8.34 The Second Blast

“Oh sweet llamas!! I have a son,” Owen cried.

Viviana wasn’t sure if they were joyful tears or sorrowful tears and just let him cry. Nevertheless, she was touched by the tenderness of that moment, and so was everyone else.

Owen’s emotions were running extremely high and he didn’t know what to feel. Suddenly, he jumped up out of his seat and started running around the room like he lost his head trying to make heads or tails out of this. He was almost incoherent and screaming things as they came mind.

“I HAVE A SON?”

“I HAVE A SON!”

“HOW COME I DIDN’T KNOW I HAD A SON?”

“HOW COULD SHE DO THIS TO ME?”

“I HAVE A SON!”

“What if he hates me?”

“What if he thinks I knew but I didn’t know? I’m not a deadbeat I didn’t know!!”

“What do I do?”

“What if he doesn’t want to live here?”

“Does he look like me?”

“What if he’s a terrible kid?”

“I have a son?!”

Everyone was trying to catch him and calm him down, but he was going on and on 100 miles an hour–and in Sim time, that’s really fast.

“Ok…I think we should give Owen some space and privacy. Everybody out,” Alayna ordered.

Alayna watched everyone go their separate ways, and then she left too. But just before she crossed the threshold, she took one last longing look at her brother and wished there was something she could do to help him comprehend this information and make the right decision.

“Alayna, wait….Wait 15 minutes, then tell him to meet me outside.”

“Ok. Owen…do you–”

“Not now, Alayna. We’ll talk later.”

“All right.”

Owen sat down and breathed deeply to calm himself before meeting his alleged son. OK, he said to himself and went outside to await his arrival. His heart began to race again when he heard footsteps on the other side of the door and Alayna’s voice saying “He’s waiting for you out here.” He stood up and turned his back toward the door to shield the fear that covered his face in those last few seconds.

“Hi,” said a teenage male voice.

Owen slowly turned around and casted his eyes on Ryan. And then he knew.

It was like looking in a mirror. Ryan was going to hug him, but Owen couldn’t take his eyes off him and didn’t even notice the friendly gesture. Instead, he motioned for both of them to sit down.

He still couldn’t take his eyes off him.

“I’m sorry for staring. It’s just…you look just like me…and you have your mother’s eyes.”

“I’ve been wondering if it was you I looked like. My sister and I look alike, but she looks more like mom.”

“You have a sister??”

“Yeah! I’m a twin. I’m older,” he said proudly.

“Oh my Watcher!! I have a son and a daughter?! Holy cow plants!! Where have you guys been all this time?? How come I’m just now learning all of this?!”

“Well…as you know, mom is crazy. My grandad is too, and my grandma hates children. So, when we had our child birthday, she made us go live with her friends.”

“Are you serious? So your mother didn’t raise you?”

“Nope.”

“So…who did? Who are you living with now?”

“The Gabriels.”

“The Gabriels,” he said as he felt anger rising up. “You were raised by Cora Gabriels’ parents?!”

“Yes…do you not like them or something?”

“Not anymore! I’ve got several bones to pick with them.”

Ryan wasn’t sure what to do or say next and paused his story. Owen was still bothered by this new information, but he didn’t want it to ruin this time with his not-so-new son.

“I’m sorry. That has nothing to do with you. Go on with your story. Why are you just now coming to see me?”

“Well, you know little kids are very impressionable and gullible. Whenever we would ask about you, they would fill our heads with all kinds of garbage so we wouldn’t even think of asking about you or even wanted to meet you.”

“Like what? What garbage?”

“When we were really young, they said that you had a rocket, and if we went to your house you would take us to space and feed us to aliens.”

“What?!”

Owen thought it was funny, but he was so shocked that someone would make up such villainous stories about him to keep his children from him.

“After that story didn’t work anymore, they told us that you had a pool, and if we came over, you would throw us in there and take the ladder out.”

“Son of a…are you serious?! You grew up thinking I was some twisted monster who would kill his own children?!”

“Basically.”

“WHAT IN THE WORLD?!”

“When we started high school, they came up with another one. They said that you were a very rich and powerful Sim, and if we came to visit you, you would make our lives miserable by making sure we were never able to get a good job and never have any friends.”

“So how are you here? Did you intend to go on some suicide mission?”

“No. I started noticing some things. Everywhere I went…school…the park…whenever people learned my last name, their eyes would light up and they would be so happy to meet me. They would say things like, ‘You must be so proud of your family,’ and ‘You’re so lucky.’ That just didn’t add up. I dismissed it for a while, but not for long. I couldn’t deny what everyone except the Gabriels’ said about you. Even Miss Cora would say nice things. When her parents weren’t home, she would tell us about what your house looked like, the parties, and things that went on here. Finally, we started to believe that you weren’t anything like they said, so I wanted to ask mom about you. I met her at the park a couple weeks ago after school. I asked her straight up if you hated us, and she said that you didn’t even know about us. Then I asked her why would the Gabriels’ make up horrible things to keep us from you, and she said because asked them to! She said she wanted to hurt you for abandoning her.”

Owen closed his eyes and just kept shaking his head. This was indeed the wildest tale he had ever heard.

“I cannot believe any of this.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, dad.”

“No! YOU don’t apologize! None of this is your fault. It’s all mine. I had my fun with her, and I didn’t even call her the next day…or ever. I should have been more sensitive. I was going through my own drama, but I shouldn’t have let her go. I’m the one that’s sorry, son. Can you forgive me?”

“Of course. I’m not holding anything against you, dad.”

They sat and talked for another hour and got to know each other. Owen learned that those villainous stories about him made Ryan gloomy, but when he realized they were lies, he became more self-assured. His sister, Kiara, inherited Owen’s love of the outdoors, and she’s very keen on fitness. Owen said that he wanted her to meet Brady so he can train her.

“It’s late, Ryan. Your parents…I’m sorry…I guess I’m still in shock about having children. You don’t want anyone worrying about you, so you should get back home. Do you think we can hang out tomorrow? I would love to meet Kiara.”

“Yeah! We can come here after school if you’d like.”

“That’s perfect. I was gonna take the day off anyway.”

They stood up, and Owen laughed to himself. Poor kid. He inherited the Pruett body too! Owen embraced his son before he showed him out.

“I am really glad to know you, Ryan. This is the happiest day of my life!”