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Post by Jessica Clarke on Nov 20, 2018 11:12:20 GMT -5
Being woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of a phone ringing was never a good thing, always sending forth a sense of fear that answering would bring bad news. And of course, having a son like Brendon, who even in his best moments was prone to doing stupid things, there was no shortage of ideas as to what might have happened when the phone rang late at night in the Clarke household. The one silver lining was that her first thought wasn't always automatically that he was at the hospital, because there was a similarly likely chance that he'd been arrested and needed bail. Tonight had been no exception as she'd been startled awake by a ringing sound, though seeing Brendon's name on the caller ID had reassured her that he must be okay if he was the one calling, and concern had quickly turned to annoyance when, upon answering, she'd found that he was somehow on his way to Paris. She'd walked out of the bedroom so not to bother Porter as she arranged what she could so that her idiot son wouldn't be stranded alone in a French train station at some ungodly hour, her call to Mel very apologetic as she asked her friend if she could by any chance pick him up and take him home for the night. With that settled, she'd shot a text to her son, not particularly wanting to have another conversation with him, and she'd headed back to the bedroom with a light sigh, putting her cell phone down as she got back into bed.
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Post by Porter Clarke on Nov 22, 2018 21:49:14 GMT -5
Porter had always been a light sleeper, waking up at the smallest sound. While the kids had been little it had meant that he was the first to awaken to their cries or to little ones standing next to the bed after a nightmare. These days, it didn't usually amount to much as he rarely had cause to wake up in the middle of the night because of his children. As it turned out though, there were still times where it would happen and as he heard Jess' phone ring and then his wife answer it. The way that she spoke let him know that no one was seriously injured which was a relief but he did find himself curious as to what was going on as Jess left the room. Was she going to pick up Brendon somewhere? It wouldn't surprise him if his son lost his wallet or something, but no, he heard Jess speaking on the phone as she went into the bathroom and heard the most of the story as Jess rehashed it to Mel - whom he was guessing was going to be the one to go and pick up his son given the fact that Jess had thanked her. As his wife got back into bed he turned to face her with a frown. "Jess, I'm worried about him," he told her.
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Post by Jessica Clarke on Nov 22, 2018 23:06:52 GMT -5
Jess knew she shouldn't have been surprised to find her husband awake once she returned to bed. Or well, that he hadn't turned and gone back to sleep after being awoken by the ringing phone. However, his words made it clear rather quickly that he had heard her conversation with Mel, in spite of the fact that she had gone out of the room to make the call. Giving a light sigh as she reached to lightly brush her hand against his cheek, leaning back against the headboard. "I mean, he's done no shortage of stupid things while sober," she pointed out, not wanting him to feel too strongly that Brendon's behavior was on him. Of course, there had been ample amount of studies done that showed that addiction was passed on through genes, but clearly, their son didn't entirely need alcohol to be crazy. However, it did take away a lot of his judgement, and she knew how Porter felt about it. "But maybe it would be a good thing for you to talk to him," she went on, knowing that the kind of conversation that should be had here wasn't one she could really take part in.
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Post by Porter Clarke on Dec 19, 2018 12:27:57 GMT -5
One of the things that Porter had always worried about as his kids got older was the fact that they could get addicted to drinking. His father had done it, he'd done it and he didn't want to pass that on.It hadn't seemed to be a problem for Eric, but Brendon did like to drink and he made awful decisions when he did so. It often sat ill with Porter when his middle child went out to drink but he tried not to read too much into it most of the time. His children wouldn't necessarily be him, but even as Jess pointed out that Brendon did stupid things when he was sober it didn't make him feel all that much better still. "I'm not even sure how to start that conversation," he frowned as she suggested that he could talk to him about it. Very few people knew about his own troubled past with drinking and that included his children. "I just." He sighed. "I know that he's taken the most from me in terms of his genetics and I don't want this to be one of those things." His middle child was the closest to him in terms of looks even if their personalities were nothing alike.
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Post by Jessica Clarke on Dec 19, 2018 12:43:17 GMT -5
Jess moved herself slightly so she could lean a bit into her husband, reaching to take his hand in hers and gently running her fingers along his skin. There were things about their past, respective and joint, that they'd always kinda felt were on a need to know basis with the kids. Obviously, there were some things that they knew. They knew that Porter's dad had passed away when he was little, and they had likely pieced together that his relationship with his mother was iffy, seeing as she lived so close by and yet they barely ever saw her. They also knew of his sister, but not of the exact circumstances surrounding her death, as those weren't details they needed to know. They knew Porter never drank, and maybe they had noticed that she only ever drank when he wasn't there, but they didn't know why. They may have guessed at it, they may have never put any thoughts into it, but ultimately, his problems with alcohol was not something their children had needed to know about. But now, it seemed that Brendon at the very least might need to know a little more about it. She didn't think their middle child had the same drunken tendencies as Porter had had, nor did he drink for the same reasons, but it was still possibly a dangerous path and it was better if he knew of it. "He doesn't need to know everything," she reminded him gently. "But if you're worried about him, I do think it's best you talk to him. Just tell him you know you can't handle alcohol, that your father couldn't, and that he needs to be careful with it because of that," she went on, pressing a soft kiss to his jaw.
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Post by Porter Clarke on Dec 28, 2018 11:45:01 GMT -5
The last thing that Porter wanted to do was actually explain the reasons why he'd decided that it was too much for him to drink to any of his children. He'd worked a lot on himself and on trying not to drown in guilt over what had happened so long ago, having even seen a therapist at one point - something that had been deeply uncomfortable for him but had been necessary after Eric had been born and the guilt of having a child that his sister would never see almost crushed him. Even now, waves of guilt could come upon him at times, making him feel as if he should not have survived. Jess helped with that, but still. Laying the whole story out again would be reopening all those wounds and even with the tools that he'd learned to better himself he wasn't sure how well he'd handle it. Unsurprisingly, Jess seemed to know that this was his worry as she mentioned that he didn't have to tell him everything. His arm wrapped around her, lightly rubbing her shoulder as she kissed his jaw. "I guess I'll have to hope that's enough for him to take it seriously," he replied, even though he wasn't too confident that it would be.
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Post by Jessica Clarke on Dec 28, 2018 12:02:40 GMT -5
Jess gave a light smile as Porter wrapped an arm around her and said he'd have to hope whatever he told Brendon would be enough for him to take it seriously, snuggling herself a bit closer to him. "I think if you take the time to talk about this with him, you, not me," she began, looking over at her husband. "He'll get an idea that it is something he should be taking seriously. Whatever happens, we can start there and adjust if need be," she went on, giving his hand a light squeeze. She knew why Porter was concerned about the possibility of their middle child not really putting too much weight into the idea that he should be careful with alcohol, but although Brendon had his tendencies and could be a bit of an idiot in certain situations, at the end of the day, he had a good head on his shoulders. It wasn't always easy to see, but when it mattered, he could do what he needed to do. "Come on, let's get whatever sleep we've got left to get," she told him with a light sigh. They both got up pretty early for work, and Brendon's call hadn't come at the best of times in that regard, but if they could get an extra hour it would at least be that. Settling herself back comfortably as she cuddled up to her husband, hoping he'd be able to let this go long enough to get a bit more rest before their wake up call.
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