Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jason stared at the glaring computer screen in front of him, heart sinking. Tomorrow’s date stared directly back at him, mocking his inability to write what he thought to be an incredibly pointless college admission essay. His intelligence was going to get him nowhere if he couldn’t write something, anything, to satisfy the essay requirement. He read each prompt for what felt like the millionth time, feeling utterly unprompted by any of them. Finally, a knock at his bedroom door shook him from his misery.

“Jason?” Mendel poked his head in as he opened the door. “Your mother’s got dinner ready, you’ve got to come be social for just a bit.” Jason sighed, his step-father just didn’t get it. He wanted to be social, really, he did. He would rather eat Cordelia’s latest concoction and watch his dad and Whizzer make doe eyes at each other all night than sit in his bedroom and write this stupid essay. “Jason? Dinner?”

“I’m not hungry,” he said reluctantly. He couldn’t eat dinner now, he was down to just hours left to write this monstrosity of an essay. However, the sound of his stomach growling betrayed his excuse.

“Yes I see, you’re “not hungry” in the sense that you’re actually starving. Interesting.” Mendel received a glare in return for his attempts to be funny. “Yeah yeah, I know, dad’s aren’t supposed to make jokes. Now what’s actually the problem?”

“Mendel you remember I haven’t been your patient for like seven years now right?” Mendel rolled his eyes, sitting down on Jason’s bed.

“I don’t have to be your psychiatrist for you to talk to me Jason. Why don’t you want to eat? I promise we’re not having the leftovers we took home from Charlotte and Cordelia’s.” A smile formed on Jason’s face, however, he soon looked down at his shoes, unknowingly biting his lip.

“If I talk to you, do you promise not to tell Mom? She’ll have a break down if she finds out.” Mendel let out a laugh at the thought of Trina breaking down at anything Jason could possibly tell her. By this point, nothing seemed to phase her.

“I promise I won’t tell your mother, now what’s up?” Jason found a nice book on the shelf to stare at as the words ran out of his mouth.

“So I’ve done everything for applying for college and everything and got all my recommendations and Dad tells me that I’m an absolute shoo-in for literally any school I want to go to, but the application is due tomorrow and I still have to write this stupid essay and I have absolutely no idea what to write about and the prompts aren’t helping and if I don’t write this thing then Dad’s going to disown me for not going to college and Mom will have to go see a new psychiatrist because her son is a failure.”  Mendel was pretty certain that Jason hadn’t paused to take a breath during his entire spiel and was now on the verge of hyperventilating.

“Jason,” he said soothingly, putting his hand on Jason’s shoulder, “deep breaths. No one’s yelling at you, no one’s --”

“Mendel I don’t have time for your weird therapy stuff right now! Every second I sit here is a second gone that I’m not writing this essay!”

“Okay, okay, calm down. Now, I know I went to college a long time ago, but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t changed that much.” Mendel stood up and moved in front of Jason. “Just write what you know kid, all they want to do is get to know you besides how good at math you are.”

Jason finally looked up at him, desperation showing in his eyes. “Just write what I know?”

“Exactly. I’ll go tell your mom some excuse as to why you’re not eating dinner.” He ruffled Jason’s hair before heading towards the door. “Maybe if I’m nice I’ll sneak you up some food later,” he teased, finally bringing a smile to Jason’s face. “Everything will be all right.”

The door clicked shut and Jason was once again left alone with the thoughts of his impending doom. He fell back onto his bed with a sigh, staring at the ceiling, willing it to give him some inspiration. Jason only noticed the amount of time that had passed when his bedroom had suddenly turned dark and he was forced to get  up and turn on his lamp. As the light flickered on, he paused to look at the corkboard above his desk, covered with overlapping pictures from throughout the years. Having a step-dad who was a photographer certainly had its advantages.

The first photo that caught Jason’s eye was from before he had hit his growth spurt, as he was standing on a stool next to the counter in Charlotte and Cordelia’s kitchen, face and hair completely covered in flour. A smile formed as he remembered accidentally pouring the whole bag of flour out onto the counter, and the poof of white that had encircled him.

