The kids were growing, and Elenna was aging.
Her unhappiness was taking it's toll on her beautiful face. It was growing long and starting to wrinkle. Her hair had grown longer over the years, and she kept it high in a tight bun, away from her face. She looked more frigid than anyone ever imagined she would. It was clear that family life and motherhood were not for her. At least, not any longer. She wished she had stayed with Arlo. Why, oh why did she marry Cooper? Seventeen years later, she still constantly questioned her feelings about him. He really was the perfect man. She believed she truly loved him at one point... back when he was a thrill. A fling. A dare. An affair.
Not when he was hers, to have and to hold.
Stephen continued to work on his schoolwork. He wasn't quite sure what he'd want to do with his life, but he was incredibly smart, and loved math and science. He would talk about his father often and looked up to his musical aspirations greatly, but knew he couldn't go down that path. He started applying for colleges his senior year, finally settling on the idea of becoming a surgeon.
Cooper was continuing to advance in his music career. His name was now the talk of their town, and word about his musical talents was slowly spreading throughout the state. His workplace was begging him to come back to work full-time. Cooper wanted to, too... but his home life needed to be fixed before he could advance his career. Family, to Cooper, was always the top priority.
The stress from his parents was taking a toll on Stephen, too. He was staying up late at night helping his siblings and doing whatever he could around the house, then napping here and there during the day. He encouraged his siblings to spend time away from home when they could, so they wouldn't have to see Cooper and Elenna interact.
Lucy took his advice, and took up jogging, cooking, and fishing for hobbies.
She loved going for seaside jogs. It gave her time to herself (which she loved), and allowed her space to think and just be herself. She was feeling the tension at home. A sweet and simple soul, she knew it wasn't Cooper's fault, and instead remained optimistic about their relationship. From day one, she knew Cooper was a great man. She had a lot of faith and comfort in knowing he'd do whatever it was to protect her and her siblings.
She remained happy and carefree. School never seemed to stress her out, yet she was in the top ten percent of her class. She was a good-girl to the extreme, and much preferred a night-time fishing session over partying with her friends. Cooper had taught her better than that.
Little Ava was a bold beauty. There weren't many babies with her looks. She had a very defined face, with jet-black hair (it had darkened as she grew) and sparkling aqua-like eyes. Cooper knew she'd be a stunner as an adult, and often laughed, knowing he'd have to keep the boys off of her. She was a smart child, and had a lot of cunning.
It's always the young ones, Cooper smiled to himself.
Edison's personality issues shined through most when tensions at home were high. His erratic behavior was a worry for Cooper, yet he didn't want to put him on medication, nor send him to therapy. Cooper used to hope Edison would outgrow that mental damage... but now, he didn't mind it. The more time he spent with Edison, the more he realized Edison was just an insane genius. He reminded Cooper of some sort of manic scientist. Edison was still excelling in school, so he chose not to change the personality his son had grown into.
Though it did get frustrating for Stephen now and then to sit through his brother's outbursts, he didn't mind it, either. He learned fast not to do his homework at the kitchen table. He hadn't a clue why, but Edison despised it when people did homework at the table.
Cooper shielded little Ava from her mother. They were starting to lean toward a divorce... but no one had really used that word just yet. Elenna was spending more time out of the house. Cooper was never sure of what exactly she was doing, but it was getting to the point where he didn't care as long as his kids were safe.
He taught Ava to walk, talk, spell, count... everything he couldn't do when he was working full time while Edison was young. He wouldn't let Elenna near little Ava, for fear she might emotionally or mentally scar his little girl.
Lucky for him, Elenna didn't want much to do with Ava anyway.
But to Cooper, she was the light at the end of his tunnel. All of his kids were. They were his inspiration for a brighter future.
One night, Cooper received a phone call. Not recognizing the number, he let the answering machine pick up the call. He'd assumed it was for Elenna, who was out... doing whatever it was she was doing. He continued cleaning the dishes, keeping an ear open for the answering machine, just in case it was for him after all.
"Elenna, this is Harold. You need to return my e-mail. Your reports are late. If this gets to corporate, it's my ass they'll be kicking. Not yours. Get your shit together. Also, I got a lead on the Harvey case. I won't tell you what's going down until you get that damn paperwork in. Call me." *click*
Cooper was now fully focused on the machine, staring at it long after the caller stopped speaking. What... what was that? Paperwork? Reports? Corporate?...
But... Elenna didn't have a job. Not to his knowledge, at least. But, if she did, shouldn't he have known? Maybe she just got the job and neglected to tell him? No, that couldn't be it. The way this Harold guy spoke, it sounded like she had been at this for a while... and if she was working, where was the money? Cooper worked day and night to build the lives they all had right now. He worked extra shifts so Elenna could have a little spending money here and there. What in the world was going on?
He kept quiet for most of the day. Elenna came home that night and went straight to the bedroom to change into her nightgown. Cooper scooped Ava up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom. He knew she was sleepy, and as he put her in her crib, he knew she would be in dreamland soon enough.
Cooper turned to talk to Elenna, who was sitting at the computer, checking her e-mail.
"Elenna, we need to talk."
Silence.
"Elenna, seriously. We NEED to talk."
Nothing.
"Harold called today."
