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Lisa stood in front of him and even though she added her two cents in every now and again, she mostly watched him. She waited to see if they were going too far in their demands.
Dougie paced. Her lecture sounding as if she'd gone over it a hundred times. No matter what was going on she wanted to remind them that they were in high school, and they had normal lives to live. She's been all through how they were a family and now she was addressing the news that they were leaving soon. Not only that, but they didn't know where they were going or when they would be back.
Jack cooked breakfast. Paisley was already on her second batch of pancakes.
"We know what you're thinking. You're thinking we couldn't possibly know what you're going through. We don't deny that. We know how gifted you are Jay, but you need to remember that you're still just a teenager and we are the parents."
"That isn't going to change." Lisa pointed out.
"Exactly. No matter how much you think you know, we are still the grownups. None of us want to stand between the two of you, none of us want to be difficult but we need to come to an understanding. School is a must. At least the rest of high school then we'll talk more on the subject. I expect Paisley to keep up with her grades just like she always has. I expect to be a part of her life and I expect to be told important things."
"When it's possible."
"I know how special you are, Jay. I know and I know you've used some of your specialness on me and that's to never happen again. I want that clear. I understand why you did it, but it better not happen again. I want your word on it."
Him and Paisley shared a look.
"Don't look at her, you look at me. I trusted you enough to share the one person I love in this world with you and I need you to trust me enough to be honest with me."
Even now, Paisley was leaving it all up to him. She trusted him to do the right thing.
What was wrong with the people around him? How could they not take one look at him and know better than to believe in him? If they knew______.
They know you time traveled. They know you can read minds and change their thoughts and opinions. I would think anyone who trusts you after finding out the impossible is pretty special and they must think you're pretty special.
The whole group of you are marrons. Certifiably insane.
He ran his hand over his face and sighed long and loud before he faced the two mother figures in front of him.
Not too long ago he had no one and now he had two mothers, a father, seven brothers, a niece, and the girl of his dreams and they were all certifiably nuts because they saw something worth loving in him.
"I can't make that promise, Dougie. My promise is to take care of your daughter no matter what and that promise may interfere with the one you want. All I can promise is to keep the meddling down to a minimal."
She narrowed her eyes at him, staring at him hard. Then she sighed and sat down. "I accept your terms. Tell me about this trip. It doesn't take a genius to tell that neither of you are looking forward to it."
In the end he gave her exactly what she had asked for. "You know what I can do and I'm sure you can imagine what would happen if anyone else ever found out. They would fear me. Some would want to dissect me, I'm sure I don't have to go on. And that's the way it will always be so sometimes you won't know everything and sometimes, whether I like it or not, you'll be worried, and you'll have good reason to be. All I can say is that I love your daughter and I will do anything I have to do to keep her safe. If I could leave her here, I would but I can't. There are others like me, and they won't be happy that I've chosen to be with her. I'm going to make sure they know that it's none of their damn business then I'm going to make sure they stay the hell away from us. I'll try to have her back for school on Monday."
"Can we go too?"
"Definitely not." He told Lisa, then he waited for Dougie to say something. Most mothers would regret ever being on his side. Some mothers would wish he'd never been born.
She was remembering how her daughter had been when he was away. She was remembering how it felt when he brought her daughter home safe and sound when others were not so lucky.
"I can accept that. She better call me every night and you damn sure better be using protection if you're going to have any more nights like you had last night. Nothing will be scarier than me if I end up with a grandchild before I'm sixty."
Paisley nearly choked on her food. "Mom!" The love of his life frowned after losing her embarrassment. "I'll be forty-one!"
"That's soon enough, young lady, and I won't hear another word about it."
