Just holding on for tonight

               OPHELIA had spent the better part of two weeks buried under sketches and fabric in her room; trying to figure out the best way to have this collection ready - working singlehandedly from her bedroom with only five months to go was definitely going to be a stretch, but if there was anything Phee had in abundance, it was determination. She shook her head a little at Max’s question, scrunching her nose in response, “I had breakfast earlier but I think I ate somethin’ funny.”

location: anna’s diner

with: @edtstarter​

The diner was pretty slow, save for a couple of people. They were regulars, some of which loved to talk about their lives. Usually Briar didn’t mind it, but this one old lady had her there for a good twenty minutes talking about her late husband. The first couple of times that the woman talked about it, Briar listened and felt for the old lady. But months later, it was the same story and the same woman crying as she spoke about her late husband. Briar didn’t want to be rude and leave her there all by herself, but she also didn’t know what to say. She had run out of things to say. The door of the diner dinged as someone walked in. She quickly excused herself, feeling guilty for feeling relieved, but she couldn’t stay sitting there any longer. “Hi – please tell me you know what you want. Hell, I’ll even get you some coffee right now.” as long as she looked busy. 

               JACKSON still wasn’t sure how to process this, wasn’t entirely sure how to react. God, if he’d known his own brother had been in town, the last five years would have been so much easier to cope with - it would have been so much easier to have that fallback, to not have to have waited to call Elliot in California or be afraid to burden Callie with anything that was on his mind. And then, his mind turned to his kids. Surely they’d had enough stress with Caleb reappearing from the dead, that it would be that little more difficult to accept another long-lost relative. Then again, Jay supposed, this would probably be an easier adjustment to break over a longer period. He shook his head as Max spoke, “It’s fine, I–” This was something he’d worked through years ago, but had come to the acceptance that he’d never see his brother again - this interaction had shaken that completely to its core. “You don’t have to apologise.” Jay added, offering a somewhat reassuring smile. He nodded slightly as Max continued to speak, almost sure he knew what he was getting at, “We’ve been here for a while. You don’t have to panic though, uh – Dad died a couple of years back.” 

For somebody who she had witnessed firsthand blow all of her money on booze and cigarettes, Helen Callahan had a lot of shit. Marley couldn’t believe the amount of things that littered the little two bedroom she hadn’t stepped foot into in ten years. Her memories of the house were bare-boned and sad, and even if there were room for the good memories, as few and far in between as they had been, there would be no room for them among all the clutter. That wasn’t her reason for the yard sale, however. No, that was simply the first step in getting the house in selling condition. Clear it out, put it on the market, and the minute it sold, and the keys were handed over, Marley was out with it. It was the last thing keeping her in this place.

She’d just come out of the house with another box at her hip, laying out the items on the slowly baring table and noticing, from the corner of her eye, an item being picked up from it. “Whatever it is, I’ll take twenty bucks for it.” None of this junk was worth much, anyways. Marley, however, looked up out of curiosity. Her heart stopped, briefly, at the sight of the necklace. The one her mother had worn around her neck every day, that she never took off, even to sleep. “Oh, that actually–” isn’t for sale. But Marley held her tongue. “…will only be ten. You drive a hard bargain.” 

@edtstarter​

There was a lot of things that he hadn’t expected to see when he was walking home, a yard sale being top of the list. Though he always found them strange things to see if he was honest about it. He tended to only ever really buy things he needed, still never quite getting used to the fact that he had money. Though whenever the kids asked, he always paid up without question. Oh he was definitely soft, he knew that, but he didn’t see it as a bad thing, it was just a part of him, and he wouldn’t feel guilty over it. The only person it had ever hurt was him. 

          “One step at a time, my mother would say,” in so many ways Dianna was like her father and in other ways like her mother. She never believed in rushing to get where she wanted to, Dianna thrived on the challenges life brought her way, not that they shaped her up to be a better person, but definitely fed her ambitions. “Edens is home and I believe we should always take care of our home first, then we can take on the rest of the world,” she smiled softly at him, appreciating his passion more than not. Most people she had met in her life were dull. “Don’t worry, it’s not negative, I appreciate you have such a view on the world, most people are selfish enough to never think about what happens outside of their own circle,” Dianna shrugged. “Dianna, by the way, Dianna Vanderbilt.”

“We can worry about each other, then. There’s really nothing you can say that’s going to change my mind,” Mikayla replied, offering up a soft smile in his direction so he knew she wasn’t attempting to be obstinate so much as she was trying to show that he could fall on her if he ever needed it. She was an adult, after all, with most of her life in order, so she could afford to take a few days to help him if he ever needed it. “What gives you that impression? Not that it’s not true, but… I’m wondering what gives it away.” She had been told in the past that she was closed off or difficult to read. Maybe being in Edens really had been good for her, helping her to soften up that hardened exterior she’d built up for protection over the years.

“You see, that’s my problem! I get brainstorming and then things multiply. It’s probably just me trying to keep myself busy,” she replied with a laugh and a matching smile came to her lips at his words. “Thank you. I hope so, but we’ll see going forward. I know Edens isn’t necessarily a tourist destination, but maybe with the town cleanup, there may be a few more than back in the day.” Biting her lip, she shrugged. “I don’t know if I’d say enchanting, but… it’s where my parents still live and I think I needed to be close to them right now while I’m going through a transition period in my life. A lot of my old friends are still here, too, so that’s been nice.” She nodded as she listened to him, smiling at his story. “Well, it looks like you certainly turned the place around. Did you always plan on owning a restaurant or was it more of a ‘why not?’ situation? I definitely never saw myself owning a B&B, but the opportunity presented itself and it was an offer I couldn’t really turn down.”

