Ashton Enchanted » [cashton] √

0.6

His mother had never tried to tell his father about the curse, Ashton didn't know if the magic that bound him from telling anyone extended to his mother, but she'd never mentioned telling, or even trying to tell anyone about it. All of this was a long-winded way of saying that his father had left because of him.

Ashton had been a strange child, most children are, but him more so than others, always seemingly in trouble, or off in an impossible situation for a person his age. It really hadn't taken him that long to realise that his son was... odd, and after that, it had only been a matter of time before he left. There was an unspoken, animosity between his mother and father that Ashton attributed to an argument he'd heard not long before his father had left.

At the top of the stairs Ashton sat, just like a child in every film about broken homes you've ever seen, but instead of being woken by his parents' loud voices, he was incapable of sleeping. He'd lost his first tooth at school that day, and a kid had told him to stay up all night and catch the tooth fairy. So, no matter how tired the small boy grew, he was incapable of drifting off to sleep.

It was as he was waiting for his father to leave so he could explain to his mother what had happened that he'd heard the argument.

"I know there's something wrong with him, just tell me what it is, we can work through it. My parents will be more than happy to help if money is going to be an issue, I just want Ashton to be okay," his father had said, his voice full of worry, it sounded like they'd had this conversation before.

His mother had scoffed unconvincingly, "there's nothing wrong with Ashton, he's- he's just hyperactive," she had tried to explain.

"Then let's have another baby, we always planned to have two or three kids, but we've just given up on that apparently," he asked, there was what Ashton now recognised as a plea in his voice.

"I don't think I want more kids anymore, Ashton's enough and I love him, I don't need any more kids," her voice wavered as she spoke.

"Oh? And you just get to decide for us then?" his fathers voice was growing louder.

"You don't know what it's like, you didn't give birth okay? It's harder than you could understand,"

"Then we'll get a surrogate!"

"No! Jesus Christ, can't you see I'm not ready, I don't want this?" She nearly screamed.

He hadn't understood all those years ago that his mother had been afraid, terrified, that there were worse 'gifts' a child could be given than obedience. And in spite of himself he even felt a tiny bit bad for his dad, it must have been hard to understand this complete shift in the woman he loved, but he also didn't think he'd really tried all that hard to understand.

Family members on both sides seemed to have the same issue, that they couldn't and wouldn't understand the strange little boy and his overprotective mother, so they grew further and further from everyone. Now it was just the two of them, and Ashton didn't mind, but he knew his mother was terribly lonely a lot of the time.

Because of this, she had a point to prove when it came to Ashton having to see his father. Twice a year, every year since he left Ashton would see his father for an afternoon. They would awkwardly talk around his new family, but Ashton had searched them on Facebook, he had two stepchildren and a wife named Caitlin. Both Ashton and his mother had sighed in relief when he'd told them that he wasn't going to have any more biological children because Caitlin had, had her tubes tied after having the two kids.

There had also been a number of... oddities happen during his visits with his father that made this final visit with his father (yes, final, as soon as he turned eighteen it was up to Ashton if he wanted to speak with his father, and he didn't) very important to her. In the past, Ashton had fled the house to beat up a bully on his father's command, told his mother to fuck off, smashed his face into his birthday cake, and made a suicide attempt (of his own volition). So, Ashton had to admit that even he sort of wanted to prove to his father that he had grown up just fine.

So, he and his mother and father sat together eating sandwiches and drinking cokes in the immaculate living room, a tension palpable in the air. They discussed Ashton's grades, which were fantastic, and so naturally, the conversation progressed in the direction of university.

"I'm more than happy to help pay for your furniture for your new apartment, I bet you'll be wanting to move into the city, or maybe even go to Melbourne?" his dad asked, sipping at his coke.

"I think I'm just going to apply to UNSW and maybe ACU, I'm not sure though, I might put it off for a year yet," Ashton confessed, he knew that not wanting to move out of his mum's house seemed suspicious, but it's not like he could really leave, even if he wanted to.

"Oh? Well we could put the money towards a car instead; you'll be heading back and forth between here and uni all the time, it'll be good to have the choice between driving or taking the train," he said diplomatically, and Ashton flushed.

"I um, don't have my licence, and I'm not going to get it, you know because of those seizures I used to have as a kid?"

It was his father's turn to flush now, "Uh, yes, I suppose that's fair, well you know, let me know if you decide on something you need, I could even put some money aside for textbooks and things, just say the word," he smiled uncomfortably.

Both he and his mother thanked him for his generosity and the afternoon continued on in much the same uncomfortable and stilted fashion until they were hugging uncomfortably in the doorway.