Lily and Iyana were so shocked by what Kayson said, but they were more worried about what Abel was going to do. Abel slowly glanced down, clenching his jaw like he always does when he got extremely angry.
"What the hell did you just say?" Abel growled.
"I'm having a child, dad." Kayson said in a straightforward tone.
Abel shoved the full plate of food into onto the floor, shattering the plate.
"You're having a baby with that American piece of shit!?" Abel growled.
"If you disrespect her one more time dad, I swear to you I will get violent!" Kayson barked. "You watch your damn mouth when you speak about Madilyn, do you hear me?"
"You disobeyed my damn rules-"
"Oh please with the dramatics, dad. We're ALL American!" Kayson scowled at him. "What the hell do you have us in your house for?"
"Guys, stop!" Lily shouted as she stood up out of her seat, placing her hand out.
"She's getting an abortion."
Kayson's face went blank as he leaned back, scrunching his eyebrows at him.
"What did you just say?"
"I said that that bitch is getting an abortion!" Abel scowled. "I didn't stutter, Kayson?"
"You must be out your sick seditious incompetent piece of shit if you ever think that I'll get rid of my child." Kayson said in a soft and sinister tone, glancing Abel in his eye.
"Kayson, who the hell do you think you're talking t-"
"I'm talking to you, dad! Abel Rackmon McCay! You!" Kayson scowled at him. "What am I supposed to be? AFRAID of you?"
It was at this moment that Abel realized that he had no control over Kayson. Abel gave him a softer look, indicating that he was backing down a little.
"I've been liking that girl since that age of four, dad. Four! Do you really think you're going to be able to stop me from seeing her, taking care of her, or liking her? Yeah she's American, so what? So am I! So is Lily! And so is Iyana!" Kayson growled as he slammed his hand down onto the table. "And as a fiancé, we're going to do the things that make you CRINGE at night! We're going to kiss, have sex, and have 2 more children after our first one!"
Abel laughed under his breath, sniffing and looking back at Kayson.
"You think that you throwing your little hissy fits at me define's you as a man?" Abel scoffed, smiling at Kayson. "Are you serious?"
Kayson gave him a look that was more angry, more serious, and more sinister.
"I've had all A's and B's since I started Pre-K, aced everything academically that you put me in, which includes singing, the piano, the violin, grows, farms, and harvest my own fruits and vegetables, knows how to cook even though that's what a woman is responsible for doing-"
"Enough!" Abel scowled at him.
"Know's how to box, bench heavy weight than half the boys older than me, knows how to do hair, has my own job, taking care of Madilyn, my unborn child, AND her siblings, watching Iyana, cleaning those damn animals, I am a MAN!" Kayson barked at him as his voice echoed through the halls. "I am a hardworking man with a fiancé and a child, which the child is already taken care of and he or she isn't even here yet. I am a MAN, damnit!"
As Abel gave him a look of anger and guilt, Kayson hit Abel with a blow that seemed to hit home.
"If your previous son was a man, he would've did what I did and faced you rather than committing suicide because he was "afraid" of you! And you know why? Because no man should EVER fear ANY OTHER MAN whatsoever!" Kayson continued, not letting up. "I am not the boy who follows in your shadow anymore, I am the MAN who creates my own ways in life, just like you instructed me to do when I got old enough!"
Kayson looked down at Lily and Madilyn, sighing and stepping away from the table.
"Me and Madilyn already have our own apartment." Kayson growled as he walked to the end of the hall, stopped, and glanced at the three. "I will continue to farm like you ask, Father. But when I graduate at the end of the year for my amazing grades, I will be out. It's time for me to grow up, so you should do me a favor and do so yourself."
Damn. Kayson snapped. Aha. Anywho, one thing that I noticed that everyone in the family had, was the strength of Noah. Even though Noah was a drunk, he was still smart. I guess people felt that he all of a sudden became an idiot when in reality he was nothing but a smart drunk.
Meanwhile, Isaiah took the kids to go visit Tyler. She hadn't seen her kids in a month and some change. When they walked by the door, they saw Tyler combing and flat ironing her hair in the mirror. She looked a lot better than she usually did. Isaiah stood by the door as the kids ran up to her, giving her a hug.
