Where Life Takes Us - 4. Chapter 4 - The Older I Get

The day arrived, July 7^th, Wyatt's birthday, and it was like nothing was going to happen. Wyatt had spent most of the night playing League of Legends with Brett and Talon. He woke up at a 'late' 10 am and got out of bed.

When he arrived downstairs he was welcomed by everyone. Kayla even had a smile on her face. There was a small store bought cake with Wyatt's name on it and a single wrapped box on the counter.

Wyatt came up slowly blushing.

“You already got me so much, you didn't need to get me more.”

He looked over at the cake, no more than 20 dollars for that right?, he thought to himself.

Kenneth smiled.

“Wyatt we celebrate birthdays in this household. Yours just so happened to be close to when you moved in. We may have bought you many things but not many toys.”

Wyatt took the card off the box and opened it. The card read "Happy birthday" on the cover. When he opened it each family member had their own little birthday wish for him - Talon's took 3/4s of a page. When he finally removed the wrapping paper Wyatt found a remote control helicopter.

Talon had gone info gathering for his parents. He found out exactly what toy Wyatt would enjoy the most. Talon was proud of himself when Wyatt started jumping up and down spinning around at his gift. It filled him with joy that he definitely got the right gift.

Wyatt and Talon raced through breakfast and cake. As soon as they were done they ran outside and took the toy for a test flight. They were outside for two hours before they realized it was lunch time and went for food.

The entire day was centred around Wyatt. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all Wyatt's favorites. Dinner was Butter Chicken, which Wyatt had first tried only a few days ago. He was convinced it was the best thing you could do with chicken.

The day was over faster than it began. Sooner than later Wyatt was passed out on his bed music playing from his laptop and his bedroom light still on. Diana found him and turned everything off and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

The next couple of days were normal. Wyatt ended up helping out the maids, Jesse and Rachael. Wyatt enjoyed helping out around the house. He learned exactly how clean something must be for Jesse to be satisfied. This lead to Wyatt's room being cleaner than the others.

The Luis house was calm for a couple of days. It wasn't until the 16^th that something occurred. Diana got a call from her parents that they would be in town tomorrow and would require a room for a few days. Diana felt that this experience would not be a kind one toward Wyatt.

So once the family was informed arrangements were made for where the grandparents slept. They usually slept in the room that was now Wyatt's, so they would have to sleep in a different spare room now. Once again Diana knew this would not go over well with their parents.

Diana knew how her parents would react to adopting a 12, now 13 year old, and so did Kenneth. Grandpa Hans, and Granny Helen were very against adoption. They believed that if a child were to be raised it should be by their own parents, not 'fake' ones.

Knowing this Diana had to warn the entire family.

“Kayla, Wyatt, Talon, Caitlyn, Grandpa Hans and Granny Helen are going to be staying here a for a couple of days.”

There was cheers all around.

“Before you get too excited, they don't know we adopted Wyatt yet.”

“What, why not!?” Talon almost jumped out of his seat.

Diana anticipated such a response.

“In short, they don't believe in adoption.”

“That's dumb! How is adoption bad? It gives kids families and parents kids.”

“You're right, Talon, but your grandparents think it should be the birth mother and father to raise the child, not a family like us.”

Talon was about to speak again but was hushed by his father.

“While your grandparents are here I ask you to act as you normally would. Try your best to be how it always is.”

With his new knowledge Talon planted a seed in his mind to hate his grandparents. He never liked his mother's parents. They were always critical of him and his siblings. They would always claim his bathroom for their own and force Talon to use a different one. In a way making them stay in another room was the beginning of Talon's revenge.

It was ten in the morning when the Luis' were standing outside waiting for their visitors. They arrived a few minutes after in a top of the line SUV. Hans got out first acting like a chauffeur letting his wife out.

The elderly woman made her way over to her daughter.

“It's so nice to see you dear.”

“As it is to see you, Mother. You should have called earlier. We would have made better preparations.”

