"I'm on my way."

[imitationoflife]

Who: Lisa and Caden Drake
What: Setting aside one's own issues
Where: Neuro Waiting Room, Mount Sinai
When: Sunday morning

Lisa was so new to the City that she hadn't gotten the chance to get to know many people in Caden's life, however Casper definitely was one of them. The young man was bright, bouncy, had a wicked sense of humour, and all-round impossible not to love. She had, stupidly, been hesitant when she heard Caden was dating someone just a couple of years older than her son, but age was just a number and 10 years really wasn't a long period of time.

Waking up that morning, checking her phone had to take a back seat. She was crippled with morning sickness, and it had distracted her from everything else. She still hadn't told anyone her guilty little secret yet. She was trying to find the right moment, and the right way. In the meantime, work had kept her busy, and time had slipped away from her. Once she cleaned herself up and was about to take a shower, she quickly checked her phone and found a string of text messages there from Caden.

She settled on just brushing her teeth and throwing on something presentable before she grabbed a cab and hurried over to the hospital. "Caden!" she called out, spotting her brother pacing up and down the corridor as soon as she stepped out of the elevator. "What's happening? Is Casper okay?"

Comments

[deepinmysoul]

It had completely slipped Caden's mind that last night had been when Brendan had his date. His nephew hadn't been home in the day and Casper had spent the night, waking up in the morning with a terrible headache and feeling ill. Caden had been really worried about him the worse he got. Hew knew that for Casper to be saying it had 'the worst headache of his life', it wasn't just being a drama queen. Casper had a flare for the dramatics, but he had been visibly ill and unable to move much because of the pain in his head. "Of course... I did know that was happening last night, it just slipped my mind. You haven't heard from him?" he asked, because he, too, was wondering how Brendan had gotten on.

He hesitantly met his sister's gaze and gave a small shrug. "You haven't seen his apartment. It's not unlike that of Tom Hanks in the movie Big. Just full of more colour and more fun things to do. I didn't think he would want to give that up to come live with me. There's always this uncertainty in the back of my mind that I'm too dull for him. That we want different things. That he is going to wake up on any given morning and think this is all so bloody boring for him."

[imitationoflife]

Lisa shook her head. "Not as yet. He's young and free. He doesn't need his mother and uncle chasing after him the morning after a date to keep tabs on him. If I don't hear from him by this afternoon, I'll call him and tell him what's happened with Casper. To try to intercept him feeling guilty that he didn't get your messages and kick himself for being on a date in the first place. He really is a lot like you, you know, love."

She raised her eyebrows and analysed him closely for a few moments before she actually chose her words carefully to continue. "I think you're making excuses because you're scared. Not because you truly believe he will feel any of those things. He's become extremely important to you, and you're scared his goals might be very different to yours. But how will you know that if you never talk to him about it? All this, it sounds like he will need time to recuperate and rest. Maybe that's a perfect time to start talking to him about your future together? If there is one. Wouldn't it be better to know now if there wasn't?"

[deepinmysoul]

Caden gave a small snort of amusement because he knew she was 100% right. Brendan didn't need them running around keeping check of every move he made. He was only just beginning a path of exploration and he had an open and honest relationship with both of them. They wouldn't want to make him feel like they were being pains in the ass so he couldn't tell them anything. "He and Casper are good friends. I know he would want to know. But you're right, let him enjoy the morning after phase. I hope it's all gone well. Kyan is a lovely lad, so I assume his brother is also."

Damnit. Foiled again my big sister logic. "He's young, I am more than aware of that. I have people at the ready to remind me that literally every day. But if it takes him ten years to get to the place I am in now, I will be in my early forties before that happens. Then potentially my early fifties before any children we may have even begin high school. It's all very exhausting to think about. He will need time to recover and I'm going to take care of him the whole way. You're right, though. It is probably better to discuss these things now than keep avoiding the subject."

[imitationoflife]

Lisa was smiling at this. Yes, Casper and Brendan were close in age, but not the age where Caden himself could be the father of either of them. That was the whole point with this. Ten years was nothing, and happiness breached time anyway. Though all this was just making her stomach churn nervously because she knew she was pregnant and there would be a 17 years age gap between her youngest and this baby. She didn't know how anyone was going to take the news, and she was worrying extensively about the big announcement. How was Sam going to take it? It was hard to tell. They hadn't had conversations about the future yet, it was still early days. That was the nervy part of all this. "I am sure he will spare you all the gory little details. You haven't met Trey? I was hoping you might have."

"He is young, but was the young man, Jace, not twenty-one when he got married? Young people aren't immune to wanting things like marriage and children. We all know I had my first at sixteen. It's all numbers, Cay. You shouldn't let yourself get stuck on that. Let him make the choices himself, don't pre-empt them for him. That's not fair. He has fallen in love with you knowing the gap in age and it has neither bothered him or impacted on your relationship. You could have someone your own age who was just as different to you as Casper is." She messed his hair up a little... big sister prerogative.

[deepinmysoul]

Caden had to laugh softly at this. There had been a bit of an early bone of contention - pun unintended - about this issue with Caden dating Casper, and Casper's penchant for spontaneous sex. Not only had Brendan walked in on them, but so had Justin. It meant they had to employ a bit more discretion with their alone time and remember to make sure doors were securely locked. "Do you think there will be gory details? I wasn't sure if he would be more reserved in the progression of that. No, I haven't met Trey, but he works for Mark. He's a law student and beat out over two hundred other candidates for the placement with Mark's firm, so he's reputable. Brendan seems quite smitten."

He looked at her when that penny about Jace dropped. "You're right. Jace was twenty-one, I believe. Jesse is a few years older than him. But Casper's been carefree and free-spirited his whole life. He's not had setbacks like those young men. Not that I mean to make excuses. I just don't want to hold Cas back from anything. This is going to hit him hard, I know it will. He wasn't really processing any of it before the procedure, so it will hit him afterwards. I just want to be able to take care of him, but not stifle him."