October, 2017
BIRDIE LIKED TO BE IN CONTROL. She would be the first to admit, she liked knowing when things were going to happen and she hated surprises more than anything else. If she were seeing a shrink, they'd dig into her past and discover that there had been many a time in which she had no control over something and, as a result, she clung onto whatever power she had, never wanting to lose it for fear of what would happen.
But she didn't go to a shrink so until the day that happened, she was going to just live her life and if people disliked her for it, she honestly didn't have the time nor the energy to care.
"Remy Oswald Walsh, you are going to be late for school," she called, stomping down the hall to her son's room, knocking on the door, "If you don't get to school, then I can't get to work, then we won't be able to afford this place."
The door bregrudingly opened, revealing a small boy looking up at her, unamused. "Mark already kicked us out of our brownstone, don't let him kick us out of this place, it's actually pretty nice."
Birdie sighed and grabbed her son by the arm, tugging him back gently, crouching down and placing her hands on his shoulders. "Remy, it doesn't matter where we live. As long as we're together, that's all that matters."
"Then why don't we move to someplace that isn't as expensive?" he asked, crossing his arms, "I get you have a job thanks to Aunt Jayne, but don't you think it'd be easier for us to live in, at least, not-Manhattan?"
She sighed and hung her head low. "Remy, we've been over this, your father doesn't want us living anywhere but here, it's easier for all of us."
"It's easier for him and he doesn't even live with us anymore," the boy argued, pulling out of her grip, "It's dumb, why does he think he still has a say in our lives? He kicked us out of the brownstone that we were paying for."
Birdie pursed her lips. "Really, honey, I wasn't able to keep up with rent, it wasn't fair to your father."
"Mark and his salary can deal with it," he spat, marching over to the dining table, "He doesn't need all of those watches and Roombas."
As he passed by the living room, he caught sight of their own Roomba which was waiting patiently in the corner for when its timer went off and it could stumble about their home, trying to pick up the dirt left by the two inhabitants. Emphasis on 'trying.'
Remy made a detour, walking over and patting their Roomba on the head. "It's okay, Roomba, we know you're trying your best, it's okay."
Walking back to his mother who was watching the scene with a small smile, he whispered, "When the robots inevitably take over, I don't wanna be the first on the hit list."
Birdie covered her mouth to stifle her laugh, her shoulders shaking as she watched her son walk over to the dining table and sit down, waiting for his food. As she went to give him his toast, she heard him ask,
"Can you ask Mark to pay the fee for me to join the robotics team?"
She paused, her heart stuttering to a stop. Despite what Remy believed, Mark didn't pay for anything in their lives, nor did he want them to stay in Manhattan. That was all her parents, though they had all agreed not to tell him know that; if he believed his father was still in the picture, maybe the boy would resent him less.
But deep down Birdie knew that Remy didn't like his father, not since he left them at the beginning of the year, never showing his face unless it was convenient for him or when Birdie twisted his arm.
"I thought you didn't want to join the team because you don't understand math," she ventured carefully; that was what he told her, but she didn't want him to feel as though she was dissuading him.
"Yeah, but then he'll have to pay for something else," Remy said simply, taking the plate from her hand, reaching for the butter that she had placed in the center of the table. Seeing him struggling, she pushed it towards him and he smiled at her gratefully.
She didn't smile back, instead, giving him a stern look. "Remy, your father worked hard for that money, just like I work hard. You can't go wasting it, especially if you're not going to appreciate what he used his money on."
He huffed and crossed his arms. "Whatever..." he mumbled something under his breath that Birdie couldn't catch, and she was too tired to try and interrogate him into telling her.
"Look, I'm going to get ready, and I when I'm done, you should be too, okay?"
The boy sighed, but agreed, watching as his mother made her way to her own room, pretending to eat. When he was sure she was gone, he pulled out his phone, going over his plan.
He had to be sure this would work.
º º º
There was a lot of paperwork involved when working at a law firm, and Birdie actually found it rather soothing. She liked the sound of her nails pressing against the keys, the fast paced clicking filling her office and making her smile. There was a lot of work, sure, but she would always try to find the most positive thing about it. Not because she was a positive person, but because she had no right to complain.
"Let's get lunch."
Birdie looked up from her work to find Jayne standing in the doorway, smiling. The woman had her long blonde hair pulled up into a neat bun, her usual blazer and pencil skirt giving her the air of importance she had worked so hard to achieve.
"I'm not done with—" Birdie began, but Jayne held up a hand, stopping her.
"You can take a break," she said, walking inside and pulling her to her feet, "You're one of us now. Don't worry about having to work twice as hard to prove that you should actually be here."
"But I have to," Birdie argued, nevertheless rising to her feet and grabbing her purse, following the woman out, "You were the one that helped me get an interview."
"But you got in on your own," Jayne argued, "Now, c'mon, I want to go to Hop Kee."
Birdie scoffed, grabbing her arm. "Okay, I see you're having cravings, but Hop Kee is too far away, we're in Midtown."
"We can take a cab," Jayne argued, pouting, "Please, I am craving."
Birdie shook her head, sighing. "We'll go for dinner, okay? Let's just grab something close by, we shouldn't be gone for long."
With a sigh, the blonde agreed, tugging Birdie along beside her as they made their way out of the building, smiling at some of their co-workers, though they didn't always get a smile back. Birdie tried not to internalize it, reminding herself that she had proven her worth by this point, she didn't need to worry.
