** Two hours later **
Allison whines. "When will he get here? We've been waiting for two hours!"
"Since when did you get so impatient?" a familiar voice asks.
Allison, EC, and I turn around, greeted by our father's smiling face.
"Daddy!" we all shout, tackling him in a big hug.
"Hey, kiddos," he says happily, hugging us back. "How've you been? How's your pa?"
Auralie quickly joins in on the hug.
"We're good!" EC assures him. "Pa's really mopey, but he'd good, too."
"Are you planning to propose to Pa?" Allison asks.
Daddy pulls away from the hug. "W-What are you talking about?"
EC pulls out the box we found yesterday. Daddy's eyes widen and his cheeks flush, then he immediately snatches the box from EC.
"We asked Pa about it. He said that it's just your ring from when you and Mom were married. But we know that he's wrong--that's not the same ring you wore when you were married," I say. "Are you going to propose to him?"
"I was," he whispers. "But with what's been going on between us, he'd never say yes." Tears make his eyes shimmer as he opens the box, looks at the ring, closes the box, and holds it close to his chest. "I was stupid to think he'd say yes in the first place. Who would ever want to marry me? Your mom only did it for my money." He wipes his eyes. "Enough about me. You kiddos want to go dance with DJ?"
"Yeah!" EC and Allison exclaim, then run off. Auralie quickly follows after them, laughing.
Just before Daddy walks away, I grab his wrist to stop him. He flinches but turns around to look at me.
"EC lied because he didn't want to worry you, but you need to know," I tell him. "Pa's falling apart. He refuses to sleep in your guys' room anymore. The last time we were here, Vanessa called him the next morning. I don't remember all that he said, but I wrote it down." I pull the paper out of my pocket and hand it to him. "He was really freaking out, rambling on and on about how this is all his fault."
He opens the paper and reads it himself. "Three shots of remnant? Three shots of remnant?!" he exclaims. "What on earth? I know I should've just told him the truth..." He gasps and starts to laugh sadly. "Does he seriously think that last month's incident was his fault? Aw, Noah, that wasn't your fault."
"What's remnant?"
"You don't need to know that." He ruffles my hair and hands me the paper. "If you're worried about him, tell him that last month's incident wasn't his fault. It was mine--I was the one to keep prying when I know I shouldn't have. Now, come on! Let's go dance with your siblings."
YOU ARE READING
Happier (Michael x Noah)
FanfictionThis was originally going to be a skit for Afton Family Skits, but it's too long. Way too long. And it's got a plot that would be fun for a book! So, that's what I did! I made it a book. It's a very dramatic book, though, so be warned. This story ta...
