Second Chance Idol Week 3: These Trails I've Walked
All my entries this season are based on the webcomic I.C.Q., of which I am one of the co-creators, together with shurhaian. This week's host is Toni; you can read an introduction to her in my Introduction entry and the characters' Re-Introduction. Comments can be addressed to either myself or Toni. She'll answer unless doing so would spoil the comic.
Toni is being hugged tightly by her stepfather, Nikolaj. He is taller than she is, and is leaning his head down as he squeezes her close to his chest.
I guess I was just a little too old when Mom remarried. Nikolaj is a nice guy, no doubt; he's good for Mom and I quite like him, really. But he'll likely never quite reach "Dad" status, though goodness knows he's deserved it. We've both realized that, by now, and accepted it, though getting there was a bit of a bumpy, winding road.
He's taken me out to do stuff together, just him and I, when we've had the chance. Not enough to make me feel he was trying to monopolize my time - he's always been good about stepping back and making sure I got to spend time with Mom, especially after I moved off for college - but enough to show that he was taking time out for me. Unlike Dad, who's tried it a few times when it's suited him, Nikolaj actually bothered to ask what I was interested in, too.
I probably did my share of being unfair to him the first couple of years; I don't remember too clearly (or don't care to) and he doesn't bring it up. It would've been the usual, things Mom does, too, making assumptions that don't quite match up with my view of reality, and it's easier to snap at someone you've not known for very long for it. Well-meaning gestures that, from the wrong source, can feel like snipes.
But, taking a step back, he does make those well-meaning gestures, and that matters. High school wasn't the easiest time in my life, and he couldn't know when he asked about my plans for prom. But he asked. Dad didn't give a shit, just took for granted that whatever I did decide to do I'd be disappointing him. (He was probably right about that, but that's mostly because with his expectations of me, there was no way I couldn't disappoint him, no matter what I'd done.)
It's not Nikolaj's job to be my father, especially not these days, when I'm out on my own and can take care of myself without him, or Mom, or Dad, or Dad's trophy wife. But even now, he's doing a better job of it than Dad is.
And that's why he got a card last Father's Day and Dad didn't.
Written for season 7 of therealljidol, Second Chance edition. Please visit the topic to see what others have written for the topic of these trails I've walked.
Toni is being hugged tightly by her stepfather, Nikolaj. He is taller than she is, and is leaning his head down as he squeezes her close to his chest.
I guess I was just a little too old when Mom remarried. Nikolaj is a nice guy, no doubt; he's good for Mom and I quite like him, really. But he'll likely never quite reach "Dad" status, though goodness knows he's deserved it. We've both realized that, by now, and accepted it, though getting there was a bit of a bumpy, winding road.
He's taken me out to do stuff together, just him and I, when we've had the chance. Not enough to make me feel he was trying to monopolize my time - he's always been good about stepping back and making sure I got to spend time with Mom, especially after I moved off for college - but enough to show that he was taking time out for me. Unlike Dad, who's tried it a few times when it's suited him, Nikolaj actually bothered to ask what I was interested in, too.
I probably did my share of being unfair to him the first couple of years; I don't remember too clearly (or don't care to) and he doesn't bring it up. It would've been the usual, things Mom does, too, making assumptions that don't quite match up with my view of reality, and it's easier to snap at someone you've not known for very long for it. Well-meaning gestures that, from the wrong source, can feel like snipes.
But, taking a step back, he does make those well-meaning gestures, and that matters. High school wasn't the easiest time in my life, and he couldn't know when he asked about my plans for prom. But he asked. Dad didn't give a shit, just took for granted that whatever I did decide to do I'd be disappointing him. (He was probably right about that, but that's mostly because with his expectations of me, there was no way I couldn't disappoint him, no matter what I'd done.)
It's not Nikolaj's job to be my father, especially not these days, when I'm out on my own and can take care of myself without him, or Mom, or Dad, or Dad's trophy wife. But even now, he's doing a better job of it than Dad is.
And that's why he got a card last Father's Day and Dad didn't.
Written for season 7 of therealljidol, Second Chance edition. Please visit the topic to see what others have written for the topic of these trails I've walked.