Man Like Me

“Sis…” Zack started as he checked behind his back to make sure that their father was in the living room.

“Yes Zack?” Penelope asked while washing the dishes in the kitchen sink.

Penelope had asked her father and Zack to have dinner at her house since Robert’s return had been delayed for two days and she had wanted to invite them over for a while now.

“I need to talk to you about something.” Zack said seriously as Penelope glanced towards him and realized that his familiar smile and excited look were gone. He actually looked very serious.

“What’s wrong?” Penelope asked as she dried her hands while Zack tried to keep his voice down.

He buried his hands inside the pockets of his skinny jeans and sighed before speaking.

“I-I was wondering if… if you’re interested in visiting mom. I mean, your birthday is coming up and it would be good if you made peace with her or at least tried.” He said a bit quickly as Penelope blinked and cleared her throat.

During the last few days she had been thinking about the exact same thing. Her birthday was next week and she really didn’t want to spend her birthday still mad to her mom.

“You want to go see mom?” Penelope asked with surprise.

“Only if you want to. I know that you were close to her and she was your only family for the biggest part of your life. I know that you love me and dad but you need mom too.” Zack explained as Penelope and stared at him in astonishment.

She didn’t think that Zack was an idiot, quite the contrary, but she had never heard that tone from him. He was giving her more than advise, he was indirectly telling her that she needed to stop being so stubborn. It was time to make peace when her mom.

“And you? Will you come with me and maybe... make peace with mom?” She asked with a soft smile.

“I will.” Zack said with a small smile “Dad has been pestering me about it for years now.”

“Dad?” Penelope asked a bit confused as Zack nodded his head.

“Dad never wanted me to break bonds with mom but I hated her after they separated. She never tried to reach me and I kept growing up but I never forgot about her or about you. It seems that we all share the same stubbornness.” He smirked as Penelope chuckled, nodding her head.

“When should we go?” Penelope asked as she felt her stomach twitch.

She missed her mother to bits, she had left her house more than once month ago and they hadn’t spoken since. Penelope was a bit scared about how the conversation would go, especially now that Zack was also going.

“Whenever you want. Maybe tomorrow?” Zack suggested, able to hide his eagerness.

He hadn’t seen their mom in over 10 years and he really couldn’t wait. He had grown and his hate for her had faded. Now he understood why both his parents did what they did and he didn’t blame any of them for anything anymore. He just wanted to be friends with both. He was so happy for being close to his sister that he just wanted their family to be alright. He was realistic, though. He wasn’t expecting a warm welcome, kisses and hugs. He didn’t expect for his parents to get along again but he wanted everyone to be in good terms, as simple as that.

“Yes, I end my classes at 4PM and we can go visit mom after that.” Penelope said.

“It’s a deal then, I’ll pick you up at 4PM in your college.” Zack said with a smile as he helped Penelope with the dishes as they talked about other things.



Zack’s car came to a halt as he noticed that Penelope’s body had stiffened over the last 10 minutes of their car ride. He took a deep breath and glanced at her.

“I don’t want to make you do this…”

“I want to.” Penelope cut him off “I’m just nervous. Mom can be really… brutally honest when she wants to.” Penelope explained as she frowned slightly “I wonder if she is still mad at me for leaving.”

“I’m sure she’s not mad and she probably regrets what she said.” Zack said with a nod “You are already a big girl.” He commented with a grin.

“Thanks bro.” Penelope said with a small smile “At least Robert is coming back tomorrow, so it isn’t all bad.” She said as Zack saw a smile spread across her features and smiled widely.

“Come on, let’s go.” He said as he exited the car and waited for Penelope.

They walked side by side to her former house and she took a deep breath as she heard a faint piano melody echoing from inside. Zack rang the doorbell and the melody ceased. Suddenly the door opened and Penelope’s eyes were confronted with her mother. The woman in front of them widened her eyes as she became paler. She obviously lost a bit of weight and she looked tired, she probably was overworking herself and none of this was contributing to Penelope’s guilt.

“Hi...” Penelope greeted awkwardly as the woman’s eyes travelled from her daughter to the young man beside her.

Her green eyes filled with tears as she narrowed them and seemed to be in an inner struggle about what to say next. Of course that she recognized him. His stance was the same, only his clothing and height had changed, besides the fact that he had another hairstyle and a beard. She would recognize his eyes anywhere, though. That was her son.

