Chapter 2
-8 Years Later-
“Hey, kid, get up!”
The last word’s syllable was drawn out in a mock bellow as Laura’s alarm clock jingled in unison. A curtain of messy, blond hair obscured her vision as she rose with bleary eyes. A modest, comfortable room greeted her as it did every morning while heavy knocks on her door accompanied it. She groaned.
“Outta bed - get a move on!”
“Oh-kay-!” she nearly shouted, pushing hair out of her face and springing from bed. Grabbing her alarm, Laura gently switched it off before whipping it into the soft sheets and blankets left in her wake. Muttering under her breath, she changed from pajamas to school clothes, packing up her bag along the way. Her eyes narrowed at the mess on her desk. Papers for assignments not yet due - for some overdue - littered the space along with various knick knacks. She brushed aside a pile before she spotted her favorite hair tie. With it securely on her wrist, she burst out of the room, gathering her hair up in a fluid motion.
Eddie’s head poked out at the end of the short hall from the living room.
“She’s finally up, huh?”
Laura paused in front of the bathroom door, quickly sticking out her tongue in reply. The man rolled his eyes before disappearing once more. After a few minutes, Laura joined Eddie in the kitchen, much more put together than before, and rummaged around for her breakfast. There were silent gestures shared between the two - wondering where that favorite mug went, where’s the cereal, here’s the milk, what time is it - all well-practiced in their time living together. Laura mulled it over as she ate, glancing up at Eddie from time to time. In her mind, he was the same as ever though when she really looked, she could see his age coming through. He was scruffier, hair a bit longer, some lines gathering under his eyes. He’d made himself busy looking through a stack of weekly flyers and other coupon books. Laura’s gaze dropped again.
It was nothing short of a miracle they’d managed to get where they were. It wasn’t like Eddie took her in right after…Everything. There was going back to the hospital, to the orphanage, bouncing between a family here and there, coming right back, writing letters to stay in touch, cleaning up their respective acts. Her gaze looked past her guardian to the window over the kitchen sink. The cityscape past their apartment spread out and some birds flew past. Laura’s eyes narrowed with another spoonful of cereal - the sugary breakfast starting to get too soggy.
“Oh fuck,” Eddie’s voice jolted her to reality, “School.”
Laura swallowed quickly, “Oh fuck-!”
The two rushed now.
It was a practiced routine and, in spite of the adrenaline rush, a somehow familiar state of being. On the go, disorganized, but able to get done whatever it was that needed doing. That was the way their world worked.
Eddie’s hands were tight on the steering wheel as he suffered sitting in late morning traffic.
“How many ‘lates’ they let you have again?”
“Like…ten.”
“And how many you got?”
“Uhh…”
Eddie glanced over before shifting in the drivers’ seat, finding an opening to pass a slow sedan.
“Laura-”
“Okay, I got like eight of them…” she started, Eddie’s side eye giving her pressure, “I think…?”
The man drew in a long breath and Laura’s brows drew together apologetically. She knew the worries this could drum up. What about the workers who check in? What about her sports? What about her grades? What would happen if she was on her own?
“It’s fine.” Eddie sighed, “It’s not a big deal.”
The teen held her tongue on that. She knew Eddie thought it was a much bigger deal especially from the way his free leg was bouncing up and down in the drivers’ seat. Thankfully, the school was just in view and Laura checked the car’s clock. There was still time.
“Rolling exit.” she said.
Eddie’s lips thinned as he stared at the school’s facade.
“I gotta go slower,” he began, pulling into the long drive.
But Laura was already unbuckling her seatbelt, backpack shifted to her front just in case, hand poised to open the door.
“Laura-!”
“Bye-bye, see you later!”
And with that, Laura opened the door, swung herself to the right, legs dangling for a moment before she propelled forward. Eddie swore under his breath, trying not to crash as he leaned to catch and close the passenger door. Thankfully, they hadn’t been going over 10 mph and Laura landed safely, albeit a good distance away thanks to her momentum.
“Have a good day, loser!” Eddie called from the car.
Laura cackled in response before giving a wave. To her relief, the morning bell hadn’t rung and the only trouble she got in was from a worried friend who caught her athletic dismount from the car.
“You’re so lucky, Laura - my dad would kill me if I ever tried that.”
Laura only grinned in response. The lingering feeling of the word ‘dad’ floating in her head more.
And so it went, the usual day, the usual classes, the friends and socializing and laughter until the last bell rang.
It was a walking home day - about a half hour at a good pace - with Eddie working late. Laura was thankful it was also a no rugby practice day and scrunched her nose imagining how bothersome that would have been. She loved the sport very much but didn’t love the aches after the fact.
Slow times like these gave her space to think. Sometimes a dangerous thing, but usually, one she needed now and again. And she thought of a lot of things, which might have come as a surprise to some. She had a reputation for being scattered, impulsive, and stubborn, though her grades didn’t show as much. A sigh left her lips as she adjusted her backpack.
She thought of what her friend had said earlier that day. Mostly about how Eddie had been called her dad.
