outnumberedmother-blog

[outnumberedmother-blog]

Caitlin was quiet for a long minute, staring at the cooking. "Your mother and I were worried about the same thing. I always found it hard bringing friends around my parents because they were open about their magick in the house. It skipped me but both of my children have magick. I've always been worried about Bevin and Conor finding someone to spend their lives with. Your mother had the same concerns about you and your siblings being wolves."

It sounded ridiculous to be honest, but it made sense to her, she understood and still felt it was a good idea.

"There was a loophole where if you met someone and could tell them the truth without them wanting to leave. So that way if you found someone that understood and accepted, you wouldn't have to tell them you couldn't be together because of the arrangement."

And here he thought arranged marriages were out fashioned and only belonged in stories. Derek stood and listened in silence as Caitlin explained how everything evolved from a single meeting in a supermarket. He furrowed his brow as he folded his arms against his chest. He couldn’t believe his ears that it just happened like that. So simple. 

"I did — what’s left of them anyway." He finally spoke up, fishing out the documents that he had rescued from the wreckage of his old home. "You weren’t easy to find."

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[outnumberedmother-blog]

Caitlin knew it. She sighed slightly as she turned to focus on the cooking. "My name's Caitlin, I met your mother when I was pregnant with my oldest, Bevin. We were both at the supermarket and we ran into each other there. I couldn't bend down far enough to get something so she helped me."

Caitlin started putting ingredients into the pan and turned to look at him. "We got to talking, and after I told her I was having a girl she gave me some things from when your sister was a baby. We met fairly often after that." She stared at the pan and paused mid-stir.

"I'm guessing you found your mom's copy of the papers.

With her inviting him to join them and to stay, he no longer felt as though he was intruding and he may not have said it yet, but he was extremely grateful that this woman would answer the many questions that lingered in his mind.  Once inside, Derek followed the older woman through her home and into the kitchen, his gaze flitting all over the walls and catching glimpses of framed faces. He tried to recognise each individual face but no names came to him. “Who are you? How did you know my mother?” There were so many questions that flew around busily in his mind and he had to will himself to not let them all escape passed his lips all at once. 

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"It's alright, the last time I saw you, you were still a little boy." Caitlin smiled at him and moved aside. "You can come on in Derek, I'm working on dinner so you're welcome to stay."

She was remembering the arrangement, the conversations they'd had about their children and even when Bevin was a baby and would stare at Derek when the two mothers would get together. "You probably have questions, we can talk in the kitchen."

If Derek had found his way to her, it likely meant that he knew, and he likely hadn't known about it at all before Talia probably hadn't gotten the chance to really talk about it to Derek, what it meant. "I promise, anything you ant to know I'll tell you."

He was a stranger in his own hometown. It had been years since he left after the fire that tore his family from him. The first thing he had done was to head to his family home, find anything that survived the wreckage. He had found something, but it wasn’t what he expected. Documents, messages about a marriage that had been arranged for him and someone called… Bevin? Bae-vin? Regardless of how her name was pronounced, he had no recollection of them or of the Walsh family. 

There wasn’t a lot for him to work with except for a small paper trail to follow. He was lead around town, slightly impatient with the fact he was made to run around searching for a family that could have left the town during the six years he was gone. He didn’t even doubt that idea that they were long gone by now and forgotten all about the arrangements. Of course, that was until he found out the family were living nearby, but whether they were the same from when the documents were made, that was for him to find out.  

With the address of the Walsh household in his head - and a map of where to go - he drove to the location with the burnt papers in his pockets. He needed to talk with whoever, discuss the decisions that his mother and Bevin’s mother made for their children. Derek arrived at his destination and strode quickly to the front door and pressed the doorbell without hesitation. This was important for him, and he needed his answers. 

The door opened and he was greeted with a woman whom he could not recognise at all, yet she knew him the moment she saw him. He was taken aback by her memory, but he took it as a good sign. “Forgive me, but I have no recollection of you. Just know that you’re a Walsh…”

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It had been years since she'd thought about Talia. She hadn't seen the woman since their children were young and she'd gotten the news she'd have to move for work. After the move she'd raised her children and had heard about the fire at the Hale house in the news, and after that the family had slowly made their way out of memory.

Even when they'd been able to move back, and when she'd watched her oldest graduate high school. The arrangement had left her mind completely by the time Bevin had started university courses and spent more time working at the book store. She still had another child to get though school and he was a bit of a trouble-maker so he'd taken up a fair amount of her focus.

So it came as a great surprise when she had been working on an early dinner when the doorbell had rang. The even bigger surprise was when she opened the door and saw an all too familiar set of eyes looking back at her. The resemblance was so strong, Caitlin knew who he was. "Derek? You're all grown up, look at you."

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"It might be a good idea to take him  somewhere. Like a vacation, let him  start to heal in a place that doesn't  remind him of when he was hurt by  that monster. I'm not saying take him  to Disney Land or something like that,  that'd be expensive and probably just  scare him more, being in big crowds."

"I’m just kinda letting him work at his own pace right now. He can go back to school when he’s ready and I took a few weeks leave from work just in case he needs me. I don’t wanna be gone, you know?

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"The best you can do is the best you can be.  And he probably knows you're not trying  to replace them. Tyler's trusting you, it  means a lot to him that you're caring for  him and went through everything you had  to do to get him home. Just be patient and  let him know he has someone to talk to  when he needs to. He's a good kid, and  he'll recover."

"I feel like I might be a disturbing mother but, i’m doing my best. Obviously i’m not trying to replace the kid’s real parents but, I know that he needs someone lookin’ out for him like they would. He’s opened up a lot more since the first time I ever met him. He’s a good kid. A good kid that had to grow up way too fast.”

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"He's a ten year old little boy. He's going to  need you to do that for a while. He's going  to want support even if he can't make himself  say he wants it. Don't be surprise if he shows  up in your room at some absurd hour because  he can't sleep alone. Bevin was the same way  when someone tried to pull her out of our yard.  Thank God I'd been home to stop him, but kids  still nee their mothers at that age."

"Yeah with only minor heart problems on  my half. I don’t ever wanna let him out of my sights again.”

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"That man was definitely crazy. At  least you two got that little boy home."

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"That's nice dear."

"I always smell like drama and abandonment issues."

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"Felicia honey, if I hadn't had that carving fork Bevin would be God knows where by now, and we all know it."

"That’s incredibly terrifying. I don’t even feel right putting a meat fork in your hand."

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"Well, let me know if you change your mind honey. I'm always gonna protect my babies."

"No Ma, I think I can handle it myself. I’ve been made fun of for it before." 

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"That's right honey, your father's taking me to a shooting range."

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"Do you need me to talk to someone dear?"

[outnumberedmother-blog]

Do not try to be pretty. You weren’t meant to be pretty; you were meant to burn down the earth and graffiti the sky. Don’t let anyone ever simplify you to just “pretty.”

Things I Wish My Mother Had Taught Me | d.a.s  (via solacity)

[outnumberedmother-blog]

REBLOG IF YOUR MUSE IS AN ADULT

[outnumberedmother-blog]

"She did? Well, in my defense it was the first thing I grabbed. And he was threatening my baby, nobody tried that stunt when Conor started. But Claudia took it pretty well I think. I don't think she's going to another one of those meetings."

"Bae told me about the fork thing. You aren’t going to rough him up too badly are you? How did Mrs. C take it?"