bakerstreet | Papa don't preach

Papa don't preach

The Parenting Meme

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01. You’ve just gotten the news, you’re pregnant. Time to tell your spouse. OR You’ve just gotten the news, you’re approved for adoption! Time to tell your spouse.
02. Oh my God, you’re in labor! OR Oh my God, time to meet your adoption prospect.
03. It’s the first night home with your new baby. Good luck.
04. Now you know why they call it the terrible twos. How are you and your spouse coping?
05. It’s your little one’s first day of school. You and your spouse are seeing them off.
06. Sitting in the stands for your kid’s big sports game. You two cheer as loud as you can!
07. The only thing worse than a two-year-old is a teenager. Time to discuss what's an appropriate punishment.
08. Hopefully you’ve got fresh batteries in your camera for prom pictures. Maybe your spouse remembered.
09. Your kid is off to college. You can’t believe the number of boxes you’ve got to fit in your car and carry to their dorm.
10. You’re older, wiser and probably going to cry at your kid's wedding. At least you two still have each other.

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By the time that Evan was old enough to head out to college -- and it seemed as though that snuck up on them with ferocious speed -- Aaron was content to allow the young man choose for himself. Unlike Aaron and Kay, who had never been as embroiled in the mundane side of life, Evan had been in close proximity with other humans throughout his entire school career.

The boy didn't really give them any evidence about why he wanted to go to college, but Aaron had a few guesses. In any case, the day was fast approaching that their son was going to be gone for good. He'd already gotten the flurry of acceptance letters and had chosen his favourite, and they'd stuffed a small moving truck's worth of belongings away in a van. They'd be crossing the border. This was going to be a road trip with good old mom and pop and Evan was going to enjoy it, damnit.

Kay didn't seem any more inclined to enjoy being stuffed in a close, tightly-packed vehicle any more than her grown son did, and for the first leg of the journey she'd seemed as out-of-sorts as Evan seemed stoic. Then again, it was hard to tell sometimes with the young man -- crammed in the backseat, alongside about sixty percent of his worldly belongings, he looked about as impassive as at any other time, maybe with a hitch to his shoulders that suggested a long-suffering state. Kay on the other hand, had begun the early day frowning fiercely.

Still, this was miles better than Casey's hasty and frustrating egress, and as the sun rose and the day mellowed, so did Kay. They'd turned on the tunes -- originally she'd tried to let Evan choose from his collection, but the boy had shrugged and insisted that he'd be fine listening to whatever -- cracked a window and some road snacks, and Kay at least was sitting with her feet up on the dashboard, cramming nuts and bolts into her mouth and periodically offering some to her two boys.

If she was feeling any anxiety over Evan's leaving the nest, it was being pushed away for the time being. For now... just for now... this was just a family trip

"We should stop at the giant ball of twine," she suggested, watching a billboard to that effect pass. "Maybe unravel it."

"Or light it on fire," Aaron jibed, though more for the sake of the two of them. He'd have to borrow a flame thrower to join in on any of that sort of amusement, after all.

"I could use a break anyhow. You up for a rest, Evan?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." In other words, the usual response.

Aaron had to wonder about that. He tapped his fingers across the steering wheel, thinking for a moment, then said, "you know we're both only a call or a skype or a psi away, right?"

"Yeah, dad."

"Well, just because you're in a different country doesn't mean that you can't hop on over for the holidays, right?"

Evan shot his father a look through the rear view mirror.

Aaron shrugged it off, changing tactics. "What was the name of that girl you mentioned again?" He didn't intend to embarrass the kid, but though Evan rarely repeated himself, his father had a feeling that the kid was more than just being redoubtably recalcitrant.

That tactic wasn't about to get any better of a response from the young man, and his brows drew together. At the very least, this'd mean that he'd be happy to leave his nosy parents behind once they'd arrived, rather than uncertain. "Chelsea."

As far as they'd been able to cunningly deduce from Evan's offhand comments and recalcitrant mentions, the girl had been in his classes in high school and was heading to the same college Evan had chosen. Kay had her own issues with that, but at the very least he wasn't trying to elope with the girl and Aaron had little problem with humans... and honestly, her children had all the time in the world. If Evan wanted to go to a sub-par learning institution for the sake of a girl and just coast for four more years (though admittedly 'coasting' for him had always meant As and Bs instead of A+s, generally), well, he'd have time to correct the mistake later and check out a school that actually offered a challenge. Hell, he might benefit from the chance to mix with his peers more -- though drunken frat boys did not good role models make, Evan had learned a great deal in his youth from the negative example of his sister, so maybe it was like innoculation. Via beer-pong and shitty parties.

