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Author's Chapter Notes:
He's just really feeling sorry for himself today
27.

February 5th 2006

“I still can’t believe how that worked out yesterday!” She exclaims, laughing and smiling as she pats my knee.

Although I can’t quite remember why, I’m glad she’s so happy and flash an uncertain smile back. She keeps smiling the whole time she helps me and Baylee into the car. It takes a while, but finally, she climbs in herself, turning on the engine as she shakes her head, still clearly amused.

“What was it you said?” She says between laughs, “’You must be mistaken?’ That’s classic!”

I narrow my eyes, slightly recalling the events of yesterday, letting the grin on my face grow wider. I remember the utter confusion when I’d woken up to find my wife and son gone, but a whole new bunch of women standing outside the car. They’d seemed frighteningly interested in me and the car, and I had slowly rolled down the window, ready to ask them what they were waiting for exactly.

They’d started asking me a million questions before I could get a word out. Confusing questions that didn’t make sense to me and that I didn’t have an answer to. I remember frowning, claiming that they were wrong, that I didn’t know anyone by that name they kept calling me.

They’d looked at me in shock, whispering among themselves. They’d just begun to back off when my wife showed up. They’d watched her approach with a flash of recognition in their eyes. Before they could make a move, Leighanne had climbed in and drove off.

“I bet they’re still pissed off,” She snickers, her twinkling eyes trained on the road stretched out in front of us, “I’m proud of you.”

She is proud of me because I pissed off eleven women. That’s great.

“We there yet?” I yawn.

“You sound like your son,” she answers, “Actually, you’re worse, cause we haven’t even been inside the car for ten minutes.”

I shrug, glancing at my son in the backseat. He sat there with the same bored expression as I must be carrying. When Kevin frantically announced that we were going home yesterday, I hadn’t expected it to take this long.

Although it felt better than being stuck in a hospital room, being stuck inside a car all day was getting old as well. I was only mildly excited about our return to the house. For Baylee and Leighanne, it meant home, something they were familiar with, somewhere they felt safe. For me, it didn’t carry much meaning and I didn’t know what to expect. It would just yet be another place I’d be held up at. I was useless. They’d put me in a room, tell me how their day had been and continue living. Or, that’s how I pictured it, at least.

Like a freaking cripple.I shudder at the thought. I didn’t like the prospect of being nothing but a burden to my family.

“You’ve grown quiet,” Leighanne notices, throwing me a concerned look. That was another thing I didn’t like. The way everyone would look at me when they thought something was wrong. This was how they looked at me the majority of time, actually. I was usually quiet, not knowing what to say, or not able to get the words out. Sentences didn’t usually contain more than four words, to avoid confusion.

Hell, even one worded conversation was difficult enough.

I didn’t understand how other people did it so effortlessly.

“’m sorry,” I mumble quietly.

“It’s okay,” she replies softly, “Hey, how about we play a little game, huh?” she says, suddenly excitedly. I notice Baylee’s head shooting upright at the suggestion.

“What?” he says in a high voice.

“We could count other car’s colors,” she suggests. I look outside for a second.

“No cars,” I shrug, motioning to the empty highway, and she frowns.

“Right,” she mumbles, “how about a letter game, instead?”

“Letter?” Baylee calls from the backseat.

“Yep, I’ll come up with a word, and the next person must think of a word that begins with the letter that my word ended with, how about that?”

I blink for a moment. “Don’t understand.”

“Come on, we used to do this all the time! Right, Bay honey?”

In the mirror, I watch Baylee nod frantically and clench my jaw. Why does my son know how to play a game when I don’t? I glare angrily out of the window, at the empty, endless road flashing by. A whole world outside with people that know how to play stupid word games, and they want to play it with me.

“Oh sweetie, it’s okay. It’s actually really easy,” my wife assures, laying a hand on my shoulder, “We’ll show you how to play, right, Baylee?”

The boy nodded again, impatiently waiting for his mother to start the game already. He was sitting upright, the video game long abandoned next to him on the seat.

“Alright, so when I say ‘Road’, Baylee, what do you say?”

“Turd!” Baylee exclaims happily, laughing hysterically.

“It actually ends with a ‘D’, Bay,” Leighanne sighs, “and what did I say about the dirty words?”

“Sorry.”

“It’s your turn, honey,” she addresses me quietly.

“Don’t want to,” I grumble, still staring out of the window. I see my wife’s shoulders slump and her smile faltering slightly out of the corner of my eye. She’s disappointed; I can see it in the way she looks at me.

“Okay…,” she hesitates, “What about a different game?”

“No,” I answer curtly.

She nods and returns her full attention towards the road again, her lips pressed into a thin line. Great.

Yet another woman I pissed off.

Baylee’s eyes flash from me to his mother, back to me and he frowns deeply. “You mad?” he asks in a tiny voice.

