Abandonment

Untitled Part 1

3:00 am; a time where most people are sound asleep and no one roams the streets. Of course, one would never expect visitors at that time of night; that is unless you're the Fowler family.

The doorbell rang and Winterlynn shifted beside her husband. Dante reached over and turned the alarm to face him, grunting when he saw the time.

"Was that the door?" Lynn said, annoyance lacing her voice when she realized the time.

"Bet it's You-Know-Who, again." he sat up, stretching before tossing the blankets off of himself and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

Lynn could think of no good words for who they both knew had rung the doorbell. She grumbled something unsavory and got out of bed, grabbing her robe from the hook on the door before opening it. "You check to see if the boys are still sleeping. I'll handle my brother." With that, she made her way to the front door.

"You have some nerve coming after last time." She nearly growled, opening the door as angrily as she could without letting it slam against the wall. "I told you unless you want to apologize, you better not come back here. Tell me you have a good reason to be knocking at my door at this time of..." She trailed off when the person on the other side of the door sniffled. "Tristan, sweetie, I'm sorry. I thought you were your father... What are you doing here so late?"

The young boy sniffled again, wiping his eyes before looking up at his aunt and beginning to explain. "My... dad's been gone for a few days... He won't answer his phone, either..."

Of course, Lynn didn't need to ask any more questions to know just what was going on. Immediately, she scooped the youngster into her arms and cuddled him close. "It's okay... Come inside and I'll call your dad after we get you some food." She did her best to stay calm but knowing her brother had up and left his son to fend for himself was bringing a mix of emotions that was hard to contain. "Does anything sound good to you?"

He hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Can you make me a grilled cheese?"

"Of course." She kissed his head and sat him on the couch. "I'll go make that while you get comfortable. Turn on a movie or something, just make sure you keep it low - your cousins are still asleep." She offered him the remote before going into the kitchen and getting what she needed to make the sandwiches.

Dante walked in as she started to grease the pan with the butter. "So, um... What's the story?"

Winterlynn gripped the spatula in her hand before turning to face her husband. She waved it around as she spoke, her voice hushed so the boy in the next room wouldn't hear her. "My deadbeat brother up and left Tristan alone. Lord knows where he is or when the poor boy last ate."

Dante sighed and sat at the table, leaning on his cheek in his palm. "Well, you can't say you're surprised. It's a miracle he's stuck around this long."

"Still! He could have at least left him with us from the get... Instead of on his own. He's 7-years-old, for crying out loud! That'd be the same as leaving Nico on his own!"

"To be fair, Nico and Tristan are completely different. I get what you're saying though, he should have at least just ditched him on us instead of just leaving him." Dante paused for a moment. "Would you have felt any better if he did though?"

"Maybe... "Lynn sighed and flipped the sandwich. "I don't know. Even if he lied and just never came back, we'd know he would have been safe the whole time."

"So... Are you going to try to call him?" When she didn't respond, he continued. "Well, even if you don't, we have to go through the proper channels if we're going to keep him."