"So how come we've never met her?" Kay decided to just go with the cliche. Hell, it was a fair question.

The look she got from Evan was a stink-eye if ever there was one, but it heralded a positive influx of information, by the metrestick of Evan. "You make her nervous."

The redhead scoffed. "How can I make her nervous if I haven't even met her yet?"

Evan shrugged, looking nonchalantly out the window again. Kay crunched thoughtfully on her baked cheerios and chex. "At least I should get a chance to make her nervous for a reason. This is hardly fair."

Evan was practically scowling. "You /both/ make her nervous." Kay got the feeling her son was correcting her for the sake of curbing her ego, and she laughed again.

"Well, what's she like, where's she from?" Aaron wanted to know, always the information gatherer. The fact that he didn't already know everything about the girl spoke to the high levels of trust he granted his son, after all. Besides, despite the fact that making people feel nervous left him feeling as though he'd done his job well, he wasn't sure that he wanted to alienate some girl he hadn't met yet.

There was also a part of him that wanted to meet Evan's supposed beau in order to decide whether or not she was worthy of him: if she was dragging him down, then it was completely prudent to prune her out of the young man's life, after all.

Perhaps there was a reason Evan didn't tend to be forthcoming with his father (or his mother, as he knew the routes information travelled through in the Friave-Goodlace household. "Just from the city. She's fine. Human." He had, after all, been privy to his dad's epic dragon rants when Cassie had run off. The assurance perhaps was intended to stymie more questions!

"'Fine' isn't a selling point," Kay countered, trying to challenge more information out of the boy and getting a faint snort in retort. "What, am I wrong?"

No answer was forthcoming, as such.

"Human, huh?" That was curious. Why would Evan settle for someone so beneath him? He decided to call up information on the boy's graduating year to see who this Chelsea was, though that would have to wait until they were out of the van: there weren't any satellites overhead connected with his own network, and he was too busy keeping his eyes on the road to worm his way into one or the other of them.

"Well, maybe we'll meet her when we arrive at the dorms. They're not co-ed, are they?" Not that Aaron was backwards thinking, but cohabiting with one's dive partner couldn't lead to good things...

Evan had either taken the question as rhetorical or simply descended into deeper recalcitrance, because he didn't say a thing before Kay piped up, "no, I checked that. They separate their roomies on gender lines. I dunno how strict they are on visitation, though," and here she gave her son the dangerous eyeballing via rearview mirror. She'd be strict... but then, she wasn't going to be around.

Ah, well. At least one of them would be happy.

The drive would take most of the day, and that was with allowance for a scant few pit-stops. Periodically they'd swap off driving, at least, so one or the other of them could read or doze off in the back (Evan seemed impassive whether he got shotgun or crammed in with the luggage, so the seat-based fairness hardly mattered) between stints of driving and watching the long road gradate from prairie to hills to... more, hotter, drier prairie. Fall painted everything golden and red, at least. Crossing the border took more time than the entire car full of impatient creatures would have liked, but they got through alright and kept on.

Their destination didn't loom up before them until it had grown dark and everyone was eager to escape, stretch their legs, maybe grab some food. Unpacking... well, they'd dump everything in Evan's new room and then come back tomorrow to help the young man set up, but for now, at least a respite was at hand.

Kay, in the driver's seat, perked up once they'd entered the college town. She'd done some scouting once Evan had chosen, and so knew the place at least in passing, and the small clutch of assorted Residence buildings were familiar. She zeroed in on the tallest and newest.

"About damn time," the redhead commented, turning the key in the ignition with a satisfying huff of quieting engines. A similar huff came from the backseat, and then the snap-creak of a door opening as Evan took the opportunity to escape the muggy car.

Aaron was the last to leave, stretching as he looked around. Arid little place, it looked like, though on the plus side, it could have been more back-country.

He slammed his door and walked around to the driver's side, squinting to Kay. "So, dredge that shit upstairs now, or get something to eat, first?"

