Just because he’s smiling doesn’t
mean he likes birthdays. Though, truth be told, Buck is looking forward to this
birthday just a little. Growing old should mean he’ll be able to slow down a
little bit, something he won’t mind at all.
He’s lived a good life so far. It’s
not every man that could claim such a sweet and pretty daughter as his Layla.
His little Laydee Bug. Level headed. Kind. Thoughtful.
Then his son, Galen. Strong, smart,
sometimes a little clueless but overall a nice young man. Galen had plans for
his life. He was going to work at the local branch office of a large
corporation. He was going to be their tech-support agent, and with his head for
computers he’d do well Buck thought.
Then again, it could be a lot of
Galen’s plans were made so early on because his girlfriend was a force of
nature. Looking closely at his son, worry began to cloud Buck’s mind. Maybe
Galen wasn’t such a strong young man as he could be. Perhaps Buck should have
given him more spine.
He looked over his shoulder at his
wife, Helen, cheering him on. For most of their time together Helen had been so
strong willed and bull-headed that Buck himself hadn’t really shown much spine.
Usually, he had gone along with whatever plans she had forced on him. Was
Galen’s weakness in the face of a strong personality his own fault?
Smiling a little, Buck pushed the
thought out of his mind. He loved Helen. And lately she’d begun to mature a
little, leaning on him more and more. It made him feel so needed and loved. No.
He’d taken the right course with Helen. There was no one else he could imagine
spending his life with. No one else he wanted by his side as he grew old.
Always easily startled, the sparkles
caught Buck completely by surprise.
It takes Helen by surprise when she
sees how Buck has changed. His new look will take some getting used to, sure.
But overall she’s pleased. It’s nice to still have a handsome man at her side.
Even Buck is happy with the change.
If this is what getting old feels like, he thinks that he’ll be getting used to
it fairly easily.
It isn’t until he sits down between
his two wet-behind-the-ears teenagers that a few things finally hit him.
He has two teenagers. Two! And both
of them are going to want to make their own way in the world. Both are going to
want to get married. Galen has already talked about the wedding plans his Arden
has begun to make. And though Layla hasn’t brought up marriage, she’s got a
steady boyfriend and they spend plenty of time together. How on earth is he
supposed to provide money for all of that?
And though he believes that Helen
was his right choice, how is Galen supposed to known that Arden is going to be
the right choice for the rest of his life? A teenager doesn’t always know what
is best for them. Should he say something? In his opinion, Arden is far pushier
than Helen ever was.
Then a long ago statement made by
Phedra comes ringing back in his ears. Layla wants to travel too. That’s why
she runs around trying to collect jewels and precious metals every afternoon.
She wants to save up to travel. But does that mean she doesn’t want to stay
here? And does Galen realize that’s what she’s going to do? Does Helen?
Looking up from a bite of cake,
Layla spots Buck’s concern. Nope. Concern was passed about 30 seconds ago. He
looks almost panicked.
Unable to meet her father’s
wide-eyed stare, Layla stares down Galen hoping for an intervention of some
sort. Galen is oblivious as usual, shoveling cake as though each bite is his
last.
Sighing, she lowered her head. When
she raised it to see Buck still focused on her, she gives him a tight-lipped
nod before finally starting on her own cake.
Taking it as acknowledgement of his
thoughts, Buck deflates. Closing his eyes as he tries to come to grips with his
children growing up. He sighs. Finally, Galen looks up, frowning, watching Buck
before catching Layla’s eye. Perhaps they aren’t as close as they were as
children, but they still know how the other thinks.
It isn’t until Buck has risen and
washed his plate that Galen finally makes his thoughts known.
“He’s gone senile,” Galen whispered,
a sinister look in his eyes.
Trying hard to suppress her giggle,
Layla grins broadly back. It’s the first thing the other has said to each other
in a long time that didn’t have to do with how the future should be mapped out,
or not.
Pushing his chair back, Galen grabs
his plate to wash it up.
Galen had no idea that Buck was
still standing right behind his chair.
“I’ll have you know,” said Buck.
“I’ll have you know that I am not senile. And just because I’m a little older
doesn’t mean my hearing has been affected one bit! You young whipper-snappers
have no idea what it’s like to become old.”
Helen can hardly smother her laugh.
“You’ve been a Senior Citizen for
all of 20 minutes. How do you have any idea?”
“I’ll fix your wagon later,” Buck
grinned back. “I want a word with this one first.”
Swallowing hard, Galen nodded back
at Buck.
Helen went off to sort some laundry
as Layla finally finished her cake, taking her plate to the sink, she purposely
dallied trying to hear some of the conversation between her brother and her
dad.
“Alright boy,” Buck began, his tone
serious and gentle. “Just what are your plans with this girlfriend you’re so
serious with?”
Frowning, Layla turned the water on.
Was he really worried about Galen? Or Arden?
“Well,” Galen was as shocked as
Layla. “Well I think we’re probably going to prom next weekend. At least, she
told me we’re going together and what kind of corsage to get her. She also
helped me pick a place to rent a limo from.”
“And she’s found this organic
Chinese place we’ll go to first for dinner. They make an amazing vegetarian Dim
Sum-“
“You’re taking your sister and her
beau along aren’t you?” Buck interrupted Galen’s recital of Arden’s plans.
Spluttering, Galen was taking
completely aback. Arden hadn’t said anything about anyone going with them. He
didn’t want to ruin their plans or their night by doing something Arden hadn’t
planned.
“Of course you are!” Buck answered
for him. “You want to make sure your sister is okay for the night. Now then,
those are not the plans I was askin’ about. I was asking about your plans for
after high school. You’ve mentioned that you’ve got plans to marry this girl.
Don’t you want to look around any after school first? Is this really what you
want?”
Eyebrows shooting up, Layla was
surprised by Buck’s question. Her curiosity burned to sneak a peek behind her
to see the look on Galen’s face. Putting an extra shot of dish soap in the
sink, she slowed down scrubbing her plate even further.
“Well,” said Galen slowly. His mind
was still racing to come up with an answer. “Well, I guess so. I don’t see why
not. There’s no one else at school-“
“-But I’m not talking about school,”
interrupted Buck. “I’m talking about the rest of your life. You may have found
a nice girl to be with at school, but what if there’s someone better out there
that isn’t at your school? And you’d better not guess this time. Guessing is
only going to land you regrets.”
There was no answer from Galen,
whose face had fallen into stunned concern. Nodding sagely, Buck looked down at
the carpet to give Galen a moment for his own thoughts.
Finally, after an eternity during
which Layla dried her dish 4 times, Galen cleared his throat.
“I love computers. I’m going to work
with computers. And I’ll marry Arden,” Galen said slowly.
“Well then,” Buck smiled sadly. “So
long as you know.”
And he left the room to go and find
Helen. Leaving both teenagers lost in their thoughts.
-- -- -- --
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
I forgot to get a headshot of Elder
Buck to put on the Generational Goals page. Sorry! I’ll have one up soon.
I really didn’t intend for this to
be all “Buck has an epiphany” or anything. But I did want to show that Buck and
Helen aren’t totally oblivious to what is going on with Galen and Layla. It’s
just that out of the two, Buck is always going to get there first and have to
bring Helen in on the conversation.
