Chapter 3 - Gen 7 - Cello

~ Forrest ~

We were having a family meal, Lyric had invited his parents round to talk about our possible move away, but of course lady muck, Amber, Lyrics Mother didn't grace us with her presence, but Lyric never really expected her to turn up anyway, she would have only wound him up if she'd been here, it was better that Brady turned up on his own.

Me and Lyric have been playing out in the garden for most of the day with all four of the kids, playing football, on the water slide, and just generally messing about.   I noticed there seem to be a sudden shift in attitude towards me and Melon with the triplets, especially the boys, which I couldn't quite understand.  Even Jazz has been 'nice' to me all day, he's smiled at me a few times, which for him is pretty shocking.  Cello is acting like I'm his new best buddy all of a sudden, while he has never really been that bad with me, I find his behaviour today strange!!  Melody really hasn't changed any, of the three she's always been the one I've been closest too, but today she has spoken to me a lot more than she normally would have done while her Mother was around.

While I'm happy with the way the three of them have been with me today, its been a good day, I had expected them to give me extra stick and blame me completely for this move away, surprisingly they haven't. On the other hand I've watched with amusement that all three of them have been very off with Melon, and I feel like something has gone on that I don't know about.  Melon had been lurking and tried to join in but most of us were totally ignoring her, so after a short while she gave up and wandered off.

I look up and see her again, lurking, she's not even attempting to join in now, but I'm not really surprised after the row that me and Lyric had with her this morning over what she's been saying to Jake, and the cold shoulder she's received from everyone today - hopefully she's getting the message.  She ate her meal off the counter, not the table and is now just standing staring at the wall.  I swear she's unhinged!!!!  I wander what happened to the Melon I used to know, we used to be so close, she was my best friend all through school and for a while after,  I feel guilty sometimes for putting us all through this, if I had never introduced Melon to Lyric, none of this mess would have happened, but then she did help fix the baby problem and we did get Jake and the triplets - so it hasn't been all bad.

Brady hadn't taken the news of our possible move too well.  He tried to talk Lyric out of it, he said he didn't like the distance we were planning on going, Lyric told him there was other stuff but he'd talk about that privately - I guess I already know what he's going to be telling him, the truth about what Melon has been up to all these years, and while it's been tolerable up to now, as our baby sharing arrangement is coming to an end she's become irrational, desperately trying to get her claws into Lyric, she's looking for any reason to keep her living under the same roof as us - she is the the whole reason why we are even considering the move away in the first place.

Jazz:  "Dad, I think I want to go to Uni with Melody."  the room goes deadly quiet for a moment.
Lyric:  "Really!!??"  he said as he dropped his fork on his plate, I can see how surprised he is  "You are volunteering to study after school - well that's something I never thought I'd hear!!"  Yeah that does seem a little strange, we could never get Jazz to school especially when he was younger, sometimes still when he's having one of his paddy fits we struggle to get him there.  I laugh at Cello who is stood there with his eyes virtually popping out of his head.
Jazz:  "Please Dad!"  he called him Dad for a change, it's usually 'fagot' - his behaviour today is VERY strange!  Or is he actually behaving because Brady is here?
Lyric:  "Well if it's what you want, I'm never going to argue over you going to Uni, but your grades aren't so good though."
Jazz:  "Yeah I know." he said sounding a little glum, I put my fork down and sit watching him
Lyric:  "Well I can pay your tuition fees, you know that's not a problem."  I saw Lyric look round the room "Jazz, I just hope you are doing this for the right reasons and not just because of what you've learnt lately, because if this is your way of getting away from your Mother, it's not going to make you happy and we need to talk about it."  I look up and see Melon is no longer in the room.
Melody:  "See I told you Jazz!!!  He's sussed you straight away!!"  Cello started laughing
Lyric:  "I think we need to talk again don't you Jazz!!"
Jazz:  "Yes Dad!" he said with his head down.  I couldn't keep my mouth shut any longer.
Forrest:  "Have I missed something?"
Lyric:  "Yeah, I was going to tell you - it's not just Cello who knows everything, they all do, he's told them everything."
Forrest:  "Aawww"  so that's why they have been nice to me today and off with Melon, although I am surprised they are taking Lyrics side in all this, especially Jazz.

