Thursday 15 June 2017

Chapter 55 - Gen 2 - Tapestry


After I have quickly legged it out of maternity, and away from Dad, I find myself, only running as far as the hospitals main entrance, where I stop.

I stand for a moment to catch my breath while I am laughing at myself ... here was me thinking my days of running, when my head went, were behind me, but obviously not.   I try to think back to the last time that I did actually run, and it has been quite a while ... the last time I can remember running, ironically was when I found out about Vanilla existing and being here, in the baby unit.

I can not help but thumb through the scan pictures of the babies, which I am only just noticing are still in my hand.  That is when I realise that Crystal is going to be pretty miffed with me, not only for running and leaving her to deal with this on her own, but I have run off with the scan pictures without even thinking, and I know that she wanted to show them to both of our Mother's.  I stuff them into my pocket carefully, so that I don't lose them.

I walk across the front of the hospital building, to the benches where I sit down.


I light up a cigarette which at first has me coughing my lungs up.  The cigarette is a little on the stale side, because it has sat in an open packet probably for months, so it just ripped the back of my throat out.  This is when I know, I really should not be smoking because of the damage I could be doing to my throat and vocal cords ... but at this precise moment in time, I don't really care, because I just need to calm my head and nerves down!!

My head is now all over the place, and seems to be stuck half way between normal and having an outburst, which is beginning to give me a headache.  I really don't know why finding out we have four babies on the way is troubling me so much, when lately I have handled far worse things and not felt this bad or this close to having an emotional outburst.

I feel like the shock of it has unhinged me a little - FOUR babies all at once, just doesn't seem right.  I was worrying enough before when I thought that there might just be one or two babies, suddenly I feel like I have four times the worry, with four different babies now to worry about, and I don't know how I am going to handle it.  As I stare down at the floor it starts to blur as the tears start welling up in my eyes, I'm glad I'm on the verge of crying because it will stop me from blowing.

I am not stupid, I think I already knew before River confirmed it, that four babies makes this pregnancy more risky and complicated, there is more of a chance that something could go wrong, and I am scared of what might lie a head of us.



I am a little amused when I spot my Dad, who has almost come running out of the hospital onto the car park and he starts to look around.  I presume he is looking for me, but I spot him before he spots me.  I just stay where I am, sat on the bench, the tears start to roll slowly down my face and I carry on smoking, which I know he is not going to be happy about when he does see me.

I watch him through the corner of my eye, while I pretend that I don't know he is there.  I am amused when he does spot me, he stares at me for a while, rubbing the back of his neck, he is probably now stressed out about catching me smoking.  He suddenly backs away out of my sight completely, no doubt to slyly watch me from a distance.  I am glad that he has had the sense not to storm over and rip into me for smoking, because that would have set me off ... but I don't doubt he will have his say later.

After I have finished smoking and the tears have stopped flowing, I remain seated there for quite a while, trying to switch my head off from it all, but it is not working, so I give up hoping that spending some time with Bay can distract me.  

As I start to make my way back into the hospital, straight away I am annoyed by two young girls jumping out at me, asking me for a photograph.  So I paint on one of my forced smiles and they get their photographs.   This doesn't happen too often at home, as everyone here treats me like I'm just the same old Tapestry that I've always been, my fame does not really bother them that much, because they have known me all my life. 


These two girls I can't say I have ever seen before, but something about them makes me feel like I should know them, especially because of their ears, they are the same as Forrest's.  I've never seen anyone with Forrests ears before, only Meadow.  Then the penny drops, Meadow has two girls, I bet they are her two daughters.

I head towards Neurology, and it doesn't take me long to spot Dad, following me from a distance, he is not hiding himself very well, this makes me laugh, because he would make a terrible spy.

I walk into Forrest's room and it is very quiet, Bay is in there on his own, which surprises me.  I expected Caramel, Fudge and Mint to be in here with him, like Grantie said they were earlier.  I am also very surprised that Meadow isn't here either.