"Mommy!"
Tyler gave her sons a hug, holding onto them as tight as she could.
"Hey babies!" Tyler whispered as she smiled at her boys. "How are you?"
"We missed you mommy!" Jalen smiled.
"I missed you too, babies." Tyler smiled, kissing them again.
Tyler looked up at Isaiah, watching him toss the boys the keys.
"Hey boys, go to the car that's in front of the building." Isaiah said. "Let me talk to y'all momma really quick."
Isaiah watched the boys give Tyler another kiss, then ran out to the car. Isaiah sat down next to Tyler on the bed, glancing down.
"I've been clean for a month." Tyler said in a happy tone. "I'm proud of myself."
"Keep up the good work, Ty." Isaiah smiled.
Tyler flat ironed a piece of her hair, turning to Isaiah.
"So I saw on the news that Lily is alive." Tyler said in an anxious tone. "What about my babies? Are they still alive??"
Isaiah glanced down, slowly nodding his head.
"Yes."
"Wha..........what!?" Tyler panted as her eyes welled with tears. "Where are they?"
"I can't tell you, Ty."
"Why!?" Tyler scowled. "Those are my kids too-"
"I'm not letting you know until you get better, Ty. You've got to get better first." Isaiah said in a serious tone. "I can't have neither of them seeing you like this. It'll fuck them up. Bad."
Tears ran down Tyler's eyes as she looked down, tucking in her lips and closing her eyes.
"Okay." Tyler whispered. "That's fine..."
Isaiah gave Tyler a kiss on the cheek as she glanced back at him.
"And maybe when you get better, you can come home." Isaiah smiled as he got up, heading towards the door. "Good luck, Ty."
As Isaiah got into his car and left with the boys, someone else walked in front of the rehabilitation center with his jacket hovered over his shoulders.
Noah.
He looked up at the sign and took a deep breath, looking down at the ground.
"I hope that I can do this..." Noah thought as he walked inside of the building.
Since the next day was a Sunday, it was a relaxing day for everyone. It wasn't as hot as it usually was outside, but it wasn't too cool either. The weather was perfect. As the spring leaves from the many trees in the valley flown into the green grasslands, Kayson watched the sunset off with Madilyn. They sat on a blanket, glancing around the valley while going back to childhood and playing the game "I spy".
"I spy.........something pink." Madilyn said, squinting one of her eyes shut as she glanced out at the sunset.
"That's easy." Kayson chuckled. "The sunset?"
"Nope."
Kayson squinted his eyes out, looking for something pink. Seconds later, he watched as the pigs inside of the barn ran around in circles.
"The pigs?"
"Nope."
"What else is pink out in this green land?" Kayson grinned in a confused way.
Madilyn pointed to one of the hillbilly farmers, wearing nothing but some really right underwear that rode up his but while he farmed.
"That mans ass over there." Madilyn giggled.
"Old man Benny's ass? Oh my Allah!" Kayson laughed as he held onto his stomach, leaning onto his side. "Oh my god I can't stop....la-a-a-a-ughing...."
Madilyn and Kayson spent a good 2 minutes, laughing unbelievably hard at the joke she made. They lifted up and wiped their tears, sniffing and looking out.
"Alright I uh....." Kayson paused as he glanced everywhere. "I spy somethiiiiinggg, Red."
"My hair, DUH!" Madilyn chuckled as she placed her curly red hair over her shoulders.
"Nope."
"The barn?" Madilyn asked.
"Nope."
Madilyn looked out everywhere, but couldn't see anything red in particular.
"Uh I don't know." Madilyn shrugged, keeping a small smile on her face. "My freckles or something?"
"Nah." Kayson said, shaking his head and pointing out at the sunset. "The red lining around the sun!"
"That was stupid, Kayson!" Madilyn giggled. "You're supposed to point out an item, not the damn sky!"
"Well, is Mr. Benny's ASS an item?" Kayson asked.
Madilyn grinned at him as thus both started giggling a little.
"Touché." Madilyn smiled. "Touché."
Madilyn grinned at Kayson, leaning a little close to him.