Jake was tired so I took him to bed, reading him a story which tonight seemed to take forever to send him off to sleep.  Usually I don't get to the bottom of the first page before he's snoring his head off, tonight he just seems so unsettled.  I'm angry with Melon for telling him we are moving away, it's really upset him, I've tried to talk to him and put his mind at rest but I'm not sure it's done much good.  He still seems so agitated.  I'm planning to take him out on his own tomorrow, spend the day with him to see if I can make him feel a little better.

I sit for ages after he's fallen asleep just watching him, he's tossing and turning when he's normally such a sound sleeper  ... he is really beginning to worry me.

I know that Lyric is talking to his Dad about all the Melon rubbish that has been going on over the years that we have never really discussed with anyone, always too busy trying to hide it from our kids, he's trying to make his Dad see that we really need this move away.  Then there is Jazz, who's head obviously needs sorting out now that he knows the truth - so I decided to leave him too it, he doesn't need me interfering and I doubt that Jazz would thank me for being there, just my presence is likely to set him off.

So I decide to do a work out in the living room and wait for Lyric to do what he has to do.

Suddenly Jake rushes into the living room in floods of tears, he sees me and bolts off again, I have to chase his down into the basement.  At first I thought it might be the ghosts, but it wasn't, it took me a while to get it out of him .... he clammed up and wouldn't speak at first.  When he finally opened up and told me what was wrong with him, I blew a gasket and went off in search of Lyric.

Forrest:  "I'm sorry Lyric, I can't do this anymore!"
Lyric:  "Can't do what?
Forrest:  "Us like this, I'm sorry!!  I'm leaving and I'm going tonight!!"  I can see the shock, hurt and confusion on his face, this is hurting me just as much as it is going to hurt him.  Leaving him like this is the last thing I ever wanted to do, probably the last thing he would expect me to do, but I have no choice, I have to do it for Jake's sake.
Lyric:  "WHAT?!  NO!!!"
Forrest:  "I'm sorry ... I've sat here and let that woman torment us for years ... she's on the verge of being psychotic ... I'm big enough to handle it, but Jake isn't!!!  I have to think about my son!!"
Lyric:  "What's happened Forrest?"
Forrest:  "Where is she .. Melon ... cause when I find her I'm going to rip her head off!!"
Lyric:  "She .... just went out a few minutes again."
Forrest:  "Yeah I bet she did!!!  Coward!!!!  She's WOKEN up Jake and got him out of bed just to get at him AGAIN even after we had a go at her this morning over it  ... she's bullying him, she's STILL trying to use him to keep her here - she's gone as far as threaten him. I'm not having it Lyric ... he's a child for berry's sake he's confused, upset and scared witless, she's seriously gone too far this time and I am not living under the same roof as that woman for one minute longer and neither is Jake!!!"
Lyric:  "You can't just leave me ... Not now - we are so close to being free of her .. Forrest, please .... I'll sort it out with her when she gets back!!"
Forrest:  "I'm not leaving you ... YOU IDIOT ... I'm leaving this house - there is nothing to sort out, you know damn well you can't stop her - well she's done what she set out to achieve, she's forcing us apart - I hope she's happy - and don't think for one minute that I'm trying to force you to chose between me and your kids because I'm not, I know you have to stay here and see this through, but I'm sorry I can't be here, you know I love you and I never wanted this, I can't wait for Cello to make his decision, I have to go now regardless of what he decides .... tonight .... I have to get Jake away from that woman, I'm scared of what she might do to him and his sanity between now and then, I'm sorry, I have no choice but to put my son first!!!"
Lyric:  "Where are you going?"
Forrest:  "I don't know, a B&B until we decided on what we're going to do."

