Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me

After I’d showered and everything Jared, Jordan and I piled into Jordan’s truck and made a quick exit for town – none of us really even saying hello to Eric’s family. Parker was busy trying to entertain Mike and his little brother and hadn’t even seen us, which was good but bad. I would’ve liked to say hello or goodbye to the little guy, but at the same time we didn’t have to have a scene or make him upset.

It was a fun day – Jared and Jordan were quite a comedic pair, and they showed me everything they could think of in Thunder Bay, until Linda called them and told Jared we had best get our butts back to the farm because she was making dinner. We slowly made our way back to the farm, and I couldn’t help but smile when I was met with an excited Parker running out to the vehicle to give me a hug.

“Missed you!” he declared, hugging me tightly, and I laughed.

“I missed you too! Have you been good?” I asked, and he nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah! Vewy good!”

“That’s my boy,” I told him and ruffled his hair, and he ran back into the house, making sure we were following after him. Eric’s expression darkened when he saw me walk in, and promptly turned his attention to his youngest son and his nephew. Soon Marc noticed the tension in the room as the three of us sat on the couch, and looked to us for an answer. I couldn’t meet his gaze, and soon even Henry, Linda and the kids noticed something was wrong.

“Tanya, why don’t we take the kids outside?” Lindsay suggested, and after sending me a quick look Tanya agreed.

“Now what the hell is going on here?” Linda asked, and silence met her. Henry sat quietly, not wanting to really get involved in what was obviously his sons issues.

“Nothing,” Jordan whispered, and Eric snorted, which accidentally put all attention on him.
“Then what’s your problem?” she demanded, and he stared at the floor. Marc was looking back and forth between us and Eric, looking like a deer in the headlights, without a clue what was going on.

“It’s nothing,” he sneered, and I continued to stare at my hands, unable to make eye contact with the other Staals.

“Well if it was nothing you definitely wouldn’t be acting like this, so tell me what is going on,” she insisted, and both Jordan and I stiffened at what we anticipated his brother saying.

“You two are sharing a room downstairs, aren’t you?” he asked, and Jordan glared at him.

“Of course they are – what’s the problem with that?” Linda looked between us, looking rather fed up with this situation.

“Why don’t you ask Jordan and Cam?” Eric asked her, the sneer still in his voice. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, and felt my face turning red.

“Jordan?” her voice softened as she turned to Jordan.

“Mom, dad… uh,” he started, and I felt him shifting uncomfortably.

“Just tell them the truth,” I whispered, and he sighed.

“Cam and I are together,” he blurted, and my head whipped up as I stared at him, my jaw dropping.