3D: Paranoid

Some days, Jonathan felt as high as a kite when he reflected on his life. Everything seemed to be so perfect. He lived in a beautiful home purchased with his own money and the sweat of his brow. Business was still strong at Viviana’s contrary to what the naysayers said would happen.

Oliver was healthy and growing by leaps and bounds. He adored him, and every day the cute little baby showed him more about life and what’s really important. Oliver needed his daddy, but Jonathan needed Oliver too.

The girls were typical sisters: fighting one minute about trivial things and best friends the next.

No matter what ruckus they caused in the house, they made him proud. They were good, smart girls with level heads on their shoulders. As long as they continued to do well in their respective fields, and no one got pregnant, Jonathan considered his fathering career a success.

Speaking of careers, Maya was killing hers. He was so proud of her. She went all around San Myshuno making speeches and doing events for whatever media campaign she was working on.

Honestly, he didn’t think she would get that far because he didn’t think she’d stick with it. She had changed so much recently–and so quickly–he was unsure what to expect from her next, and it made him nervous…in a good way. Everything with her was always new being the oldest and all. He and Skyla were right there with her on the journey ready to advise and support whatever she wanted to do.

On his other not-so-king-of-the-hill days, she was the one who troubled him. She hadn’t done anything bad, of course. He worried about her just like every other father worried about his daughters. She became more distant. Maybe she wanted to forge ahead on the journey without them like every adult child needed to do at some point. It was natural, but it sent him for a loop.

He should have been ready by now. He needed to be ready, but he wasn’t. Maybe it was his Pruett upbringing. Throughout the nine generations in the Pruett estate, there weren’t many children who left home. They brought their spouses into the estate and raised their families together until there was no space left and someone had to leave. It was normal to them. Jonathan experienced his sisters moving out after their father died, so the idea wasn’t completely foreign to him.

How did she feel, though? Maya. Is that what she wanted? If only she would communicate with him more. That definitely made him nervous. Not even Skyla knew what went on with her. Maya had made some new friends whom she partied with on the regular. That was about all Jonathan knew.

All of those concerns were valid, yet none were cause for alarm. Deep down, he knew exactly what his greatest fear was. It was the fear he always had. What if she had been negatively affected by learning about the legacy? What if she resented him? What if she were judging him? Sure, she was supportive that night and seemed to handle it ok, but what did she feel on the inside? As much as he wanted to know, he was afraid to ask.

Skyla said he should give her time and space to process it, and he probably worried for nothing. There could be 15,229 things on her mind as a young woman. “You’re being paranoid,” she said. He didn’t think so. But, sometimes when he looked into Maya’s eyes, and she smiled at him, he knew Skyla was right.