"I spy somebody beautiful." Madilyn whispered.
"Let me guess, me?" Kayson asked in a low tone as they sat inches away from each other's faces.
"NOPE!" Madilyn said in an obnoxious tone, smiling at him. "I'm talking about me! Try again! Haaaa!"
"Oh you thought that you were funny, huh?" Kayson grinned as he pinched her nose. "Go to hell, Madilyn."
"Ahahahaha. Come on, Kays." Madilyn grinned. "You've got to admit that that was funny."
"Blah."
While they sat on their blankets, they heard the back window slide open. It was Abel. Kayson grilled him, grabbing Madilyn's hand.
"Come on, babe." Kayson growled. "Let's go before things get out of han-"
"Actually Kays, I came to talk to you and Madilyn." Abel said in a serious, calm, and collected tone. "If you don't mind?"
Kayson gave him a serious look as Madilyn looked over at him.
"If you say anything wrong, we're out of here, dad." Kayson groaned as him and Madilyn stepped inside. "Come in, Maddy."
Abel followed them inside of the home, asking if they could sit down at the table. While Madilyn and Kayson took two of the seats, Abel took the third and shouted upstairs.
"Iyana! Lily!" Abel chanted as he cupped the side of his mouth, yelling upstairs.
"Yeah?" They both yelled back.
"Stop cleaning for a second and come downstairs!" Abel chanted. "I have to talk to you guys for a second!"
"Okay!"
A minute later, Iyana and Lily jogged downstairs. When the two saw Madilyn and Kayson, they knew that it was going to be some drama. As Lily took the last seat, Iyana pulled up a stool and sat at the table. Abel closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then began to talk.
"I wanted y'all to come downstairs because I wanted to clear the air, okay?" Abel said in a serious tone, talking to Kayson, Iyana, and Lily. "Is there anything that y'all feel that I do wrong that y'all wanna clear?"
Nobody said a word. He gave them a funny look, looking specifically at Lily.
"Guys, I won't get upset. I promise." Abel said in a serious tone. "If I do, y'all have permission to get up and leave me at the table."
"Can I say something?" Iyana asked, raising her hand and smiling.
"Go ahead, Iyana."
"Why don't you ever let us have any fun?"
"Well, what do you mean?"
"Everyday, we have to come home, clean, cook, do our homework, study, take a shower, go to bed, then do it the next day." Iyana groaned as she twiddled around with her hair on the table. "Why don't you ever let us have fun and swim, invite some friends over, and everything else?"
Abel sighed, placing his fingers together.
"Well I guess I have this overbearing mentality that if you stop doing it, you'll forget about it." Abel said as he looked at Iyana. "I'll tell you what. You and Lily can take a break from that 3 days out of the 5 day week, and you can also take the weekends off. Okay?"
"YAY!" Iyana smiled as she flung her fists into the air. "Thanks, Dad!"
"Lily?"
Lily twiddled with her fingers, looking down.
"Why do you yell at us and make a big deal when we make one tiny mistake?" Lily asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Like the other day when we accidentally spilled a tiny bit of dinner onto the ground, you grabbed me and Lily up and started yelling at us." Lily groaned. "Even when we sit here and clean everything, cook, and fold clothes, we never hear a 'Thank You' out of you. You're always focusing on the negative things."
Abel nodded, tucking in his lips.
"I guess I haven't been appreciating how much you and Lily have been doing around here, and I truly apologize. I will try not to overreact over little things, but it will take some time." Abel said in a serious tone. "Is there anything else you want to ask, Lily?"
"I also wanted to know why do you always talk about how much Kayson is doing better than me and Iyana when we do something wrong?" Lily asked as she fanned her eyes, starting to tear up. "It's not good to do that, especially against your kids. It's degrading."
"It is degrading, it's crass, it's cruel, and I apologize." Abel nodded in a serious tone, looking Lily in her eyes. "Instead of comparing you to Kayson, I will help you in whatever field you're lacking in."
Abel turned to Kayson, giving him a serious look.
"Kays?"
Kayson glanced up at Abel, tapping his finger on the wooden table with his right hand while holding Madilyn's hand in his left.
