"Finished packing?", Conner called up, cleaning up Molly after feeding her her breakfast. Dylan came running down the stairs with his duffel bag in hand. Tonight, he was sleeping over at his best friend Joey's house. Becky, too, was attending a slumber party with all the girls in her class. That left Conner alone with the baby that night, but he didn't mind.
Dylan grinned at his father. "Wow! I can't believe you're taking us to Chubby Cheese's for lunch! You never take us there during the day!" Conner watched him run out to the car, mentally trying to convince himself that what he was about to pull on him and his sister was the right thing to do.
After Becky was packed and in the car as well, Conner began the drive. They had been driving in silence for twenty minutes when Dylan noticed something. "Hey, Dad! You passed Chubby Cheese!" "I know.", Conner said flatly, not taking his eyes off the road. Dylan frowned and looked at his sister, who was frowning, too. "Where are you taking us?" They screamed and demanded he tell them where they were going, but he kept his mouth shut and didn't say a word until they reached their destination.
Conner dragged the kids out of the car, into the apartment building, up the stairs and dropped them at the door before knocking three times. Moments later, there was the click of the lock, and the door swung open to reveal a middle-aged women with blond hair and blue eyes. "Conner." "Hey, Dinah."
Black Canary looked down at the kids. "You must be Dylan and Becky. You know, your dad talks about you all the time." Dylan scowled as he and Becky looked up at their father. "Dad, who is she? What are we here for?" Conner just looked at them, not speaking.
Dinah led the family into the living room and motioned for Dylan and Becky to sit on the couch. After placing Molly down on the end of said couch, Conner sat down in one of the chairs facing them while Dinah sat in a comfy armchair a few feet next to him. There, they all sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, save for Molly, who gurgled meaningless noises. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Conner suddenly and unexpectedly burst into tears.
Dylan and Becky were shocked, to say the least. They had only seen their father cry three times before. The first was after one of his friends on the police force got shot in an armed robbery. The second was when Becky was four and ran out into traffic and nearly got hit by a car. Conner had run over, yelled at her for being so careless, then hugged her tight and cried. The third was after their mother left. He had tried to stay strong, but they caught him crying in the kitchen when he thought they had gone to bed. And he was crying now.
"Dylan, Becky...", he choked out. "Its so hard. I wanna be a good father." "You are.", Becky said right away. Dylan nodded. Conner wiped his eyes and looked at him. "But I wanna be good to myself, too." They had no reply to that. Conner looked straight at Dylan. "You're making it really hard for me."
He sighed and shook his head as he continued. "Its not all your fault. I've read all the books. Sometimes I'm afraid I'm even starting to sound like them. I understand that sometimes, many times, it can be difficult for a child to accept that their parents divorce and start dating other people. I understand it...doesn't mean I like it."
"I don't like it, either.", Dylan said. "This isn't a book. This is my life. I can't help it if I want you and Mom to get back together and for you not to date other women." Dinah intercepted. "Dylan, from what I've heard, your mother is God-knows-where, doing who-knows-what, without your knowing, without you making it difficult for her." Dylan was quiet for a minute. Then he said, "If I knew Mom had a boyfriend, I wouldn't wanna meet him anymore than I wanna meet Megan."
"But you don't know, do you?", Dinah said. "But you do know what your father does because you live with him. And Dylan, your father wants you to live with him...he's not complaining or upset about that. He just wants you to listen, to try to understand and try to make things easier for him." Dylan looked over at his father, hanging his head, and nodded. "I'll listen.", he said. "I'll try."
Conner took a deep breath as he looked Dylan right in the eye. "We live together full-time. In some divorced families, children split their time with each parent, which allows the parents some time to themselves. We're not a family who can do that. So you and Becky know a lot about what I do and who I spend my time with." Dylan folded his arms over his chest. "So...what do you want us to do?"
Conner sat up straight. "I want you to understand that I need to get on with my own life, to meet new people and include these new people in my life...in our lives." Dylan gulped. "New people...you mean Megan?" Conner nodded. "Especially Megan. Look, Dylan, its not like I'm asking you to meet an ax murderer. Megan Morse is one of the sweetest, kindest, most loving women I've ever known. She's caring and nurturing and thoughtful..."
"Are you gonna marry her?", Becky asked. "Are we gonna have to call her Mommy?" She looked sad. Conner looked at her. "I don't know if I'm going to marry her, but I do know that I like her very much. And no, I don't expect you to call her Mommy. You already have a mommy. You can call her Megan." Dylan thought about Megan Smith, who lived across the street and had to drop out of high school when she got pregnant. He smiled, picturing Megan Smith with her swollen gut.
Conner smiled, too. "See? Its not so bad thinking about meeting her. You just smiled." "I was thinking about Megan Smith from across the street,", Dylan said in a mean voice. "And how she got pregnant when she was a sophomore in high school." Conner stopped smiling and looked like he would cry again. Dylan stopped smiling, too, feeling guilty. Finally, he sighed heavily. "Fine. If it means that much to you...I'll meet Megan."
"You will?", Conner said, sounding happier. "Promise?" "I promise to meet her.", Dylan said in a stern voice. "I don't promise to like her." He thought about how Megan Smith had been super pretty before getting pregnant, and now she was fat and looked thirty years older than she really was.
Conner smiled. "Its a beginning." Dinah smiled, patting herself on the back. "Well, I think we made a real breakthrough today." Conner looked at her gratefully. "Thanks, Dinah." "No problem, Conner.", she replied. "And if you ever need another one of these sessions, just gimme a call." Becky blinked twice. "Does this mean we're not going to Chubby Cheese?"
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After Conner dropped off Dylan and Becky at their respective sleepovers, he parked the car and took out his cell phobe, dialing for M'gann. "Hey, its me! Guess what? They're both up for it!"
YOU ARE READING
Second Chances
FanfictionAfter Wally passed away, Conner went AWOL for twelve years. Now M'gann has been reunited with him, but there's a new obstacle in their way-his kids.