“Ahh!” Cordelia screamed, causing Jason drop the empty flour bag.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know--” Jason expected Cordelia to never let him help her bake again, and they hadn’t even made cookies one time. However, much to his confusion, Cordelia had started laughing, almost hysterically.

“Oh sweetie, it’s fine, it’s just--” Cordelia could barely keep it together at this point. “You’re as white as sheet!” At the sound of Cordelia’s outburst and subsequent laughter, Marvin, Whizzer, and Charlotte had all entered the kitchen, concerned. Jason stood wide-eyed, still waiting for one of the adults to yell at him for making a mess. Instead, they too joined Cordelia in her laughter, and it was only when Charlotte had lifted him up to see his reflection in the window did he understand what had been so funny.

“Can I please clean up now?” Jason asked.

“Not until I get your picture!” Whizzer demanded, already running towards the door to go and get his camera. “We need photo evidence to show your future girlfriend someday!” Marvin’s face scrunched in disgust at the mention of Jason having a girlfriend, but moments later Whizzer had returned, camera in hand, ready to capture Jason’s current state…

After the flour incident Jason had always been mercilessly teased before going over to Charlotte and Cordelia’s to help bake anything. Despite the failed first attempt, some of Jason’s favorite memories of weekends spent at his dad’s were actually of him spending time at Charlotte and Cordelia’s, whether it was learning about different medical procedures or helping Cordelia perfect her new favorite recipe. The two were like his mothers away from home, and out of all his family, the only ones who had never missed a baseball game since he started playing. Jason let out an audible chuckle at the memory of Charlotte getting thrown out by the umpire at his first high school baseball game for “excessive harassment”.

He raised a hand to touch the photograph, eyes moving to the one next to it. The picture was not up to Whizzer’s photo quality standards to say the least, but there wasn’t much to be done about the poor lighting in the high school gymnasium. The memory associated with this picture made Jason’s insides squirm, still trying to get over what he thought was probably the most embarrassing moment of his life thus far, which was saying something considering who his parents were. Pictured were Jason and Heather Levin, his date to the Freshman Winter Dance, looking like what his mother had deemed was “the cutest couple ever”. The picture would have been great, one for the scrapbooks, except for the presence of Mendel awkwardly mid “sprinkler” behind them.

“Moooooommmm,” Jason whined, standing across the punch table from Trina. “Mendel is dancing! Not only is he dancing, he’s trying to talk to my friends, while dancing!” Jason pointed to Mendel performing the “shopping cart” while trying to strike up a conversation with some his friends from Chess Club.

“Honey he’s a chaperone for the dance and he was assigned to monitor everyone out on the dance floor, he’s just doing his job.” Jason huffed, eyes pleading with desperation for Trina to do something about her husband.

“Please Mom, I’m begging you. I’ll clean my room and do the dishes all week if you stop him before he starts trying to talk to anyone else, especially Heather.” At the thought of Jason’s room having the potential of being clean, Trina left another parent at the punch table and followed Jason over to where Mendel was now attempting to perform the “worm”. However before they reached the psychiatrist, Heather had appeared, bringing back cookies for her and Jason.

“Hi Mrs. Weisenbachfeld!” she said cheerily, handing Jason a cookie.

“Oh hi Heather,” said Trina, putting on her sweetest Mom-voice. “You look so beautiful sweetie! Here, let me get a picture of you and Jason.” Heather and Jason moved closer together as Trina pulled her camera out of her purse. “Alright, say ‘cutest couple ever’!” The two teenagers gave their best smiles, cringing as the flash went off. Before Jason had a chance to inspect the picture Trina had taken, he was met with  a knock to the back of the head, turning around to find his step-father doing the “sprinkler” as members of the baseball team stood around him.

“Hey Jason! How’s the dance going? I’m surprised you and Heather haven’t snuck off yet…” Jason stood wide-eyed, replays of what he had just witnessed on loop.

“I-uh-Bye!” Jason grabbed Heather’s hand, pulling her away from the most embarrassing people on the planet: his parents.

From that day forth Jason had instituted a “No Mendel at dances” policy that was strictly enforced. It was one thing when Mendel and his mom grossly danced together in the kitchen, that was somewhat acceptable, but what had happened at the Freshman Dance? Never again.

