Chapter 70

Alan
Ever wonder why alarm clocks are supposed to make the most annoying noise known to man? The question hits my mind this morning for about thirty seconds before I grabbed the damn thing and threw it against the wall.
Stupid clock.
Five minutes later, I felt about ten pokes on my face and tried my hardest to thwart the hand away from my face, but the finger just kept coming back to me.
I open my eyes and peer at the blurry figure in front of me and when I see none other than my mother standing there with a tray of waffles, I nearly jump out of my skin.
"What the hell ma? What are you doing in my apartment?" I use all the blankets I can, to ball with my hands and cover my body. There is something just wrong about being a grown ass man waking up to your mother and breakfast when you have a morning erection because you spent all night and most of the morning thinking about a certain blonde-haired beauty.
"Oh please, Bean. I birthed you. I spent twelve solid straight hours in the most impeccable pain in the world so that I could bring you into this world. Don't you think I'm allowed to break into your apartment, make you breakfast and come in to your room while your naked and bring it to you?"
I'm shaking my head as she rants her same old speech about bringing me into this world and call out for dad. I know his ass is in this apartment somewhere, most likely eating his plate in the kitchen while trying not to choke as he laughs at my embarrassment.
"Alright, alright I'm leaving. But honey, do me a favor. No man should have a dark room like this. When we are done today, we are stopping by a store and picking you up some things to liven up the place." With that she leaves, and I can hear my dad laughing his ass off from the kitchen.
I take a few extra seconds to wake all the way and check my phone. Two new messages and my heart expands when I see Anna's name.
Good morning, sorry I got so bad last night. Guess I was a bit nervous. Won't happen again.
I laugh when I see the one following it seconds later.
Oh god, that sounded nasty. Did you read it? Ugh, what I meant was, I shouldn't have been drinking like that. Next time you take me on a non-date/date I'll behave better.
I can't wipe the smile off my face when I respond back to her.
Last night was good for me too. Oh, and it was a date. Did the kiss not seal the deal for you?Because we can try it again.
I wait a couple minutes for a response and when I don't get one, I head to the bathroom and hop in the shower. Minutes later I come out and get dressed in some jeans, a black t-shirt, and my converse. Dad told me last night that he wants it to be a causal day. He didn't want us to show up in a suit and tie and nice clothes and walk around pretending we know what these people were going through. I agreed with him and messaged my sisters the same thing.
"Hey, honey your plate is on the island." Mom says as I walk into the kitchen.
Mom is sitting on my couch with her feet up on the coffee table and a coffee in hand. She has the television on but is looking down on her lap at her designs she most likely created at dawn. Mom was never that great of a sleeper. Dad is sitting next to her, same pose, but his gaze is on the television. The news is talking about the dinner tonight and the details on who is showing up tonight. I roll my eyes when they mention the designer dresses, elegant suits and who is wearing who. It's pathetic.
"Thanks mom, looks great. So what time did you guys want to head out? And where are the banshees?" Mom stands and walks over to me, smacking me on the head as she passes and empties her mug into the sink.
"Don't call your sisters that awful name Bean. You know I hate that. Your sisters are at their hotel rooms They decided to fly in last minute and got in late last night, so they are all most likely stills sleeping. We will meet them at the committee meeting. Before we go though, your father and I have a surprise for you."
I smirk and look down at her stomach and get another smack on the back of my head.
"No, I'm not pregnant, jerk wad. Someone else will be joining us today." I roll my eyes at the fact that Donaldson is most likely who they are referring to, but I had already figured that.
I am just about to tell her to spit it out when a knock sounds at my door. I look over to mom and she is nearly jumping up and down on her tip toes. I roll my eyes and ignore her mom weirdness. Mom has always been a bit obsessed with romance. She reads romance novels and watches romance movies as a religion. She is a sucker for happily ever after and because of that, there is probably a girl at the other end of the door that she met at an airport that she wants me to marry.
I walk over and open the door with a huff, my mind getting ready to give her the 'sorry, my mom can be a bit much' speech, but get stopped in my tracks by my walking dream smiling on the other end.
"Anna. What are you doing here?" She looks beautiful. She is wearing black tight jeans with white converse and a white turtle neck sweater. Her make up is light and her hair is wavy and up in a messy ponytail making her green eyes pop. I don't think I have ever seen her look more perfect.
"Alan Scott King. That is not a nice way to greet a guest. Anna sweetheart, come on in. We are almost ready to head out. Alan is happy you are here. Would you like some coffee?"
