Chapter Twenty-Seven

With the kids all growing up, Jessica was feeling nostalgic for babies.   She knew intellectually six kids were more than enough but with them becoming teenagers she feared they would no longer need her. It was a bitter sweet day when William convinced her to let them have a teen party.

"Let's go out, just the two of us. Let the kids have run of the house," William suggested.

"I'd love to," she began "but what if something happens or things get out of hand and_"

"Honey we have good kids. They'll be ok."

"I know but_"

"We can trust them."

Looking into Williams eyes, she knew they needed time alone together. With all the stress they've been under and Williams fears, this was a big step for him. Now she's the one not wanting to go out.

"You're right. Let's go and if the kids burn the house down while we're gone we'll roast marsh mellows."

Laughing at her lame attempt at a joke, William kissed her and told her they had nothing to worry about. The thought of a house fire had started a warning bells going off in his head. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, it kept getting louder.

Sydney was looking forward to the party and had given Gene and Beverly strict orders not to bother anyone.   She had begged her parents to take them but they refused. You'd think they were going on a date or something. Just as long as they didn't come back pregnant. The last thing they needed around here was another baby. Sydney loved that her parents obviously loved each other unlike the majority of her friends parents, who were either separated or divorced. One day she hoped to find her soul mate but babies, she could do without.

Robert could care less about having a bunch of kids over for a party. He just wanted to be left alone. It seemed that every person he met wanted to know about his accident. He was tired of being asked 'how  did it feel to be hit by a car?' Well duh, it hurt! What a stupid question! He had very little tolerance for stupidity and didn't feel like being nice to idiots either. As soon as the first person arrived, Robert went to his room, put his headset on and thought about moving some place where they didn't know him. He wanted to be where people talked to him because they liked him and not because he had the unfortunate luck of being hit by a car.

Evelyn loved being the center of attention. She couldn't wait to show off her dance moves. She was surprised that she managed to attract the attention of one of the cutest boys in school, Evan Clark. Every girl wanted him, including Sydney. Evelyn never thought she'd have a chance but she watched him turn down Sydney for a dance. Evelyn could tell she was fuming from the public humiliation and she was staring daggers at her when Evan approached her.

"Hey Evelyn, want to dance?"

"Love to," Evelyn said deciding to ignore her sister who was motioning for her to say no.

"You're looking good tonight."

"Why thank you kind sir"

Evan laughed saying "You're so strange. I never know what you're going to say and that was just so prim and proper."

"Would you rather I'd have said, so does that mean I look lousy any other time, except for today?"

"No that's ok, I'll take the thank you. Put your way, it sounds like an insult."

"So it was a compliment," Evelyn said teasing him a little.

"Well I meant it to be one."

They continued dancing and enjoying each others company.

When the music stopped Evan took the opportunity to ask "Do you have a date yet for the prom?"

Evelyn shook her head but couldn't stop the smile that threatened to surface in anticipation.

"Well, would you like to go with me?"

"Yes," she said and in her excitement she kissed Evan.

Sydney couldn't decide who she hated more, Evelyn or Evan.

"Whoa if looks could kill, someone would be dead."

"Uh what?" Sydney said turning towards the voice and saw a pleasant looking boy grinning at her.

"Hi I'm Shon Olivia."

"I'm Sydney."

"Nice to meet ya. I'm new but I was told anyone could come. So here I am."

Sydney eyed him for a moment before looking back at Evan and her sister.

"So who's the green chick?"

"My evil sister," Sydney stated through clenched teeth.

"What'd she do? Steal your man."

Smiling a little she said "No not really. It's just maddening that he turned me down and asked her."

"Want me to beat him up for ya?"

Laughing Sydney shook her head no. Cocking his head to the side Shon looked inquiringly at her. "If I can't beat up pretty boy for ya. Can I at least get a dance?"

Sydney nodded agreement, enjoying his flip comments and bad boy attitude.

Casey was flying high and dancing to every song, whether with someone or by himself. There were to many girls to choose from. Some were hot and some not so much but he could've cared less, as long as he was dancing. He could dance all night if given half a chance. Casey found himself a hot commodity being one of the only available guy to dance with. The girls all swooned when he approached them to dance. When the dance was done he would kiss their hand. It was a bit old fashioned but the girls seemed to like it.

A few days later Evan called to see if Evelyn wanted to go on a date. They arranged to meet in the park, where they gazed into each others eyes. They lost all track of time.

"Ok kids it's time to go home." a gruff voice broke into their romantic haze.

"What's wrong officer?" Evan asked politely.

"Son look at the time, it's past curfew."

"My parents are going to kill me," Evelyn said.

"So's mine," Evan agreed.

 



They followed the officer to his cruiser. They went to Evan's house first. Evelyn sat in the front seat and watched Evan trudge behind the officer who knocked on the front door. His parents started yelling at him and the last words she heard were need to be more responsible before the door shut. She dreaded confronting her parents. She hoped they wouldn't ground her, that would be the absolute worst as she would miss the prom. She sighed deeply as they stopped in front of her house.

Her Dad opened the door before the officer had a chance to knock.

"Oh my god. Are you alright?" William asked as soon as he saw Evelyn. She nodded her head. "Officer what happened?"

"Sir your daughter was out past curfew. I brought her and her boyfriend home. My opinion sir, they lost track of time."

"Thank you officer for bringing her home."