Lyric turned away from me and just stood there his back to me saying nothing, his head down and I can tell he's crying, it's been a long time since I've seen him cry, not since Cain died.  I put my arms around him.
Forrest:  "Lyric?"
Lyric:  "I'm sorry, you need to give me a minute, you scared the life out of me ... I thought ....."
Forrest:  "You thought I was leaving YOU ... you're an Idiot!!  How could you even think that!!"
Lyric:  "Well if you hadn't acted like a drama queen and spoke to me calmly I might not have got the wrong idea!!"

I didn't hear Brady come up behind us.

Brady:  "Look, I just heard everything, I'm sorry!"  he hesitated for a moment, only he would apologize for eavesdropping  "Here ..."  he said as he held out a bunch of keys to me which I automatically took off him  "You and Jake can stay at ours, you too Lyric, you are going with him and don't argue with me, I'll stay here with the triplets, who I think are old enough to understand what's going on here!!  ..... I think its time you BOTH got away from that woman before she destroys everything!!"
Lyric:  "Thanks Dad!!"  he said as he turned round to face us, the look on his face is killing me, I've done that too him, just storming in because I was angry with Melon, he's right - I didn't handled this very well at all, but this is what she's doing to us, slowly driving a wedge between us.
Brady:  "I'll phone your Mother and tell her you're on your way."

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~ Cello ~

I'm sitting in the sandpit out in the garden where I've been for quite a while thinking ...... about Chad.  It doesn't matter how hard I try I seriously can't get him out of my head.  This would all be so easy if he was a girl - but HE isn't, which really makes me regret saying I would do this heir thing.  At the time it wasn't a problem but now after thinking about it properly - moving away and never seeing him again - it hit me hard and it hurts.

I can quite easily ignore me gay side, I've proved that, seeing Jessie and Chad at the same time - there was really no difference in them other than their sex.  I liked and enjoyed being with Jessie but not as much as I liked being with Chad, and not because hes a boy, but because we have more in common, we connected better.  When Jess dumped me, it upset me but it didn't hurt like the thought of not seeing Chad anymore does now.

With Chad it's always been different, I smile thinking about how pleased I'd been with myself at the time - I'd fancied him for a while, and I mean REALLY fancied him, I was far from impressed when he became my sisters boyfriend ... my own sister of all people ... and really not impressed that he appeared to be 100% straight, but that's the way it goes more so with the boys, finding gay boys is a lot harder than finding a straight girl, so while I like the boys from a distance it was mainly girls that I messed about with.   Chad was different, he got under my skin and it irritated the life out of me watching him with my sister.  Quite often I'd thought about trying it on with him but imagined he would just go mental at me, straight boys generally do.

We had been in the woods, drinking cheap cider, Me, Chad and Melody.  Melody had not been feeling too well and decided to go home leaving just me and Chad with a bottle of cider.  Three quarters of the way down the bottle and my head was swimming, I'd drunk most of it, Chad not really liking cider.  We were just talking about this and that when he suddenly asked me ....

Chad:  "Are you gay or straight?"  I look at him for a moment, quite amused that he should ask me that question.
Cello:  "Whatever you want me to be - I can be gay or straight, I don't mind either way!"  he looked confused for a moment
Chad:  "Oh!  Only Jazz keeps telling everyone you're gay, but I've seen you with girls so I just thought he was stirring it!"  he frowned  "Cello, how can you be gay AND straight??!!"
Cello:  "I'm Bisexual - which means I do both boys and girls."
Chad:  "Man that's wierd!!"
Cello:  "Have you never kissed a boy?"  I asked him knowing full well what his answer was going to be.
Chad:  "No way man!!!  Sorry ... I didn't mean ..."
Cello:  "It's okay ..... kissing a boy is no different to kissing a girl you know."  I smiled at him
Chad:  "Really?!"
Cello: "Would you like to try ... kissing a boy?"  he didn't say anything, I'm wandering if he's having to think about it, I expected him to say No! in disgust straight away, but he didn't  "I don't mind if you wanna kiss me .... you know just to try it."  he sat looking at me with his mouth and eyes wide open, while I'm thinking 'yeah, like I'd be that lucky!!'.

Chad:  "I .... I .... don't know"  he laughed nervously  "I'm not sure Mel would appreciate me kissing her brother - do you!!"  Well he didn't say no exactly did he!
Cello:  "Who's going to tell her, because I certainly wont!!

