I Am My Own Man

“He’s all I have despite everything he does. You know.. you never gave me a formal ‘hello’"

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Oliver took in a deep breath and let it out while straightening his posture into a proper one. “Hello, Kenzie. Nice to see you again.”

“She’ll talk to you in time. Or as I once heard, when she’s ready to talk to you.”

“She’s going through a hard time right now too.”

“I know she is. That’s why I want her to talk to me. I don’t want her feeling like I’m letting her deal with this alone, but I don’t want to smother her either. It’s just a difficult balance, and I’m toppling over on her bad side..”

eddie-reed

“Hey, mate,” Eddie patted Oliver on the shoulder. “It’ll be okay. I’ll make sure to keep an eye on both of them so they don’t wind up in too much trouble.”

#c; future eddie #// he has #but eddie makes things easier

“I’m supposed to be good at this, you know? I practically raised Porter on my own, and I can’t even get my daughter to stay in the same room as me.”

“No..” she said quietly, looking at the tips of her hair. What was the use in hiding the truth? She wouldn’t see anyone again once she went back to New York. “My manager and boyfriend told me children and marriage would hinder my performances as a singer. I guess we thought wrong when we thought adulthood would be sunshine and rainbows.” she forced a chuckle.

“You’re letting someone else dictate whether or not you can have kids? Kenzie, that’s not right..”

“Well, I’m here if you ever need anything, okay?”

#c; future vienna #// sorry he's not handling his loss very well #so he's not as fun and happy as usual

“I get that and I appreciate the gesture, but honestly, I just want my daughter to talk to me..”

eddie-reed

“I believe that might be because of her little partner-in-crime…”

#c; future eddie #// my job is done then

“Mm..” Oliver hummed in the back of his throat and tipped his head back in frustration. “Better Ian than some random stranger, I suppose..”

She’s alive, Oliver. And she has a passion for rebellion. You’ve raised a little fire so far, so you must be doing something right. I.. I dont have any right for parenting advice, but dont worry to much.

“Maybe..” Oliver ran a hand through his hair. “So.. No kids for you then?”

“Oliver, you’re not going to disappoint her. Trust me on that.”

“How have you been?”

“Yeah, well..” He let his sentence fall off with a sigh. “Uh.. I’ve had better days. It’s not been an easy time.”

“My lips are sealed. Dont worry, one day she’ll grow out of it and she’ll realize she needs you.”

“I don’t know.. Seems to me like she’d rather be a Reed than a Grassi..”

“If you ever need help with her, I’m here.”

“I missed you, by the way.”

“I don’t need help,” he said, automatically defensive. “I just.. Her mum trusted me with her, and I don’t want to disappoint.”

“Yeah, I missed you, too. Sort of cut off the magic world for a bit there; lost contact with a lot of people.”

Kenzie smiled at the girl, placing her song book down and gazing at the dark nighttime clouds outside. “Every girl loves pushing her daddy’s buttons. It’s in our blood.”

“That explains why Porter was always such a pain in the arse.. Don’t tell her I said that, though.”

“Pretty sure all kids go through their rebellious stage.”

“I never did..”