"Don't you think he looks kind of familiar?" Avery asked uneasily as they continued gazing upon the spectacle that unfolded before their eyes. He was shocked and couldn't surmise what Jayden could be thinking or feeling right now. He was beginning to regret his decision to help his best friend find his father. In his wildest imagination Avery could have never seen this one coming. He never would have thought- no it never occurred to him that Jayden's father could be someone that they see every day during the summer time while working the rush hour commuter traffic at the train station. It never occurred to him that his father could be so close yet so far away. How could this have happened? How could Jayden's father be one of their regular rush hour customers from the train station? How could this be possible?
Mr. Ellis seemed more than happy as he and his family pranced around- posing this way and that to setup for the perfect shot of their family portraits. Jayden examined each one of them carefully. He supposed that the woman would be his "stepmom" if he and his father had had any kind of relationship and those two teens would be his step- brother and sister; remembering his mother telling him long ago that his father had married a woman with two kids of her own. They seemed really happy he thought. They looked like one big happy family- The Brady Bunch came to mind minus some of the kids. His father didn't seem to mind not knowing or seeing him- his own flesh and blood. As a matter of fact he didn't seem to be missing a thing from his life; it looked complete from Jayden's perspective. Maybe his new family gave him what he couldn't- but what was that he wondered again.
"Hey Avery?" Jayden whispered behind the crop of hedges that surrounded Jacob's expansive property. He was mortified beyond words. He was shock that he could still form coherent sentences after witnessing this shocking scene.
"What?" Avery whispered back.
"How come men take care of some kids but not others?" Jayden asked as he gazed upon the happy and festive day for his father's family.
Pause.
"Don't know man." Avery answered back feeling awkward at the situation.
Pause.
"Hey Avery?" Jayden wanted to blink but couldn't. He was afraid that if he blinked it would all disappear within a blink of an eyelash; therefore he avoided blinking only staring at the man whom he knew as Mr. Ellis from the morning and evening rush hours.