He sat there like he was actually thinking about it - this gave me the green light - the cider made me feel brave enough to try it on, so I leaned towards him till our lips were touching, I see his eyes widen some more as I start kissing him, I'm waiting for him to push me away or punch me but he did neither, his eyes closed as he started to kiss me back.

I didn't want to push my luck and didn't kiss him for long, any minute now he might realise what he's doing and retaliate so I pull back and smiled at him

Cello:  "See it's no different to kissing a girl is it?!"  he just sat there staring at me wide eyed while he's trying to steady his breathing, I thought he might be panicking inside over what he'd just done, while I tried to act like kissing him hadn't affected me in anyway - when it had.
Chad:  "No ... I ...I think ... I might need to try that again!"  he said as he grabbed me and pulled me back towards him, totally taking me by surprise, his lips cover mine gently, this time he's kissing me, passionately at first until we are making out like a pair of maniacs on heat - this kiss was not like anything I'd had before - but I dismissed it at the time thinking it was probably just the alcohol and I remember thinking if this is how he kisses my sister I'm going to hate her forever!!

I soon found out - It wasn't the alcohol and I didn't expect Chad to come back for more, but he did, the very next day, he gave Melody a lame excuse for not seeing her after school so that we could sneak off to the woods together alone and it's never stopped since.

I heard the patio door open and shut which brought me out of my daydream and back to reality, my stomach still rolling from thinking about what me and Chad do when we're together.  I try to pull myself together while I'm listening to the footsteps walking across the concrete in my direction.  Looking up I see my Granddad coming towards me, he smiles at me as I brush the sand off myself and stand up.

Brady:  "Cello can I have a word with you please."
Cello:  "Yes Granddad"  I'm thinking oh not him too ... I didn't expect him to want to have his say, although I noticed at dinner he really was not happy with the idea of us moving away .. but I was wrong, that wasn't why he had come looking for me.
Brady:  "I'm afraid we have had a little bit of bother."  he says as he scratches his head nervously  "Lyric .... your Dad, Forrest and Jake, they are having to move in with your Grandma for the time being, I'll be staying here to look after you three while they sort themselves out."
Cello:  "Why?!  What's happened?"
Brady:  "I'm not sure it's my place ..... you should speak to your Dad about it."
Cello:  "It's Mom isn't it .... what has she done? .... you can tell me because, I do know what she's been doing to Dad and Forrest, she is the main reason why they want us to move away!"
Brady:  "Okay ..... well it seems she's been upsetting Jake quite badly again, and Forrest has gone mad and decided it was time he and Jake moved out, he .... err .... he was planning to leave without your Dad but I sent Lyric with him."
Cello:  "Are you telling me she's nearly split them up!?"
Brady:  "I'm really not sure what Forrest was thinking ..... I've never seen Forrest so stressed out before, he's usually so calm about everything."  We stood in silence for a moment.

Mom is going to go off her rocker when she finds out Dad's left, and I'm guessing she's going to be gunning for me in particular now too - I don't want to stay here either!!

Cello:  "Can I go to Grandma's too, I don't think I want to be here either if Dad's not here!!"
Brady:  "Yes I suppose it would be wise that you go with your Dad ... "  he looked at his watch  "If you do it quickly you should just make it before curfew - I'll phone Amber and tell her to make up another bed."

I didn't need telling twice ... I'm gone!!

Grandma let me in and mumbled something about not being happy that her house is turning into a hotel, which made me laugh, she's such a miserable woman who has never made any attempt to get to know any of her grandchildren, she is still like a complete stranger to me, not family.  It really must be bad for Dad to even want to live in the same house as his Mother, they rub each other up the wrong way and he really hates the woman and doesn't care who knows it.

She said Dad and Forrest have been arguing and are now in the living room trying to sort themselves out and shouldn't be disturbed, she told me to follow her into the kitchen, and gave me a hot drink which surprised me, it's probably the nicest thing she's ever done for me. We sat in silence while we both drank hot chocolate until she told me which room I was sleeping in with Jake then told me not to make any noise she's heard enough racket already and took herself off to bed.  She really is a strange woman, I can't imagine how she can be my Dad's Mother, or how Granddad puts up with her.