I sigh deeply, my gaze softening, “No, just tired.”

“You always tired,” he states, “You never play.” His pouting scowl burns into my back.

“’m sorry.”

“Baylee, leave him alone,” Leighanne comments sternly, “Go play your video game.”

“Boring!” He calls, but picks it up nonetheless, his surly gaze now directed at the game.

I should feel guilty, I should feel bad that I just ruined the entire mood inside the car. I don’t, not really, at least. I guess I just feel too sorry for myself. Laying my head against the passenger window, I close my eyes, wishing we could finally get out already.

“Just ten more minutes, guys,” Leighanne calls suddenly and I jerk upright with a snort. Amazed I watch how the endless highway roads have changed into busy city streets.

Leighanne expertly steers the car through the swerving lanes and I can tell she’s is fairly familiar with these roads. I carefully rub the sleep out of my eyes as I cast her a sideways glance.

“Where are we?”

“Atlanta, Georgia,’’ she answers with a smile, “Also translating to: Home.”

I raise my eyebrows as I look around. The city is huge and very busy in the early morning. It does look strangely familiar. I know I’ve been here before, but don’t really remember it. Like a déjà vu.

Just five minutes later, the busy streets have given way to a more quiet country road. The air smells fresh and the snow is higher here. Leighanne finally pulls up to a long, well maintained private road. I squint, eventually able to make out the house at the end of the road. My mouth drops in surprise.

It’s gigantic…

It’s not like I’ve lost complete track of who I was or what I used to do. I know the main deal. I’m just a little foggy on some of the details.

On a lot of the details, actually.

For example, this… I don’t even dare to call it a house, it sounds so… denigrating.

When Leighanne notices my amazement, she smiles warmly, “Yes, we live here. Well, when we’re not on the road, that is…”

I can only nod, still staring at the beautiful mansion. If I could ever have chosen a dream-house, this would be exactly it. Its white bricks seem to shine in the sunlight and the thatched roof gives it some kind of nostalgic feel.

I can already easily count out a couple of dozen windows and the clean looking drive-way has an inviting sense to it.

And better yet; it feels like home.

“Looks like Kev and Harry already made it,” Leighanne says, nodding towards the lonely, blue car parked at the end of the drive-way, behind the gate. “At least they were smart enough to take a plane.”

After we passed the gate, Leighanne parks the SUV behind the blue car, sighing deeply as she shuts off the engine.

“God, I missed this place.”

Before I can say anything, I see Kevin storm out of the front door, stomping towards our car. He looks angry.

“Can’t you call or something?” he snorts, after my wife rolled down the window. “We thought you’d arrive three hours ago!”

Leighanne stares at him, clearly not impressed. “You try making the schedule with these two in your car,” she grumbles, motioning to me and Baylee. “Of course we’re late!”

“You could have called!” Kevin repeats. Yes, he’s definitely angry.

“Whatever,” my wife mumbles. Kevin shakes his head with a sigh. Although he can come across rather intimidating, Leighanne seems immune to it.

“We were ready to call the police,” he mutters.

“Don’t be a drama queen,” Leighanne says as she finally opens the door, causing Kevin to jump back in surprise, “We’re here now, aren’t we? Besides, Wailon has been bugging me all day as well.” She steps out of the car and slams the door closed. I watch Kevin roll his eyes and shaking his head. After a moment his gaze finally locks with mine. A bright smile appears on his face and I frown, wondering what he’s expecting me to do.

“You get Baylee and go inside,” he calls to my wife, then looks back to me again, “I’ll get you inside, buddy.”

Like I’m a dog.

I know my legs are still pretty useless, but does he have to make it so obvious? With a couple of grunts and vicious glares I get myself settled in the wheelchair with as little help from Kevin as possible. Kevin’s enormous smirk doesn’t falter for a second and that gets even more on my nerves. He grips the handles of the chair tight and starts pushing me to the front door. I’m already starting to hate the chair with a vengeance.

“So, anything happen today that’s worth telling me about?” I hear him ask from behind me.

“Nope,” I reply curtly.

“Alright then,” he sighs.

“But pissed off eleven women yesterday,” I mumble, surprised by the number of words in one sentence.

Kevin doesn’t say anything for a few moments; I can tell he’s struggling to understand what I just said. It’s my time to smirk, glad I caught him off-guard. “H-How’d you do that?” he eventually asks.

I shrug, not really remembering, “Fairly easy, apparently.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t usually take much,” Kevin muses and I hear the smile in his voice. Mine grows bigger now too.

“Nope.”

He laughs, and I think I do to.

Maybe it’s not so bad to be back. Maybe it’ll get better.
Chapter End Notes:
I know the scene with the eleven women is rather vague and doesnt make sense, but that's mainly how Brian looks back on it, so... there you go