"Here… we'll talk later…" was the only thing his father managed to say pressing the something that he had taken from his pocket into Jayden's palm. Instantly Jacob turned with not so much as a good-bye and hurriedly ran up the step without a backward glance.
Jayden couldn't believe it; nothing- no answers or any questions. The man seemed the least bit interested in how he had lived or grew up. If he thought he had been disappointed before; his father had managed to take his disappointment to another level. Jayden couldn't believe that the only thing his father had to say to him was 'how long have you known?' Jayden looked down in his hand to see what his father had given him; a business card with his telephone number and email address.
"What the hell was that?" Avery asked the question that he couldn't verbalize. His tone expressed the same shock that Jayden was feeling and witnessing. His question snapped Jayden back to reality as he went over and stood next to him watching his father depart.
"Like I said, another one of your dumb ideas…" Jayden forced himself to smile against the pain he was feeling. He stuffed his father's business card into one of his pockets; then promptly turned around going back to work as if nothing unusual had happened out of the ordinary.
"Water! Juice!"
"Get your ice cold water for the commute!"
"Cinnamon roll- muffins and Honey buns too…"
"Ice cold tea- bananas and oranges… Just waiting for you…"
It was business as usual for the teens.
* * * * * * *
"What's the matter?" Louise asked weakly as her husband came home late from work. This was unusual for him. The seventeen years that they had been married, Jacob seldom arrived home any later than 8:30 p.m. She looked at the clock again; it was a few minutes past midnight. She looked at her husband feeling a little guilty about being sick. Jacob was a good man in his wife's eyes and she was pained at not being able to be of any help to him. He looked tired and worn even though he never complained about working even harder picking up the slack. She slightly smiled to herself thinking about him. He would never complain even if he were dying on the inside. He always did his best to provide the very best for his family and doing all that he could to make sure that they would never be hurt or suffer. How much pain must he be in watching her wasting away like this? She wished for a miracle. She wished that God would either heal or take her back home; either way Jacob would be free of the burden.