FAKE Ficlet: Family Matters
Title: Family Matters
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Drake, Ted, Marty, Dee, Ryo.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Ryo and Dee both understand the importance of family, which is more than can be said for their colleagues.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Challenge 206: Family at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters.
“Mom’s being a pain again,” Drake said, putting his phone away. “She’s always badgering me to come over for Sunday dinner every week, and I keep telling her I don’t always get Sundays off. Being a cop isn’t nine-to-five, you’d think she’d know that by now.”
“Man, I know what that’s like,” Ted agreed. “My folks are always goin’ on at me, wantin’ to know when I’ll meet a nice girl, settle down, and give them grandbabies, ‘cause they’re not gettin’ any younger. As if it’s that simple with this job!”
“You think you’ve got problems now?” Marty shook his head. “Don’t ever get married. I don’t just have my own parents making demands on my time, I’ve got my in-laws too! Every special occasion, I feel like the rope in a tug of war, being pulled this way and that, both sides wanting us to go to their house for Thanksgiving, or Christmas dinner. It’s a nightmare!”
“Hey!” Dee snapped. “Enough with the pity party and tryin’ to one-up each other over who’s got it worse. You should maybe try appreciatin’ your families instead of complainin’ about ‘em. At least you have parents who care about ya and want to spend time with ya. Make the most of ‘em while they’re still alive; tomorrow they could be gone.”
Everyone fell silent at Dee’s words, but Ryo couldn’t fault his partner for speaking up. Sometimes people needed to be reminded of what mattered in life.
‘Maybe Dee and I appreciate family more than the people around us because we’ve lost so much, or never had it to start with,” he mused to himself. He’d spent so much time over the past twelve years regretting all the times he’d blown his parents off to go out with friends. He would have given anything for them to still be alive, to have Sunday dinner, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with them. These days he seldom got to spend time with his aunt and uncle either, not since they’d moved to San Francisco.
It was even worse for Dee. He’d never even known his birth parents, and then as a teenager he’d lost Jess, who was the closest thing to a father he’d ever known. It was why Dee was always there for Mother Lane, the nun who’d raised him, because he never took for granted how fortunate he was to have her in his life.
“Dee’s right,” Ryo said. “You should count yourselves lucky and spend as much time with your families as you can while you still have them, because I guarantee if you don’t, when they’re gone, all you’ll be left with is regrets.”
Ryo still missed his parents, always would, but he knew he was lucky too, because in Bikky, Carol, and Dee, he had a family of his own to love and care for. He hoped he could make up, to some extent, for all they’d lost, give them a place to belong, because to his mind, family was everything.
The End
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Drake, Ted, Marty, Dee, Ryo.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Ryo and Dee both understand the importance of family, which is more than can be said for their colleagues.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Challenge 206: Family at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters.
“Mom’s being a pain again,” Drake said, putting his phone away. “She’s always badgering me to come over for Sunday dinner every week, and I keep telling her I don’t always get Sundays off. Being a cop isn’t nine-to-five, you’d think she’d know that by now.”
“Man, I know what that’s like,” Ted agreed. “My folks are always goin’ on at me, wantin’ to know when I’ll meet a nice girl, settle down, and give them grandbabies, ‘cause they’re not gettin’ any younger. As if it’s that simple with this job!”
“You think you’ve got problems now?” Marty shook his head. “Don’t ever get married. I don’t just have my own parents making demands on my time, I’ve got my in-laws too! Every special occasion, I feel like the rope in a tug of war, being pulled this way and that, both sides wanting us to go to their house for Thanksgiving, or Christmas dinner. It’s a nightmare!”
“Hey!” Dee snapped. “Enough with the pity party and tryin’ to one-up each other over who’s got it worse. You should maybe try appreciatin’ your families instead of complainin’ about ‘em. At least you have parents who care about ya and want to spend time with ya. Make the most of ‘em while they’re still alive; tomorrow they could be gone.”
Everyone fell silent at Dee’s words, but Ryo couldn’t fault his partner for speaking up. Sometimes people needed to be reminded of what mattered in life.
‘Maybe Dee and I appreciate family more than the people around us because we’ve lost so much, or never had it to start with,” he mused to himself. He’d spent so much time over the past twelve years regretting all the times he’d blown his parents off to go out with friends. He would have given anything for them to still be alive, to have Sunday dinner, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with them. These days he seldom got to spend time with his aunt and uncle either, not since they’d moved to San Francisco.
It was even worse for Dee. He’d never even known his birth parents, and then as a teenager he’d lost Jess, who was the closest thing to a father he’d ever known. It was why Dee was always there for Mother Lane, the nun who’d raised him, because he never took for granted how fortunate he was to have her in his life.
“Dee’s right,” Ryo said. “You should count yourselves lucky and spend as much time with your families as you can while you still have them, because I guarantee if you don’t, when they’re gone, all you’ll be left with is regrets.”
Ryo still missed his parents, always would, but he knew he was lucky too, because in Bikky, Carol, and Dee, he had a family of his own to love and care for. He hoped he could make up, to some extent, for all they’d lost, give them a place to belong, because to his mind, family was everything.
The End