It felt later than it really was, but given the time of year, the days always seemed to be a bit shorter. No matter how old one got, at least in Mandy Stoner's eyes, the time shift due to the seasons always managed to surprise her and still caused room for opinion on the matter despite having lived through it for forty-two years. It was her favorite time of the year, or slowly shifting into it as autumn was right around the corner. There was something about the air at this time of year as it slowly cooled to a bitter chill, the electrical charge could be felt through the body like a winter's bite through clothing. It was energizing and invigorating, though she could not completely place all responsibility on the weather, it was the entire community that fed into the stereotypical season of the latter part of the year with cute décor of scarecrows and earthy toned door wreaths. Not to mention, of course, the spiced pumpkin and cinnamon lattes available at the bookstore that drew in loads of business for the holiday.
Sighing out, Mandy's eyes glanced over the surface of the kitchen table, hoping she had not missed any seeds or pumpkin guts from the first round of jack-o-lantern carving. A few fresh strings and seeds were cupped in her left hand as she swept the room with her eyes, knowing how she would occasionally find food in the most random of places. Blaming the kids for that one would have been the obvious, but a lot of the time she came to find her husband was at fault due to over-enthusiasm when it came time for crafts. The thought of her last random find caused a smile to form on her face as she turned on her socked heel towards the trash can tucked away neatly under the sink.
Extending her hand she watched the orange glob fall into the bin, rinsing off the remnants into the sink. Outside she could hear Brad’s voice boom, traveling from the wind and his own loudness, Robbie laughing lightly at his father. Turning the water off, she lifted her eyes to peer out of the window into the front yard, ignoring her own reflection as she found her husband holding their son's hand while they both stood back to judge the family jack-o-lanterns. While the sight was pleasant, the two standing there pointing and smiling and wearing matching jackets, something was missing and it caused her stomach to turn.
“Renly,” she said lowly, pursing her lips together as she sighed through her nose, leaning against the cold metal of the sink as her hip popped out from her stance.
“What?” His voice didn't startle her, which was surprising given how she was easy to frighten. His voice was just as deep as his Dad’s, and while there was a similarity between father and eldest son in regards to certain features of the face, one thing was for certain: he had his mother's stubbornness and moody behavior.
Raising her eyebrows, she leaned off the edge of her sink, inhaling rather deeply as she began to mindlessly wipe the area before her with a dry dish rag. “Nothing,” she stated pleasantly, though she knew that wasn't going to get very far with a sixteen year old with an attitude problem.
There was a deafening silence that fell over the kitchen, only Robbie and Brad’s faint voices from outside filling the void. Mandy tried to act normal, like always, but the tension could be felt in the room, and having never been one for patience she quickly folded like a house of cards. Tossing the dish rag into the sink, she turned around and crossed her arms, eyes piercing as they shot across the country styled kitchen to the brunette teen sitting at the head of the table, picking at a seed she had not seen. Old age, she figured, must have been getting to her.
“Why aren't you with Dad?” She questioned with a tilt of her head, watching the boy's profile closely as his blue eyes scanned the seed. He did not answer, and that only made her more agitated, but he knew that, he always knew how bad Mandy hated being ignored.
“Di'n't feel like it,” he finally mumbled.
“What, you don't want to see your pumpkin?” Mandy chuckled, waving a hand over her shoulder as to direct the boy's eyes to the scene outside the home. He didn't look away from the seed he twirled in his fingertips, shrugging his shoulder lazily. Slitting her eyes, she tried to gauge his feelings, but with his negation ability to cancel out her empathy, he always had his little bubble up to keep her from prying.
“Too cool to be seen with your family?” Again another shrug. His mood swings were starting to drive her up a wall, and while she tried her best to write it off as growing pains or that awkward teenage time, she couldn't help but sense there was something else brewing underneath the surface. Sadly, with her abilities blocked, and his lack of communication skills, it was like taking a shot in the dark when figuring it all out.
“You doing drugs?” Renly furrowed his brow and quickly looked over to where she stood, confusion apparent in his contorted expression.
