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Post by Kristen Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 17:51:29 GMT -5
In the bathroom just off the master bedroom that she shared with her husband Tyler, Kristen Buchanan stood bent over the vanity and turned her head side to side as she lathered facial cleanser over her cheeks, nose and forehead. Dressed for bed in a white tank top and a pair of pink pajama shorts that had "MILF" written across the butt in white lettering--a gift from Wes on her thirtieth birthday--she went about her nightly ritual while her husband, Dr. Tyler Buchanan, already lay in bed. It was just after ten and the house had been quiet since their children had long ago been sent to bed, though Kristen suspected their defiant youngest son, Van, was still awake. It'd been a long and busy and rather eventful week so far and it was only Wednesday.
With her face good and coated with lather, Kristen pulled her damp hair over one shoulder and dipped down to rinse her the cleanser into the sink, splashing water onto her face then dabbing it dry with a soft towel. After checking herself in the mirror, she carried the towel with her into the bedroom, dabbing her hair with it in an effort to dry it before she climbed into bed.
"So, you know how you said you thought you kept seeing Colby in the cemetery on your way home from work?" she said, moving over to sit next to her husband on his side of the bed. "Well, I decided to take your advice and went over there the other day to see him."
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Post by Tyler Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 18:05:27 GMT -5
Tyler held the latest Journal of the American Medical Association edition in his hands reading some of the current published articles while Kristen prepared for bed. It was almost the same ritual every night. She would be in the bathroom washing her face, brushing her teeth or whatever else she normally did, while he caught up on some reading. He finished reading the sentence he was on and then turned his attention to her as she sat down on the side of the bed. He lay the journal to the side having learned long ago that if he did not, she would banish him to the couch. This was supposed to be their time and he couldn't begrudge her his attention.
Nodding, his eyebrows perked slightly in interest at her announcement. "You did?" He reached over and rested his hand on her leg, "How did it go?" He shifted so he could face her a little more, pulling his other arm behind his head so he was more comfortable. He supposed since she wasn't pacing the room ranting that it had gone well but he couldn't be sure. They'd both matured quite a bit since becoming parents and he'd also improved on his ability to read her emotions a bit.
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Post by Kristen Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 18:18:35 GMT -5
"It was...okay, actually," she said, tilting her head to one side as she continued to dab at her hair. "He looks good. Taller. A lot taller. Or maybe I just spent most of my life being bigger than him that I forgot he'd passed me up, who knows," she added with a light chuckle.
"I invited him to dinner on Friday, if that's all right with you. He's going to bring his daughter but with the boys at the game I thought we could ask Beth to take Lila for the night, give us some time with Colby. It might give us both a chance to see what he's like now. I mean, he seems to matured a lot but, I don't know, I guess I'd like a professional opinion," she then grinned at Tyler with the last sentence.
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Post by Tyler Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 18:29:52 GMT -5
Tyler nodded, "It's perfectly fine with me. I think it's a good idea. Do me a favor and text me what all you want me to get at the store and I'll pick it up on my way home tomorrow afternoon."
He laughed a bit, teasing her, "You do realize, I'm not THAT kind of a doctor right? Though I suppose I'd be able to tell whether or not he has a yeast infection."
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Post by Kristen Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 18:41:18 GMT -5
"Yeah, I don't think he'll appreciate you asking him to drop his pants and climb up on the table and spread his legs so you can check him for fungus, as amusing as that would be," she laughed then, content that her hair was as dry as it was going to get for now, set to folding the towel.
"To be honest, I really just want you to get to know him. He's my brother and, you know, other than you and the kids, he and Brock are the only real family I have left. I mean, Kate, Beth, Wes and Dean are family, too, but it's just, I don't know, different."
Kristen then paused and, only half-way through folding her towel, dropped her hands into her lap and let out a sigh. "And I kind of have an ulterior motive for asking Colby over," she admitted.
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Post by Tyler Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 18:46:27 GMT -5
Tyler cringed, "I don't think any of us would have much of an appetite in THAT scenario." Inwardly, he was doing all kinds of checklists on how much disinfectant it would take for a bare assed man to be sprawled out on their table. He tried to quickly get that image out of his head.
He listened when she switched to a more serious subject and nodded, "I understand, Kris. You and your brother were close once and I know how being estranged hasn't been easy on you. I suspect the same is true for him. I'm proud of you for reaching out."
If she was trying to get his attention, more so then she had it already, she sure as hell got it with her last sentence, "An ulterior motive?"
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Post by Kristen Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 19:15:44 GMT -5
Kristen' nodded. While she hadn't exactly been dreading having this conversation with Tyler, she did dread having it with several other people. Tyler would be the easiest but he would also be the first. He was her husband, he most definitely going to be the first. And that, more than anything, is what made Kristen feel what dread she did feel about having this particular conversation with him. But, it had to be done. Better now than later, especially if later meant that it got blown all to hell.
She sighed again. "I've been thinking about Eli a lot."
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Post by Tyler Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 19:27:58 GMT -5
Tyler nodded. "Eli is doing fine, babe. He's growing up and making good decisions. He's a good kid." He probably shouldn't have made the assumption that she was thinking about Eli in the context of his development as an 11 year old. "He's right on track, babe. He's doing fine."
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Post by Kristen Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 19:45:13 GMT -5
"Oh, I know," she said, waving off any concerns about how their son was turning out as he got older. Truth be told, Eli was probably the least of her concerns in that regard. He'd always been the quieter one, the more patient one, the one who seemed more inclined to take care of his siblings, to protect them. He reminded her a lot of Vanessa in that regard. Then again, maybe it was Jessica he took after.
