average human’s Reviews > Flourishing Heart > Status Update

“Okay,” I understood, but it didn’t mean I liked it.
We quickly said our goodbyes before Daddy called me for dinner.
“How was Da?” Daddy asked softly when I sat down at the table. Like, Mother, Daddy was taking this separation to heart. From what they told me, Da found Daddy first, and both had been by each other since.
“He sounded exhausted,” I said honestly, looking around the table everyone was picking at their food. Father glared at the wall as a thick silence that was starting to become normal overcame the table. My eyes glanced at Mother. She wasn’t managing well from her eyes, they looked dull from lack of sleep. Papa swallowed tightly as he pushed his food around by his fork.
A family in ruin.
“Right,” Father slapped the table, his dinner now finished. “This is enough.” Father addressed as he stood up from the dinner table. He slackened his tie from his neck as he gave a soft stroke on Mother’s shoulders, giving her a look that looked close to comfort. “We can’t keep going on like this. We have to go get him.”
“What?” Mother looked agape at Father as he pulled her up from her chair.
“I’m sick of this happening. I expect us to relax here in our home, not this. Get your shoes and coat. We are dragging his sorry ass back home, where he belongs.”
“He needs space,” Mother sputtered in a half reluctant manner, but she did quickly go to fetch her coat in a dash.
“He will get space once we are all dead.” Father huffed as he rolled his sleeves up his arms like he was gearing up for war. “He is part of this family, and I won’t allow him to run off again.”
Again? I thought with confusion. Had Da done this before?
Looking at Papa and Daddy, they both wore amused hidden smiles on their faces, but none of them got up to follow Father and Mother out the door.
“About time he did something.” Papa uttered under his breath as he collected our dishes knowing we couldn’t eat the rest.
“Is Da going to come back?”
“With your Father in this mood, he will if he knows what’s good for him.” Papa grinned with a glint of playfulness that had been missing for the last few days.
I didn’t know what to think. Father seemed to know what to do, but Da’s talk about needing some time alone was in my mind. Would they get into another heated fight but with Father joining in this time? Father and Da often clashed a lot but had a type of understanding with their opposite personalities.
As the hours rolled on, my hope of Da returning dampened. Papa and Daddy didn’t seem to see my disappointment as they grew more cheerful by the minute. They certainly weren’t worried about Da not coming home. On the contrary, it seemed like they were expecting him any second.
My phone exploded with many texts from Julia. She had been hounding me, asking me to go out with her tomorrow night. All through the week, I had been avoiding this one topic, but Julia seemed to have other ideas.
Julia: You coming to the party???
Me: I might be busy.
Busy was the closest word I could agree upon. Could I go to a party if my family was breaking apart? No, it didn’t feel right to do such a thing. But before I could text my refusal to go, Julia got in the last word before I could.
Julia: You only live once Grace! I wanna show you how to party!!
I could hear her say those words like she was next to me, but I knew she would face disappointment with the following text I prepared to send. Hovering over the button to send, Daddy rushed in with a gigantic smile on his face.
“Da’s back!”