Waiting

I watched the girl stomp out of the room. I didn’t blame her for reacting like that. I had just turned her life upside down. I did cringe when I heard a door slam though. That was a little dramatic.

“I apologize for Tori’s behavior,” The woman whose name I still didn’t know softly smiled. “She doesn’t take well to new people.”

I nodded, “Its okay,”

Honestly, I probably would have acted the same way, just not as loud.

“No its not,” One of the black haired men ran a hand through his hair. His piercing green eyes looked tired and stressed. “We have so much to figure out.”

The blonde took his hand and played with his fingers. He smiled at her before turning to me.

“So…. I’m Zack and I’m your father.”

My eyes widened and darted from him, my-my father and the other three people in the room. The woman was obviously his wife, the girl his other daughter, my sister (?), and the other two men had to be his best friends. I felt like crying. Why would my Mom do this to me?

“Madisyn, are you okay?” The blonde quietly asked, still holding Zack’s hand.

I nodded, a million questions flooding my head. Why was I here? Is he really my Dad? Would they hate me? Would I fit in with them? Why now, not any of the other times in my life?

“Well, I’m Gena, your step mom,” Gena said, clenching the hand that wasn’t holding Zack’s into a fist.

“Those are your Uncle Matt,” Zacky pointed at a tall buff man with a pair of aviators over his eyes, “And Brian.” My ‘father’ motioned to the other man. Brian waved at me and ran his hands through his spiked up black hair, while Matt slid the sunglasses off and smiled at me, showing his dimples.

I shyly smiled at them, “Hello.”

The two smiled back before Brian sighed, clearing his throat.

“Well I should probably get home. Don’t want to keep ‘Chelle up to long.”

“I should probably go to, I can’t keep Mrs. Sanders waiting,” Matt chuckled, his hazel eyes sparkling at the thought of what I assumed to be his wife.

“Say Hi to them for me,” Gena told the other men before turning to Zack, “I’ll be in the kitchen Babe.”

Zack nodded at her and got up to give the others a man hug thing. I never have understood those. Couldn’t men just hug normally? No, I guess they have to look manly.

‘Dad’ interrupted my thoughts, “So, do you think you’ll like it here?”

I shrugged, not knowing how to answer the question. My “home” in Las Vegas was definitely a broken home, if it ever was considered one in the first place. I wasn’t exactly welcome here though, especially since I kind of just barge in on all of their lives, even if it technically wasn’t my fault.

“Do you know why your Mom decided to drop you off here without us meeting first?”

I shrugged again. I didn’t know, but I also didn’t feel like talking either.

Zack sighed and then stared at his shoes. We didn’t really talk after that. It was getting later and later in the night, and frankly, I just wanted to go to bed.

“So, how old are you?” He asked after a few agonizingly slow minutes passed.

“Sixteen, but I’ll be Seventeen in a few months.”

“Oh really? When?” His green eyes lit up.

I opened my mouth to answer, but I quickly closed it when I saw Victoria enter the room. Her long brown hair, which was identical to my natural hair color, was thrown up in a pony tail as she waltzed in between Zack and me. She wouldn’t even glance in my direction. I sort of felt like a piece of the furniture in the room.

“Dad?” Her high, soprano voice asked.

“What is it Tori?”

“I’m ready to go to bed.”

“Alright, good night.” Our father turned back to me, almost like he was waving her away from him. “Where were we Madisyn?”

My mouth fell open, as well as Tori’s. How could he blow off his daughter like that?

“Dad,” She whined, “You always play a song for me….. You know I can’t sleep with out it.”

“You’ll be okay for one night.”

“Oh, so some stranger that claims to be your daughter – that could be some crazed fan – comes and you just forget about our real family,” She exploded, wiping her eyes. Gena came up behind her and asked what was going on.

“Then forget you and your stupid lullaby.” She turned around and ran up the stairs.

Gena look furious as she stood in front of Zack, her manicured hands on her hips.

“Zackary Baker, you can’t just blow your daughter off like that! Who the fuck do you think you are?!”

“I am not blowing off my daughter!” He jumped up, getting in Gena’s face, “Tori has had me for all sixteen years of her life and not once have I ever ignored her! In case you haven’t noticed, Madisyn is my child as well, one that I didn’t know about until now!”

“How do you know Zack?” Gena’s voice quivered, “How do you know she’s yours?”

Zack didn’t answer. He glanced at me before looking at the floor. I didn’t know what to do. I just wanted to leave and crawl up into a ball, under my blanket, where I was safe.

“I’ll just go,” I mumbled, quietly standing up and edging towards the foyer where my bag was. Zack grabbed my wrist, preventing me from passing him.

“No you won’t,” He sighed, “You don’t have anywhere else to go. The guest bedroom is upstairs, second door on the right. The bathroom’s across the hall.”

I nodded, stepping away from the two when Zack released my wrist.

“I want a paternity test tomorrow,” Gena quietly ordered as I walked up the stairs. I felt awful.

After I found the door Zack told me about, I opened it, and shut out the fighting couple. I didn’t even turn on a light; I just flopped down on what I assumed was the bed. I always fucked up everything.