“Penelope… this is a cheap blow from you.” She said seriously, as she stared angrily at her younger daughter.

Penelope cleaned her throat and she was about to reply, Zack placed his arm lovingly in front of her.

“We didn’t come here to fight. Penelope is here because I convinced her to come with me so please be nice.” He said calmly as their mother’s gaze set on him intensely. Then they noticed that she was actually shaking a bit. “We don’t mean to disturb you and we can come back another day.” Zack said carefully as the woman began crying compulsively.

Penelope fought her urge to hug her mother as Zack signed and nodded his head at Penelope, so they would leave before his sister’s feelings ended up being even more messed up.

“No, please.” Their mother said weakly as she stared at them “Don’t leave.” She begged as Penelope glanced at Zack and he smiled. He pulled his arm down softly so that Penelope could embrace their mom tightly. The embrace was long and it was obvious that they missed each other.

“It’s alright mom.” She whispered as the woman kept shaking as Penelope’s eyes filled with tears.

“I didn’t mean a thing I said.” She whispered.

“I know.” Penelope said, holding her mom tighter. Penelope wasn’t a person to hold regret or anger towards anyone and she had already forgive her mom, she had just been to proud to do anything about it.

“Will you forgive me?” Her mother asked as she pulled away softly to look into her daughter’s eyes. She pushed a strand of Penelope’s hair away from her face and smiled.

“You are my mom. I have forgiven you long ago.” Penelope stated smiling as she turned to Zack and he approached them. “He wanted to come.”

“H-hello Zachary.” Their mother greeted shakily as Zack’s goofy smile came back to him.

“You can call me Zack.” He said as their mother smiled weakly as tears sparked their way down her features.

After settling in the living room, Penelope offered to prepare tea while Zack tried to make small talk with their mom. Penelope could hear them talk from time to time, both questioning each other but making sure not to touch any weak points, specially their father. As Penelope returned, she sat beside Zack and all the attention turned to her.

“How is college going?” Her mother asked as she sipped on her tea.

“Well, I have a story up for a competition.” Penelope said as Zack smiled excitedly as Penelope chuckled at him.

“I heard this amazing story the other night,” Her mom started “Remember that author that you liked a lot? Tony Stark? He finally came public.” She said with surprised look and Penelope immediately realized that her mom either didn’t remember Robert or hadn’t realized that Penelope was in a relationship with him.

Penelope cleaned her throat as Zack glanced sideways at her, realizing immediately what was happening and how nervous she was once again.

“Mom…” Penelope started as she felt everyone’s gaze land on her “Tony Stark isn’t his real name. His real name is Robert Downey Jr.”

“How do you know that sweetie? The man was always so secretive, don’t tell me that he’s already writing a biography.” Their mother laughed but when she didn’t see her daughter smiling, she realized that she was missing something.

“I know this because he’s my boyfriend. He was the man who was with me the last time we saw each other, mom. I’m living in his house and we’ve been together for over a month now.” Penelope confessed.

As their mom’s eyes widened and her cheeks flustered, Zack decided to step in.

“He’s fantastic!” He said excitedly as their mom glanced at him like he was insane.

“He’s much older than you Penelope…” Her mom started, strangely calm.

“It doesn’t matter.” Zack pressed as her mom’s jaw dropped.

“There are so many nice young men out there. I’m sure that this is just a thing, right?” The woman asked a bit nervously as Penelope shook her head slowly.

“No mom, it’s not a crush or a thing.” Penelope stated.

“You should see them together.” Zack smiled widely as Penelope glanced at him, surprise that he would intervene. “It’s actually quite heartwarming.” He said making Penelope smiled warmly.

“Does that mean that you love him and that he makes you happy?”

“I’m really totally in love with him mom and, yes, he makes me very happy.” Penelope stated as Zack nodded his head to try and rest their mother’s mind.

After changing subjects again, Penelope and Zack ended up staying for a couple of hours. As she said goodbye to her children, Penelope and Zack’s mother sighed with relief. In all her years, she never expected to get a second change with her older son and now it was happening. She also had never expected for her daughter to date an older man who happened to be famous but it was happening. All of their lives were changing, for better or for worse, she wasn’t sure yet.