With a shudder, Jason’s eyes moved to the picture above, one of his dad and Whizzer standing on either side of him, baseball uniform covered in dirt, celebrating the final game of the previous season. He had stuck with the sport and with Whizzer’s assistance, and what Whizzer would also say was a large amount of patience, Jason had made the high school baseball team. The night pictured was one of the best of his life, and certainly one he wasn’t going to forget any time soon.

“Dad!” Jason shouted, running over to meet his family on the other side of fence near the bleachers. “Dad, Whizzer, we won!” Marvin’s eyes shone with pride as Jason climbed over the fence, in too much of a hurry to go around. “Did you see the homerun I hit?”

“Of course kid, how could we have missed it? Did you not hear Charlotte and Cordelia’s screams? Or Mendel almost breaking down the fence?” Marvin laughed as Jason still tried to process the fact that he had hit a homerun in the ninth inning, not only sealing the win for his team but also their place as top of their division.

“I told you if you kept your head in the box and your eye on the ball you could do it,” Whizzer said half sarcastically. Jason jokingly rolled his eyes at Whizzer before he was suddenly being pulled into a hug by Marvin.

“I am so proud of you kid,” he said, the sound of his voice muffled by Jason’s hair. “We both are.” Whizzer ruffled Jason’s curls as he pulled him away from Marvin, claiming a hug for himself.

“And without my teaching and endless words of advice, we wouldn’t be standing here Jason: Game-Winner.” Jason and Marvin both gave Whizzer identical looks, ones that could only come from being father and son, and it made his heart swell. “Oh I’m proud of you too,” he conceded. Soon the rest of Jason’s family had surrounded them and Trina insisted on taking a picture of Jason with Marvin and Whizzer, smiles wide and hearts full.

After the game Jason had been invited to a party at teammates house to celebrate the victory, but he couldn’t bring himself to skip his favorite family tradition of getting ice cream after a ball game. He politely declined, stating he had a big chemistry exam the next morning, before racing off and hopping in the back seat of his father’s car. As the three men ate their ice cream Marvin remarked, “I can’t believe we’ve only got one more year of watching you play baseball.”

“I thought you hated baseball though?” Marvin scoffed as Whizzer snorted.

“You think he actually hates baseball?” Whizzer asked incredulously. “With that thinking they might not even let you go to college.” The three of them laughed as the conversation silenced, each focused on the ice cream in hand.

Jason stared at the two men in the photograph smiling back at him, Marvin in the same red hoodie he bought a new version of every year, and Whizzer looking more stylish than them all even in jeans and Jason’s baseball team’s t-shirt. They were certainly older than in his previous baseball pictures, but just as happy to see their son play as ever. He now stood taller than his dad, though Whizzer still overshadowed them both. Of all the people he was going to miss when he left for college next year, his dad and Whizzer were the two he would certainly miss the most.

The photos from throughout the years stared back at Jason in turn, coaxing his memories of their events to the forefront of his mind. He sat and gave them each their due, even the more embarrassing pictures he didn’t want to think about.  It was only as his clock beeped to alert him that it was now midnight did Jason remember the real reason he was here; the essay.

Mendel had told him to write what he knew, and to be honest, he knew a lot of things. He knew how to beat his dad in every game of chess, he knew Hebrew prayers that hadn’t been uttered since his bar mitzvah, and he knew more about math and science than anyone ever seemed to want to hear about. Yet none of those things seemed to be monumental enough to get him into college. Jason sighed, once again feeling discouraged, until Mendel’s other words echoed in his mind: Everything will be alright.

As if a light bulb had gone off in his brain, Jason’s eyes flickered quickly between the computer screen and the pictures on his wall. What did he know? He knew he had a family. A big, messy, crazy family, who all seemed to love each other in their own unique way. But most importantly, who all loved Jason, and had become such an integral part of his life, he honestly couldn’t imagine it without them.  

Chapter Text

New photographs joined the ones that had inspired Jason all those months ago. Memories of his senior prom, his last baseball game, and his high school graduation were all captured on the corkboard, though the one that had currently caught Jason’s eye was of him sitting at the kitchen table, acceptance letter to MIT in hand, and a look of complete shock and elation across his face. Tomorrow. Tomorrow was the day he would finally be off to college, leaving his family, and favorite chess set, behind.

