Spitting Image • TFC 3.0 • l.t. au

Chapter Forty Two

I've been shitty at updating recently. I'm so sorry.

42

"It's not fair, Mum! We've been patient like you told us but-"

"He can't miss our birthday! That's not fair!"

"He's being mean!"

"He can miss any other event but he can't miss tomorrow!"

"We always go together as a family! Did he forget?"

"Mum, please talk to him-"

They were both talking at once. I don't know who to answer first, who to shut or who to send to their room! I kept turning my head from one twin to the other but the way they talk, who do I answer first?!

"He loves his job more than he loves us!" Seth shouted, shutting up Summer. Louise and Blaine, who were just in the laundry room with the door open, dropped what they were doing and turned to us.

I'm gobsmacked. I looked at Seth who frowned at me, Summer whose eyes are watering then to the other two in the separate room. Once I met their eyes, they looked down and pretended to be busy with their chores.

"That's not true, Seth." I try to keep my voice as firm as I can but it ended up shaking. "He does love you-"

"Then why doesn't he stay more? He's always away, we don't see him anymore. Why isn't he coming with us tomorrow?!"

I hold him by the shoulders but he shrugs me off. I don't blame him for being upset, even I feel disappointed. My head's currently pounding, trying to come up with a solution. Seth looks up and so does Summer. I follow their gaze and saw Louis just before he disappears.

"Please go to bed, both of you." I mutter. They don't say a word but stomped off upstairs.

I groan and slump against the couch. I ran a hand through my hair and let the situation sink in. He must have heard what Seth said. Now I have to fix the damage, twice. The bigger problem is: how?

"Mum, I think you should go to bed..." I turned around and saw Louise. She looks worried as she gives me a sad smile. "We'll finish up down here." She says.

I stood up and pulled Louise in a hug. "No, I need to talk to those two." I tell her. I'm already contemplating my approach.

"Dad too." She murmurs. Right, Louis as well. I sighed and nodded before going upstairs.

It's so unusual for this household to be quiet at this hour. Especially the second storey, Seth or Summer would usually be chasing each other with their toothbrushes and pretend their wands. But those things don't happen anymore. We'd always be sat or stood up here in awkward silence and a tense atmosphere.

My hands shook as I open the door. I hear coughing and wheezing but Louis' nowhere to be found in the room. The bathroom door is open, however. Slowly, I went to the bathroom and saw him hunched over the toilet with his head in his hands.

Déjà Vou

He stands up, flushing the toilet. He walks past me with his head down and throws himself on the bed.

"I'll talk to them in a while." He says, sniffling. He wipes his face on the sleeve of his sweater and let's out another terrible cough. "Give me a minute to recover."

I don't say anything but I sat on the bed beside him. I touch his face with the back of my hand. It's like touching a newly boiled potato. He's really warm. I sighed and turned him over. I knew something like this would happen.

I got up and take a few towels from the drawer. I fill up a small tub of water and put it beside the bed.

"I think if you have explained to them why you can't go, they would've understood." I say, throwing the duvet over him. He's visibly trembling. "But you didn't bother."