Post by Lancewing on May 17, 2014 0:16:01 GMT -5
Family History
“Alright class, everyone quiet down,” Miss Hackney said trying to get her students to settle down. As a result, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her ready for what she was about to say. “Thank you. Now, today will be talking about family history. Does anyone here know anything about their own family history?"
Melody raised her hoof.
“Melody?”
“Well, my mom and dad met when they were seniors in high school and had my older brother before they got married.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What? It happened. Anyway, my mom was a cheerleader and my dad was a linebacker for the football team. It wasn’t until about five years later that they had me.”
“So why don’t we see your father and brother now?” Starlight asked.
“Because they divorced when my mom was pregnant with the twins. My dad had custody of my brother.”
"Oh...do you ever see them?" Sweetheart asked.
“Oh yes, they do drop by every now and then, they’re just not married anymore.”
“And now her mother’s dating my dad,” Bright Eyes commented.
The whole class "ooh"-ed while Melody shot Bright Eyes a look.
“What? They could end up marrying if things work out.”
A shiver went through Melody's spine, it was still hard getting used to the fact her mom was dating, not to mention dating one of her friend's dad.
Patch, meanwhile, was barely listening. Right now, she was thinking about her own family, or rather her adopted family. She had known her adopted family her whole life, she couldn't really remember her actual parents. At one point, they thought she finally found her birth parents, royalty to boot, but it turned out that an old friend of hers was their child. There were no hard feelings between them, in fact they still write to each other, but that still leaves Patch with just as many questions as she had before.
“Patch?” Miss Hackney’s voice broke her from her thoughts.
"Huh?"
“Is there something about your family history you’d like to share?”
“Oh. Um… No, not really.”
“Nothing at all?”
She shook her head.
“I see…” She turned to Bon Bon. “What about you, Bon Bon?”
“Well, both of my parents come from large families.”
“Well that explains a lot,” Starlight said.
“Huh?” Bon Bon asked.
“Well, your parents come from big families, and you have a big family.”
“Oh...guess it does…”
Everyone laughed.
“Alright class, settle down,” Miss Hackney said. “Anyone else?”
It was Lancer’s turn. “My father started on a farm before he learned how to create computers. After that, he made a business out of his hobby. My mother was already born into a wealthy family, but didn’t discover her talent for fashion until she was sixteen. Like my father, she opened her own company. The two met, married, and had me. And as she announced at the fashion show, she’s going to have another baby.”
“Oh...congratulations on being a soon-to-be big brother.” Miss Hackney smiled at Lancer.
“Thanks…”
Patch walked into her home. “Hi honey,” Her foster-mom greeted. “How was your day?”
“It was okay.”
“Oh...just okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh...did something happen?”
“We were talking about family history.”
“Ah…”
“Do you happen to know what my birth parents were like?”
“Well...If I remember correctly...they seemed like a nice couple...they just hit hard times and weren’t able to take care of you anymore.”
“Oh.”
“In fact… Let’s continue this conversation when your father gets here.”
“Okay… I have homework to do anyway.”
“Alright. Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay.”
Patch went into her room and closed the door behind her.
Patch has been working on her homework for a little over an hour. She was almost finished when she heard a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Patch said while writing the answer to her final math problem.
Her foster mother entered, holding something in her hoof. "Hey...I found something that I thought you should see."
Patch turned to look at her foster mother and noticed the photo. "A picture?"
“Not just any picture. Take a good look.” She handed the photo to Patch.
Patch studied the photo carefully. She saw two ponies cuddling with a baby wrapped in a blanket. There was no doubt in her mind that that baby was her, but the two ponies in the photo did not match her foster parents. The mare had Patch’s pink mane red fur with a soccer ball as a cutie mark. The stallion had peach fur with a green mane and a paper airplane as his cutie mark. "Are these my parents?"
She nodded. “Those are your birth parents.”
“Wow… Where did you find this?”
“I was going through some old albums when I found the photo behind one of the others. It must have slipped.”
She continued to look at it, but when she held it at the right light, she saw that there was something written on the back. She turned it around and saw that there was a note written on it. She read out loud,
Patch, our sweet daughter,
Your father and I hoped that we would be able to have this talk with you personally, but if you are reading this now, then I guess you are entitled to some sort of information. I know I can’t give you every detail about us, but know that we gave you up because we loved you too much to have to go through what we were going through at the time. I hope one day that we would be able to meet again. But there are some questions that we can answer for the moment. Your father was rather infamous prankster among his friends (often known as the class clown), and I, your mother, am a strong athlete that would overcome any obstacle that would stand in my way and succeed at the top of my class.