In reality, if there were any one of their children that Kristen would be concerned about, it was Van. He was wild and petulant and opinionated and stubborn and defiant and, according to Beth, Kate and Wes, waaaay too much like his mother.
"it's not that. It's...," she averted her gaze, searching for something in the room to focus on so she didn't have to look her husband in the eye. She almost succeeded until she felt his hand on her bare knee, a touch that was obviously meant to reassure her but which, in fact, just reminded her that she was stalling.
"...I'm wondering if we should tell him, you know, about Colby and Jessica."
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Post by Tyler Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 19:52:06 GMT -5
Oh wow, Tyler sat up straighter in the bed. He felt ill equipped or prepared to deal with this sudden revelation from his wife. "Don't you think we should probably wait and see just how Colby is doing before we break it to Eli that he's adopted." He chose the word 'adopted' because he didn't want their son to be afraid if they did decide to tell him about his real parents. "Do you really think that an 11 year old boy is ready to hear that .. we haven't exactly been honest with him up to this point?" He took a deep breath. This was a heavy conversation - one he had not expected to be having at this moment.
"This is a really big deal, babe," he didn't have to tell her that, but it made him feel better to say it.
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Post by Kristen Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 20:05:27 GMT -5
Aaaaaaand cue the pacing!
Kristen all but shot up off the bed and started moving back and forth over the same space in the carpet where she'd gotten into the habit of pacing when faced with a difficult decision that required her to think through as many possible outcomes and work out the pros and cons. There had been fewer and fewer instances of that, however, as the years wore on and Kristen had mellowed but the decision of whether or not to tell one of their sons that he wasn't biologically their son definitely warranted pacing...lots of pacing.
"I know. I Know," she said, fighting to keep her voice calm and low so as to not wake the kids. "That's kind of why I invited him over. I figured we could spend some time with him, see if he's changed any. And when he said he was going to bring Madeline, I thought maybe seeing him with his daughter might be good, too. You know, it might give us an idea of what kind of father he's been, what kind of man he's been since I last talked to him. I thought, maybe, we could figure out how Colby will handle it if we have to tell him."
Back and forth, back and forth she paced, wrapping her arms protectively around her body as she vomited out the thoughts in her head just as quickly as they popped in there.
"And, yeah, Eli's probably going to think we just spent the last eleven years lying to him but...but I can't help thinking: What if he finds out anyway? What if something happens and it comes out that we're not his birth parents? What happens then? How much will he hate us then? Is he going to react the same way Colby did when he found out Vanessa was his birth mother? Colby is his biological father, after all."
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Post by Tyler Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 20:11:28 GMT -5
And there she goes...pacing. This was a very touchy and sensitive conversation. There'd be no more going back to his reading tonight. Throwing the comforter and sheet off, he swung his feet to the floor and stood. He watched her for a long moment, letting her get her thoughts out of her head, "Okay." He nodded. It seemed to him that she'd already been thinking this through. He couldn't fix this - not in the way she probably wished he could.
He reached out, "Hey..." He waited till she looked at him and he knew he had her attention. "I hear you, okay? Let's take this one step at a time. We have dinner with Colby Friday night and see how things go. Under no circumstances do I think we need to tell anyone anything right this minute or even on Friday. I think we need to be careful and diligent. We need to be certain that its the right thing to do for everyone, not just to ease our consciences."
Seeing her wrapping her arms around her like that tugged at his heart. "Come on, sweetheart," he pulled her into his arms and held her, hoping it was making her feel safe and at least a little reassured that everything was going to be okay.
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Post by Kristen Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 20:20:49 GMT -5
Kristen let herself fall into her husband's arms and rested her head against his chest as she wrapped her own arms around his waist. "Sorry," she said, her voice low and soft. "I just really don't want to repeat past mistakes. Mine or Vanessa's or anyone else's. I think, with Brandi gone, it's starting to sink in that I don't know have much family left. Vanessa's dead. Brandis dead. Jared was alive, then dead, then alive again and now is behind bars for the rest of his life. Brock is lucky he isn't dead. And, I don't want to lose any more people because of secrets."
She sucked in a breath and held it before releasing it slowly in an attempt to calm herself further.
"But you're right. We don't have to tell him Friday or next week or even next month. We can take our time, get to know him again and see how we feel about it. And we should probably talk to Jessica first. It kind of does affect her, too."
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Post by Tyler Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 20:31:34 GMT -5
Tyler pressed his lips to the top of her head, letting her work it out while he held her, "I know, babe. I know." He knew that this whole situation must have really been eating at her for all of this to come out now. Brandi's death had impacted her harder than most people probably realized. Even if she hadn't acknowledged it when it happened - at least not in a way that seemed healthy at the time, maybe it had triggered something inside her that would allow some healing to take place.
He rubbed her back slowly, trying to help her relax. "We should include Jessica, you are right, but let's try to be patient about it. I'll do whatever I can to ensure you don't lose anymore family, okay?" He hugged her tight and stood quietly with her in the soft light of their room.
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Post by Kristen Buchanan on Sept 7, 2016 20:39:03 GMT -5
Kristen nodded then, slowly, drew back a bit to look up at her husband while still remaining safe in his arms. "I love you, Dr. Buchanan," she said and craned up to give him a peck on the lips. "But you've got to be wondering how in the hell you got stuck with the most high-strung, neurotic, obsessive woman alive."
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