Bay is lay on the spare bed curled up in a ball and I think he might be crying.  I think my Dad forget's that I was not around when Slate was on life support, he was awake when I returned home after the 'abduction', so I really don't know what Dad means when he says Bay is going down like he did when Slate was on life support.

I seem to be making a habit of walking in on people crying today, first Granite now Bay.  However I can not even imagine how he might be feeling right now ... finding out the man who has raised you, is not your biological father, has to be a pretty shocking thing to have to learn.  I can't help but think about Scarlet for a second, she also probably has this coming, but I doubt her finding out will be very pretty for most of the extended family.          


            "Are you okay?"  I mumble as I stare down at him
            "Oh here he comes, another secret keeper!"  Bay laughs as he sits up and wipes his face. "Leafy told us you have known for about a month.  Man I seriously wish you was more like Parsley sometimes, he can never keep anything to himself!!"
            "Seriously Bay, you would really not have thanked me for telling you this secret.  It had to come from them properly!!"  I smile at him
             "Have you been smoking?"  he frowns at me
             "Yeah ... sorry!  I needed to de-stress."  I mumble   "Honestly Bay if I had told you the secret, would you have even believed me?"
             "No I don't think I would!"  he laughs as he pulls something out of his pocket  and hands it me  "It took this before I could actually believe what they were trying to tell us."

I stare down at two pieces of paper chuckling to myself, he doesn't realize yet what he has done.  I laugh at him as I hand the paper back to him.

           "I can not read remember ... you wally!!" 
           "Oh .. sorry I forgot ... it is my birth certificate and a paternity test.  Which tell me in black and white that Forrest Leaf is my Dad."  he laughs at himself for a moment as he stuffs the paper back into his pocket. 
         


           "How is he?"  I mumble as I walk around the bed and sit down.
           "He is out of it."  Bay laughs quietly as he jumps off the bed  "If you watch that machine, it keeps going crazy ... it's his erratic brain activity."  he laughs as he sits down in the chair next to me. "He keeps twitching, quite badly sometimes, I'm scared he's going to have another seizure."
           "He shouldn't do should he?"
           "No, your Dad and Granite say he shouldn't have any more, but I don't think I will believe them until he is awake."  he smiles at me  "They are keeping him out until his brain activity settles down."
           "Yeah Dad said it might be a few days before they wake him up."  I mumble  "I'm actually surprised they didn't shave all his hair off like they did with Mace."
           "I was surprised too, I expected him to come out of theatre completely bold.  Granite says when he wakes up Leafy will probably have a fit over the little bit he has lost."  Bay laughs  "Me and Gran are going to unpick all his dreads and wash his hair tomorrow, Gran thinks if he wears his hair differently, he should be able to hide it until it grows back."
           "It's mad to think a bang on the head from passing out can do that to you."
           "I know ... it was pretty scary.  He was having a panic attack, he threw up and passed out.  He hit the corner of the table with such a bang, it was horrible, I tried to catch him but I wasn't quick enough, and he hit the floor just as hard.  He actually stopped breathing, he was choking on his own sick."
           "Seriously?!"


           "Yeah.  Seriously I don't know how doctors can do their job.  Gran had to clean the sick out his mouth and throat with his fingers and give him mouth to mouth to get him breathing again ... I had to watch your Dad doing exactly the same thing to Slate when he took the overdose, it is gross!!"  he laughs  "I couldn't do it, I'd be throwing up all over the place if I had to put my mouth on someone covered and stinking of sick!!"
            "Me too, I'm not sure I could do it either!"  I laugh at him  "Has he been out of it since he hit his head?"
            "No he did come round for a bit."  he smiles at me  "He was sluring his words like he was drunk, it was hard to understand what he was saying, his eyes were freaky too, they were rolling all over the place.  He threw up and passed out again, then the seizures started and he hasn't been awake since.
           "He's going to be okay though, Dad said he should be fine when he wakes up."
           "Yeah, that is what they are telling us, but I keep seeing the sly looks Granite and Mango keep exchanging ... I'm not sure they are telling it us straight."  he grimaces at me  "I know that there is always the possibility of some kind of permanent damage with any head injury.  Look at Alpine, Lilly ... Pine ..."  he rolls his eyes at me
           "You know I swear I didn't hit Pine that hard with the rock."  I mumble
           "You didn't, I was watching you!!" he smiles at me  "Which is why I am worrying about how hard he hit the table, and floor."
           "I wouldn't worry about Forrest, I am sure they would say if they thought there was a possibility of any permanent damage."  I laugh at him  "You know I think they are more worried about you than Forrest ... they think you are cracking up like you did when Slate was on life support."


