chapter four – summer nights and mommy issues

"Wow, I haven't seen all that since middle school" Dad leaned against my door frame.

My entire room was filled with all my old photo albums, diaries and random crap I made. All filled with memories of the triplets and I. Right now I was looking at the photos we took the summer before high school when our families went camping together. That's actually one of the few memories I have where Marc wasn't being an ass or ignoring me.

"Yeah, I pulled them out from the back of my closet" I laughed.

Dad walked into my room and sat on the edge of my bed, making sure not to crumple any of the other photos.

"Does this have anything to do with the 'Preston Playboys' coming back into your life?" Dad asked and my face must have shown pure mortification.

"Dad. Do not call them that everagain" I fake shuttered at my father's choice of words.

"That's what the girls call them nowadays? No?"

"Yes, but it sounds weird when you say it" I laughed.

Dad's green eyes found the group photo we took that summer and I saw the sad look in his eyes when they saw himself with Mom.

Her death wrecked him. It wrecked all of us. Especially since it came with no warning. She woke up at 3 am, her water had broken. She was past her due date so there was no fear. We were all excited. The drive to the hospital was exciting. Wyatt and I argued over whether we would have a new sister or brother since Mom and Dad decided they wanted to keep it a surprise.

I remember the way she laughed when Wyatt announced that if it was a boy he wanted it to be named after him. A struggled laugh through her contractions. Her golden-brown eyes squinted and her brown hair falling into her face. The thin layer of sweat on her forehead and the biggest smile showing off her teeth.

My last memory of her alive was when they wheeled her into the delivery room. She kissed Wyatt and I on the forehead and told us that the next time we would see her, we would have a new brother or sister. Sometimes I can still feel her lips on my forehead.

Barely an hour later Dad was in the waiting room, holding us in a death grip. He was crying but we didn't realize that it wasn't tears of joy until the sobs started wracking his body.

"We realized we wanted another baby on that trip" Dad's thumb rubbed over the photo of him and Mom. "Being around such a big family made Mom want so many more babies"

The tears started pooling in my eyes and I could feel my lip quiver.

"I miss mommy"

Dad looked up, with his own tears and cupped my cheek.

"So do I, baby girl. I don't know why god took them from us but he must have had a good reason. One day we'll be with them again but not for a while. I promise the wait will be worth it" Dad smiled through his tears and I could tell her was trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince me.

Dad struggled with thoughts of suicide for a while but he always said that Wyatt and I were the ones that made him hold on. He never outright spoke to us about it, but Grandma told us. Or more so, Wyatt. For a year after their death, Wyatt blamed him. I'm not sure why, but I think he was just confused and angry.

"I heard you and that boy have been getting sweet on each other" Dad turned his focus on the photo of Marc and I sitting on a peer. We were in our bathing suits, drying off from swimming in the lake. I don't remember what we were talking about but I remember it was the first normal conversation we had ever had with no arguing or teasing.

"Where did you hear that?" I snorted, wiping my tears on my sleeve.

"Your brother" Dad grinned and I rolled my eyes. "I don't like him that much"

"Wyatt?" I joked.

"No, the Preston boy" Dad rolled his eyes and I laughed.

"Me neither" I shrugged. "He just got back from that school and he picked up on his annoying antics"

"He's troubled. The things that those children had to go through after that accident must have traumatized them" Dad sighed. "Adam and Taylor split up because of it"

"How do you know that's the reason?" I asked curiously. They always seemed like the perfect couple.

"You know Adam blamed himself for letting them go out. And for some reason he took it out on the kids" Dad must have seen the look on my face because he shook his head and elaborated. "Not physically. Emotionally. Distancing himself. Sending Marc off to the boys school. Being hard on Matthew. Nearly disowning his daughter for being gay"

I grew uncomfortable. The word disown and gay in the same sentence scared me. Of course, I wasn't gay. I was bisexual but my dad was really religious and while I know he loves me, I didn't know how he would react.

Dad must have noticed because he smiled at me.

"Thea. I love you no matter what. You don't need to be afraid to tell me things. I would never willingly lose someone I love" Dad kissed my forehead and I nodded. His words eased my nerves, but I still couldn't bring myself to tell him. "Alright. I'll let you get back to it. Just be careful around those boys"

"I will be, Daddy" I smiled and he smiled back as he left my room.

"Don't stay up too late. It's a school night" He called from the hallway and I laughed.

"Okay!"

I found myself laying in my bed, surrounded by photos of my childhood, thinking back to that summer.

"Go talk to him" Mom tried to push me towards where Marc was sitting on the peer, by himself.

"No, Mom. I hate him" I crossed my arms and frowned.

"You had a crush on him last month!" Mom laughed.

"Well he said he doesn't like me and he's a jerk so I hate him again" I kicked the dirt.

Mom brushed her hand through my wet curls and cupped my face with one hand.

"Sweetheart, I promise that one day that boy will be begging for you to be his girl" Mom smiled and I snorted.

"I doubt it"

I don't know why I went over to him. Maybe it was my Mom's stubbornness. Or maybe it was something else.

"Is that beer?!?" I whisper-yelled as I got closer to Marc.

"Thick Thea, be quiet" Marc hissed making sure none of the adults heard.

"You aren't old enough to drink that!" I frowned and he just shrugged.

"Want a sip?"

I frowned and looked around to make sure nobody was looking. Maybe it was peer pressure or maybe it was because I still kind of liked Marc.

"Shh thick Thea stop coughing. You didn't even take a big sip" Marc patted my back.

"I don't like when you call me that" I frowned at him. "Why do you always do it?"

"'cause its cute to see you get all embarrassed" Marc flashed me that evil grin of his.

He must have been teasing me. He knew I had a crush on him. Ugh I hate him!

"I'm telling your Mom you're drinking beer"

And then Marc was chasing me down the peer.

I frowned. Not at the memory itself but the fact that Marc was drinking at 13. Was it just a stupid adolescent thing or was it a sign of something more? Was he really that messed up?

The drinking. The fighting. The reckless driving.

Was he screaming out for help while everyone just thought he was being a stupid teenager? Was I the only one that noticed?

I don't even know what I'm supposed to do? How do I fix this? Should I tell my dad? Should I tell his brothers? No that's not a good idea. They probably wouldn't take it seriously.

Why was I the one that had to deal with this? Why did I have to be the one to realized that the asshole actually had real issues he was stuck with?

And why was I getting the urge to talk to them? To be friends with them.

But one thing rang throughout my head.

I'm nothing but a girl to bang to the older brothers and a girl to tease to the younger one.

How am I supposed to be friends with people who didn't really care about my existence?

a u t h o r s n o t e

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter of The Preston Playboys! There's a lot of insight into Thea's past here. I hope to elaborate much more into her past along with the Preston's home life in future chapters. Let me know what you would like to see! Also I love seeing all of your comments and messages on my dashboard! It makes me so happy!

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