Love of a Parent

How much of a parent's love is too much? Two lives born to two different families. How well will one raise the other?

Love of a Parent

By Omegax45

 

 

Two men rushed their wives to the hospital.  They were about to become fathers, and the new mothers were screaming their pain to the heavens, the pain of childbirth.  The nurses led them to their rooms and prepared the women while the doctors washed up and prepared to bring new life into the world.

While one coupe was ready to proceed naturally, the other couple was getting ready for surgery.  Their baby’s placenta was blocking the opening to the birth canal, and a natural birth would be impossible unless the new mother wanted to die from blood loss.  The nurses rolled her bed into the operating room and washed her bare belly, waiting for the doctor to come.

The couple within their room greeted their doctor as he checked the baby’s progress.  Announcing that the mother could push, she did so.  The nurses and her husband coached her throughout the day and into the night, and eventually the baby’s head crowned.  Everyone increased their encouragements, but the woman was tired and in immense pain.  A thought occurred to her that she may had tore inside, but it quickly vanished as another wave of pain hit her.  She quickly began pushing once more, wanting the pain to end right away.  The doctor told her to stop once the head slipped out, cleaning the tiny nose and mouth of fluids, then told her to push again.  The baby slid out of its mother, crying out to the world as the sterile cold air hit its wet tiny body.  The doctor announced that the baby was a girl and the father was crying with joy.  The mother, however, was very tired and could only smile slightly as nurses clean the newborn girl.  Her vision began to blur and the doctor was telling the nurses something in a serious tone, but she could not hear as sight and sound were lost to her.  The father was demanding answers as his wife lost consciousness, and then his eyes fell to the red fluid spilling onto the floor from between his wife’s legs.  The nurses used clean towels to try and stop the bleeding before wheeling the woman away, leaving behind her horrified husband and her crying baby.

 

* * * *

 

Matthew was once a well-renowned architect.  He designed buildings to the highest bidder and his works always perfected the images his clients had.  He would work at a schedule and be home in time to be with his wife for dinner before they went to bed.  They had always wanted a child, a son to take to games or a daughter to treat like a princess.  When his wife became pregnant, he was overjoyed at their wish coming true.

However, the dream had a painful price that had to be paid once his daughter was born.

His wife died from complications due to the birth.  The doctors found that her uterus had torn from the placenta’s thick roots when it tried to separate.  They had tried to save her, but they could not get her blood type in time for a transfusion while they removed the placenta surgically.  She died within moments of the surgery.

Matthew grieved and cried for days, almost ignoring the wails of his child.  He had named her Opal, like the gemstone.  She was so much like her mother:  same hair, same cheeks.  He managed to leave his shell of despair long enough to feed her, bathe her, change her diaper, and sing her softly to sleep.  She was a good baby for most of the day, but she can feel her father’s sorrow, and it left her uncomfortable and in search for the mother she had only glimpsed before she was taken away.

Matthew looked out the window to his neighbor, John.  He too had lost his wife when his child was born.  A complication with the medication, he heard.  He was considered a very happy and comedic fellow, despite being a serious office manager for a company.  Whenever anyone saw him outside his home, he looked grim and ready to cry, yet doing all he can to live each day without his beloved wife.  He would see his child with him sometimes, the tiny baby looking at the world with pure and innocent eyes.

The world.  This cruel, horrid world.  It took his soul mate away.  It took Opal’s mother away.  It would no doubt taint his little girl.  Rip away her innocence.  Poison her body.  Once it stole all there was to steal, it would kill her.  Death to his family.

He would not allow it.  He will be his daughter’s protector.  He would save her from the horrible world.

No matter what.

 

* * * *

 

Opal grew so quickly.  She was the bright sun in Matthew’s world.  She learned to crawl at four months old, started taking at six months, then began walking at seven months.  Her eyes would brighten whenever she saw her father and she would instantly reach for him.  Matthew was her father, companion, best friend.

It took many negotiations, but Matthew was able to be assigned to work at home.  He refused to leave his daughter in the hands of strangers or some nursery where someone can steal her away from him.  Clients had to email him their desired buildings and he would have his assistants bring the blueprints to the clients and sell them at the office, then transfer his commission and percentage of the sales to his personal bank account.  He paid for all of his bills by check or through his bank’s bill payer and has used the delivery service from grocery stores to stock his home with food.  He ordered all of Opal’s toys and necessities from the internet.  He had refused to leave his home, and he had not let Opal go outside, not once.  They did not need to be out there, where the world would rip them apart.  They were content living here, in their home.

