Paper Wings [DodgeMason]

one: graduation

The Texas air was warm against Wren Anderson's skin as she stepped through the double doors of the place in which she'd spent the last four years of her life. A black graduation gown hung loosely from her frame, unzipped and blowing subtly in the stale breeze as she weaved through the abundance of graduates and their families, her honey eyes scanning the premises for her own. Not many people came and went in Carp; the town so itty-bitty and washed out that Wren could name just about every person bedecking the courtyard, their eyes so puffy and red from crying even though majority of them knew that deep down they'd never leave the backwater place.

"Wren!" The brunette's eyes shifted at the sound of the youthful voice, no longer looking at the people around her but now rather to her tiny, bright-eyed younger sister, waving her over from where she stood with their father on a stretch of grass near the parking lot. Six year old Moonie Anderson was irrefutably a ball of light; fueled with endless inquisition and a sweetness that was far too good for this world.

Wren's face immediately perked up, an effervescent smile gracing her features and lifting her cheeks high as she rushed over; the younger girl meeting her halfway with open arms. "Look at you, gorgeous as always." She complimented as Moonie pulled away, a deep dimpled smile on her face as she did a three-sixty spin, showing off her floral dress and jelly sandals.

"We got flowers." Moonie exclaimed, linking her small fingers with Wren's and tugging her over to where their father stood. Jax Anderson was as simple as they came, dressed per usual in a pair of old Levi jeans and a plain t-shirt. Despite his average joe fashion sense, Jaxson was still inadvertently a ladies man, having likely grabbed the attention of nearly every middle-aged woman in Carp, Texas. He and Wren's mother Georgia, got together in college and in turn had her shortly afterwards. They were set to get married the following year, but by the time Wren was five months old, Georgia had been struggling so harshly with postpartum depression that she hopped on the first train out of Texas and never looked back. Jax has been singlehandedly raising Wren ever since, doing her ponytails before school and buying her bra's. Moonie didn't come along until far later, the product of a casual fling with a woman who worked at the local hair salon. She and Jax were never in a relationship, so logically they co-parented; with Moonie living predominantly at her mother Quinn's house on week days, and then coming to stay with Wren and their father on Friday's and weekend's.

"There she is!" Jax grinned, a standard Texas drawl woven within his words as he opened his arms for his oldest daughter. "I'm proud of you, princess." He admitted, holding onto her for a few moments longer, before Moonie was tugging the flowers from his hands.

"Thanks, dad." Wren chuckled softly, letting her arms fall away from her father as she took the small bouquet of supermarket daises from her sister's outstretched hands. "I'm surprised you brought Moon. I figured she'd be back home by now." The eighteen year old mentioned, Moonie clinging to her like a shadow.

"Nah, I didn't want her to miss her sister's big day." Jax squinted slightly as the sun shifted inward, filtering through the sunburnt leaves of the giant oak tree towering above them. "Oh, I got you something." His face lit up with remembrance as he reached into the front pocket of his jeans, pulling out the key to her incredibly dated Chevy Malibu.