#tabitha rowen

Pal Jones

Auntie Thea (Tabitha Rowen) showed up today to surprise Macie (Bennette) with this adorable Border Collie named Pal for her birthday! I’m not really sure who was more excited about Pal. Macie, or her Mother, lol.

Thea & Macie

And let’s not forget, Kevin the Cat and Pal Thea was babysitting Macie and their new furry addition while Bennette drove into town with Ivy to pick up some doggie supplies for Pal

Thea & Bennette

Guess you had to be there...

"Okay so... what is going on with you?” I finally bite the bullet once I let my concern outweigh my fear of a poor reaction.  

“Nothing, why the fuck would you say it like that?” 

“You’re just being extra-ordinarily-”

“Bitchy?” Her voice fell into an understandably defensive tone. 

“You know I wouldn’t have said it in that way, more like temperamental.” 

“Whatever, dressing up something in proper terms doesn’t change what it means.” She stood up and began to gather her things, “I’m sorry I’m clearly not in the mood for this today.” 

“Thea don’t be like that, we can talk about somet-”

“It’s okay, I should get going anyway I have a date in a couple hours. Seriously I’m fine, I’m just working through my own shit okay? I’ll call you later.” 

“I just don’t want to do anything to upset him you know? I really love him and I know he’s done a lot for me in spite of his own feelings sometimes.” I whined a bit more in paranoia before deciding it might be time to change the subject. I had monopolized most of our visit with my worries over things that probably don’t matter in the long run. “So enough about that, sorry for rambling.”

“It’s alright, you know I don’t mind hearing you out. We do have to watch out for each other, make sure we’re not being preyed upon by assholes.” Thea replied snidely in a tone that made me think her comment was more meant for someone who wasn’t there. She had been like this for a while now, mostly since I moved back home. I mean she always has had a bite to her but the claws were typically more toned down in friendly company. 

“So you have anything new going on?” I query hoping she’d open up about whatever it was that was eating at her. 

“Other than all my friends abandoning me for babies and questionable relationships, not much.” 

I cringed, it was true that most of our social group we grew up with had settled down at this point. I had thought I would have been among them before back when Adam and i were together. To my annoyance when that fell apart Thea had been jubilant in our shared singlehood while I was nursing my misery. I know she didn’t want to be left alone but it’s not our fault she has such impossible standards. 

“I’m sorry.” I mumble softly after a brief silence like I was really to blame. "Life just kind of happens sometimes.” 

“You’re not wrong.” 

"Well I don't know then." She shrugged decidedly, "Hopefully he'll come out with it at some point. I doubt it's anything that bad, he seems like a pretty straight arrow." 

"That's not exactly true." I confessed feeling a pang of guilt shoot through me as I recalled the information I had recently dug up, "He's been arrested a few times. In most cases it was nothing more than simple acts of childish rebellion but there's a few oddities in there that worry me." 

Tabitha sat up with interest, she never could stray away from possible drama, "Wait, did you get Adam to do a background check on your baby daddy? That seems a little shady for you, what did he think about all this?" 

"No, of course not! How would I explain that to Bash if he ever found out? I looked things up myself, my ex and I did go through the same training you know. Most court records are public but several entries in his have been redacted so a lot of it doesn't make sense. Usually SEED is very particular about their paperwork so it's really eating at my curiosity. Anyway, I may just have to come clean and ask him about it. I feel really bad for snooping."

"So I hate to ask," a clever smirk slid across Tabitha's face as she sipped gingerly at her straw, "but is it possible he's seeing someone else? You know I told you that you should establish some official boundaries but you are just so stubbor-"

"He's not cheating on me Thea."  I replied flatly, I believed that much vehemently but I could tell he wasn't being forthcoming about something.

"Maybe he's just trying to find you a new place to live. Haven't you been nagging him about that? I would be if I was in your shoes given how close it is to your duedate." 

"I have but I doubt it, I told him specifically I wanted to see whatever place we got before we moved in. I had really no say when it came to Nowhere and while it was an interesting place the house was fairly rough construction. The idea of having a toddler there puts me off a bit, I would just worry about them constantly. Anyway I just want to have a look at things for my peace of mind."

Summer in the city, there was always a strange calm that settled into this town of temptation as the temperature reached unbearable heights. It's denizens knew well the desert ways and most would remain indoors until the first touches of twilight settled into the sky. On this day it was late afternoon and the familiar baking breeze sifted through the canyons of steel and rock as I found comfort for my needless worries in the company of my oldest companion.