Dad and Forrest have been arguing - that's a first!!

I'm getting ready for school and I can hear Dad shouting quite loudly, it panic's me a first, I wander if Dad and Forrest are arguing again - so I follow his voice into the living room.  He's on his phone shouting and screaming, it doesn't take me long to work out that it's Mom on the other end of the phone, I'd stake my life on her being the one that phoned Dad because she's upset that he's left.

I've never heard my Dad like this before, the fowl language and viciousness coming out of his mouth, it actually shocks me.

Forrest:  "You can tell her from me - she want's to thank her lucky stars we are not there because it's stopping me from ripping her damn head off - they'll be locking me up for murder if I ever set eyes on her again!!"  Dad is ignoring him because he's in the middle of giving Mom a mouthful himself.  Forrest looks really worked up and starts again  "Tell her to drop dead - that's the only way we are ever going to get rid of the mental cow!!"  he shouts then notices me standing in the doorway.  He starts to look uncomfortable as he stares at me, I doubt he would ever have wanted me to hear him speak about my Mother like that, but it didn't bother me as much as it probably should have done.

I can see they are never going to be rid of her pestering and I can see what she's doing to them .... she is destroying them slowly!!!

I hadn't seen Chad today, his cousin told me that their Granddad, who lives in a different town, had been taken ill suddenly and that he'd gone with his parents and sister to look after him, but he would be back before graduation ..... our graduation that I am going to have to miss because I wouldn't be here.

I haven't told him about the move, I didn't know how to.  I wander how he is going to take my sudden disappearance?!  Maybe it's better this way .... he won't get the chance to try and talk me out of it, I'm already on the verge of caving in because of him .... but I can't!!!.

I know if I stay here Chad is just going to distract me, I will never find myself a girlfriend to settle down with and have children  - moving away will cure that - he won't be around to distract me and I can play the straight man for the rest of my life.  Playing the straight man doesn't bother me in the slightest - leaving Chad does - but it's something I know I HAVE to do if I'm ever going to do this heir thing!!!!  By the time he gets back from his grandparents we will be gone already - it feels so horrible just thinking that I'll never see him again.

Lyric: "Son why are you not eating?"
Cello:  "I'm thinking."
Lyric:  "And you can't eat and think at the same time?"
Cello:  "No, I feel sick."  he looked up at me
Lyric:  "Are you ill?"  I shook my head as he carried on staring at me  "It's my fault, I'm sorry ... we realize we haven't been fair on you!!"
Cello:  "It's not you or the decision I've got to make ... it's ...."  I stopped myself, I'd already said too much.
Lyric:  "You want to talk about it?"  I shook my head again and he eyed me suspiciously for a moment, I couldn't tell him how I am feeling about Chad, it would just make things worse, and I really am not ready to talk about it.  "Okay, well, we've decided, before everything blows up completely we need to get away from your Mother right now, regardless of what you decide, so we are going on vacation, just the four of us."
Cello:  "What about Jazz and Mel?"
Lyric:  "Piper is taking them to Twinbrook with your cousin, I've bought them a house close to their campass, where the three of them will be living while they are at Uni - they'll have the school holidays to settle in and at least I know they'll be away from your mental Mother, so I won't have to worry about them so much."
Cello:  "So where are we going?"
Lyric:  "Paradise Isle, I bought that beach house anyway"  he looked up at me nervously, "if nothing else the whole family can use it as a vacation home.  They are keeping Forrest's job offer open for another month, so you don't have to rush with your decision, you can see how you feel about the place first.  If you don't want to live there, when we get back we'll ..."  I interrupted him
Cello:  "It doesn't matter about coming back ........ I've already decided"  Forrest looked up quickly and dropped his fork on his plate.
Forrest:  "And ........???"  I'm laughing at his eagerness for my answer

Really there is only one decision I can make, for all of our sakes.

We are moving away.