Bay just sits there laughing to himself quietly.

          "Didn't it shock you, seeing Mom and Forrest together .... I can't even get my head around Leafy not being gay, without thinking about anything else, especially him sleeping with my Mother and creating the three of us!!"
          "Yeah it did shock me a bit, especially afterwards.  I thought I was tripping when I saw them mauling each other down the alley way."  I laugh  "I think I was more angry with your Mother at the time, to even think about what Forrest was actually doing, with a woman.  I thought she was knocking someone off behind Alpine's back, and you know there are not many of us who actually know what being faithful means, and I always thought she was one of them."
          "I can imagine!!"  he laughs
          "I thought Meadow would be here."  I frown at him  "I think I have just seen her two girls outside ... two little girls with Forrest's ears."
          "Yeah they are here somewhere.  Meadow was here a while ago, she popped in to check Leafy and spoke to your Dad and Granite, she will be back later.  Holly and Ivy had to wait outside, being children, so they didn't set Leafy off, which was a bit stupid as he is out of it.  I went out and said hello to them, so I got to see my cousins today for the first time. "  he laughs then smiles at me  "Meadow has gone to check on Alpine ... can you believe those two are having a romantic relationship again!!"  his eyes widen  "My head is mashed!!  This morning I thought Mom and Alpine were together - this afternoon I find out Mom is with Leafy and he is with Meadow."
           "Forrest told me Alpine and Meadow had a fling in the past, but I didn't know they were back on again."  I laugh quietly
           "Yeah, they have started seeing each other again lately.  It's no wander Alpine has had a smile on his face since the hospice, apparently since he's been back, Meadow has been having sneaky sleepovers."  he sniggers  "So he's obviously been getting his leg over!"  we both sit laughing for a moment


          "Where is your Mom, Fudge and Mint? "  I frown at him
          "Down in maternity."  he laughs quietly to himself for a moment  "Can you believe ... my Mom is pregnant again ... Mom and Leafy have created more life, so I'm getting a new brother or sister or even both because she's having twins."
           "Yeah I know, Granite told me earlier that she is pregnant and that's why Forrest freaked out."  I frown at him  "Why are they down in maternity?"
           "Mom got all hysterical when Leafy started having seizures, she was sitting here getting herself into a bit of state.  Her blood pressure was a bit on the high side, so Mango and Granite had her taken down to maternity to be admitted so they can monitor her."  he rolls her eyes  "She has a history of miscarrying apparently ... something else we didn't know until today, they sent her down there just as a precaution, they reckoned sitting here getting herself all upset is not going to help her or the babies.  Her age and having twins makes the risk higher apparently."  he smiles at me  "I'm going to wake up in a minute and find out this has all been a wacky dream, aren't I!"
            "No Bay, sorry you are not dreaming, and if you are, I'm having exactly the same wacky dream!!"  I laugh for a moment  "Your Mom is lucky she is only having twins!"
            "Why?"  he frowns at me
            "I have just come up from maternity myself, Crystal has had her first baby scan today."
            "Oh ... how did it go?"
            "Here, you see."  I smile at him as I hand him the scan photo's  "My head has gone!!  That's why I needed a fag to calm my nerves."




I watch him staring at the photo's, he is frowning as he turns them round looking at them from different angles as he looks through each photo.  I bet he will never guess that they are not all of the same baby without me telling him.

