Gaijin No More

Cody's POV

I took a deep breath before I opened the front door of our house. I had thought about every possible outcome for this situation, but I had no idea which of them was most likely to come true. With everything I had I hoped I could stay home and not be dragged to Chicago with a woman I barely knew anymore.

Since there was only one way to find out what was going to happen, I stepped inside and looked for my dad. The whole house was quiet, and I almost thought there was none home. But dad's car on the driveway told me otherwise.

“Dad?” I called tentatively and kicked off my shoes. There was no response. I walked further in and checked the kitchen first. When I didn't see dad, I continued to the living room, only to find him snoring quietly on the couch.

Quietly I walked to the couch and shook dad a little. He just grunted and continued sleeping, completely dead to the world. I sighed in frustration and shook him again, this time a lot harder.

“Dad? Dad! Wake the hell up!” I half yelled next to his ear. That did the trick and he woke up with a start.

“W-Wha?” he mumbled in his sleepy state. “Dammit Cody, why did you wake me up?” he groaned and rubbed his eyes. I frowned. How could he be so damn calm when there was such a huge change going on in our lives?

“Do I have to go to Chicago?” I asked bluntly. Dad gave me a confused look before the realization dawned him.

“Oh right! I almost forgot,” he exclaimed and sat up. “No you don't.”

Relief washed over me when I heard those words. Thank God I didn't have to move.

“So she can't take me with her?” I asked, just to be sure. It would be extremely awkward if one day Allison just marched here with bunch of lawyers so she could take me with her.

“No. I have the sole custody of you. She can visit you and whatever, but she can't make any decisions about your life, unless she talks about them with me first and has my acceptance.”

My jaw dropped when I heard this. When had this this happened?

Dad noticed my perplexed look so he elaborated a bit.

“When you had just turned thirteen, I went through all the legal stuff that involved divorce. Since your mother had been gone for five years with no signs of having contact or returning, the court granted the divorce on the grounds of abandonment. I also got the sole custody since your mother was unfit to take any kind of care of you.”

That was a lot to digest on, to be honest. I had no idea dad had gotten a divorce. Part of me was angry because he hadn't told me before. But I guess I was a bit too young back then.

“Why didn't you tell me this sooner?” I demanded to know, slightly offended that he would keep something this big from me.

Dad gave me a sheepish shrug. “It never came up. There never really was a good moment to break the news to you so I kinda let it be.”

I understood where he was coming from. Mom's departure had been a silent taboo until she suddenly came back.

“But... you know, Cody... if you... wanted to go with her, I wouldn't stop you from leaving. I mean, of course you can still live with me, this will always be your home, but if you wanted to live with your mother... it would be fine.” Dad's little speech caught me off guard. I could see how much the thought of me moving to Chicago was hurting him, but still he would let me go if I wanted to leave.

I wrapped my arms around dad and hugged him tightly. “You old fool,” I whispered affectionately, “why would I want to go to Chicago when you and Aiden are here? I'm gonna live with you until I graduate and it's time to go to college. And not even then will you get rid of me completely.”

Dad embraced me back and if I wasn't completely mistaken, there was a few tears in the corners of his eyes.

“I love you son,” dad whispered, voice cracking a bit. Now it was my turn to hold back tears. It was rare for us to say those three words because we both knew that without saying it out loud. Only in really special occasions we voiced those words and this was definitely a special occasion.

“I love you too dad.”