It wasn’t like she called him anything else at school, though. That’s what they’d decided from day one. Just to make things easier - mostly for her - so she wasn’t surprised but… She wondered what he was to her, really. At times, he was more of a brother and at others, was like a father. At the start, he’d been no better than a stranger, of course. She shook her head at that - dismissing the troubled thoughts that followed - even if they were funny in hindsight. The times she’d said he wasn’t related to her and people stared. Her blond hair in its high ponytail shook behind her with each step. She was thankful their related claim had some credence if only because of their shared hair color.
So, what was he, really?
Laura found herself back at the apartment and cocked her head to the side - saving the thought for later. She had other things to worry about today like her math homework, a group project she needed to research things for, a friend or two to call. As she entered the building and mounted the stairs, she fished her keys out of her bag, saying little hellos to the neighbors she’d gotten to know after all this time. There was the old lady on the first floor who gave her baked goods, then the men on the second floor who were just ‘friends’ - she knew they were in love right away - and then the family with kids who she babysat sometimes.
Mounting the stairs to the third floor, Laura trotted to her home, jamming the keys in the door and expecting the resistance of a lock. However, she found the door unlocked and felt a panicked pang of forgetfulness. Did she forget to lock the door? Did Eddie?
She carefully pushed open the door, muscles tense, grimacing as the door screeched from how slowly she nudged it. If there was an intruder then she wasn’t going to have the upper hand…
Instead, the teen opted to rush the rest of the way in, and paused.
“Huh…?”
The entryway opened up right to the living room and on top of the coffee table was a little cake, a large envelope, and a single balloon that announced, “Sweet 16!” in the most colorful letters she’d seen in a long while. Laura blinked several times as her backpack dropped from her shoulder and onto the floor with a loud thud. Eddie poked his head out from the kitchen doorway.
“Oh, hey,” he began, entering the living room, “welcome home.”
“Thanks but…” Laura nodded, “I thought you were working tonight…”
Eddie scratched the back of his neck sheepishly before gesturing toward the coffee table.
“It’s, uh…well, happy birthday, Laura!”
The teen moved slowly to sit on the couch, the cushions dipping just as carefully as she sat. Somehow, she’d managed to forget something this important. The couch dipped further as Eddie joined her.
“Well, go on,” he said, his tone hesitant and quiet, “open it.”
He leaned over and grabbed the envelope from the table. It was thin and large and the paper ripped open with ease as Laura’s fingers slid under the adhesive coated flap. Inside was a color photo of a cat, a fluffy, orange blob all curled up with its sleeping face towards the viewer. Laura couldn’t help but smile.
Cats were her favorite, after all.
“I know a guy,” Eddie explained, “He lives in that complex a few blocks down and takes pictures and stuff - anyway, he helps at the shelter sometimes and took this picture. And, uh, I know you’ve been wanting a cat for a long while…”
Laura turned to Eddie, eyes wide, as he continued.
“So, if you like this little guy,” he gestured to the picture, “We could get him today… I asked and he’s still there and they said they can hold him - just for today.”
Within a second, the photo was on the floor and Laura’s face was buried in Eddie’s front. The man steadied himself as the teen grabbed him tight. After a moment, he wrapped his arms around her in return.
“I take that as a ‘yeah’?” he grinned.
Laura’s head shook up and down as she felt the pressure of his arm around her. It was warm, comforting, something that didn’t happen often, and she knew now how she felt. Pulling away, Laura rubbed her eyes as they threatened to water more than they already had.
“Eddie,” she started carefully, “Is it…?”
The man cocked his head to the side, waiting for her to continue.
“Is it okay if I called you ‘dad’?”
“Well, don’t you already at school? That’s fine-”
“Not just at school,” Laura cut in, “Not like that, but like….All the time.”
The teen glanced at Eddie, who sat uncharacteristically still on the couch beside her. In their time together, she got used to reading his emotions and this was the first time in a while she couldn’t place them. His unwavering stare made it seem like he was locking away every little detail just like how she’d learned old cameras did - slowly developing the image to keep forever.
And just like that, it was now Eddie’s time to return a sudden hug, pulling Laura back in for an embrace, though this time his face buried in her hair.
“You can call me ‘dad’,” he said, voice shaking, “Whenever you want, yeah.”
Laura could only laugh as Eddie tried to put on a nonchalant aura in spite of his tone.
“You gonna cry?” Laura asked, tongue in cheek.
“I ain’t crying.”
And then, Eddie pulled away, sniffling lightly. His cheeks were wet though he deflected any accusations otherwise as he let go of the teen and stood. He rubbed his eyes, his back to her, before turning around once more.
“Alright,” he declared, “let’s go grab that cat, huh?”
Laura sprang from the couch at the idea and the two made their way out the door once more. Traveling down the halls, they talked about the day - school, work, how Eddie’s surprise had been planned out, and how Laura had been none the wiser.
“And you made me walk home?! On my birthday?”
She wouldn’t let that go.
“I wouldn’t have been able to surprise you if I didn’t!”
Laura rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. She jumped down the last few steps to the apartment lobby, spinning on her heel to face Eddie.
“Hey, dad?”
“Uh-huh?”
“I get to name it, okay? Since I had to walk home. On my birthday.”
Eddie smiled, the word ‘dad’ lingering in his head pleasantly, “Yeah, yeah, as long as it's not something stupid.”
Laura kept quiet before ushering her dad out the door, excitement buzzing in the air as she looked forward to what the future held.
End.