          "Why has your head gone?"  he laughs   "And why so many pictures of the baby."
          "There are four pictures because there are four babies."
           "WHAT!?"
           "Yeah, that is why my head has gone ... FOUR babies!!"  I laugh  "We are having Quad's ... Four babies on top of the two we already have .... is going to be a total nightmare, especially with Snow and all his problems!!"
           "Shit me Tap!!"  he starts howling  "FOUR!!  How the hell did you manage that?"  he can hardly speak for laughing.
            "Dad says ... its because I'm a triplet, Crystal is a twin, multiple pregnancies are running high with the Shines and Orchids, so there was a higher chance of us having a multiple pregnancy ... plus Crystal was on fertility treatment because of her condition, she has poly cystic ovaries."  I laugh for a moment  "Here was us thinking she might never get pregnant ... now we have FOUR babies on the way!"  I roll my eyes
            "Four is a bit of a shocker!"  he laughs
           "They are two sets of identical twins too ... which I guess comes from the Shine side as Sunny was an identical twin, then there is Maize and Carmine.  I can't tell Maize and Carmine apart, I have to ask who is who all the time ... I'm going to have a hells game aren't I ... never knowing properly who my children are unless I ask them!!"


            "Fudge, Tap!!"  he continues to laugh  "Yeah I bet you can't see the twins different eye colours can you, which makes it easy for us ... so how the hell are you going to cope with your babies?"
             "They are not actually supposed to have different eye colours being identical, its another one of those strange genetic oddities that are coming out in the Shine and Orchid babies, so River says."  I smile at him  "Dad suggested name tags  ... which is okay for everyone else - but I can not read past two or three letters .... unless we make sure they all have a name starting with a different letter - I can just about manage one letter at a time."
             "That sounds like a good plan."  he laughs  "I can just see them now - four little mini Taps all with a different letter permanently sown onto their clothes!"
             "Yeah, but how do you not mix them up when they aren't wearing clothes?  Knowing me, I'll put the wrong clothes on the wrong baby ... they will be growing up very confused!!"  we both sit laughing.
            "So where is Crystal?"
            "River has taken her home ... once she got over the shock, she became hyperactive.   She couldn't wait to show our Mom's the scan pictures ... she is so excited she has gone off and doesn't realise yet that I still have the scan pictures."  I laugh and he laughs with me  "I told them I was just popping up here to see you and Forrest, but to be honest, I am struggling to get my head around it and I needed time out to chill my head out.  My head was starting to go and Dad could see it."
            "I'm not surprised ... four babies all at once is a lot for anyone to take in, without having your emotional problems!!"
             "Exactly, and Crystal is on hyper rails at the moment, and I need to stop my head from going, which will happen if I am around Crystal, she will set off one of my outbursts, because of how excited and hyper she is, when I can not get my head around it."  I laugh


            "I am actually very surprised that  Dad isn't in here already watching me like a hawk, he's already seen me holding my head a few times, so I think he knows it's coming if I can't stop it!!"
             "I thought you was practically okay now ... "  he frowns at me  "You handled Sunny's funeral fine, and you have changed so much since your abduction, with your career, Vanilla and Snow.  I know you flipped out at Cinnamons funeral, but that was because of Honey and Shadow ...  I only know about you having a few outburst in a long time!!"
             "I am fine as a rule, I've learned to control and stop them from coming, but I can never say never, things like this and they unhinge me." 
             "Oh Tap ..."  he starts laughing  "I have just seen an orange face pop up behind the glass in the door .... so he is watching you slyly."
             "Yeah well he needs to stay out there ... I think you know he is the one who tips me over the edge most of the time."
          
We both sit laughing for a moment, as I look and see Dad quickly step away from the door when he sees me looking.

             "Oh he's off again ... twitching."  Bay mumbles

We sit in silence for a while, as we watch his face hands and legs moving quite rapidly, quick jolting movements that are actually quite disturbing to watch.  We both continue staring at Forrest in silence, who has now stopped twitching, while we are both probably trying to deal with our own set of problems.