He looked outside to John.  He did not know his daughter’s name, but she was standing outside, looking a bit scared.  Who could blame her?  She was in danger, being outside where anyone could bring harm to her.  John comes out a minute later, a warm smile upon his face that comforts the young child.  They hold hands and walked in the direction to the park.  Fools.   Did John know what he was doing to her?  Did he really care?  The world was full of garbage.  No need to soil himself telling his neighbor this. 

Matthew looked away to see Opal waking from her nap.  Smiling gently, he headed into the kitchen to prepare her meal.

 

* * * *

 

Matthew ordered his newest batch of groceries, adding a new calendar to the list.  Time flew so by that he hadn’t even noticed that he was using last year’s calendar until a few days ago.  His business was thriving with his works and his clients had found his new self inspiring.  There was nothing he could not obtain.

Opal was now three years old.  She had a bed that resembled a princess’ castle and dolls and ponies as far as the eye could see.  She wore princess costumes and pretended to being a princess in her own little world.  She had once asked Matthew of the outside world, but he told her that it was dangerous and there were demons that wanted to take her away and harm her.  It scared her so much that she slept in his bed for days to escape the nightmares that haunted her in her own bed. 

Opal loved fairy tales.  She loved the ones about princesses in dire need of rescue or are warriors themselves that fought to save their loved ones.  She would even pretend to be such princesses and her father her noble steed.  She would have tea parties with all of her dolls and ponies and even invited Matthew to have imaginary tea while eating small snacks.

Matthew had once saw John with his daughter.  She was growing bigger and looked like her skin had tanned a bit.  How horrible for her.  Her skin will wrinkle once she was older while Opal’s was white as snow.  She had earrings now.  How could John do that to his own daughter, marking her for life with scars?  There may be only one hole in each ear now, but soon there will be two, three, until one couldn’t count anymore.  The man was ruining his daughter’s life!

Oh well.  It wasn’t any of his business anyway.  He had Opal, and she was perfect.  No one will take her away from him.

 No one.

 

* * * *

 

Opal was now nine years old.  She had asked to have her hair grow out like Repunzel, and Matthew agreed.  Her long locks swept the floor and shimmered like stars are trapped within the tiny long threads.  She would pretend she was lowering her hair down her small tower to her prince that had come to save her, even if she was too big for her castle bed.  She watched nothing but children shows that had princesses and princes rescuing them.  Her favorites at the moment were Repunzel and Snow White. 

Matthew had ran into a bit of trouble with finding new clients.  The economy had fell into hard times and companies were renting out old buildings to save money.  He switched his focus to housing, for that market was still thriving.  It was a small blow to his bank account, but with careful spending, he and Opal were getting by.

He looked outside to John’s house.  A woman was walking up to the door.  A cop.  He wondered what it was that John did to bring the police to his door.  Could it be his tainted daughter?  He knew that John had ruined her, but not to this extent!

The cop knocked on the door and John opened it, greeting the cop warmly.  The cop smiled and spoke to him briefly before John’s daughter jumped out, smiling brightly.  The cop talked to the young girl and she talked back.  Then, John spoke to both of them and they said goodbye, the cop taking the young girl’s hand and leading her to a patrol car.  How sad to see such a girl so young be heading off to jail.  Yet, why was she smiling?  Was she glad to be under arrest?  He didn’t understand the situation.  Then again, there was no point in trying to.

Opal was calling to him, asking him to put in her favorite movie.  He gladly did so.  She rarely asked for anything.  She was content. 

She was pure.

 

* * * *

 

Things were looking better for Matthew’s company.  With the combination of both business and residential housing, he was quite busy.  Opal gave him ideas that his clients loved very much.  She was his new muse, his perfect star.

The cop that took John daughter away several years ago seemed to have moved in with John.  Despite being a cop, she was still a stranger.  How could John let his feelings get the better of his need to protect his daughter?  No wonder the young girl, now a teenager, was going out with other tainted teenagers her age, even dating a young man.  She will be pregnant with a b*****d child soon enough, then John will have to care for two young ones.  The young man won’t stay with a damaged woman.  He was just using her anyway.  The young woman would learn that harsh lesson soon enough.

Opal, on the other hand, was a lovely pearl.  She had asked Matthew once if she really was a princess and he answered yes.  She was the princess of their house, their castle.  And he was the king.  He will find her a prince worthy of her love and affection.  They will have children here and live happily ever after.

Yes.  He will give her everything she deserves.  It’s what a father’s suppose to do.

 

* * * *

 

 Time was so kind to Opal.  She had pearly white skin and hair so long that she put it in a large bun to prevent it from dragging on the floor and catching onto something.  She was the stunning image of her mother, from the top of her head to her tiny feet.  Pure perfection.