“What!? You serious?” For a moment she just stood there looking judgmental, but she soon laughed and shook her head, moving from her spot to flick off the bright overhead lights, the room turning from white to an ambient hue from the three hanging lights above the table where Renly sat.
“No,” she answered with a smug grin, moving to take a seat to his left, watching his rigid body tense even more as he moved his back against the wooden seat, eyes still on that damn seed. “Wanna tell me what's going on, love?”
The reaction was not what she expected, though in hindsight she figured it should have been. He simply dropped his jaw and let his head fall back as he laughed, eyes peering at the ceiling. “Everyone keeps asking me that!”
“Well, you keep...acting funny.”
“Look who I'm being raised by,” he said as he moved his eyes in her direction before lowering his chin and focusing his attention back on the little seed in his hand.
“What's that s'posed to mean?” Mandy's brow threaded together tightly almost taking offense to what he said, though somewhere she knew she there was no point.
“Nothing...” Renly mumbled, though he sounded different, distant. Licking her lips as she sat there, leaning against the table and trying to somehow get her son to open up to her, she watched his hands play with the pumpkin seed, holding it between his index finger and thumb in his left hand before flicking it with his right, darting across the room and hitting somewhere neither could see.
“Renly!” She scolded, but this only elicited a grin from him. “If Robbie saw you do that, you know he'd probably start tossing food like that!”
“Riiight,” the boy said lowly, elongating the word as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, crossing his arms and bouncing a leg. “Because he is supposed to be a carbon copy of me, right?” For the first time since his arrival in the room, the pair locked eyes, their faces expressionless.
“Can you just...bloody help me out here?” The exasperated tone was not meant to be dramatic, but it truly was how the mother felt as she sat there unable to bridge some sort of gap -- a gap that had been perpetually getting larger with passing time. Along with everyone else in the home.
It seemed only that his best friends could talk to him anymore, and that only made Mandy stress out even more as to whether or not she and Brad were being rubbish parents. How was it that they used to be so close, best friends themselves when he were smaller, but now acted nothing short of someone who wanted to get the hell out of that house and as far away from she and his step-father. It reminded her painfully of how she had felt after coming to terms with her own mother not wanting to raise a mutant and dropping her off on an unknown island with nothing but strangers. The Brit had vowed her children would never feel resentment, she’d raise them properly, well, give them all they needed within reason, but shower them with the love they felt. But had that backfired? Was that, she wondered, how he saw them? As nothing but strangers whom he had grown to loathe?
As her eyes pleaded with the teen, he remained calm, the eyes that so resembled Robert's staring into her soul. Slowly, his hard expression changed into something, though it wasn't happiness nor anything she recognized. For a moment she swore she saw guilt, but she could not be certain.
“I'm just tired, mum. I got two tests tomorrow and practice after school...and I also gotta attend my weekly training class and stuff.” He sighed out, running his hand over his head several times before he slowly stood up, the legs of the chair scraping the floor. Mandy's eyes didn't follow him, but simply stayed put on some random spot given her worrisome thoughts. The boy leaned down and kissed her on the head once before he pushed his chair in and moved to go upstairs.
Did he and Brad have a heated exchange? Mandy knew it wouldn't have been the first time given how Renly seemed to attack the man with his irritable moods, one remaining calm while the other did nothing but grow more angry. Back and forth they’d go until Renly stormed off, or she walked in on them and put an end to it. The latter hadn’t happened today so her mind was almost sure that they had a tiff, although she would have heard by now from Brad.
Reaching out, she grabbed his arm, stopping him before he got out of sight. While she was unable to figure out his feelings, she supposed motherly instinct or tuition had filled in the gaps of her own burning questions.
“You know your father and I love you very much, don’t you? You know that...Robert loved you very much, too?” Holding her breath, hoping for something to be given to her from the mouth of her son, he simply squirmed out of her hold roughly.
“I only have one dad, alright? We both know it ain’t the one outside with Robbie.” Quickly turning in her chair, furrowing her brow as she gave the sixteen year old an angered, albeit hurt, look, she drew in a sharp breath to respond, but he was quick to stifle her words.
“Brad Thornton is outside with his son. My Dad? He’s rotting in a grave.”
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