"No problem sir," the officer turned to Evelyn and said "Young lady I would suggest you set an alarm on your cell so that it goes off an hour before curfew. Then we can avoid any future meetings like this."

"I'll do that," Evelyn said.

The officer smiled and turned to William "She's a good kid. Have a good night."

After the officer left they went into the kitchen where William gave Evelyn a quick hug saying "you had me so worried."

"I'm really sorry. It won't happen again. I promise."

"You'll do what the officer suggested?"

 "Yes"

"Good," William smiled "Did you have a good time?"

"Oh yes, I had the best time."

William chuckled seeing the dreamy look in Evelyn's eyes. "Evelyn, I know you didn't mean to be out past curfew. So I'm not going to ground you this time."

"Thank you," Evelyn said clasping her hands together.

"But I do expect you to be more responsible and be home on time. No more being driven home by the police and worrying me and your mother, ok?"

"Ok Dad. I'm setting the alarm now."

"Good because next time you're grounded. Got it?"

"There won't be a next time," Evelyn said "Good night Dad, I love you."

"Love you too. Good night sweetheart."

The following day after school Casey was invited over to Shon Olivia's house. Casey thought Shon would be fun to hangout with. Shon was the type of guy to make wise cracks from the back of class. He kept the class in stiches with his antics. There wasn't a day that he wasn't sent to the principles office because of disrupting class. Casey found himself drawn to him, thinking he'd be great to party with but his manners left something to be desired. Shon rubbed Casey's sense of propriety the wrong way.

"Hi I'm Casey, one of Shon's classmates," Casey introduced himself to whom he assumed was Shon's mom.

"Nice to meet ya young man. I'm Shon's Gramma. I'm raising that young whelp while his Dad's in prison for beaten his mama. His mama done ran off and left him."

"Shut up Gramma. He doesn't need to know all that," Shon said embarrassed. He didn't want everyone knowing about his parents.

"Boy don't you tell me to shut up."

"Sorry Gramma."

"That's better. Now you boys have fun while I fix us up a snack." Shon's Gramma shuffled off to the kitchen.

Shon eyed Casey for a moment then said "Don't you dare tell anyone bout my Dad being in prison."

"Don't worry I won't," Casey said wondering why he would want to. It would be awful to have one's dad in prison. He couldn't imagine watching his dad hit his mom. He felt sorry for Shon but figured he'd keep that to himself as he didn't think Shon would appreciate the sentiment.

"So Casey, do you know if your sister has a date for the prom?"

"Which one?"

"What do you mean? Does she have more than one date?" Shon asked.

"No, which sister? I have 3; although one is too young for the prom."

"Oh, sorry I forgot the green chick's your sister."

"No Sydney doesn't have a date."

"Do you think she'd go with me?"

"How would I know? Have you tried asking her?"

"Do you think I should? Do you think she likes me?"

"Again I don't know. Ask her. Don't get me involved. She's difficult on good days" Casey said.

"That's what I like about her, she's prickly and hot."

"Dude I'm pretending I didn't hear that," Casey said sitting down to eat the snack that Shon's Gramma had fixed them.

"Dad do you think I could learn to drive?" Evelyn asked one evening.

"I suppose so, I taught Sydney how to drive and in the process of teaching Robert. As soon as Robert passes his driver's test we'll start your lessons."

"That's great. I can't wait. But can't Mom teach me?"

"Fraid not. She doesn't like driving at the best of times and she'd be a basket case teaching you kids how to drive. So that privilege is all mine."

"That's ok Dad, I just didn't want her to feel bad if she wanted to teach us how to drive."

"I'll let her know that, she'll appreciate the sentiment."

"Um Dad can I ask you a question?"

"Sure honey. You can ask me anything"

"Well, you might not want to answer once you know the question."

"Your boyfriend isn't pressuring you to do anything your not comfortable with, is he?" William asked in concern.

"No, no we're not ready for that yet."

William sighed in relief "So what's on your mind?"

"Well I'm wondering if you ever regretted me being born. I mean what you must have experienced must have been traumatic and I wouldn't hold it against you if you did. But I really want to know where I came from but I don't want to put you through any more pain because of me." Evelyn rambled on not sure if she was making any sense as her thoughts and feelings were becoming confused.

"Honey, I'm not going to lie to you and say it wasn't traumatic but I've loved you since the day you were born. I'm kind of infamous being the first male to give birth, well at least in Aurora Skies. I don't know about any place else."

"Is your anxiety a result of being abducted? How can you love someone that is a constant reminder of something terrible?"

William's heart sank, he knew this day would come. When Evelyn would want to know where she came from and details surrounding her birth. He had hoped for more time to figure out how best to answer her questions both honestly and reassure her of his love.

"Dad, you don't have to answer. I mean I want to know but not if you don't want to."

"Honey, I knew one day you would want to know and yes it will be difficult for me to talk about it. But I want you to know that I love you very much and I never want you to doubt that love," William said giving her a hug. "Let's go into the living room where we can get comfortable and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

So they spent several hours sitting side by side talking and crying in each other's arms. Evelyn knew she would always have questions but she would never doubt her father's love and her love and respect for him grew. She hoped one day to find someone just like her Dad to marry and live happily ever after. Although she didn't mention it, she hoped one day to find the aliens who did this to them. Then she'd have the answers to the other half of her questions.