The Orphans Series Vol. 1: The Orphans

by M. Evans

  Frank went into the woods by himself after trying to wake an unresponsive son. He couldn't have felt guiltier having said anything before they got home, unsure why he thought taking him up into the woods was a good idea to break the news. He hoped if they talked it out then maybe Shaun could see it from his point of view. By having a mom in the house, they could feel like a real family, not taking into account how much Shaun cared for Ellie even if it might be just a teenage crush.

  Shaun left a note on the table for his dad. It said he would meet him at the cabin at three to head down. He went a mile in the other direction today and found a new set of tracks. He was optimistic he was on a deer highway close to here. He thought about it and sat down, triumphant he'd found his own spot and didn't have his dad tell him where to sit this time. When he had a son of his own one day, they wouldn't be fighting like this, because he wasn't going to date his son's friend's moms. Milfs wouldn't be allowed in his book.

  He sat in his spot watching the woods and listening. He didn't pull out his journal or music player today and, for the first time, wasn't bothered by the silence. It was something his dad said would happen over time as he developed into a man. He understood what his dad meant now how the stress of daily life could be silenced when sitting in the woods. He didn't lay his gun down today, but kept it steady in his hands. He listened intently and heard a deer grunting in the distance. He remained perfectly still and silent. He moved slowly and peered his head around the side of the large oak tree and saw a giant buck coming towards him.

  Shaun brought his right knee up slowly and placed the butt of the gun inside his right shoulder, and rested the end of the barrel on his right knee in a sniper sitting prone position that his dad had taught him to use with rifles. Shaun took a deep breath, flicking off the safety next to the trigger and waited for the deer to enter his sights. It strutted around and was eating some grass or plants which weren't covered with snow about twenty yards down. He lined up his sight on the heart and pulled the trigger, letting out a breath as he did. The report of the gun's blast echoed through the hills. Shaun remembered instantly he didn't have his ear plugs in, and his ears began ringing immediately. The slug tore through the animal.

  He watched as a line of smoke drifted from the gunshot. He still had all the light of the day left--it was only one o'clock in the afternoon. He saw the deer go down. He got up from his spot and his ears rung immensely. He still couldn't hear anything but saw movement off to his right. It was his dad, and he was running for everything he was worth. He looked like a crazed man.

  Shaun spun around, looking behind him, making sure there wasn't something coming. Frank stopped at Shaun and was moving his lips, but Shaun could barely understand anything that he was saying. He put up his hand to stop for a second and pressed in on his ears pulling back off trying to get his ears to pop enough to hear his dad. "Shaun, are you okay!? What the hell were you doing!?"

  Shaun, utterly confused, looked at his dad and pointed to the dead deer up the hill. Frank looked back at Shaun with a white face. "What did you think would be happening, dad, when you heard a gun blast?"

  Frank shook his head. "I ... I thought you were still in the cabin. I don't know what I was thinking. Just forget about it, okay? Let's go check out your buck."

  Shaun caught up to his dad and passed him. He wanted to see his trophy which lost a bit of its flare after his dad's stupid reaction. It wasn't moving and Shaun went up to it as he had been taught by his Grandpa and by his own dad. He poked at it with his rifle barrel and stepped back quickly.

  "Oh, that deer is gone, son. Look at the blood loss in his chest."

  Shaun and his dad dragged the deer together and picked it up to haul it back to the cabin. The snow around the animal was peppered with red spots. Shaun left his dad to go get the sled so that they could take it down the hill. The plastic sled did better downhill than trying to balance all the weight of gear and dead game. The path back down the hill, as long as you didn't twist an ankle, was the easiest part of the trip. They got the cabin secured again and then locked up the padlocks. They left all the food there that wasn't perishable and packed the rest back into the backpacks. The two didn't want to leave leftovers out for wild animals.

  The walk down and the ride back to town was uneventful and quiet. Shaun helped his dad carry in the packs, cleaned his gun and replaced it in the gun cabinet. The cabinet was filled with rifles of small and large caliber with plenty of ammo for a small army. He looked at the compound bows hanging in the closet wishing he could shoot one more often than he had a chance to. Frank had already taken the deer to a meat locker to have it processed.

