OOM: Visiting Family

[geeky_agent]

She almost wishes Caiti would be there.

It would mean more questions and more problems, yes. They'd still have to explain Caiti having met Jack already in Morocco two years prior and she just knew that wouldn't go over well.

Still, she can't help but wonder if maybe it would be better to get everything out in the open now. (Not everything.) Caiti had always been good at dealing with problems between her sister and brother and it sounded like she and Jack had gotten along pretty well and she hadn't seen her in months...

This had probably been a bad idea but it was too late to back out now.

Comments

Re: Chris-Ryan Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

"We always used to fight, but never like that, and you used to be the only person in the family that wasn't obsessed with keeping everything a secret." He pauses and turns to look at her. "Chrissy, yesterday you talked about Dad as if he was still alive. And maybe we were all so concerned with Caiti that I missed seeing how much his death hurt you too."

Re: Chris-Ryan Conversation

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris folds her arms, whether it's out of defensiveness or to fight off the cold that came over her when he said that, she's not sure.

"I didn't realize... I had said that." It wasn't the whole truth. Her therapist had mentioned something similar in one of their first sessions.

Re: Chris-Ryan Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

"And it's not the first time," he hesitates and folds his arms, noticing the chill coming off the lake. "You've changed and if you tell me that your job and Jack had nothing to do with it, I'll believe you."

Re: Chris-Ryan Conversation

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"I can handle my job. And Jack isn't the reason I've been acting this way," she lies easily, her voice steady and expression neutral. "But you're right. I didn't deal with dad's death very well," with a shrug and a mutter she adds, "My therapist says it's a delayed reaction brought on by Tony's death."

Re: Chris-Ryan Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

He's a little relieved to hear that she's talking to someone and he wants to believe that she's telling the truth about Jack. "I can understand how that could happen. Were you close to...Tony?"

Re: Chris-Ryan Conversation

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I was," she says quietly, wondering how to describe Tony so that her brother could understand. He suffered from depression, loved the Cubs (which probably had something to do with his problems) and jazz, was probably the reason I didn't lose my mind when Jack had been kidnapped and left behind a wife and a child he'll never meet.

Instead, all she says is, "He was Jack's best friend and married to a good friend of mine."

Re: Chris-Ryan Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

When Jack mentioned the death he didn't talk about his own connection.

"Jesus," Ryan says in the same quiet tone. "I'm sorry, Chrissy." He touches her shoulder briefly. "None of us dealt with Dad's death too well, but you left everything to take care of Caiti," he looks away. "You can come here whenever you need to."

Re: Chris-Ryan Conversation

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"I know," she says with a small smile. "Are we ok?"

Re: Chris-Ryan Conversation

[theredshirts.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, we're okay." He smiles slightly, "Want to go for that run after breakfast?"

Re: Chris-Ryan Conversation

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

The guilt and regret she feels about not being able to tell him everything still linger and would probably always be there. But when Ryan says that, she feels a small weight lift from her shoulders. "Yeah, I would."