However, time was harsh on Matthew.  Once, he was a young and vibrant youth with dreams and ambition in his eyes.  Now, his face had wrinkled and his hair had begun to turn gray, falling out each day.  His once bronze skin was now near sickly pale, wrinkling in some areas and brown freckles dotting the aging flesh.  His eyesight had become bad from years of straining them before a monitor and drawing so many blueprints.  His assistants had suggested he go see a doctor, but he refused.  What will happen to Opal?  If he stepped outside, he would become tainted.  Opal would be all alone, with no one to protect her.  No!  He will not leave her side!  He was her father, her king!  He would die first than leave his house!

The young man dating John’s daughter seemed to lasted longer than he expected.  He had come by with two adults that appear to be his parents.  He had heard sounds of happiness coming from the house.  Something must’ve happened to make them happy.  Good for them.  He did not need to know of their taint.

He had promised Opal a young prince though.  He had asked his colleagues, but they said their sons had girlfriends already.  He would not have their tainted offspring touch his Opal.  He began searching the Internet and thought he had found the perfect prince:  young, rarely leaves his home, and is well-off.  He was in search of a wife and not have been on a date ever.

Matthew began to plan, even as he began coughing harshly.  Opal asked if he was alright.  He said he was fine, despite the red splotches on his hand.

 

* * * *

 

Opal was crying today.  She was twenty-five years old and a stunning woman.  However, today was not a day of celebration, but of mourning.  Her father had just died.

She knew he was not feeling so well for the last several months.  His business was failing and his assistants were begging him to see a doctor.  Matthew refused stubbornly and demanded that they find him more clients to keep their business afloat.  The mailman dropped off a letter that declared the business in bankruptcy.  The lawyer, whatever that was, would take care of everything. 

Opal had come to wake Matthew up for breakfast.  She couldn’t cook, for she never learned how to.  Matthew refused to wake up.  He was cold to the touch.  She had found the phone and began pressing buttons.  She didn’t know how to call anyone.  She didn’t know who to call.  She tried the Internet, but there were too many websites to try.  One of them made the computer screen blur before it crashed.  She screamed for help, but no one came to helped her.  No one could. 

The door opened and she looked up at a handsome young man, strange people walking in and wrapping her father up.  She went to stop them, but the young man grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, stating that he was her prince, coming to rescue her.  Her father was dead, and he had asked him days before to take her home.

She felt a dark and scary aura from this young man.  However, he was the prince her father picked out for her, so he couldn’t be that bad.  She diligently followed him.

 

* * * *

     

“This brings back memories,” a female officer commented, getting out of her squad car.

“What does,” her partner, a young male officer, asked.

“This neighborhood.  It was where I was raised by my dad.  He met my new mom when she came by to take me on a ride for that Scared Straight program.”

“Did you do something bad,” the male officer teased, “Who would’ve thought Officer Susan Jackson was a troublemaker with the law?”

“It was a school thing and everyone had to go through with the program,” Susan stated, a bit annoyed, “Anyway, I heard this rumor about a man that refused to leave his house.  Had a daughter too.”

“I think I heard of that rumor too.  They said that the father died from lung cancer, but no one knows where the daughter is.”

“Maybe she didn’t exist.  I lived right next to that house and my dad told me not to go near it.  Said I might be kidnapped by that man.”

“Good advice,” the male officer commented as they walked up to the door of a beautiful two-story house.  They knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

“Hello,” Susan called, “This is Officer Jackson of the Taupo Police.  We are here because of a neighbor’s complaint of a noise disturbance.  Can you please come to the door?”

There was still no answer.

“I saw movement,” the male officer stated, looking at the window, “What do you think?”

“We try one more time,” Susan replied, unhooking her gun, “Hello?  This is the police.  We need someone to answer or we will enter the premises by force.”

There was still no answer, and Susan gave her partner a nod.  The male officer grabbed his gun and kicks at the door.  The door refused to fall, and it felt like it was reinforced.  The two officers hit the door with all they had until it finally flew open, hitting the wall with a resounding smack.  Guns pointed, they cautiously walked through the house as Susan radioed the police station to alert them of what was going on.  The male officer found smears of red on the floor as well as broken dishes and he signaled Susan to follow him.  What they found upstairs in the bathroom was something only police officers seem to stomach.