As he looked around his bedroom, Jason noticed how barren it was now that most of his things had already been packed away, ready to leave in the morning. The thought that he wouldn’t be back here for at least three months was somewhat hard to grasp, never having been away for that long. Jason just hoped his mom and Mendel didn’t mess up any of his remaining things.

“Jason, it’s time to go!” Mendel’s call from downstairs tore Jason from his reminiscing. With one last look around the room he quickly grabbed the stack of envelopes from his desk and rumbled down the stairs, meeting Trina and Mendel in the kitchen.

“Are you ready?” Trina asked him as she gathered up her purse.

“Yeah, I think so.” The three got into the car and Mendel drove the familiar route to Marvin and Whizzer’s apartment. For once, Jason took note of the buildings they passed on the way: the candy store Whizzer always took him to when he needed cheering up, the comic book store he and Marvin visited almost every Saturday, and the diner he had gone to on his first date. He knew he would be back soon, but over the past few months everything had had such a finality to it. Before he knew it they had found a parking space, with Mendel only hitting the curb a few times, and Jason hopped out of the car, holding the stack of envelopes he had grabbed from his bedroom under his shirt so no one else saw.

“Hey kid!” Marvin exclaimed with a large smile on his face, whipping the door open before Jason even had a chance to reach for the doorknob. Jason was immediately engulfed in a crushing hug from his father, which would usually have been met with much protestation, but when met with what Jason always associated with home (the smell of coffee, his dad’s laundry detergent, and a faint whiff of Whizzer’s hair products), he returned the hug with more force than he probably had in years.

“Hey Dad,” he smiled back as Marvin released him. “Miss me already?” Marvin gave him a look, half disapproving of Jason’s sass and half appreciating it at the same time.

“I should ask you the same,” Marvin replied, a glint in his eye. “Come on in, all of you, Cordelia’s just finishing up dinner.” He waved them in and Jason kicked off his shoes haphazardly by the door, earning him a glare from Trina, heading towards the kitchen, but taking a detour to drop the pile of envelopes off in his bedroom.

“Hey Jason!” Whizzer greeted as he closed the refrigerator door. “Charlotte and Cordelia are bringing food over in a few minutes. You want something to drink?” Jason nodded and was soon handed a glass of water. He could hear Trina and Marvin in the other room discussing (to anyone else it would seem like arguing, but Jason knew that this was nothing) the trip to Boston tomorrow.

“I don’t know how they’ll survive without me to argue over,” Jason remarked. Whizzer snorted mid-sip.

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll have plenty of things to argue about after you leave. Who’s heard from you more, where you’ll go for Thanksgiving, how your grades are; all the stuff they argue about already, you just won’t be around to hear it,” he smirked.

“Ugh, my condolences,” Jason sighed. He and Whizzer shared a laugh and sipped their drinks in a comfortable silence. Jason looked at the one member of his family whom he hadn’t outgrown, the one who had always been the closest to a friend, and appreciated the role Whizzer had played in Jason’s life. Always his confidante, Jason had no reservations about expressing his concerns to Whizzer. “Whizzer, can I ask you to do something for me?”

Concern flickered in Whizzer’s eyes. “Of course Jason, what’s up?” Jason swallowed nervously.

“Can you, um… Can you make sure Dad’s alright after I leave? He was a mess when you left before and, and I’m just worried about him.” Jason avoided making eye contact with Whizzer; they almost never talked about those two years before the baseball game. However, Whizzer’s face softened and he relaxed visibly, as if he had been prepared for a different request.

“Come here kid,” he said, opening his arms. Jason shuffled the few steps over to his stepfather, finally releasing the breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding when Whizzer hugged him. “I promise I’ll take good care of your dad when you’re gone.” Unbeknownst to Jason, Marvin had appeared in the kitchen doorway, smiling softly at the sight before him, before making eye contact with Whizzer. “Though no promises on keeping him from calling you every day,” he smirked knowingly at Marvin.

“Thanks Whizzer,” Jason laughed, letting go and turning to grab his drink. “Dad!” he exclaimed, surprised.