“Oh, I'm sure you did fine.”

The woman moved down the line.

“Kenneth, still doing what ever it is you do?”

“I am a banker who also buys and sells stocks.”

“I can never remember that. Kayla, you have grown since I last saw you.”

“I last saw you when I was 12. I hope I have grown since then.”

Kayla, when she gets proper warning, always goes out for the time her grandparents are in town. Kayla and Talon share the same opinion of their mother's parents.

“Talon, what is wrong with your hair? It looked so good last time.”

Talon almost had a buzz cut last time he saw his grandmother.

“I like it this way. It offers more styles than having really short hair.”

Talon's facade was in full force. There wasn't an ounce of any distaste for his grandmother.

“Oh, Caitlyn! You are growing into a fine young woman. Who do we have here?” Helen walked past Caitlyn to Wyatt. “Are you Jesse's boy?”

“Ma'am, I don't have any boys. I have 3 girls.”

“Mother, this is the newest addition to our family, Wyatt.” Helen turned and looked at her daughter. “Boys, why don't you take their things to their room?”

Talon and Wyatt went and grabbed the bags and were out of the way before anything could happen. Caitlyn and Kayla went back to their own thing. Jesse and Racheal went back to cleaning. Diana and Kenneth were left to face Helen and Hans' wrath.

Of course Helen started the conversation. “What were you thinking, adopting!?”

Diana started to explain. “Talon was being very antisocial and then Wyatt came into the picture,”

“So you thought Talon needed a pet brother!?”

“Wyatt is not a pet, Mother. They had met and were friends long before we even considered adopting Wyatt.”

“So now Talon has his own play toy in the form of a 'brother'. Adoption never leads to good things, Diana. Wyatt will be a troublesome child. What if his actual parents file for custody?”

“Mother, we have thought everything through. There isn't an issue with having little Wyatt in our home.”

“Like hell there isn't. He is the problem...”

Kenneth cut his mother in law off.

“If you don't shut your mouth, you can sleep at a hotel for the night. Wyatt is a member of our family. We, as in me and my wife, have decided that it would be a good thing for the entire family. Even my father believes it is a good thing!”

“You will not threaten me. I will come and go as I please!”

“This is not your home. It is Diana's and my home. You are a guest and you will act like one or you will be asked to leave. We've had more than one problem with you staying in our home already.”

Helen walked on by into the home. Hans wished his wife wasn't so stubborn.

“I'm sorry your mother has such views. We've been together 47 years and I can't get her to change her mind.”

“You don't need to apologize, Dad. It's mom who needs a rain check.”

The trio smiled and walked into the house, where they would find Helen complaining her 'room' was being used by Wyatt.

Once calmed down and settled into their room Hans and Helen went about catching up with the grandchildren. Hans had always had more of an interest in Talon and now he was interested in how Wyatt came into the picture. Helen got her head talked off by Caitlyn about the gossip of an eight year old.

Hans listened intently to the boys telling their story. They didn't miss a single visit and told everything they could remember about them. Hans was quite fond of Wyatt. He agreed with his daughter that Talon was happier.

Helen, with her talk with Caitlyn, was told all the 'awesome' things about Wyatt. Even Kayla was growing to like the new family member. Helen couldn't understand how or why they could enjoy him so much.

Helen's parents adopted a newborn when she was 13. As a result a lot of the attention went from her to the newborn. She had always thought that an adopted child just makes it harder to love your own children. With that in her head for 60 years there was no changing her mind.

Diana never met her uncle growing up. She never saw him at any time … not at Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Easter. In fact she never even heard of him until she was 21 when he passed away in a car crash. She pleaded to go to the funeral but Helen would hear nothing of it. Now 21 years later, she still wished she could have gone.

When it was finally dinner time, everyone sat at the dining room table, a rare occasion in the Luis house. Once again it was Helen's ideals - a family must eat at the dinner table every night. Kenneth and Diana had a different one - the dinner table is for special occasions, which is why they invested in a breakfast bar.