"No thanks, mom." Anna responds but her eyes aren't on my mother, they are locked in with my gaze. I have always loved when my friends called my parents mom and dad, but when Anna does it, my heart skips a few beats every damn time.
"Your mom and dad called me and asked me to come and help out today. Hope it's okay Alan." Shit, she sounds unsure. I don't want her to think I don't want her here. I just wish I could stop starring at how hot she looks and concentrate on my words.
Come on Alan, you are a professional. You teach the youth of tomorrow. Surely you can say a few words to a woman you have known your whole life.
"My bedroom." Yeah, again, that wasn't a sentence.
Anna gives me an eyebrow raise and I almost laugh at how pathetic I sound right now.
"Can we talk in my bedroom? You know, away from waffle making, coffee offering, prying eyes." Anna nods her head and I take her hand and walk over to the bedroom.
I open it and Anna walks in. I walk in after her and immediately curse myself for not taking her to the guest bedroom. This room is a mess. I was frantic that mom was going to come back in with her ninja lock picking skills while I was changing, so I threw my clothes all over.
"Uh, sorry about the mess. I don't, you know I don't normally."I blabber as I begin picking things up and throwing them across the room.
"Alan, what's wrong?" She yells grabbing my arms to settle me down.
"I need to kiss you."
"What?"
"I need to kiss you, it's just that…. I don't think I have ever seen you looks so goddamn beautiful, and I don't know if it's because of the way we left things last night or maybe because I'm secretly so happy you're here and relieved that I get to talk to you at the same time and…"
I'm immediately cut off when her lips crash into mine. It's messy at first but after a few seconds we find out rhythm. I pull her body into my mold and can feel her heart pumping fast. Her arms go around my neck and pulls my body even closer to hers. I know my parents are down the hall and knowing mom, she is listening at the door, but I just don't have it in me to care. We have only been without each other for a few hours, but it feels like eternity.
"I'm happy I'm here too Alan. Everything is going to be fine. It will be a good day, okay?" I nod my head at her and she gives me a reassuring smile I didn't realize I had been needing.
I clasp her hand in mine and exit my room. Mom and dad are trying hard to contain their excitement at the two of us as we enter the living room. I roll my eyes when mom starts hopping up and down clapping her hands. Anna laughs at her and let's go of my hand to grab mom's hand. I already miss her touch.
"Mom" Anna says looking from mom then back over to me. "Alan and I have decided date, but please don't make too big of a deal out of it." Before she can even continue her speech, mom has her hands up and the air and is whooping while dad picks Anna up and starts dancing.
"She said not to make a big deal out of it." I yell but inside I'm with my mom right now. I didn't realize that the kiss was a symbol of what we now were, but you sure as hell won't find me complaining.
This is what I have been wanting and now that I have her, I don't plan to ever let her go again. Anna is the one for me and I know I can make her happy.
"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm just so happy for you two. I always knew you would be my daughter Anna. Now, let's get going Paul. We need to meet the girls at the committee meeting. Donaldson called while you two were in there getting freaky with each other and told us there is already a ton of media hype on Paul doing this, so we are going to need a lot of support.
Anna and I nod our heads at her and together we all walk out of the apartment and to SUV mom and dad rented while they are out here in New York.

The committee meeting is exactly as it sounds. A meeting. Dad got word half way to the community center where the meeting was being held, that there were already a ton of reporters there waiting. Thank God Donaldson has half a brain when it comes to this kind of shit, because we had awaiting bodyguards that ironically came in handy.
I heard yelling and screaming as we got out of the SUV. They wanted to know why dad wasn't going to the dinner tonight, and if he knew something maybe his rival didn't. They yelled questions like who I was with and what was with the pretty blonde. I almost turned around and punched one of them, but dad stopped me with his stare. This was important, for more than one reason, and I didn't want to fuck it up because I couldn't keep my cool.
We were rushed inside the center where my four sisters were already talking amongst the members of New York's committee of the 'save the homeless program.' Dad started immediately speaking with people that nearly trampled over mom, Anna and myself to get to him. I walked over with Anna to my sisters and hugged each of them. I notice when we reach Anastasia, she hangs on to Anna a little longer. Those two always had a special connection. Anastasia always looked up to Anna, and since Anastasia and I were always together, she was close with my group of friends.
"If we can all come to order and take a seat, we can all get started. This meeting is supposed to last an hour and then as a group we can go over and see the shelters that each of us represents." A woman with the name badge, that tells me her name is Dolores, announces.
Everyone does as she asks and we all take a seat. The center is large, made to be some kind of youth community center it seems. I can see a basketball court, some desks for kids and lots of art on the walls that indicates toddlers. There is a small make shift stage on the end of one wall and that is where we are all facing.
