Page 321 of Chaos has a Name
Without a word, she handed it back.
At first.
No one knew if she was rattled or thinking.
One of her superpowers was an excellent poker face.
“Have I ever told you guys how much I love coming here and finding bodies in the ground? It’s like a tradition,” she said, sarcastically.
Oh, they were aware.
“I’ve actually seen it, so I’m a little calmer about it, but make no mistake, I don’t like it at all.”
None of them did.
Well, at least she took it better than they thought she would.
When someone cleared their throat, they all looked up. Standing in the room was Wyler, and they were a little surprised that he’d showed up.
When he opened his mouth, Callen raised his hand to stop him.
“It’s been a shitastic few days, Wyler. My suggestion is not to start a fight tonight. We all just want to eat and decompress. We’ve seen some shit, and had to survive an abduction.”
He understood.
“I’m not going to start a fight,” he admitted. “In fact, I want to apologize for the hell I’ve put you all through not only this last week, and for my whole life. I shouldn’t have just dumped my responsibility on you guys. It was wrong, and it was selfish. Even if I’m dying, I had no right to make you carry my burden for me.”
Ethan put down his spoon.
“Do you understand why we are upset?” he asked, saying the first words to his father in over a week.
Why?
Well, had he handled this mess, it would have been a lot more brutal than locking the man in a treehouse until he calmed down.
Ethan was pissed.
Why?
Oh, maybe because once more, Wyler was dumping and running on his responsibility.
He stood there.
“I am. It was shitty to dump raising TJ on you without having a face-to-face conversation with you first, Ethan. I assumed that as the oldest, you’d do the job for me when I’m gone.”
He stopped him.
“It’s not about doing the job, Wyler. I would gladly raise that little boy as my own. I love TJ very much, and already consider him mine, but you have a history of running with it gets difficult.”
He was aware.
Callen started.
“You don’t skip out on telling your children that your cancer is back, while you’re running away,” Callen said. “That hurt, and honestly, Wyler, I’m tired of cleaning up after you. I’ve picked you up at the bar, I’ve held your hair when you puked, and I’ve saved you from more than my share of bed piranhas.”
Wyler was aware.
“And for that, Callen James, I am sorry. I’m sorry that I’ve not been the parent you needed, and instead, made you all have to take that role. I’m sorry that I was going to force you guys to tell my grandchildren about it, and how I didn’t think about your feelings too.”
