Alpha of Mine

7

Let's give a warm welcome (or not) to our new character above, Tobias ^^ Will he be friend or foe?? 

Now back to our regularly scheduled program, enjoy :)

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It was starting to get colder here in Michigan, fall was ending and winter was just around the corner. I loved winter, it was my absolute favorite season. Personally, I loved the cold and gloomy days, which people found strange, but for me it was pure and utter peace. That was probably why I loved Seattle so much. While others saw it as gloomy, I saw it as a breath of fresh air. There was something painstakingly beautiful about the frigid cold. Mother Nature could finally take a break from all of her giving and after a few months she would birth new life and new creations. She needed her time and space to heal just like all other creatures on this planet. I thought winter was kind, for each year it would give Mother Nature a chance for a fresh start, wiping everything away and giving her a new slate to dabble her artistic adventures. I appreciated the beauty of it all.

It was a late Saturday afternoon as I sat on my bed sketching my mindless thoughts. All of a sudden I heard our doorbell ringing, hmm no one had ever visited our house before. I heard my dad answer the door before erupting in loud laughter. Curiosity got the best of me and I made my way downstairs wondering who our guest of honor could be. My eyes popped open, "Uncle Tobias!" I ran down and gave him a big hug, I hadn't seen him in years. Tobias wasn't my real uncle but he was a close friend of my parents and would visit every now and then. He was after all one of us and it was good that we kept in touch with the others. 

"Hey kiddo, you've gotten so big! When was the last time I saw you?" Tobias asked. "Haha, it's been a few years. How have you been?" He looked exactly the same as I remembered. Tobias smiled, "I'm good, just here to catch up with your mom and dad for a bit." At that moment my mom came into the kitchen, "Tobias!" she smiled, "It's so good to see you, stay for dinner won't you?" "Haha, good to see you too Anna, and don't mind if I do." 

We all chatted with each other for a bit catching up with the one another and the events of the past few years. Dinner was finished, my mom had cooked a delicious herb crusted grilled chicken and my dad had made his famous garlic butter mashed potatoes with a side of asparagus. I helped set the table and dishes before we all sat down to eat. Dinner was delicious and flew by as we helped ourselves to some ice cream for dessert. Before I knew it, it was nearly 8pm. We all cleaned up and made our way to the living room. Tobias seemed to get a bit more tense now, it seemed he had something on his mind that was quite urgent and now that we were settled, its ugly head came rearing into the picture.

Tobias finally spoke up about what was bugging him. "Danny," he said to my dad. "You know how things back home are... a little tense." My dad looked at him as anxiety took over his features. Tobias continued, "Well considering that you folks are staying here and not planning to return anytime soon, I do think it's best that we address the situation at hand..." he trailed off. What the hell was he talking about? What situation? I looked at both of my parents, confusion clearly etched onto my face. Did they know something I didn't? By the looks on their faces the answer was yes, they did. "Since Denver is 16, things will not be so.. easy anymore." Tobias exclaimed. He continued on "I'm afraid if you and Anna don't return home to settle matters on your own terms, well... they will be settled for you." My mom let out a slight gasp of shock and my dad on the other hand looked completely stoic, but I wasn't fooled. I knew he was angry, I could feel it, but underneath that anger, I could sense something I hadn't sense in my father in all my life. He was scared. Why was my father scared? It clearly had to do with me, yet I had no clue as to what was going on. 

I finally decided to speak up. "Wait a minute, what is going on here, what do you mean go back home? What is there to be settled?" Tobias and my parents seemed to look uncomfortable, both of them wouldn't answer my question and I quickly felt my patience wearing thin. "Well... is someone going to say something?" My father finally spoke up, "Sweetie there are some things that happened around the time you were born. There was a lot of controversy going on back home, which is why we had decided to move and settle somewhere in the city." I was even more confused now, "Uhm.. okay.." What was the issue here, why are they acting this way? Next up to speak was my mother, "Denver" she paused. "There are some things that I think we need to sort out with Tobias before we decide. It's nothing that you have to worry about right now and I'm sure this misunderstanding will be cleared up. I just don't want to stress you out for something as trivial as this. Alright?" 

I sat there and stared. Interesting, this was really the first time my parents had ever hid something from me. Other than that one time my pet hamster had died when I was a child and my dad had frantically tried to replace it before I got home from school that day. He almost succeeded too if not for the five babies that popped out a couple weeks later. I was shocked to say the least. My Hammie was a boy and as far as I knew it, boys couldn't pop out babies like girls did. I really thought I was on the edge of a world breaking discovery, I had the first boy hamster who gave birth. When I brought them to my parents though that dream came tumbling down back to reality. My dad confessed that Hammie had passed away and he had tried to get me a new one before I noticed. I remember standing there in the kitchen, my 8 year old self completely stoic before I burst out into a loud cackle. Here they were, my dear parents trying to comfort me over the loss of my first pet by getting me a replacement and all of a sudden I had six new furry friends. Haha! Well jokes on them I thought because now I have a whole gang of little Hammies that I can use to terrorize the world. I was going to have my dad build my new Hammies a little castle as their home so they could run and play around in it to their hearts content. It was really a win win for me. 

I frowned at the memory and looked back at them, "Well okay. If you think this is something you can handle and I don't need to worry about then that's fine. Just let me know what you need from me, I'm going to head up to bed." I kissed everyone goodnight before making my way upstairs. Tobias was staying the weekend in our guest room. My parents decided to chat for a bit longer but I decided not to intrude on them. For now I decided a nice hot bath and a good night sleep was much more tempting rather than forcing an unwanted answer out of my parents. I trusted them and their judgement. Sooner or later the truth would come out. 

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And there we have it folks chapter 7 is done! 

Things are starting to pick up so let's see what our dear friend Tobias will be bringing to the next few chapters. Do you think he's good or bad? 

Any ideas as to what Denver and her parents are or what "home" is? Leave your guesses in a comment below and I'll let you know if anyone gets it right!  :)