         "How the hell can he be my Dad Tap?!"  Bay mumbles
         "I think you are the last person who needs a talk about the birds and bees, sweet cheeks, if what Saffron says is anything to go by."  I laugh at him as he thumps my leg.
          "Okay bright eyes."  he laughs  "Saffy talks too much!!  I can't even picture Mom and Leafy together ... he's gay in my head and I don't know how I'm going to get past that!!"
          "The same way as you got past thinking Slate was straight."
          "With Slate, it was easy when he started mauling and jumping me like a gay bloke!!"  he starts laughing  "It is different with Leafy!!  Even though I can now see me and Fudge have his hair and me and Mint have his eye colour ... it is actually blatantly obvious that he is Mint's Dad, she does look so much like him and Meadow, it's stupid that we have never seen it.
           "Yeah, I think we can all see it now we have had it pointed out to us."  we laugh at each other for a moment
            "Mom says I'm a lot like him with us both having OCD and being neurotic over things, and Mint has his cold hard front, they rarely show any emotion so you can never quite work out how they are feeling ... I can actually see it all now, but still, it is just not sinking in."
         "You will get used to the idea, of him being straight as well as your Dad, I guess you just need time to get over the shock ... it took me a while to get my head around it, I'm not sure I took it in properly until I saw your Mom and Leafy together openly in front of me, acting like a couple who are in a romantic relationship."
          "Yeah I guess, Fudge and Mint have seen them kissing each other, but I haven't."


           "Forrest being your Dad, it is not such a bad thing is it ... for an oldie, Forrest has always been pretty cool!!  He has never been like my Dad or Alpine has he, strict and stuffy!!  I don't know about you but he's got me out of a few scrapes, and made me understand I was in the wrong by talking to me instead of going ballistic at me like my parent's would have.  Wasn't he the one who helped you when you was struggling with being gay?!"
            "Yeah, which is pretty hysterical now I find out he isn't gay himself!" he starts laughing
            "At least you can have a conversation and a laugh with Forrest over stuff that your parents would generally kick off at."
         "Yeah, that is if he stays that way with us, and doesn't start to take his Daddy duties too seriously and suddenly turns into Mango or Alpine!!"
          "I don't see why he should change, even though you didn't know ... he has always known he is your Dad, so wouldn't he have been like it from the start if he was going to be like it at all."
          "I guess."  he mumbles
          "Oh Berry ... just imagine if your real Dad had turned out to be Sunny, Prelude, even Gravel, then you would have had something to cry about!!"  we both sit there laughing
         "Now I know how Slate has been feeling ... how messed up is it really when we both turn out to have different Dads to the ones we thought we had!!" he mumbles quietly
         "Yeah but if you ask me ... you have both ended up with better Dads."  I laugh at him  "Granite is a scream, and Forrest is not too far behind him ... I know how you have always struggled with Alpine."
          "Yeah and now I know why I struggled, because he is not actually my Dad."  he laughs quietly  "At least now I don't have to take any of Alpines shit because he doesn't like the fact that I'm gay - because its none of his damn business any more, what I am!!"


          "So how do you actually feel about Forrest being your Dad?"
          "Seriously I don't know,  I think I'm relieved more than anything.  Relieved that Alpine isn't my Dad and there isn't anything wrong with me after all."
          "What do you mean?"  I frown at him
           "I've always hated Alpine more than loved him, we have never got on or been close and it felt like there was no connection there between us, like there should be with a Father and Son ... the connection like there is with me and Mom.  I thought he didn't love me because there was something wrong with me!"  he rolls his eyes  "I used to watch other people with their Dad's, and I was jealous at the time, wandering why my Dad didn't love me like their Dad's loved them ... like he loved Cinnamon and so obviously didn't love me.  Even Gravel loved Slate more than Alpine has ever loved me!!"  he chokes  "Like Slate now with Granite ... they already have that connection ... that I've never had."
           "But everything should change for you now, aren't you already close to Forrest."
           "Yeah as a mate ... but does that make him my Dad?"  he frowns at me  "Ironically I have always been closer to Forrest and even your Dad, more than I ever have been to Alpine."  he starts to get upset  "Really I should be angry with Forrest for lying to me all this time, especially as I have had such a hard time with Alpine, when he probably would have been a much better Dad, especially since I've been a teenager.  But the more I think about it, I can't be angry with him because I can understand the phobia and why they hid it from us, so it didn't mess our heads up.  He could have just walked away and left town permanently, which mentally would have been better for him, he's stayed and put himself through hell to stay close to us ... he has always been there buzzing about in the background for as long as I can remember ... pretending to my friend when really he is my Dad."  he chokes  "I keep remembering things he's done ... things that if I had sat and thought about them properly at the time, I could have worked it out!"
           "Like what?"