The only parent she had ever really known was her father, and she could vaguely remember her mother - not that she wanted to anyways. She preferred not talking about the woman, and especially her step mother. That woman was god awful, and if Sofia had a chance of a do over in life - it would’ve been to find out what she had been doing her dad alot sooner. “Yeah, I know.” She mumbled with a slight eye roll, but somehow it made her feel slightly better knowing that she wasn’t the only person without a clue of what the hell she was doing with her life. “I don’t know. She came at me really hard, and I mean barley had time to process what she was saying before she started saying shit… Sorry, things - that weren’t true. I mean she hardly knows you and I don’t know.. I was angry at first, but I was trying to see it from her side like you said to do.” Sofia paused to catch her breath and her thoughts before she could continue. “I don’t know really.”   

          Jessica felt envious. Not that her father hadn’t been a good father to her while she was growing up. He protected her, gave her things, loved her and said it. It was more the fact that it was all tainted now. Her memories and image of the man would never be the same and she knew it. Nobody else did. “It’s nice to know there are some good men out there,” she said with a low hum. Carefully choosing the word men instead of dads. “Ah yes… my condolences. Her reputation is certainly one the hospital fights to get rid of, even after she got arrested, now that was a hoot and a half— probably one of the most excitin’ days this hospital has seen in the last months,” Jessica said before facepalming herself, it was more than a common occurrence to say things and regret them later, especially for the blonde, “sorry that was… insensitive,” and she was insensitive and crass but she tried not to be so when she was on hospital grounds. “Come on, dude, I promise not to spread it around,” she grinned even though she knew her pleads were for naught, “maybe you should sell them frozen then? So I can have them even when I don’t have the chance to go by Anna’s and pick some up?” Jess shook her head while laughing, simply teasing. “Why the name though? Anna’s was someone from the fam?”

Max was right, that was one think she could admit. The majority of her life she had tried to ignore the what ifs, but being put into situations no child should have to be put into made it difficult not to, especially when she used the fictional worlds of her books to escape her reality. As much as she had come to accept what cards she had been dealt, knowing she could have had a different hand at all now brought all those questions back. “I’m going to worry,” Mikayla started, looking at him with a small shrug. “You’re family; we take care of each other, it’s what we’re supposed to do. Even people who are tough as nails can have days where they aren’t feeling strong. It’s okay to admit when that happens.”

          “You don’t have to apologize, you’re not wrong,” Dianna always thought on how privileged she was throughout her whole life. She had come from a very wealthy family which earned her some not-so-kind traits in her personality she couldn’t quite shrug off, but she always wanted to be better than her father and not economically or professionally speaking. Timothy Vanderbilt was not exactly the warmest human on earth and while there was a lot she took from him, there was a lot she learned how not to be with him, as well. “I guess we can only hope people who don’t have enough warm clothes on their back found themselves a good place to rest— the community center has been working overtime this winter,” she should know, she was one of the people on the board. “Sounds like a fun idea for today, care for some company, perhaps? I was heading to The Grind for some needed food and hot chocolate.”

“True, and I’d want to have someone to be at the front desk when I’m not there and then someone for housekeeping… Whoever does repairs and maintenance work. So maybe three, though I already know who the last one would be, so that’s not much of an issue.” She smiled and shook her head. “Yes, I was. I was born and raised here. Moved away for college and the hustle and bustle of New York City kept me there for a while. What about you? I feel like I’d remember you if you grew up around here.”

Mikayla nodded, knowing she couldn’t possibly ask for Max to get in between the issue with her and her mother. That was something they would have to sort out themselves eventually, once all the emotions surrounding the subject had died down. “I get it, too. I just wish I’d had choice in the matter when I was old enough to know.” She listened, nodding slowly as she took in his story and realizing he had had a hard life, much harder than what she had been through. “I’m so sorry… I’m glad – I’m really glad Sofia noticed, and that you’re getting there. If there’s anything I can do, please let me know? Even if it’s just… babysitting for a few hours while you take some time for yourself. Maybe not right away, obviously, you hardly know me, but… eventually.”

               JACKSON’S smile faltered completely as Max spoke; this type of revelation being the last thing he needed at that moment. “This is a joke, right?” He started, somehow more bewildered by this than Caleb returning in the first place. He fell silent, shaking his head with a deep sigh as he tried to take it all in. “You’re trying to tell me that you’re my brother?” He asked, a frown knitting his brows together. He quietened again, resting his head in his hands for a few moments as the news started to sink in. There wasn’t any way it could be a lie - hell, who had he ever talked to his brother about other than Caleb? The bracelet, the name, the story - everything checked out in his mind, and yet, he still wasn’t sure how to process it. In that moment, he felt like an idiot - why had he never connected this before? If there was an award for worlds worst detective, he’d have been awarded it right now. “You’re serious?”

          Yup, he seemed to have done pretty well by himself, alright. Jessica couldn’t even imagine what it was like to be a parent at such a young age. To be fair, she couldn’t imagine what it was like to be a parent at any age at all. The only time she managed to get pregnant, she terminated the pregnancy as soon as it was possible, and she couldn’t say it was a decision she regretted, someone with her emotional range wasn’t born to be a mother and it made her wonder if her mother was around, if she would have taught her to have some kind of maternal instincts. “Spoke again like a true dad,” she teased again with a small nudge against his ribs. Her father also spoke proudly of her like that, but his words were now tainted and so was his love. It all felt shattered after she had discovered what he had done with Jacob… it didn’t feel right anymore, didn’t feel right to be his daughter. “Ha— I wish, I love compliments, give them to me, shower me with them because I’m self-centered like that, I’m just not a good person,” she explained, knowing that she really wasn’t. “No way— dude, I love that place. The coffee is just…” her words were followed by a chef’s kiss. “Someday I’m gonna crack the secret to the chocolate chip pancakes, because I have spent way too much money on those.”