Ethan slams his bedroom door behind him, his breathing heavy and uneven as his heart pounds against his chest at a mile a minute. He bites his lip in an attempt to hold back the tears that he doesn't want to shed.
He puts his head in his hands and falls back against the door, sliding down it until he's sitting on the floor. Violent sobs begin to wrack the teenager's body.
He regrets snapping like that, hurting his father like that, in front of you and Gabby, but he just couldn't take it anymore.
It's obvious to Ethan that Patrick doesn't want anything to do with him, with Gabby, with you. And it hurts hearing that someone doesn't want you. Especially when it's your own dad.
Ethan runs his hands down his face and exhales shakily, scanning his room and spotting the photo album that you'd found a few days ago. He sniffles and crawls over to it, picking it up and setting it in his lap. A tear drop rolls down the side of his nose and falls onto the leather cover. He quickly swipes it away before opening the photo album and seeing the first couple pages pictures of him as a newborn.
He smirks, remembering how happy you and Patrick were back then. Or if what Patrick said was right, how happy you and Patrick pretended to be back then. Either way, things were better back then. No doubt.
Just as he's about to flip to the next page, there's a knock on his door.
"Go away," He mumbles, not even caring to ask who it is.
The doorknob turns and the door clicks open.
"I SAID-" He begins to yell when Gabby peeks her head into his room. Ethan closes the album and sighs, his anger dissipating, "Gabby, what are you doing? I thought I told you not to come in my room."
"Mommy took Daddy to the hospital and Mommy said you were here if I need you."
He rolls his eyes, "Well what do you need me for? Are you hungry? Do you want dessert?"
"No. I heard a scary noise downstairs and I got scared," She whimpers before running into his room and practically jumping at him, slinging her short arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder, "I want you to check for it, Ethan."
He gently pushes his sister away from him, "It was probably just the washer, Gabs. You're fine. Go back downstairs."
"I don't want to," She looks over her shoulder before putting the side of her hand to her mouth and whispering, "What if the washer gets me?"
Ethan smacks his forehead, "Gabby, the washer's not going to-" He cuts himself short when he realizes trying to explain to her what the washer was is fruitless. "You know what? Second though, stay here. Close my door, though, we don't want the washer getting us."
Your daughter nods her head eagerly before jogging over to the door and closing it, even pushing over Ethan's desk chair for extra measure. Your son shakes his head as his sister walks back over to him, sitting down in front of him.
"What are we gonna do now?" She asks him, her voice barely above a whisper.
"We're going to have to wait until Mom and Dad come back home," He answers her, his voice also hushed as he plays along, "Because when Mom and Dad come home, the washer's going to be too scared to hurt us because washers don't like adults like Mom and Dad because they feed them with clothes instead of food, which is what they really want."
"That's not very nice. Why do they do that?"
Ethan shrugs his shoulders, "Beats me. I'm not an adult."
Gabby's attention is caught by the photo album and she pulls it over to her, "Is this a story you can read me?"
"N-No," He stammers, taking the book back into his possession and opening it up. He skims through the pages quickly, his sister leaning forward to get a better glimpse of them herself. "Actually," He sighs, "Yeah, it is a story. You want to hear it?"
Gabby looks up at her brother and nods her head, a smile on her face. She hasn't read a new story in a while, so the thought of a new story excites her. Gabby gets up and re-positions herself so she's sitting in Ethan's lap. He puts the album in her lap and opens it to the first page.
"Once upon a time," He begins, "A long time ago in a place called Los Angeles-"
"How long ago?" Gabby questions.
"Fourteen years ago."
"That's a long time..."
Ethan chuckles, "Yeah. Anyways, a long time ago in a place called Los Angeles, a boy named Patrick and a girl named (Y/N) loved each other very much and were going to get married, but the wedding was cut short when (Y/N) started going into labor."
"What's that?"
He swallows hard, "Um...you know, never mind, screw the whole going into labor thing. The wedding was cut short when the stork that brings mommies and daddies babies crashed (Y/N) and Patrick's wedding and gave them a baby boy named Ethan."
"Hey, your name's Ethan!"
He grins, "Yeah, that's because the baby in the story's me."
Gabby gasps in surprise and tilts her head back, "You have a story about you?"
"This is my story, Gabs. The story of Mom, Dad, and me. You'll be in it too. But if you keep asking me questions, we're never going to get past the wedding part. And after that is when all the fun stuff happens. Including you."
"Sorry," Your daughter apologizes, returning her attention back to the album.
"Alright, so the stork came and crashed the wedding..." Ethan starts again, "...giving (Y/N) and Patrick a baby boy named Ethan. (Y/N) and Patrick were really happy about getting the new baby. Ethan was the best thing that happened to the bride and the groom."
"The who?"
"(Y/N) and Patrick. Mom and Dad."
"Oh. Okay, go on."
He shakes his head and tells her, "So after the stork crashed the wedding and gave them Ethan, they took Ethan home. Patrick was really nervous. It was his first time being a dad, but luckily his best friend Pete was there to help him out..."