A little bit of refelction

It was a rainy morning, which was very usual at Spokane. Caroline was awaken by a loud thunder. She got up from bed and walked to Claudine’s room to check if she was scared, but to her surprise she was still sleeping like a baby. So she headed downstairs to the kitchen and poured some water on the coffee maker and then just went to sit by the living room window to see the rain. She looked up to the sky and it reminded her of England, that cloudy dark sky and rain she used to see almost every day in Brentwood. Then the phone rang and she picked it up.

It was her husband James calling her from the base in Europe. He had been there longer than he thought and couldn’t return to the USA as he had planned. But he had received a letter from Robert’s school regarding his suspension, something Caroline had been trying to hide from him to avoid upsetting him.

“Well James I didn’t want to tell you, I’m sure you already have your mind full of stress and I just didn’t want to give you more” Caroline said.

 “But you know I don’t like when you hide things from me, especially regarding our family, but anyway is Robert home?” James asked.

“Well he is sleeping”, Caroline said.

“When he wakes up tell him I need to talk to him and he can call me to the base” James replied.

“All right, I’ll tell him “Caroline told him

“And how is my little princess doing?” James asked.

“She’s been doing well, and she’s been missing you very much” Caroline replied.

“My little sweet girl, Caroline I promise you that when this contract ends I will retire from the military and get another job” James said.

“I really hope you do James, you have told me the same too many times before.” Caroline said.

“I promise you by our family that this time, I will. “James said

“I believe you James.” Caroline said.

“Well I got to go now honey, I will call you later.” James said.

“All right James, take care ok?” Caroline told him.

“I will, you too. I love you Caroline” James replied.

“And I love you too”Caroline replied before hanging up.

After they hung up, Caroline went straight to pour herself a hot cup of coffee and as she sat to drink it she saw Robert coming downstairs.

“Good morning darling”, Caroline said as she saw him walking towards her as he rubbed his eyes.

“Hey mom” Robert simply said waving at her and then sitting on the dining room.

“Did the storm wake you up?” Caroline asked him.

“No, no it was the phone ringing what woke me up and your voice, were you talking to my dad?” Robert asked her.

“Yes”

“What did he said?”

“He received a letter from your school regarding your suspension”

“Oh great, after I get they lift my suspension  I’m going to be grounded for the next five years!” Robert said rising his tone of voice.

“I don’t think he will do that Robert, but he is disappointed at you”.

“That’s not new mom, he’s always been disappointed of me, ever since I can remember”

“You know, he said after this he’s gonna retire from the military service”

“And you believed him?”He said smiling sarcastically.

“Maybe he mean it this time Robert, I don’t think he will have much time to be with us, I mean Claudine is growing up so fast and we’re getting old”.

“I really hope he could be there for Claudine, like he never were there for me”

Caroline stood up her chair and standing behind him, she hugged him.

“I’m pretty sure your father regret that every single day of his life and you two are in time to fix your relationship”. Caroline told him.

Robert didn’t say a word, but his silence was enough for his mother to know he secretly hoped for a better relationship with his father. Robert missed all the love and good moments they used to share when he was little, but all that was just memories now. He hoped his little sister didn’t had to go through the same and that her memories of her father were far more good than  his.

Then after letting his mother hug him for a while, he stood up and kissed her forehead.

“I love you mom” He whispered to her before walking back upstairs to his room.

Caroline just stood there and watched him leave, she smiled because she knew that even if Robert was to quiet or so easy to upset, he had a really good heart and very good feelings, especially towards his family, even towards his father, the person he had come to be the closest to him when he was a kid and yet the one who was the farthest from him as a young adult.

“Robert…” said Caroline making him stop his steps as he was walking upstairs.

“Yes?”

“Your father wants you to call him at the base as soon as possible”

“Ok, I’ll call him later mom” He answered and then continued walking.

Truth is he went straight to his bed and went back to sleep, he didn’t wanted to call his dad, he knew all he was gonna do was yell at him and call him names for the ‘trouble’ he had caused at school. One of the things that often crossed his mind was, graduating from school and move away from his parents, have a life of his own where no one could ever tell him what to do or not anymore, he wanted to fly free and be independent.