  Shaun retired to his room after a hot shower. Ellie tapped on the window. She tapped again and Shaun looked left and right on his bed facing away from the first story window. She finally took out her cell phone and sent him a message: "Hey loser turn around, your music is too loud, are you deaf?" She waited for another second. The phone buzzed and Shaun read it. He turned around slowly, smiling, and waved. She pointed to the window and Shaun realized she was freezing and wanted in.

  He smiled and opened the window. "Is there a reason that you're not coming to the front door?"

  "Mom thought I should stay in.... I thought I should come see you."

  Shaun nodded slowly. "So it would appear you had a difference of opinion. I think you made the right choice."

  Ellie climbed through the window hitting her shoes together to get the snow off. "Yes, we disagreed."

  "So you're saying maybe your mom would kill you if she knew you left?"

  Ellie shrugged. "Details, details, Mr. Fox. I'll get back soon. She'll never know I was gone!"

  Frank knocked on the door and they both jumped a foot. Shaun knew that he wasn't allowed to have girls in his room--not that the young man had too many opportunities to do so at thirteen. "You'd better get into the closet. If my dad finds you in here, he'll tell your mom on their date this weekend."

  Frank knocked again and Shaun looked at the door seeing it was locked. "Stay out, I'm changing!"

  "Really? Well you do know avoiding me isn't the easiest way for us to work this out."

  Shaun bit his lip hoping his dad would just go away and not say anything stupid that he'd have to explain later."

  Frank tried the handle. "Shaun, can you please unlock the door? I just want a minute. We need to get this figured out. I think we can make this work. I can't help it if you're in love with a girl that you're not able to be with. I'm sorry but we only live once, and I'm not passing this one up for a teenage crush."

  Shaun slapped his head, his dad had just completely spilled his guts for him about Ellie. "Dad! That's not the problem! You really think after five months you know she's the one for you?"

  "I haven't felt this way about anyone since your mom. It's not a feeling you get.... You just know she's the one. I wouldn't do this if I didn't think it was the right thing to do. I know you like Ellie and you like her more than a friend, and I know that's putting you in an awkward position and I'm sorry."

  Shaun stared at the closet and started strangling a pillow thinking of his dad and his thick neck. "Dad, really, just do what you think you need to. I know there's no talking you out of it. I have homework to get done--I'm behind after going hunting. Do you think we can do this some other time, please?"

  Frank said. "Okay, you've got something more important than what I want to talk about. Thanks, bud. I can respect that. I just really was hoping you would be okay on this."

  Shaun thought about his dad trying so hard on the other side, and while his dad had two parents who lived to be healthy old ages and were happy for many years, he had a hard time understanding how his dad was incapable of really comprehending this.

  Ellie poked her head out looking a bit awkward. "So ... that was weird."

  Shaun sat down on his bed and rubbed his head. He'd planned on telling Ellie how he felt, and thought about doing it soon, but he hadn't realized that his dad was going to do th
e God damned thing for him. Apparently, his dad needed to do all he could to ruin his chances with Ellie.

  She sat down next to him and spoke in a really calm, low tone. "I didn't know you thought of me like that. I figured you knew I was thinking about Greg lately."

  Shaun shrugged. "Well, that doesn't necessarily mean you'd like him forever. I figured you'd figure out he's not really the type of guy you want to date, and maybe you'd start noticing me at some point...?"

  Ellie smiled. "I just thought we were friends, Shaun."

  "What are we going to do about our parents? It's a pretty sure thing that he's going to ask your mom to marry him this weekend."

  Ellie sucked in a deep breath and hit Shaun in the shoulder. She put her hands up to her mouth and then dropped them back down slowly. "Really? He's going to ask her? Oh my God! I can't believe this is already happening!"

  Shaun stared at her blankly. "You know if you tell your mom, there's a good chance my dad will murder me."

  "Hey, don't worry. I won't say anything, and don't let anything get weird between us, okay?"