"What is it that you don't like about Americans, dad?" Kayson asked.
Abel glanced down again, taking a deep breath.
"I hate it how they think that we're all terrorists because of the 9/11 attacks in their country. I'm so used to being judged and triple checked on a plane, so I automatically assume that they hate me in return." Abel groaned. "I never feel accepted there. Not by anyone."
Abel looked up at Kayson, giving him the same look.
"Is there anything else you need to ask, Kayson?"
"Why don't you like Madilyn? She's never done a thing wrong to you." Kayson growled. "Why can't you just accept the fact that I've found someone who I can care for, and is willing to go through the utmost amount of pain to deliver our child?"
Abel looked down for the third time, creaking his mouth open.
"That question, leads me to a very important confession I need to make." Abel said in a low tone.
His leg started to shake as everyone's eyes laid upon him.
"14 years ago, I realized that I wouldn't be able to have any children. I need a woman to do that job, but not women seemed to be interested in me since my first wife passed away. So I called up one of my friends to see if they could find some kids in the adoption agency, but his other friend told me that American kids were the best to work with. This led me to America." Abel said. "When you guys were just toddlers, I bought you guys for $1.5 million dollars to take you out of a neighborhood that involved street killings. This also meant that I kidnapped you guys away from your biological parents. I'm......I'm not your real father, as you know. Including Madilyn.."
Lily and Kayson appeared less than moved, but Iyana and Madilyn's eyes were wide open in disbelief.
"What's a biological?" Iyana asked.
"It means that I'm not your real father, Iyana." Abel said in a serious tone. "Some other man brought you into this world."
Madilyn's mouth remained open as she glanced down.
"You mean, you know where my real parents are?" Madilyn asked.
"Yeah."
Abel's eyes started to flood with a shitload of tears as he looked up. Out of the 10+ years that Kayson, Iyana, and Lily had lived with him, he never cried before. Or at least, they'd never seen it.
"I think the reason why I'm so bitter and I have a chip on my shoulder is because you guys are doing so much better than I am, was doing better than I was back when I was a teenager, and have everything I want." Abel sniffed as tears ran down his eyes. "I want Iyana's vibrant personality, Lily's courage, and I want a wife and children like Kayson has. And I don't have any of that."
Madilyn snatched off a few pieces of tissue on the side of her, handing it to Abel. As Abel wiped his eyes, he started shaking his head, laughing a little.
"I guess I'm so scared of seeing y'all turn out like me that I have the urge to push y'all like I do. I don't want y'all to be rich and unhappy like me." Abel nodded as more tears fell down his eyes. "I don't want y'all to be miserable like me. I don't want y'all to have no family at the age of 45. I don't want y'all to ever have to feel like y'all NEED or have to depend on me. I just want y'all to be alright. I let my first son down, and he's dead because of it. I don't want the same things to happen to you guys."
"And that's alright, dad." Kayson said in a serious tone as he rubbed his shoulder. "You just have to work on bettering yourself before you try and better anyone else. You can still work on us while working on yourself as well."
Abel chuckled a little as the whole table joined in. As he held the tissue by his face, he smiled and looked at the three.
"You three make me so proud. Iyana with your cheerful demeanor, Lily with your courage and bravery, and Kayson for becoming the man that I taught you how to be, and that's depending on no one." Abel nodded. "As for Madilyn, I'm happy for you guys and I can't WAIT to see my new grandchild. Just make sure you take care of him, and Kayson, you make sure you take care of her."
"You know I will, dad." Kayson nodded.
"Will do, sir." Madilyn smiled.
"And closing this LOOONNGGG conversation, I have something final to share with you guys." Abel smiled.
While they sat around the table, Abel pulled out four large stacks of cash. Everyone's eyes at the table widened in disbelief as the money sat there.
"Kayson, before I send you off anywhere, I want you and Madilyn to have your baby girl or boy first." Abel asked. "Make sure that the baby is settled before anything."
"Will do sir, but what's this for?" Kayson asked.
"This is the cash for all of your flights." Abel smiled. "I'll be taking you to see your biological parents for the first time in 10 months."