           "Lots of little things that he has done over the years when it should have been Alpine doing it, like teaching us all how to drive for instance.  Leafy has been stepping into Alpines shoes, especially since we became teenagers, and the excuse was always that he was doing it because Alpines couldn't due to his brain damage, but secretly, he hass been playing Dad because he is the Dad."  he laughs quietly  "The thing that really sticks in my mind the most, was when I got arrested, after Storm ..."  he trails off and just watches me for a moment  "It was Mom and Forrest that came and collected me from the police station, not Alpine.  Alpine said I should have been left to rot in the cells all night to teach me a lesson."  he pulls a face  "I remember Forrest was pretty angry, he actually went off on one at me properly for being stupid enough to go after the Freezes and be playing with knives ... he kept throwing Mosaic and Straw, even Pine at me, saying I could have ended up like them, even worse, like Storm.  He genuinely looked upset by the thought of it."  he rolls his eyes  "I was a little confused and amused by his reaction at the time, because he almost lost it with me verbally, he even sent me to my room and told me I was grounded forever."  he laughs for a moment  "I actually went upstairs laughing to myself wandering who the hell he thought he was and what gave him the right to ground me."  he laughs  "Then I heard Leafy and Alpine downstairs kicking off with each other.  Alpine was angry with me, and had hit me when I walked into the house.  Leafy had dragged him off me and when I went upstairs he started laying into Alpine for hitting me.  I actually sat at the top of the stairs listening to them, and their argument just escalated until they were actually having a punch up over it.  A few things they threw at each other confused me at the time, but I didn't think about them later... Leafy kept telling him he had no right to hit me, like he has not right to hit Cinnamon and if he finds out he's layed one finger on me again he's going to come and knock his block off." he rolls his eyes  "Alpine had said ... "Well tell him the bloody truth then, if you don't like the way I discipline your precious boy!! Then you can deal with the idiot yourself and I'll keep out of it with pleasure!!"  he starts really laughing  "It was all there wasn't it Tap ... if I had just thought about how Leafy was acting and what they had said properly, him being my Dad, I could have worked it out!!"

      
            "Yeah, I guess it is easy to see now, but at the time you would not have had a clue that it was even a possibility ... I doubt half of the people in this town are going to believe all this straight off, because we have all thought that Forrest was 100% gay."
            "I need to speak to him ... what about if he never wakes up?"
            "He will!!"  I smile at him  "Dad and Granite aren't worried, they both say he is going to fine!!"
           "How am I supposed to go to Cherry Hill now?"  he starts to choke
           "What do you mean?"
           "I only just get my proper Dad and when the trial is over I'm supposed to be leaving and moving to Cherry Hill with Slate ... how can I do that now?"
           "It is not like you are never going to see him again is it.  Actually them moving to Berry Shores will make it easier, its only a short distance and journey, if they were staying here it would have been more of a problem."
           "That's not the point though is it Tap ... I feel like ... all the wasted years, and now I finally get my proper Dad who probably will be the Dad that I've needed all these years ... I shouldn't be going and leaving him."  he mumbles  "And I shouldn't be leaving Mom either, with his phobia how is Leafy supposed to cope with the new babies?" 
          