  Shaun nodded. "Yeah I won't get weird, besides if I don't have you around, who am I going to talk to?"

  Ellie looked at her watch. "You know what I better get going. Eventually my mom will come check on me."

  "Call me if you need any help. I could come and cause a commotion out front."

  "You couldn't just hit her car for me could you? A good car alarm would draw her attention away."

  Shaun laughed. "I don't want to help that much!"

  Ellie disappeared out the window. Shaun walked back to his bed. Laying down, lacing his hands behind him, he took a deep depressing breath, shaking his head. He listed out what exactly made this a horrible weekend: how Ellie said she wasn't into him ... Ellie seemed somewhat excited for her mom ... Ellie verified she was still into Greg ... and his dad wasn't changing his mind. Could this weekend get any worse?

  ****

  Frank thought about Shaun again then called Karen. He had missed her since they left and waited as long as he could. These feelings were the exact proof he needed to know he had made the right choice. He knew very well that he couldn't live without her.

  The phone rang. Karen put down the papers she had been reading, picked up the phone on the third ring, and answered in a sexy voice, purring, "Hello, big bad hunter man.... Did you get a deer?"

  Frank smiled on the other end and collapsed into his chair. "Well, it's a good thing that one of the Fox men could fend for themselves in the woods."

  Karen laughed with a snort. "Oh, my! Actually, Ellie told me all about it after she had a text from Shaun. I bet he gave you crap about that on the ride home!"

  Frank frowned and thought better than to open that can of worms. He just casually replied, "Oh, it was one insult after another. He couldn't give his old man a break to save his life! Don't worry, I can take it.... I wanted to take you out to eat this weekend--do you think you can handle that?"

  "You know what, I could use some wining and dining. Where did you want to go? Luther's pizza?"

  "Oh, honey! We're going to the big city, Des Moines, Iowa! The best place we can go! I thought we could get steaks and wine...? Maybe I can pick you up at six-thirty. We could pick the kids up some movies and pizza, and you and I can make the big drive."

  Karen knew the restaurant he meant. "Can your ego handle not feeding me venison from your kill?"

  Frank laughed this time. "If it means I don't have to do the dishes and I get to have you all to myself then, yes! Let's eat beef!"

  "I'm looking forward to it. I have a busy week so I won't have a chance to see you until this Friday. I'll make sure I get off early so I can look spectacular for you...."

  They said their goodbyes and she hung up the phone. Karen picked up the papers and read them over again for the tenth time. Friday would easily be the best day in her week.

  Chapter 7

  Day -120: January 31th, 2017 World Population 7,345,131,375

  Friday night took forever to arrive and it had taken Frank three different nights of hitting every diamond selling store in Adel and Des Moines until he was satisfied he had found the perfect ring. He searched for a one carat diamond set onto a simple plain gold band. He knew when he saw it that it was perfect.

  He spent the rest of his time during the week with work, work, and more work. He also spent quite a bit of time avoiding Shaun as he didn't really want him putting a damper on what was already a stressful week. There was nothing like asking the woman you loved to marry you and start a new life together.

  He had all kinds of reminders set at work to make sure he didn't forget to go home early on Friday. Harry Rogers, his personal lab assistant, was a short, prematurely bald man in his twenties with a pudgy gut. He had been asking questions all week. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is going on Friday night? You're not really the go-home-early type."

  Frank shot a finger at him. "I don't mind if you ask a personal question, but that falls under the none-of-your-business category. Are you done with the vitamin project results?"

  "No, not yet. I've been waiting for the results to see how strong it stays while they attempt to make a large batch of it downstairs."

  "Wait. You asked them to make a large batch? Why would you ask that? They make tankers full of that and it's not going to be any good if it doesn't come back as correct! We can't have medicine being made when we don't know if it's going to be successful! That could be disastrous!"

  "You know as well as I do, sir, that it's E&T protocol. Something works, they get it on the shelf, they know it's vitamins, and no one's going to die, are they, from what we make here? It's designer vitamins for God sakes!"

