❝parent (pronounced ˈpɛːr(ə)nt or pair-uh nt), noun
a person's mother or father (not necessarily biologically).❞
Hunter was with Cassie again. They were sitting in the living room together, and he smiled at her gently. "What else?" she asked. "What else about Lilly?"
"She was beautiful, no doubt about it." He smiled. "She was smart, and she was brave."
Yet Ryan is better, and you damn well know that.
He shook his head minutely, and smiled at her. "She did everything she could to make me happy. But she had one of the shortest tempers I ever experienced."
Cassie laughed. "I think I learned to get my temper under control. Still super emotional though."
"I can imagine." Hunter checked his watch, then said, "Hey, it's about time you get home."
"Oh crap, four o'clock," she said. She hugged him, and said, "'Til next time, then!"
"Bye, Cass," said Hunter, kissing the top of her head. "I'll see you soon, alright?"
"Okay. Bye, Pa!" She hugged him again, and left.
Hunter stared after her, before sighing, standing and stretching. He felt bad about snapping at Ryan earlier, and he wanted to make up for it.
Well, if he took Red with him, Spencer was at school with Robin and Phoenix, Elle was okay by herself, since she was sleeping- surely he could make a short trip to buy Ryan some flowers?
Four o'clock. The kids would be home from school soon. But he'd make it back in time, surely. It only took a little while to get to the florist and back, and he knew what flowers she liked. No, this was a good idea.
"Ellie, I'm gonna go for just a few minutes, Red will be with me, alright?" he called upstairs, grabbing his jacket in one hand and his baby in the other. She kissed his cheek and he chuckled, holding her tighter and locking the door. Elle must have been asleep. He buckled Red into her car seat and texted Elle quickly, making sure she knew where he was when he got back, and started the car. "Let's go!" he said, and Red smiled widely. She shook her toy, and Hunter chuckled, turning on the radio.
He went into the florist's shop, Red in his arms, and he smiled at the florist behind the counter. "Hi! I'd like to grab some flowers for my wife."
"Your wife, huh? What'd you do wrong?" asked the florist with a laugh.
He sighed. "Oh, you know, the usual."
The florist chuckled, then pulled out a book from under the counter, opening to a page. "These are purple hyacinths," said the man, and Hunter began sniffling- he'd always had bad hayfever. "They're good for asking for forgiveness and love."
"Good," he said. "I'll take a bunch. How much?"
"Fifty dollars," said the florist easily, and Hunter's eyes widened. It was far too late now, though. He pulled out his wallet, and took out a fifty dollar bill, handing it over, while the florist wrapped the flowers in white paper. "Thank you very much!" he said cheerfully, and Hunter left, thinking about how stupidly duped he had just been. Ryan didn't give a damn what the flowers meant. She just liked flowers.
He put the cars in the back seat with Red, and she touched the petals with fascination. He kissed the top of her head, before beginning the drive home.
What he didn't anticipate was the excess traffic.
"Are you kidding me?" he muttered under his breath, going to grab his phone and swearing under his breath. There had been a car crash on the highway, and somehow the traffic had reached all the way down to the little streets near their house. And now he had forgotten his phone.
An hour later, he was back home. The flowers were fine, but he was stressing, and he swore when he saw Ryan's car in the driveway. He barely made it to the door before-
"WHERE-" yelled Ryan, swinging the door open and letting it hit the wall behind her, "- THE HELL- WERE YOU?!"
"I-" he stammered weakly, and she raised her hand, signalling to him to shut up. He did so.
"Are you kidding me, Hunter?! Are you actually kidding me?! You left our daughter, our cancer-struck daughter at home alone, and you went out for a joyride with our youngest child?!"
"It wasn't a joyride," he muttered.
"Your car was gone, there was no note, you left your phone at home- do you have any idea how worried I was?!"
"I'm sorry-" he tried to say, but Ryan didn't let him answer, instead throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly.
"Don't do that to me again, you idiot," she whispered, squeezing him tightly, and his free arm wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly.
"I'm sorry, Ry," he said quietly. "I'm sorry."
She sighed, letting go and taking Red from his hands, kissing her forehead. "Alright," she said. "Where did you go?"
