Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
— WHEN THE SWAN SIBLINGS RETURNED HOME, Tony was feeling much farther away from a breakdown then he had an hour and a half before. Maybe it was the comic books, which could whisk him away from his problems with superpowers and fantasy villains. Or maybe it was his sister, who Tony was beginning to realize was much better company than he first intended.
Charlie Swan's police cruiser was in the driveway when they pulled in, and they spotted their father sitting at the kitchen table when they entered the house.
Bella dropped her bag off to the side.
"Your mom called again." Charlie stated as he folded his newspaper.
Anthony sighed heavily as he plopped down onto the chair across from his father, putting his shoulder bag on the back.
"Well, that's your fault." Bella informed, beginning to clear off the table. "You shouldn't have told her about the almost-accident and Tony's panic attack."
Anthony tried to keep himself from snorting, he really did, but it came out as more of a choked cough. A choked cough that caused him to wheeze for a few seconds.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. She always did know how to worry."
Anthony thought back to the fourty messages he'd received from his mother and the near fifty missed calls.
"That's a major understatement." Tony muttered so only he could hear.
"Y'know she seems different." Their dad stated. "She seems happy."
Tony felt his heart bend at his father's words. He knew Renée leaving had hurt him. Especially when she took Tony and Bella away from him too.
He missed out on years of his kid's lives because Renée was selfish.
"Phil seems like an alright guy."
"Yeah, he is." Bella sighed, before walking away awkwardly.
Charlie looked a little disheartened, watching his daughter flee up the stairs.
"Phil's an asshole who'd rather play minor league baseball than raise his step kids. Renée is sporadic and paranoid. Sometimes it's about Bella, most of the time it's me..." Anthony stated, standing up and grabbing a glass from one of the overhead cabinets. "She didn't want to be around to watch me waste away in some hospital bed so she was all for sending us here." He filled the glass with water from the tap.
"I missed you." The boy paused, turning off the flow from the sink and leaning against it. "All the time, I missed you."
The silence was deafening, as Charlie knew his son was going to keep talking and didn't want to interrupt.