At least, she hoped so.
º º º
"Do you have any other friends?"
Ethan looked down at his cousin who was fiddling with something in his lap. Thirteen to Remy's eleven, Ethan wasn't sure how to feel about the boy sitting with him during their lunch period. They were in a general age range of each other, but that didn't mean anyone in their grades interacted.
"I have you," Remy replied easily, not looking up from his work, examining what looked to be a wire.
Ethan took a deep breath and sighed, casting an apologetic glance to his other friends who were eyeing the younger boy with distaste and confusion. While he would love to just hang out with his friends, he wasn't about to cast him aside; after what had happened only a few months before, he tended to think before he spoke.
"Well, do you at least wanna tell me what you're working on?" he ventured. If the boy was going to sit with them, he should at least speak.
"I'm gonna find my real dad," Remy said, barely glancing up from his lap.
Ethan's eyebrows shot up and he straightened, looking towards his friends for help that they couldn't give, because no one knew what he knew. "Um...you know who he is?"
"I have a feeling," Remy whispered, glancing over at him apprehensively, "I was talking to Aunt Jayne, and she told me a story."
Ethan blinked. "What story could she have told you?"
The boy shrugged. "She talks a lot when she's drunk. Mom had a case and Stacy was sick, so she just watched over me."
That didn't answer Ethan's question, but he figured that he wouldn't receive a clear cut answer, so he accepted it and just went on eating his lunch, talking to his friends and generally ignoring Remy. He felt bad, at first, but the boy didn't seem to mind, too caught up in whatever was sitting in his lap.
That something was, in fact, a box full of parts and wires. He didn't know what to do with them, really, but he knew that he could make something. He had the internet for that. The box was mainly to hide his phone, which he had opened to his plan. It wasn't anything fancy, just a map of the school and the general area around it with notes scribbled on top describing times and other tidbits of information; he had sent it to himself after making it on Stacy's StarkPad.
Ethan, who was glancing over at him, curious, caught sight of it and pointed towards the large circle he had drawn. "What's this?"
Remy covered the phone quickly, staring up at his cousin with wide eyes, both afraid and suspicious. The other boy raised his hands placatingly, clearly shocked by the harsh reaction. "It's okay, I won't rat you out. Is that gonna help you find your real dad?"
The smaller boy sighed and shrugged, closing the box and setting it underneath his feet, using it as a footstool. Ethan decided not to comment on his height, something that the boy used to his advantage more often than not, though he did find immense joy in getting angry if someone were to bring it up.
"Mark show up again?" Ethan ventured carefully, knowing that Remy either loved to talk about how much he disliked his father or closed off entirely at the mention of his name.
The boy merely shrugged, picking up his long forgotten sandwich in his hands. "He doesn't matter anymore."
º º º
"This place isn't as good as Hop Kee," Jayne commented, nevertheless digging into her faux-Chinese food as the two sat in the packed restaurant a few blocks from where they worked.
"We're at a Panda Express, Jay, what do you expect?" Birdie scoffed, looking up from her food, "The cashier was white, that's like expecting authentic Mexican food from Taco Bell."
Jayne rolled her eyes, raising her fork to point at her. "I know, I'm just making commentary. You should be used to this by now, it's not like we've been friends for over twenty years."
The two women paused, staring at each other as they came to terms with what she had just said. Twenty years. At the start of that friendship, that number was something so unrealistic as aliens coming from the sky. Yet that happened. It seemed that this wasn't as unrealistic either.
"How's Brad?" Birdie asked instead, because if there was one thing Jayne loved to talk about, it was her husband.
She watched as her friend brightened, immediately launching into a story about how he was possibly getting a promotion at work, gushing about how proud she was of him and how wonderful he was. Birdie couldn't help but smile as she listened; all she wanted was for her friend to find someone who loved her with as much love as she gave, and it seemed she had found the right man.
That was all anyone really wanted, though. To find someone who loved them with the same amount of love they gave. It didn't matter what kind of love, just that it was there.
Jayne finished her story, giving Birdie a sympathetic smile. "Hey. Mark was never worth it."
Birdie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "That's not what you said during my wedding."
The blond pursed her lips, humming. "Um...yeah, it kinda was. I mentioned in my speech that I was sure he wasn't going to end up marrying you because you deserved so much better at least...every other line."
Birdie laughed, shaking her head as she remembered her friend's speech. She had thought it had all been a joke, but thinking back, Jayne's smile had been rather forced the entire night, at least when Mark was involved.
"Well, it took me this long to figure it out," she mumbled, taking a sip of her drink, "Guess we'll just have to see what other mistakes I'll make."
Jayne pointed to her phone which was sitting on the table. Turning it on, it revealed a picture of Remy dressed in his Iron Man costume, grinning at the camera. "I wouldn't call him a mistake."
Birdie couldn't help but smile at the picture of her son. She might not have a husband to love her, but she had a son who did. That was all she needed.
"Yeah," she hummed, "I guess not."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Okay, what even was this ending, Tisha, this was just sloppy work. But up until this point I was pretty content with what I had written like, I love these characters a lot, especially Remy, like, him talking to his Roomba is literally everything to me, it sounds kinda stupid, but as someone who owns a Roomba, it's funny.
I just want to say, Hop Kee is a real place in Chinatown, I actually went there the last time I was in New York and the food was pretty awesome.
That's all I have to say so...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!