A male body laid in the bathtub, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.  His tuxedo was covered in blood, slowly dripping into the white ceramic and into the drain.  Several holes in his chest and stomach led to more blood spilling out of him.  Above him was a young woman that was in her late twenties, holding what appeared to be an ice pick covered in blood, her white dress smeared with red in the front.  She turned to the officers, her bun becoming undone and her hair falling to the floor in large clumps.  She stared at them with a teary smile, a bruise on her left cheek.

“Daddy lied,” she said brokenly, “He was no prince.  He was tainted.”

 

* * * *

 

 “Well,” the male officer put his hands behind his head as they drove away from the police station, heading off for patrol, “Who would’ve thought that this would happen?  That we solved that old rumor?”

“I feel sorry for that girl,” Susan replied, turning right, “She was raised confined to a house with no education or a means to support herself.  Worst, her father used the Internet to find her a ‘prince’ to keep up the delusional world he made for her that turned out to be a con artist.  Despite the marriage being illegal and annulled, he spent all of her father’s savings.  She has nothing now.”
  “What do you think the state’s going to do with her?  She killed someone, even if it was in self defense.  There’s no way they will let her off that easily, even with her mental illness.”

“It’s all in the judge’s hands now.  All we can do is give our say in court.”

“It’s gonna be hard this time to stand up there with a straight face.”

“You’ve done it before with worse.”

“But they deserved it.”

 

* * * *

 

The town was in an uproar at what they heard of the young Opal.  For them to learn of what her father had done in raising her, to the con artist that was abusing her until she had enough and killed him.  They had known that Matthew was a wondrous and gentle man, a man that loved children and even donated designs to local construction workers for building housing for low-income families.  He had made large donations to many charities.  To think that he would do this to his own child, to raise her in an imaginary world and not teach her a single, useful thing.

Then again, he was always quiet.  His assistants did most of the talking for him, gave the speeches on his behalf, and met with the clients for the sale of the designs.  He was apparently shy of people and only came out of his shell when it came to those he was very close to.  In fact, his friends had to arrange for him to go on blind dates, where he met his wife on one of them.  They thought he had his happily ever after.  They guessed that the happily ever after ended when his daughter was born. 

Opal had no hope of living in the outside world.  She couldn’t care for herself nor had an education.  She still believed that the world was a dangerous place and she was still a princess waiting for her prince.  The judge had no choice but to have her institutionalized.  The jury voted upon it, for they were certain that if she were raised properly, she would not have met the con artist nor would be so helpless and lost in the illusion that had haunted her all her life.  Everyone that witnessed the trial had known that the judge and jury quietly blamed Matthew for destroying an innocent life.  His daughter’s life.

Officer Susan Jackson sat outside her house, smoking a cigarette.  Her children were always telling her about the horrible affects of smoking, but they never pushed her to quit.  They knew that smoking was the only way to calm her nerves after a busy day.  She smoked outside so that they would not get the horrible secondary smoke effect. She would be quitting soon enough, for her husband and her were planning on having their third child.  Her father John would be thrilled if they finally have a daughter. 

She remembered her young childhood and how it was different from Opal’s.  She knew her mother died when she was born, so she didn’t demand anything special for her birthday.  Her father tried to spend every minute of the day with her, taking her to the park and getting ice cream at the local stand during the summer.  She even had a small desk at his work whenever she had to go with him to the office and she played secretary with everyone.  The female officer she met as a child was very kind to her, and apparently was shy around her father.  With a little sneakiness, she brought the two together and she had a new mother and her father a new wife.  She was never cruel to Susan and spent as much time with her as she could, even when she had a son with John.  Susan loved her little brother, the two of them always getting into trouble for stealing cookies or trying to sneak downstairs to open presents early on Christmas Day.  She made good friends, dealt with bullies, and married her middle school sweetheart before graduating from the academy and becoming a cop.  Her greatest joy was bringing her twin boys into the world, one of two of the happiest days of her life.

Susan had learned that Matthew had also lost his wife when Opal was born, but why had he done what he did to his daughter?  It didn’t make any sense, but she guessed that nothing else would make sense to fit for an answer but one saying:

It’s always the quiet ones who are the most unpredictable.

 

The End

 

 

 

Author's Note

My first story that deals with the loss of sanity. It took two days to write this while I get new chapter ideas for my new book.

Reviews

[Sunflower 20]

wonderful story! from the first paragraph you had me addicted! the story line developed well with both families growing up. i really liked the way you wrote about Matthew's thoughts about John. the whole thing ended really well, even though it was sad.
overall, can't wait to read more of your writing! :)

[Karina Longo]

Wow. I really like it. I can relate a lot to Opal - somehow.
It's brilliantly well-structured and I really enjoy your writing style. Very pleasant to read the work from authors like you.