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Chapter Thirteen:
Call Me Castiel
Zeppelin
The next few weekswent great. Charlie kept me busy with his amazing stories and we even played chess a few times, which was something I hadn’t done in years. I could tell the company was doing more for him than anything. He was walking a little faster, talking a little livelier, and the fact that some of his stories were becoming repeats only made me hang onto each word every time. It was so endearing it made me miss the grandparents I never got to know.
My favorite story was still how he met Ellie. Sometimes small details changed, like the food they ate at that picnic or the color of her uniform, but the meat and bones were always the same, as well as their unrelenting love.
We had an unusually busy day, so by the time Sterling got home that Friday, Charlie and I were drifting off on the couch before the fast money round in Family Feud. I got up to make us tea, knowing it would help us sleep even better when we went to bed, but the sudden slamming of the door had me jumping and spilling the water on the counter.
“Dad?” he called, rounding the corner quickly and spotting me alone. “Where is he? Is he okay?”
“Of course he is. What crawled up your ass?” I asked, grabbing a towel and cleaning my mess.
“You— you didn’t text. Where is he?” He dashed into the living room and I heard the hushed voices, then Sterling came back to the kitchen with his jaw clenched. “Why?”
I didn’t have an answer, I had completely forgotten something I had done every day for weeks, there was no excuse. “I— we had a busy day. You can ask him about it but he took his meds on time. I just wasn’t around my phone much at all.”
“I know. I called you seven fucking times, Zeppelin,” he snapped. “How fucking busy were you?”
I narrowed my gaze. I could tell him every detail of our day and it wouldn’t change the anger behind his stupidly blue eyes. How dare he speak to me like I’m a child? “Oh y’know, we popped some Molly and went to a rave,” I said sarcastically. “He’s all tuckered out from the fucking three-way.”
He flinched, taking a step back. “Is this a joke to you?”
“No, it’s not a damn joke! I do my job day in and day out and I do it well, do I not?” I didn’t wait for him to respond. “Charlie is happy. He’s never once missed his medicine or a meal, he’s had more energy than I’ve ever seen, and you want to yell at me because I wasn’t glued to my cell phone? I’m sorry I left it charging in my room and forgot it existed. I'm sorry you were stressed about it, but I am not sorry I gave your father my undivided attention for a little while.”
“Twice a day, Zeppelin. That’s all I ask. I pay you, house you, feed you. You have everything you could ever want here, and all I’ve ever asked in return is that you check in with me twice a day. If you can’t do that, then what the fuck are you doing here?”
This time, it wasn’t anger in his voice. It was hurt and disappointment, which actually helped me calm down even if his last question disregarded everything I’d just said to him. I did so much for that entire house that I didn’t even have the energy to name it all.
If he didn’t notice by now, he never would.
I had to take a breath and remind myself that it wasn’t personal, it was coming from a place of fear. I didn’t know how his mother passed away, but I did know it was sudden, and I sadly understood how that felt. “It won’t happen again. I’ll just keep it on me at all times. I’m sorry, Sterling.”
He nodded once, jaw clenched and lips tight. “You can have tomorrow off. I’ll stay with him.”
For some reason, that sentence felt more like a punishment than anything, and I silently finished making Charlie’s tea, set my cup back in the cupboard and walked away. “Here, Charlie. Sterling is home so I’m just going to go to bed. I had a fun day with you.”
I’d hoped he didn’t catch on to my sour mood, but his mind wasn’t yet failing the way his body was.
“Sit, Zeppelin. The three of us can watch that program you like and then we’ll all turn in. I want you here.” He looked at his son. “Do you have a problem with that?”
Sterling looked as though he was about to say yes, but shook his head and sat down on the far end of the sectional. “Of course not, unless she’s about to make us watch Teen Mom.”
I rolled my eyes so only Sterling could see and plopped down next to Charlie. “You remember the last episode right, Charlie?”
“That fellow died and went to hell.”
“Exactly. His name is Dean.” I switched to Netflix and eyed Sterling. “Have you ever watched Supernatural?”
“If you tell me you’re a Sam girl, I’m firing you,” he said quietly, but the little shit couldn’t hide the faint smile playing across his lips.
“That’s what does it? That’s what finally pushes me out?” I laughed in spite of myself. “For the record, I’m a Dean girl, I can’t help it. Guess I’m attracted to assholes.”
“Explains all the snoring you do,” Sterling deadpanned.
“Maybe you should snore more, you don’t seem to be sleeping well and it shows.”
