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16 year-old Arabella Lee, and 14 year old Teddy Manning sat in the back on the car that cruised down the street.
A lot had happened in the past few months. Ara had been hospitalized with gunshot wounds to the chest, Teddy had been suspended from school for the fifth time that month, and their father had been arrested for the murder of their mother.
And now they were going to be staying with Ara's biological father.
Before Ara was born, her mother was married to a man, and then divorced him. Dana hadn't know she was pregnant, and had been to afraid to call up her ex to tell him. When Teddy was born, Ara's mother had been with Craig for two years.
Teddy had grown up believeing his father was a great man. He was spoiled rotten, but that was most likely due to the fact that teddy was his, and Ara wasn't. Teddy hadn't always been the nicest to his sister either, the two always found themselves bickering. Then one night when he heard him beat his older sister, Teddy lived in fear of his father ever since.
Not gowing up in a nice neighbour hood, the two acted out. A lot. Ara had a criminal record for petty crimes, and Teddy bounced around to a lot of schools. He didn't play well with others, and even earned himself a trip to the station once.
Ara sighed, and leaned up against the seat, her feet up against the chair in front of her. It was raining outside, not hard enough, just a light drizzle. The soft sound of raindrops splattering against the window was oddly calming to Ara. She just relaxed into her seat, listening to the sound of the rain fall.
Caitlyn Hasco, the cop who arrested their father, sat in the driver's seat, ocassionally looking back at the two, making sure they were alright. She had been one of the first to arrive on the scene when a call came in about a noise complaint. Caitlyn heard one gunshot sound upon arriving, and rushed into the house to see a man fatally shoot his wife in the head with a 9 millometer. She then noticed the two teens across from them in utter fear. Before Caitlyn could yell "freeze" the man raised the gun, aiming for the boy but the girl jumped in front, taking three bullets to the chest. Caitlyn shot the man in the leg, grounding him, and called for backup. Thankfully, much to her, Ara survived.
Caitlyn felt responisble for the two, and was the one to find Ara's biological father. What was surprising was that it was the captain of her precinct, her captain to be exact.
Looking back, Caitlyn noticed how calm Ara looked. "You okay?" she called back waking the girl. Ara glanced at her, her eyes cold, and lifeless.
"Do I honestly look ok?" Ara grumbled before looking out the window.
"I don't expect you to be." Caitlyn said. "Not after what you've been through. Honestly, I'm just waiting for you to go into shock, and have a mental breakdown."
"Yeah, well crying isn't something I do anymore." Ara said.
"Alrighty. Nervous?" Caitlyn asked.
"Why would I be nervous?" Ara questioned.
"Because you're about to meet someone whom you've never met, and he never knew about you. I would be panicking."
"I'm not nervous." Ara said truthfully. "I'm annoyed."
"Why would you be annoyed?"
"Because." Teddy spoke up. "We've just gone from an abusive father to a cop who will most likely be breathing down our necks, and watching our every move. Not the life we want." he said.
"I see."
"Do you?" the two asked in unison.
"Sort of. I've never had an abusive father, but I did have one as a cop, and he did like to keep watch on us. All nine of us kids. So I understand that part. "Caitlyn said. "And, Liam may do that at first only because he's never been a dad before. He'll be nervous, wondering if he's doing anything right. But give him time. He'll learn to trust you."
"Yeah, how many cops can say they trust teens? Even if it's their kids." Ara grimiced at the word kids.
"Well, unlike most cops, Liam is the most forgiving. I've only seen him mad a few times. I can gaurentee you, that unless you murder someone, he'll be quite forgiving."
"We'll see about that." Ara mumbled.
"What's there to see?"
"You haven't really met my sister."
Liam Nelson and his partner Aaron Courtnier sat outside his home, watching the light rain fall as they waited for Caitlyn to arrive. Liam was shaking, remembering his ex wife Dana. She was amazing. One of his favourite people. When they split he hadn't know she was pregnant. They'd split up because his job was dangerous, and he didn't want her getting hurt. But if he had've known, he would have stayed with her to help raise the baby. Know he had two kids. A boy and a girl. That was all the info he had been given. Other than that their names were Teddy and Arabella. He didn't even know which one was his.