He could sense the change in Elenna's body language. She became stiff and rigid at the mention of her co-workers name.
Damnit, he knows., she thought. She turned to face him.
"What did he say?" she asked nonchalantly as she stood to face him. Cooper sighed.
"That's it. I can't do this anymore, Elenna. First you neglect Edison. Then you favor Stephen. Then you agree to letting Lucy into our home, and decide not to act as her mother. Then you feel nothing for Ava. And this whole time, you haven't talked to me in the least! And now this?!"
He continued, incredibly fed up with Elenna's blank stares and lack of regard for him and the family.
"This whole "you need to hand in your reports"?! What is that?! Tell me what's going on Elenna. Seriously. I can't take this anymore. Our family doesn't deserve it. I don't deserve it!"
Cooper stepped back and sighed. He had never felt legitimately upset with anyone in his life before, ever. And now he was upset. He was disappointed. He was saddened. He felt lost. He eyed her carefully, setting deep eye contact. She was going to talk. She had to.
She began to get mad, too. Her built up frustration was ready to let loose.
"How could you be so stupid, Cooper?", she hissed, leaning toward him.
"I haven't been happy since the day Edison was born. I loved him. I really did. But living this way, I can't do it." Cooper was confused. They lived a wonderful life. She never had to work if she didn't want to. She could stay home with the kids. He let her spend half his income on things for herself. Granted, it wasn't always much, but he didn't see how he could work so hard to provide a comfortable life and hear her say 'I can't live this way'.
"What are you saying?" Cooper questioned, furrowing his brow.
"I'm saying something needs to change," she snarled, voice low, a brow raised.
"Elenna, I have tried so damn hard to make things work with you. You never talk to me. You've never told me what was wrong. None of this is making sense. I've tried to change. I think the thing that needs to change is you!"
She took a step forward, an upset, distraught look upon her face. Cooper stepped backward. Was she really going to get physical with him?! What the hell was going on?
"First of all, I run this house! The kids wouldn't be alive and well if it wasn't for me being locked up with them every single day!", she yelled, a finger raised. "Second of all, maybe I don't want to be here anyway!"
He could tell she was getting heated. Maybe he needed to calm down. It was like a switch flipped inside of her. He'd never seen her like this, but part of him wasn't surprised. She never shared her feelings, and here they were, coming out almost 20 years of marriage later.
"Elenna, calm down..." he whispered, remembering Ava was asleep in the room. "We can do this civilly."
"Maybe I don't want to do this civilly," she laughed. It seemed she had dissolved into a mad, manic state. Part of Cooper wondered if maybe that's where Edison had gotten it from... but he stayed glued to the conversation.
"I've regretted marrying you for years! Your dashing good looks and mediocre job could never give me what I really wanted. I want luxury! I want fame by association! With you, I am a housewife! A mother! I love my Stephen boy, but was any of this ever what I wanted? NO!"
Cooper stood back, shaking his head. She'd lied to him all this time. How could he not see this?
But he knew it wasn't his fault. He couldn't blame himself. He was sure he'd done all the right things... it was her. It was Elenna that lied to him. He took a step forward.
"Elenna, I am truly sorry I couldn't give you that. But it was never my dream to have my wife live in luxury. It was never my dream to spoil a selfish woman. It was never my dream to love someone that could not love me back! It was never my goal, nor was it my intent, to marry a woman and shower her in fame!! To think anything opposite of that is ABSURD! I just wanted to be happy. I just wanted a family!!", he growled.
"What are you saying, then, Cooper?! Tell me now, it's now or it's never!", she pleaded. She wanted to hear it. She didn't want to be the one to leave. Some deep, insecure part of herself wanted her to be the one that was left.
"I am saying we're done. That's it. No more. I know you've been working a job behind my back. That's fine, so be it! I haven't seen a single cent of that money go toward this house and the kids, so you need to take whatever you're earning and get the hell out of this house, because I know you can afford to do so. We're done, Elenna. I'm sorry, but we're done."
She looked away for a moment, and with one quick, swift mood, swung around and smacked him straight in the face.
"You're right, Cooper. We're better off apart," she muttered. She turned and left the room. The next morning, she packed her things and called a taxi. She was leaving, and she was leaving for good.
But she wasn't going alone. She wanted to take Stephen with her.
Stephen knew he was the only thing that was keeping his mother sane. He didn't want to leave, but at the same time, a big part of him didn't want his mom to be alone. He was too kind and caring of a boy to say no.
It broke Cooper's heart to see them leave... but mostly to see Stephen leave. It upset Edison and Lucy, too, who had grown quite attached to their older brother. Stephen was Edison's best friend, and Lucy's mentor. Stephen was leaving with a heavy heart, but vowed to keep in contact with his siblings. He knew his mother would probably care less about them.
Stephen knew that moving in with her wasn't the smart thing to do, but at the same time, he had hoped he could talk her into some sort of therapy. Just like his real dad, Arlo, he had a deep compassion for people. To move in with his mother, who was clearly going through a hard time... that was Stephen's tribute to his father. That was the only way he could honor Arlo... and he would honor Arlo.
Even if it meant leaving the family he so deeply loved.
He knew Cooper would be fine without them.
No comments:
Post a Comment