"Take the kids inside, I'll show you," he said, rubbing Robin's head and picking Spencer up. They eventually calmed the kids down, and Hunter went out to the car while Ryan got started on dinner. He came back into the kitchen, nervously holding the flowers behind his back. She looked around, and he held out the flowers for her. Was it always so hot in here?
"Flowers?" she asked, turning pink. Maybe it was hot if they were both blushing. "They're lovely."
"They're to apologise for snapping at you this morning," he said quickly and without pause.
She brought them to her nose to smell. "They smell wonderful."
"They're hyacinths," he said. "They mean forgiveness. That's, uh, that's what the florist said."
"Is that where you went?" she asked. "To the florist, to buy me flowers?"
"Yeah?" he said, the word leaving his mouth as a question, and she chuckled.
"You're so sweet," she murmured, before leaning up and pecking him on the lips, taking him by surprise. "Thank you."
"E-Erm..." he stuttered. "You seem to be in a good mood, dove."
"Do I?" she asked, a smile in her voice.
He decided to brave it, and hugged her from behind, kissing her cheek. "Yeah," he said. "What are you making?"
"Tacos, with beef, salsa and guac."
"Amazing," said Hunter. "I'm hungry already."
She looked at him and smiled. "Mind cutting the avocado for me, love?"
Love?
"Of course," he said, grabbing one from the fruitbowl and cutting it in half, dicing it. "How was your day, darling?"
"Alright. I got things done. You know that feeling when you're actually on top of things and you're motivated, so you finish your workload?"
"Mmm?"
"That made me happy," she explained with a smile. "It's been a good day, basically. "You?"
"Red wasn't being fussy today, that was fine. Ellie... she was in bed all day. I checked on her a few times, but she didn't talk much. I checked her vitals and everything was fine, she was just... not having a good day."
Ryan pursed her lips. "I'll call Drew over for dinner, it's been a while since he stayed over."
"Jessie won't mind?"
"I'm sure if we explain, it'll be fine."
His heart was racing. "Right."
She looked around at him. "You okay?"
"A little shaken, I won't lie."
"Why's that?"
"You're, uh... acting different."
"Am I?"
"Y-Yeah."
She smiled slightly, before leaving the mince she was preparing, hugging him. "Maybe I just missed you," she said. "And missed how we used to be. Maybe it's time to go back to that?"
"You reckon?"
"Mmm," she hummed in agreement.
"Allow me," he said, leaning down to kiss her, but hearing someone clear their throat awkwardly. The two jumped apart, seeing Drew.
"I, uh, didn't mean to interrupt, sorry," he stammered. "Elle texted me and asked me to come 'round? I didn't realise that you didn't know, I'm-"
"No, no, don't apologise," said Ryan. "We were going to invite you around for dinner anyway. She's up in her room."
"Sorry," he said hastily. "I'll leave you to it." He rushed out of the kitchen, and Hunter laughed shakily, turning back to the avocado and chopping. What was he doing? This was exactly what he was trying to avoid. They couldn't do this! He couldn't hurt her again!
So why didn't he just make sure to not hurt her?
And for the first time, he couldn't argue against the voice in his head.
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Phoenix stayed well out of sight, watching Ebony read a book from the library. He had read the front- it said 'Fairy Bad Day'. He didn't really get it. But his curiosity bore too much for him to not watch her.
She hadn't changed at all. Not except for her hair, which was long now, and went to the middle of her chest, covering the right side of her face at all times. She never tucked it behind her ear. He wondered why.
Would she even recognise him now? It had been years, literal years since they had last seen each other. She had probably forgotten that Nita even existed now. She probably didn't even care about Phoenix. He closed his eyes, leaning against the brick wall that he was hiding behind. He had no idea what to think of this.
"What are you doing?"
He opened his eyes, and saw his teacher. Mr Sten frowned slightly. "Are you feeling alright? You look a bit pale."
"Didn't sleep," muttered Phoenix. "Might go rest."
"I'll take you to the nurse's office," he said, and at that very moment, Ebony looked up. Her mint green eyes betrayed a flicker of surprise, but before she could stand and approach him, Phoenix walked with Mr Sten to the nurse's office.
He lay there in his bedroom now, school having finished a few hours beforehand, thinking about it. He hadn't seen anyone really talking to Ebony. Maybe he could finally have a friend?