Bay starts to crack up and cry uncontrollably.  All I can do is put my arm around him, because I just don't know what I can say.  I can not even begin to imagine how he might be really feeling right now.

The door opens, and when I glance to see who is coming into the room, I am really not surprised to see it is my Dad with a look of concern on his face.

Granite trails in behind him, and by the amused look on his face as he stares at me, I can tell Dad has told him our baby news.



           "Is everything okay?"  Dad frowns at me
           "Bay is just a bit upset."  I mumble, even though I really don't need to tell them, because I think they can both see that for themselves, seeing as he is now really crying.
           "What about you?"  he frowns at me
           "I'll be fine as long as you don't start pecking my head."  I snap at him

I watch as Dad checks on Forrest, and Granite comes over and puts his arms around Bay, trying to comfort him.  I am glad that Granite is taking the responsibility off my shoulders, hearing him crying is unnerving me, my head is still not right

  I can't help but notice my Dad as he stands thoughtfully staring down at Forrest.

           "Granite, can you take Bay into my office, I'll be along in a minute."  he mumbles  "I just need a quick word with Tapestry."
           "I want to stay here."  Bay mumbles
           "Bay, me and Granite just need a quick chat with you, then you can come straight back."

I sit and watch Granite taking Bay out of the room, while Dad just continues to stare at Forrest, like something might be worrying him.



           "What set Bay off."
           "His head is mashed, he can't get his head around Forrest being his Dad and I think not being able to talk to Forrest isn't helping.  I don't think he will be okay until Forrest is awake, him being out is unhinging him, and I think he's worrying that Forrest is not going to wake up and when he does that he might have some sort of permanent damage."
           "Yeah I did worry that Forrest being like this, would bring all the emotions back from Slate, you weren't here to see what Bay was doing to himself, he was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.  Emotionally that boy is very delicate."
           "It's not just that, I think he's suddenly very torn about leaving and going to Cherry Hill, for a few reasons."
           "What reasons?"  he frowns at me
           "He's just got his proper Dad and he doesn't want to leave him and he's worrying about how he is going to cope with the new babies, so he's worrying about his Mom."

Dad stands there thoughtfully staring at Forrest again.

           "Right you can do it ... but be quick about it."
           "Do what?"  I frown at him
           "Wipe his memory."


      I can not help but be very surprised, I never thought he would actually give me permission to do it.

           "Remove everything from his memory up until the day Forrest and Granite got married ... how long is it going to take?"
           "Seconds."  I smirk at him  "So you spoke to Daddy Clone then."
           "Yes and he said pretty much the same as you did."  he laughs
           "See I told you."  I laugh at him
           "Okay smarty pants."  he laughs at me  "Just hurry up and get on with it while there is nobody here and quickly before I change my mind!!"
            "If you had said no, I would have done it anyway, when you weren't looking."  I laugh at him
            "Yeah, River guessed as much!!"  he laughs sarcastically
            "You knew I would too didn't you."  I laugh at him
            "Of course, I know telling you no makes you go and do the opposite!"  he laughs  "Just like our conversation about smoking just a few hours ago."
             "Don't start, I know you saw me."  I smirk at him  "I was de-stressing ... what would you rather I had done, sat and smoked one fag or gone to the dive bar and got totally hammered instead."
             "I will watch the door to make sure nobody comes in."  he mumbles as he starts to walk towards the door.  "Just hurry up Tap!"




I can not help but openly laugh as I watch Dad walking off,  I swear he is running out of things to say to me.  If I had known being up front and admitting to things when I was younger was going to stop him lecturing me, I would have done this years ago and saved myself hours of headache.

As soon as the door closes behind him I see him standing in front of the glass guarding the door.

As I walk up to the bed, I can't help but hope that Granite is right, and that this is going to work.  Logically removing his memories will cure him of his phobia ... let's hope it does!!



I pull back Forrest's eye lids ... and dive into his head.
        
~~~~~~~~~~~

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