what I ever did to deserve them.

Scratch that. I know perfectly well I don't deserve them. If I did, I wouldn't be standing here trying to figure out how to tell my wife that I've never been honest with her.

But I greet them normally, with a gentle kiss on my daughter's head and a firmer one on my wife's lips. I've spent my whole life hiding behind a façade of normalcy, so it doesn't exactly take much effort even now.

"Hi," Luella says softly, trying not to disrupt Kaylee. I smile in response. "Any luck today?" she asks, her voice hopeful.

"In a way…." I reach down to stroke the baby's head so I don't have to meet Luella's eyes. "It's not a job, but…well, it's something we need to discuss."

"Okay…" she says slowly, clearly not sure what to make of my comment. I'm not usually so vague.

"I'll make dinner while you finish with Kaylee," I add, still avoiding eye contact. The upcoming conversation is frankly a bit petrifying.

But by the time I have dinner ready, and Kaylee is sound asleep, I can't avoid this any longer.

"You never asked what work I used to do," I say softly. The tone is an old habit to make sure the neighbors can't hear discussions like this.

"You didn't seem to want to share it," Luella murmurs, and I can't help smiling a bit. So few people respect privacy in our society, and I love that she's always tried to protect mine.

But my smile fades as I scrub a hand through my hair, thinking about how to tell her this.

"It's a long story," I finally say, "and I should probably start at the beginning." She just nods, listening attentively.

"My whole family was resistant to the broadcasts," I begin, my heart hammering at the admission. It would have meant death to say that aloud during most of my life. "My parents taught us to hide it, and to always pretend we were like everyone else, and we did. We were model citizens in public. But in private, I hated it. I hated the whole government, and all the lies they fed us."

It's impossible to hide my disgusted sneer, but Luella just nods encouragingly, waiting for me to continue. So, I do.

"I managed to deal with it until Dad died. You probably don't know this, but he was killed in a plant accident." My voice turns even more bitter. "The company locked everyone in during work days, and one day there was a fire. No one could get out…so they died."

Luella places a hand on my arm. "I'm sorry, Micky," she whispers.

"You're not the one who should've been sorry," I snap, my fury fresh even years after Dad's death. "It was the damned company's fault, but of course no one would admit that in those days." I shake my head. "They didn't do anything for us. They didn't even pay to bury what was left of him. So, we had that cost on top of grieving, and having one less income. Of course we ended up on the streets, like practically everyone else."