Dolores stands on the stage and walks up the podium standing before her. She is a little on the older side, I would guess maybe mid-sixties and she has a sash around her that alerts me that she is the Mayor of New York. Holy shit, the mayor is here? I lean my head down a little and try to swallow my lump in my throat. The reporters didn't know who Anna was, but I heard my name several times.
They know who I am, and what's worse, if one of them digs deep enough, and yells out what I have been charged with, it could ruin everything dad has worked for. Plus, if someone like the mayor is here, and she hears my record being shouted, she could look into it herself and find out where I work. She most likely won't want someone who almost killed an innocent girl teaching a bunch of children.
"Alan?" Anna whispers loudly, catching my attention. She looks down at our conjoined hands and when I follow her gaze, I see her hand is beat red from my squeezing it so hard. I release it immediately with an apology.
"Relax, babe. I told you, everything will be okay. Trust me okay?" I nod my head but don't look in her direction. My eyes are locked on my dad and my worry of disappointing him.
The meeting carries on a little over one hour. Each committee member gets to speak about what their plan for the new year will be and what the main problem with their particular shelter or area of shelters is. Dad and Donaldson writes down everything they hear while mom, Anna, my sisters and I, all sit behind him.
A man, his name badge declares him as Marco, asks if there is anyone else that would like to speak before we get going and Donaldson nudges dad. Dad stands up and instead of heading to the podium, speaks to the room from where he stands. Everyone's eyes are on him and he is certainly loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I just want to thank each and every one of you for letting me and my family come here. There are tons of media coverage and reporters outside and I wish they weren't, but unfortunately everywhere I go, they go, wish I had that power back in high school." A few people chuckle.
"I won't take up much of your time, but I just wanted to give my thanks to all you for what you do. Not just here in the meeting but out there where it matters."
Before Dolores can release us all, another woman stands and asks dad a question.
"So, you're bringing your campaign to people who need to eat while you make money off their suffering? Why can't you just go to that pompous little dinner they all have every year where they pretend to care? Why fake it in front of us?" Silence hits the room and my eyes immediately find my dad. He is surprisingly keeping cool and collected.
"That's a good question. Listen, I won't get all into my 'long stories' as my children call them, but this program is near and dear to my heart." Dad stops for a second and looks over to Amari. With a nod from her acknowledging what I know he is about to say, dad begins telling our story.
"I have five children. Five beautiful, astonishing, wonderful children and my fourth child, third daughter, Amari there with the green sweater on, she was what me and her mother call, the problem child. See, Amari was a very sick child. She had leukemia when she was five, and it was the scariest thing I have ever gone through. It's even scarier when you are told that not only are you not a match for a bone marrow transfer, but neither is your wife, kids or parents." Dad stops and clears his throat a few times. I can feel Anna's hand tighten in mine.
She had no idea.
No one did.
"We were scared, we had no choice but to start asking people we knew, friends, acquaintances, hell, I called my old boss from when I worked at the local Dairy Queen when I was sixteen. No one was a match. Still, we didn't give up. I went to work during the day, my mother came and watched the children, and my wife would go to the hospital and spend the day with Amari. One day, there was news when we got to the hospital. We had a match. We couldn't believe it, we thought we had tried everyone. When the doctors showed me who volunteered their marrow, I was shocked. A homeless man, someone I had never met, had come in to see if he were a match. I asked him, why. I begged him to tell me what he really wanted and why he would do this for a total stranger. He told me that although he didn't always have food, didn't always have shelter, that he still had something worth giving. He was alive, and as long as he was, he vowed to help others. He happened to be coming in to do the free flu shot the hospital was offering, and heard the doctors telling me and my wife, that once again, no one was a match. He tried, he simply tried to see if he could save a life and he was able to. He saved my little girl."
By the time dad is done, there isn't a dry eye in the room. I look over at Amari, who is in between, Amelia and I, and even she has a few tears. Amari got better after her transfusion. It took a few months, but her hair grew back, she stopped vomiting, and was able to come back home. The homeless man that we met, who we call uncle Bert, ended up getting a job with dad. It turns out he actually used to be in real estate and fell on hard times when his wife died, and children were taken away due to his mental breakdown after her death. A couple years after he started working with dad, he saved up enough money to get his own home and bring his children home once and for all.
"So, you see miss. I'm a firm believer in helping out others that are in need of it, and this particular program is close to my heart. I wouldn't feel right to go to a dinner, where the event itself could pay for a new shelter to be built right here in the city or write a check. I'm glad they do it, don't get me wrong, but it isn't enough for me. It wasn't enough for Amari."