The fact that the back of the van's door resounded with a smash as it rolled up answered the blonde for him. Aaron sidled along to the back of the truck. "You sure you don't want to stretch the old legs, first? There's a couple of fast places around."

"After this, dad," Evan replied, giving Aaron more words than over the last few hours. Well, points for eagerness.

"Alright. We've probably got to check in, first."

"Already did," Evan replied. When Aaron raised his brows, the young man pulled his phone from his pocket, by way of explanation.

"That so," Aaron shrugged, then grinned. "Alright, you and I will start unloading. You mother," he directed at Kay, "can get the way set up."

"I'll grab a dolly or something," she told the pair of them, trotting off. The dorm's doors were propped open for the oodles of arriving parents and youngsters, the long-suffering employees directing the masses here or there. Kay ended up having to wait for one of the rolling platforms to free up, despite the hefty number of them, but at the very least she grabbed the keys to her son's room and went up to examine the place.

When Kay had tried college, it had been long enough ago that the whole setup had changed, but this at least had stayed the same. Evan had gunned for a private room, but it was either private room in the older building where the wi-fi was reported to be spotty at best, or shared room with high-speed internet and the brief but vigorous struggle between the choices had ended up with Evan conceding that he could probably avoid whatever roomie he got stuck with sufficiently well to justify the inconvenience. Kay, privately, had been pleased; there was nothing like living with another human being to remind one why elbow room is such a privilege. Maybe Evan would come home for the summer.

When she investigated the shared room, the first of two keys she'd gotten opened into a common area and basic kitchen, with a bathroom to be shared between four people off of the living area. Well, she thought, four young men -- nevermind the stereotyping, this place is gonna get filthy.

To the left was a door with her son's room number and there she beelined, testing it and finding it already unlocked.

Boxes and containers, some opened and organized away into the modest dresser or cramped desk, littered half of the rectangular room, and the blinds on one side were wide open. A young man looked up, by himself and surprised by the intrusion.

Kay put her hands up. "Just reconnaissance. Moving my son in. You'll meet him in a few minutes." She offered a grin and her hand. "Kay Friave. My son's name is Evan."

The young man grinned back in the slightly dubious way that one might reasonably offer a stranger in one's space. "Uh, good to meet you, mrs. Friave," he offered, shaking her hand. "John. Uh, sorry for the mess."

There was a certain smugness for Kay as she compared this young man to her son and came up with Evan the winner. This fellow was brown-haired, unremarkable in glasses and a little bit shorter than Evan, though he seemed nice enough. Kay flashed a grin, and spotted a dolly still laden with boxes -- "hey, mind if we borrow that?"

"Um, sure, I guess I'm done with it." Now the kid looked sheepish. He trotted to get his last few odd-shaped packages from it, and was startled when Kay came to help.

Thanking him in short order, she made off with the dolly, leaving the nervous young man by himself. When she returned back outside, triumphant, she offered her prize with a sly grin. "Already bumming off the roommates on day one. Evan, you've got company up there."

In the meantime, Aaron and his son had begun stacking boxes outside of the truck, not speaking much, but never the less coordinating well enough.

When his mother returned, Aaron took the dolly from her and began to load up. "There's room for all of this, is there?" the blonde wanted to know. It seemed as though there was more shit in here now than there had been when they'd packed it all in this morning.

Evan stepped out of the truck, wiping his brow with one hand. From the tone of his mother's voice he could infer that she'd already created something of an awkward situation; that she thought that whomever the other roommate was, the guy would be a terrible match for him, and that she was planning on more trouble. The young man decided that enough was enough: he was going to show Kay that she couldn't guess exactly what he had planned. He'd make friends with the other roomie no matter how repugnant the guy was. Playing it cool, he shrugged and gave a small smile. "Thanks," he told her, voice just as cool as his expression.

Aaron cast a glance at his partner. Evan was planning something -- but then again, so was Kay. He... well, he was just hungry, which was making him a touch irritable over the expected mushroom cloud he expected to blossom over today's events. He was perfectly happy to finish loading up and keep quiet for now, wanting to see the space for himself. "Mind guarding the truck?" he shot at the redheaded woman, hoping to separate the two before trouble made itself apparent.