Patch paused for a moment and let that last part sink into her head. She thought, ‘Now that explains a lot,’ before continuing. not knowing that tears had been forming in her eyes he more she read it.
We married about a few months when we graduated from Colten High School and had you about thirteen months later. We thought we would have been able to handle raising you, but fate had other plans. Debt had been piling up between doctors visits, utilities, and a break-in that included some sentimental items. Little did we know that all three of those incidents would rob us of the ability to raise you. When you were five months old, we gave you up hoping you would be able to find a better home. It wasn't because we didn't love you, we did it because we love you, and we are so, so sorry if you ever felt like we didn't. We hope that you would be able to forgive us. If you want to meet us, we would be more than happy to see you once again. Until then, we wish you the best.
With unfathomable love,
Your biological mother
Patch dropped the photo as she began crying. Her foster mother started to get worried. She asked, “Patch? Are you okay?”
"I-I don't know..." Patch managed through tears
“I knew it, I probably shouldn’t have shown you. It just too soon.”
"No, I was going to find out sooner or later. Might as well get it over with, right?”
"I suppose... Do you want to be left alone?"
She shook her head. Without warning, Patch hugged her foster mother. Her foster mother was surprised at first, but hugged Patch back. “I love you, Mom.”
"I love you, too."
“Thank you for taking me in.”
"Thank you for letting us."
Patch showed the photo to her friends and read the message that was on the back on the way to school. Needless to say, none of Patch's friends were left with dry eyes by the time she finished. Sweetheart especially was crying. And who could blame her? Who could blame all of them? Words could be written on a sheet of paper and read, but it was the message behind them that set everyone off.
Bright Eyes, on the other hoof, was able to sympathise with Patch. Before Bright Eyes’s mother had died, her mom had left her a note. Not only that, but her father nearly lost everything trying to support her. If things didn’t work out, she would have been in Patch’s position. Perhaps be taken in by a distant relative or maybe even a stranger.
Lancer, meanwhile, had shared a similar experience.While he had his parents, they were hardly around. True, Bright Eyes was able to help him sort things out, but in a way, he felt like an orphan. But it was starting to feel less that way, what with his mom staying home more for the new foal.
Even Melody could partially relate, since her parents divorce. At times it even felt like her own fault they had split up. She felt pretty alone.
“So yeah, that’s pretty much the whole story,” Patch said.
Her friends couldn’t say anything, they were too upset. Sweetheart, meanwhile, was still crying.
“What’s everybody cryin’ about?” Teddy asked.
Everyone looked at him.
“I was just showing everyone a picture of my birth parents.” Patch explained.
“Your birth parents?”
“Yeah… I live with foster parents.”
“You never told me that.”
“Well, if you’d stop trying to give us a hard time, you would have,” Starlight pointed out.
“Hey!”
“Starlight,” Sweetheart said through tears, “He’s really, truly changed.”
“Sweetheart’s right. Ever since Flare returned, he’s practically stopped entirely,” Bright Eyes added.
“So yeah, I have changed,” Teddy said.
Starlight rolled her eyes.
“Well...I was just gonna tell you school’s almost starting.” Teddy explained.
“Wait, what?” Bright Eyes asked.
“Yeah, school’s starting in five minutes.”
Everyone looked at each other and darted off.
Everypony rushed to their seats and quickly sat down. But they all quickly noticed- “Where’s everyone else?” Starlight asked.
Teddy slowly walked in, a big grin on his face. “I-I’m sorry...but I couldn’t resist. It’s Saturday by the way.”
“You tricked us?!” Bon Bon asked.
“Uh...w-well…” Teddy swallowed hard.
Miss Hackney walked in with some paperwork when she noticed her students, or rather a small group of them, in their seats. She asked, “What are you all doing here?”
“Teddy made us think we had school today,” Melody answered.
“Then why were you walking to school before I got there?” Teddy questioned.
Bright Eyes glared at Teddy. “Why were you going to school?”
“Because I had to see the looks on your faces.”
“Uh-huh...what about Flare?”
“She’s homeschooled. You know that.”
“But won’t she miss you?”
“Oh, uh…”
To be continued...