The lady that questioned dad sits and the room falls silent once again as everyone waits for Dolores to get it together. Once she wipes the rest of her tears, she ends the meeting, and everyone stands. Anna, mom and I wait over by my sisters for dad to speak to a few people. Some even come over to shake hands with our family and a woman hugs Amari, who has a fifteen-year-old son with a tumor.
After another half an hour, we all walk outside and into our separate cars. The drivers have the program for which shelters we are visiting first and where they are, so we all just wait. My sisters, Anna and I are in one SUV while mom, dad and Donaldson are in another. It takes no more than ten minutes to get to the first shelter and in that time, Anna turns around and addresses Amari.
"I had no idea, Mar."
"It's okay Anna. No one really does. Not something we all like to talk about. I just don't want you to look at me with fragile glasses on. I'm still the little punk kid that used to tie your shoelaces together before you went skating with Alan."
"That was you? I thought it was Anastasia."
We all laugh and talk about old times as we park on the street, along with all the other SUV's from the meeting. We hop out and begin our journey to the shelter.
That's how we spend out entire day. We go from shelter to shelter and speak with not only the person in charge but the committee member that represents them. They all need a lot of the same things. Food, warm water, fixed pipes, new washer and dryer, new beds, medical supplies, new equipment, everything really.
One of the shelters we go to is so run down, they haven't had power in over fifteen hours. The person in charge, Isabela, was worried that if she told the city about it, they would shut her down, and in turn, they would have to turn too many people away. I took it upon myself to call Jared and see if he knew an electrician that would work quickly, and have it done on a Sunday. He sent someone over within an hour and the lights were up fifteen minutes later. Dad gave me a proud look that I hoped stayed on his face all day.
"Well, that was a long day. How about we all head somewhere to get something to eat now?" Mom asks when we all walk out of the last shelter. It's almost five pm and we have yet to eat.
"That sounds amazing, but I am so beat, all I want to do is get home and stuff my face, so I can rest before work in the morning." I announce. I have to be up early for work and I'm sure Anna does too.
Anna and I didn't get a chance to speak much today so I don't know if that proclamation on our relationship was for my parents benefit or not. I want to speak with her alone and I think my parents understand that because they each come over to Anna and me and say goodnight. My sisters do the same, letting me know that Amari and Amy will be leaving in the morning because they both have work, and Amelia and Anastasia are staying a few more days. We are all in the middle of saying goodbye, when we get bombarded by one more set of reporters.
All day they have been annoying but not much of a problem. No one has said anything inappropriate, and all we really got was the occasional campaign question pinned at dad. At one point he turned around and answered a few questions, but once they became redundant, he continued our shelters tour. Now though, now I can hear the questions they are spewing, and each one has my body freezing.
"Mr. King, Mr. King. Is it true you have a young girl back home you almost killed with your car?"
"Mr. King, does your employer know about your illicit past with alcohol?"
"Mr. King, please give us something to let us know why the people should vote you father into the senate, when he can't even control what's going in his own family."
Before I can even lose my cool, our body guards get between the reporters and our family. We are scurried away towards the awaiting SUV's and practically shoved inside. I don't see who gets into the car with me, although I suspect it's Anna. I'm too ashamed to see anything beyond my rage. I knew something like this was going to happen. I knew I would end up embarrassing my dad. No matter what I do, I will always be known as the guy who got so drunk one night, that he nearly ended the life of another.
The drive is a quick one back to my apartment. I see mom and dad's SUV pull up behind mine and curse under my breath that their driver didn't just drop them off at their hotel. I feel Anna squeeze my hand in hers, but I don't make an attempt to acknowledge her. Right now, I can't control my anger and the last thing I want to do is take it out on her.
I get out of the SUV and open Anna's door. I know she is waiting for me to do so, and the thought warms my speeding heart a tad bit. She's trying to make me happy. We make our way to my apartment and I slam the door after us. I'm just glad my neighbor wasn't there to say anything. Who knew what she would say to Anna if she met her.
"Alan?" Anna starts but gets interrupted by a knocking on the door.
I glance at Anna, then back at door before walking over to the wooden frame and laying my head atop the door. My forehead cools at the touch of the cold wood and I carry my voice over to the other side, hoping that my parents not only hear me, but understand my meaning.
"Not tonight guys. Call me when you get back home, so I know you're safe." A few seconds later I hear the "okay honey" from mom and retreating footsteps. I close my eyes and hope that when I turn around, I don't see the face of disappointment forming Anna's beautiful frame.
I was wrong. It was there.