Kay scoffed and laughed, seeing through the transparent ploy. Still, she sat herself down, legs dangling out of the back of the van and agreed, "yeah, sure, from the marauding bands of college freshmen. Here, Evan, your keys," she called to her son and, catching his attention, tossed the little key-ring his way.

He caught it with belligerent ease and had the gall even to offer, "thanks."

"Have fun, kiddo. Call if you want a hand unpacking," she offered, and jerking a thumb over her shoulder at the inside of the van, "I can just lock this thing up."

"Yeah." Evan had already turned away, though, and taking hold of the dolly, took charge of the charge, as such. Kay waved them off ironically as the pair headed into the building.

"Don't stir things up," Aaron offered to his son, once they were in line to the elevator.

Evan cast a look at his dad, taking his advice to heart, but not in the way that the blonde expected: the boy didn't say anything in reply, after all.

At least their ride up to Evan's floor was so cramp-packed with other people and luggage that they didn't have room to continue their conversation. Aaron fell in behind his son as they began towards the young man's room and, waiting for his son to push the door open, the blonde did minor reconnaissance on the building. There were cameras stationed prudently in the elevators and halls, but they appeared to be connected to a closed network that was especially stupid: he wasn't going to be able to get access to them unless he was physically in the building. He sighed, following the boy in with the load of his belongings.

As soon as Evan entered the semi-private bedroom, his entire demeanour changed, at least so far as Aaron was familiar. "Hi," he greeted the new kid.

"Uh, hey. You're Evan, right?" The boy pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Your mom sort of came in. This is your dad?"

"Hey," Aaron greeted the kid, giving an awkward handshake that the younger man had thrust forward.

"I'm John," the kid introduced himself.

"What are you here for?" Evan asked, beginning to unpack. Though Aaron would have liked to get in there and start grilling John, himself, Evan had sort of stepped between them as he took boxes and began stowing them in his section of the room.

"Uh, design, mostly," the boy replied, grinning. "You know, a little of this, a little of that?"

"Mm hmm," Evan replied. To his father, he said, "would you bring up the next load?"

That sort of gall was something that Aaron hadn't received from his son before so, brows raised, he shrugged. "Sure thing, kid."

When he was back out in the waning light of day, he cast Kay a look of uncertain exasperation. "This is going to be a fun year," he told her.

When he wandered back down he found his partner sitting in the back of the truck where he'd left her, her knees drawn up loosely towards her chest and her chin resting on her crossed arms. She was watching other first-years go by with their parents, looking somewhere between bored and thoughtful.

"Why, what's he doing now?" she asked, looking up his way. That expression didn't bode well.

"Making friends, apparently." Aaron settled himself down on the truck next to her, dangling clasped hands between his knees. "I'm sort of glad that he was the one to choose this route, rather than Cass."

Kay groaned, then nodded, imagining all the shit Cass would have gotten up to. Still, running through it and comparing...

"You know, I think I worry more about him than I ever did about Cass when she set out," Kay confessed to her partner, looking at the blonde with a wry, almost sad quirk to her lips. "He's too smart and too young. He could get himself into real trouble, shit that can't just be muscled out of."

"So he'll think his way out," the blonde replied. "He knows how to sway an audience -- if he didn't he wouldn't'uve been getting all of those A's as an afterthought, would he?"

"High school is a way different arena than the real world. Teachers are suckers for smart kids." They had been, too. Kay thought that the only reason her son hadn't been hideously bullied, though, was that he had almost entirely removed himself from the social circle. There had been touchpoints, of course, people that he spent time with or places that he went, but most of the shit that teenagers tried to pull rolled off his back like water off of a duck. He wasn't a shut-in, he just didn't seem to care about most of the people around him.

Then again, a mother didn't always know even half of the details of her teenager's life, and Kay had to acknowledge as much. Maybe her son was more savvy than she gave him credit for. He had a girlfriend, didn't he?

"Well, hell," she sighed, flippant and self-deprecatory. "Maybe I'm just doing that thing. That mom thing."

"Well then, he won't have much to worry about for the next four years," Aaron felt obliged to point out. "I think you're allowed, though. Just so long as you don't go poking around in his business." That was Aaron's job, after all.

"Sweetheart," and she used the term of endearance with deep irony, "that's rich, coming from you."

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Papa don't preach

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