The sound of a car pulling up caught both men's attention as they watched a cop car pull into the driveway. "There's Cat." Aaron said. Liam stood up, as did Aaron, and they waited. Cat got out first, and opened the door on one side. Liam watched as a teenage boy got out. This must be Teddy he
thought. Teddy looked young, but he wasn't sure how young he was. He waited paitently for the girl to walk out. Finally, a teenage girl got out on the other side, and Liam quickly notted the difference. The girl looked strong, and independant, while as the boy looked shy. This was Arabella.
Caitlyn brought the two up to him, and Liam took a deep breath trying to keep him composure. "Liam, Aaron." Cat said. Liam went to speak but Aaron, gratefully stepped in.
"Hey Cat." Aaron looked at the kids. "Hey guys." Aaron said, greeting the kids. Cat looked over at Liam, and mouthed, 'say something' before turning her attention to the kids.
"Um, Hi." Liam said nervously. Ara and Teddy looked over at the man who spoke and stared.
"Ara, Teddy, this is Liam. You're father." Cat introduced.
"Hey." Teddy said. Ara said nothing.
"I'll leave you three. Come on Aaron. I'm hungry." Cat said turning to walk down the steps. "If he gets out of line, just give him a good hit." Cat joked, mainly towards Ara. She cracked a small smile.
"Bye. See you kids later." Aaron said, before joining her. Ara and Teddy faced their dad. Well, Ara's dad.
"Come in." Liam said.
Inside, Liam was just as awkward. Deep down he wanted to know who was his, but didn't know how to word, so instead he just asked, "How old are you two?" as casually as possible.
"Fourteen." Teddy said. Liam stared wide eyed. Teddy looked much older. In fact, he thoughy he'd be the oldest.
"And . . . you?" he asked Ara.
"Sixteen."
"Alright." Liam said. "Uh . . ." Liam scratched the back of his head as he trailed off. Sensing what he wanted, Ara spoke.
"You want to know which one us is yours. Don't you?" Liam blinked. He wasn't expecting her to be so blunt about it.
"How'd you know?"
"Because if my ex wife had kids and then they were suddenly dumped on my doorstep, I'd want to know which one was mine." Ara said cooly.
"Oh, well . . . uh . . . then who . . . I mean-"
"It's not Teddy." Ara said. Liam swallowed coming to realization he had a teenage daughter. Now that he knew, he looked at her more closely, noticing how much she looked like Dana.
"You look like you're mom." Liam whispered.
"I do?" she asked. Liam nodded.
"Thank you." This was not the response Liam was expecting. He was expecting her to break down and cry to be honest.
"So, you're rooms are upstairs. You can make yourselves at home, and does pizza sound good to you guys?"
"I can't remember the last time I had food." Teddy said.
"What?" Liam said.
"Mom's new boyfriend, he never really fed us much. I hated him. I hope he rots in jail forever." Teddy said. "And that's sort of depressing considering he's my dad you know."
"Teddy he wasn't your father." Ara said wrapping an arm around him. "No man should do such a thing to his son." Teddy nodded. "Which one is his room?" Ara asked.
"Third one on the left. Next to the office. The door to your room is open."
"Go on and unpack. I'll be up in a minute." Ara said. Liam watched at how close they were. Teddy nodded once more and left to go upstairs.
"You're room is down the hall from his. Last one on the right." Laim said. Ara nodded, and left but stopped at the bottom of the stairs. SHe turned to Liam.
"I know . . . that you're not Craig." She began. "And that you wouldn't hurt us. But I'm warning you. I won't stand for bullshit. If you hurt us in any way, or make us do things that make us uncomfortable in anyway, or do nothing about something that bother us . . . we'll have a problem." She said.
"I'll remember that."
"In that case, thanks for being here." and with that Ara left for her room.