  Frank, thinking back to his army days, got lost for a minute. Rogers was probably correct. Yes there was no realistic chance that anyone would die from having a little too much vitamin c in their diet. He had a quick realization that what he was making here wasn't something like project X-74.

  On Friday at four thirty he hit the save icon for his current project, powered down and backed up his machines in the large lab. "Rogers, make sure you get everything backed up and saved. Got it?"

  "Rogers, get it?" He joked. "Have a good weekend, Dr. Fox."

  "Rogers, yes I get it, get everything backed up." Frank hated the joke Rogers used making a pun out of his name weekly,

  Frank arrived at home at five o'clock. His arms were full with pizzas, pops and movies. The films had PG-13 ratings and, to make himself feel old, they were full of a cast of actors he hadn't heard of. He thought Shaun would be pleased or would be at the very least full.

  Frank made his way to the kitchen where he laid the treasure on the counter. Shaun appeared from nowhere like a ninja. He took a big whiff stared at both pizzas smiling. "Pepperoni?"

  Frank nodded, surprised he could make it as far as the kitchen with the food before his son was on top of it. "You think you can find someone to help you eat and drink all this, and maybe watch a couple of movies?"

  Shaun looked at it all and clicked--his dad was being nice. He was going to be left at home by himself. He realized one thing--he would rather spend the night with Ellie. He smiled. "You know, there's a good chance that I can find one or two people to help me with this, dad."

  Frank nodded. "Just don't invite the entire school over, and keep the night's excitement and trouble making to misdemeanors only."

  Shaun rubbed his hands together. "Oh, but father! Just think of the debauchery I could get into without you here! The videos could be online before you ever get home!"

  "Do you need a babysitter? Isn't Ellie older than you? Maybe she'll make sure you stay out of trouble?"

  "Not sure if Ellie should be your best choice. She's a little bit of a hell raiser, Francis."

  Franks snapped his fingers. "Watch your mouth! I'm 'dad' not 'Francis'! Anyway, I trust Ellie, but don't go raising too much trouble. I'll probably be home later tonight."

  Shaun saluted his
dad, and pulled out his cell phone with his skinny young fingers tapping at speeds which Frank couldn't comprehend. Frank checked his watch and saw it was nearly five thirty already.

  He took a steaming hot shower. He had planned out what he wanted to say for a while now, and was thinking that, as the time got closer, he was going to completely forget all of it. He laughed at himself in the shower. There were very few times he'd been able to remember having been so nervous.

  Frank took the dry-cleaning bag off the hook. He slipped on a pair of black dress slacks and a gray and black, pin-striped, button up shirt. He checked himself in the mirror, rubbed some aftershave on and got on his suit coat.

  ****

  Ellie stared around the room and completely spaced off what her mother had just said, thinking about what surprise was entailed for her tonight. She put her cell phone down and looked up at her mother. "Huh? Sorry, mom, I was just reading a message from Shaun. What'd you say?"

  Karen was motioning for Ellie to come and zip up the dark green revealing dress. "Are you and Master Fox going to stay out of trouble tonight?"

  Ellie zipped up her mom's dress and smoothed out the back for her. "Dressed like that, I'd have to ask you the same question!"

  "Young lady! We are just going out for dinner."

  In a poor English accent Ellie mocked, "Well, I hope you and Dr. Fox are able to enjoy a wonderful evening...." Giving up the accent, she continued, "It would seem Shaun and I will be eating some pizza and watching vampire movies."

  "Don't watch too many scary movies! I don't want to have you curled up with me later!"

  Ellie rolled her eyes. "Please, mother! There are no such thing as monsters. If I get too scared, I'm sure Shaun will take care of me."

  "You watch that Shaun. I'm pretty sure he has a thing for you."

  "Mom, he knows I don't have feelings for him like that."

  Karen gave a knowing smile to her daughter. "Things sometimes change honey."

  "Well, if you and Dr. Fox end up for the long haul, then what do you expect me to do? Date my brother? Wouldn't that be kind of weird?"