No. He couldn't be like that. That would make him seem weird, right? Like, "Hey, we met twice but I feel really strongly about you, let's be friends!" Only little kids did that, in kindergarten. Now he couldn't just do that, he wasn't a little kid anymore.
He touched his father's necklace, and looked at his wall, where he had drawn his parents so well that they looked photorealistic, and whispered, "What do I do?"
His body felt numb, and so did his mind, as he opened up his laptop, plugging in the USB and clicking on another video.
"Alright," whispered a voice. "I just woke up and I walked into the living room, look at this." Charlie walked into the living room, to a rocking chair in the corner, where a baby with jet black hair and Martin were sleeping. The baby was clutched to Martin's chest, and his glasses were crooked, his hair in a messy quiff. "How adorable," she whispered, and Martin stirred, opening his eyes.
"Ugh, Char, don't video me now, I look terrible," he said tiredly, rubbing his eyes. "He started crying last night and I didn't want to wake you up so I gave him the stuff in the fridge."
"That's fine," said Charlie, before handing him the camera. "Here, I'll take him, you video for a bit."
He handed Phoenix to her, before taking the camera. "So, Char, what's the day today?"
"It's the fifth of January. Phoenix is... two weeks and a day." She gently kissed the top of the tiny baby's head. "He's so beautiful. He looks like you."
"He looks like a potato, he's two weeks old," argued Martin, and Charlie laughed softly.
"You look like a potato," she countered. "Oh! He's awake, honey!"
"Yeah?" Martin moved closer with the camera, and videoed the baby in Charlie's arms. The baby stirred, opening his eyes, which were dark and framed by thick lashes.
"He's so beautiful," she whispered reverently, brushing his hair from his forehead. "So beautiful and perfect."
"Of course he is," said Martin softly. "He's ours, isn't he?"
The video ended there, and Phoenix stared at the screen for a bit, feeling tired. His body felt exhausted, and his door opened. "Oh! Nick, I thought you were asleep, love," said Ryan apologetically, and he shook his head.
"No, I was just watching another video."
"Of course," said Ryan softly, sitting down. "Are you okay?"
"Me?"
"You came out of school today looking like you'd been struck by lightning. What happened?"
"Nothing, Ma," he said, sighing. Nita nuzzled her head into his hand, and he stroked her gently. "I'm just tired. I didn't sleep last night."
She pursed her lips, checking his forehead. "You're not warm..."
"I'm fine, Ma," he said, pushing her hand away. "I'm gonna sleep."
"You haven't even had dinner. I'm making tacos-"
"I'm not hungry."
She didn't answer him, and he looked up, noticing her eyes were filled with tears. "Ma?"
"I know they didn't get a choice," she said softly. "But I raised you like my son. I took care of you all these years. Not them."
"Ma, don't-"
"It's fine," she said, standing up. "If you don't want dinner, that's fine. I'll leave a plate downstairs if you want anything later." She left the room wiping her eyes, and Phoenix sighed, looking at Nita. She almost looked annoyed.
"Come on, don't look at me like that," he argued softly. "I didn't think she'd start crying."
Nita barked once, then followed Ryan out. Phoenix sighed, looking at the pictures on his wall of his parents, and suddenly, something clicked.
He pulled out his chalk and his laptop, along with the little photo printer Hunter had gotten him for his tenth birthday. He began finding all the pictures he could of Ryan, Hunter, Elle, Drew, Robin, Spencer and Red, and began printing. Then, he started to draw.
He left his parents, his biological parents, at the top of his wall, but drew six faces after that. He drew Ryan, with her hair up and her glasses, smiling slightly. He drew Hunter with his hair in the messy quiff that he had when he woke up. He drew Elle with her hair in a ballet bun, and not as skinny and emaciated. Drew, smiling with his dimple and his hair curly, the way Elle liked it. Robin laughing, Red grinning, and finally himself, at the bottom, looking up at them all. He stuck the photos of his family up around the photos of his parents, creating a halo. Finally, he sat back on his bed, admiring his handiwork.
Maybe they weren't technically related to him. But they were all he had.
*a/n: phil got to 4 mil and i watched it happen, ladies (and maybe gentlemen idk i don't judge)
also imagine phil as martin they look and sound the same lol whoops
nethii <3*