The family said grace and ate dinner in silence. Helen ruled everything she was involved in with an iron fist. Not talking and eating everything on your plate are just two of her dinner table rules.

Wyatt, as per usual, finished his dinner first.

“May I be excused?” It was only 20 minutes after starting eating dinner.

“How are you already done, My Boy?” Hans asked.

Wyatt blushed.

“In the orphanage when you finished you could go back to what you were doing. I wasn't allowed to bring my books to dinner so I always ate fast so I could go and read them.”

“Rinse your dish and you may go, Wyatt.” Kenneth smiled at the boy.

Wyatt smiled and walked towards the kitchen. When he had left the room Wyatt quickly did his dishes and raced up to his room, away from Helen.

Slowly the children finished their meals: first Kayla, then Talon, and finally Caitlyn who took about an hour, since she had to finish her dinner and she didn't like the vegetables. In total it took an hour for the adults to be alone in the dining room.

Grandpa Nicholas had joined them for the dinner.

“It's good to see you two after such a long time.”

Hans answered, “It's been nice to see everyone. Wyatt seems to make quite the difference in the house.”

“Why is the boy even here in the first place though?” Helen asked crudely.

“Mother!”

“I don't care for adoption and you know this. You did this just to attack me, didn't you?”

“Kenneth and I thought about our immediate family - the ones who live in our home and have to see each other everyday. You weren't even brought up while discussing it.”

“But you pushed for it to happen cause of what happened with your Uncle!”

“I was originally against it mother. I wasn't sure if having a fourth child would be good for our family. So far that thought has been proven wrong ten fold. If you continue like this, you wont be welcome to stay a second night.”

“Excuse me!"

“You heard me, Mother. If you continue to insult my family then I will personally ask you to leave.”

“Kenneth, you wouldn't have any of this would you!?”

“Darling, I think you need to calm down,” Hans insisted. “This has grown out of proportion.”

“This is still in proportion, Hans! Now, Kenneth, would you?”

“I agree with my wife. If you insist you will not be staying a second night. Hans, if you wish to stay, you are more than welcome.”

Helen stormed out of the room.

“Once again I would like to apologize for my wife's behavior. I don't know what has her so tide up about adoption. I personally find Wyatt a nice and polite child.”

“Thank you, Dad. I hope you might be able to get mom to smarten up.”

Diana picked up her and her mother's plate.

“I hope I can as well, dear.”

Hans brought the remaining dishes to the kitchen and washed them up for his daughter before returning to his wife.

The night in the Luis family was mixed. Grandpa Nicholas, Hans, Diana, and Wyatt all had troubled sleeps. Talon, Caitlyn, Kayla and Helen all slept like babies.

It was before noon when Hans and Helen were on their way. Helen had decided that they had extended their visit longer than it should be. Hence Helen leaving early without a good bye. Hans said good-bye to all who were awake.

When Talon awoke he expected to see his grandfather. When he entered the kitchen Wyatt was sitting with Kenneth.

“Where's Grandpa?”

“Grandma decided that she wanted to get going. They left about half an hour ago.”

“Aka: the witch took him away.”

“Wyatt, that is enough.”

“I'm sorry... She didn't even give me a chance. She just hated me.”

Wyatt stared into his pancakes in self doubt.

Talon hugged his brother.

"Well, we love you and that's what counts!”

“Wyatt, even if someone is to hate you, they don't matter in your life. The ones who love you for who you are are the ones that matter. But that doesn't mean you can call them names.”

“Sorry...”

“The older you get, the easier it will be for you to understand what I just said.” Kenneth got up and messed up the boys' hair. “And Wyatt, you can call me Dad if you wish.”

“It still feels weird right now. I'll try though.”

“If it makes it easier you can call me Ken. Kenneth is just so professional.”

The three exchanged smiles before continuing on their days.

Chapter end.