“I’m not going to call you every day,” said Marvin, “just most of them.”

“ Dad .”

Marvin smiled. “I’m just kidding. I think Charlotte and Cordelia are here, why don’t you go help them bring in the food?” Jason left the room, leaving Marvin and Whizzer in the empty kitchen.

“He’s worried about you,” Whizzer explained, wrapping his arms around Marvin’s waist, pulling him close. Marvin smiled, placing his arms on either side of Whizzer’s neck.

“I appreciate his concern,” Marvin said lowly. “But I’ll be okay. I’ve got you.” He smiled suggestively, bringing his lips millimeters from his husband’s. He went to close the distance, but Whizzer had moved his head, letting go of Marvin.

“Oh my god, I am not going to miss this,” Jason groaned from the doorway, carrying in a tray of food. Charlotte and Cordelia followed in behind Jason, setting their own trays on the counter.

“You two aren’t grossing him out again are you?” Cordelia asked, teasingly.

“No, we were only discussing our plans for after Jason is at school,” replied Marvin. Jason made a sound of disgust, quickly exiting the room and leaving the four adults chuckling.

Soon enough the food was on the table and the seven of them were seated slightly uncomfortably around the small table, knees and elbows knocking, but nonetheless enjoying one last meal together before Jason left, and celebrating his accomplishments. Throughout dinner Jason observed his family, confirming what he had written all those months ago.

As Cordelia brought out dessert, she quickly announced, “Oh, I almost forgot, I’ll be right back!” She returned with two gift bags in hand, which was a signal for Mendel to run to the car and Whizzer to the bedroom, returning with gift bags as well.

“What’s this?” Jason asked, confused.

“Well it was my idea initially,” Whizzer replied, “but we all wanted to give you a little parting gift before you left for school.” Jason’s eyes lit up at the idea of presents.

“You guys didn’t have to do this,” he stammered.

“We wanted to,” Charlotte retorted, handing Jason his first gift. “So just open it,” she smiled. Jason removed the tissue paper and pulled out a small basket filled with a first aid kit, multiple bottles of over the counter medicine, and something labelled Dr. Charlotte’s Hangover Cure .

“Thank you!” Jason exclaimed as he examined the contents of the basket further. He held up the mysterious bottle and gave Charlotte a questioning look.

“Just trust me on that one,” she winked, causing the rest of the adults to laugh knowingly. Cordelia’s gift came next, containing a cookbook titled 101 Ways to Cook Ramen , and a few basic kitchen wares.

“For when you realize the dining hall food sucks,” she said, “and that it will never be as good as mine.” Again, the other adults at the table laughed knowingly, though whether that was about the poor quality of dining hall food or the possibility of Cordelia’s food being better, Jason didn’t know.

Next came the gift from Trina, which included an overabundance of probably unneeded school supplies, such as sticky notes, paperclips, and colored pencils. “Thanks Mom,” Jason said, feigning gratitude while thinking of all the school supplies he had already got and how he wouldn’t use three-quarters of the contents of the bag.

“You can never be too prepared,” Trina smiled genuinely.

With a cough Mendel handed Jason another gift bag that he almost dropped upon receiving it. “What’s in here, rocks?” Jason asked.

“Just open it,” Mendel chuckled. One after one Jason pulled different books from the bag including: The Naked Roommate - How to Deal with Your Roommate’s Wacky Habits , It’s Like You’re Married - How to Settle Disputes with Your College Roommate , and Your Roommate’s a Vegan and other Differences You’ll Encounter in College, among others.

“Um, thank you Mendel. I think my roommate and I will get along just fine though. Alex seems like a cool guy, though he is a Red Sox fan.” Mendel shook his head, smiling.

“But, you won’t have your cool psychiatrist step-dad to help you solve your inter-personal problems, will you now?” Jason laughed, shaking his head in agreement.

“I suppose you’re right.” It was now Whizzer’s turn to give Jason his gift, and he was particularly looking forward to this one. Whizzer prided himself on his gift-giving abilities, always in charge of all the holiday and birthday gift shopping, and was thankfully nice enough to slap Marvin’s name on the “From” sticker along with his own.

“I put a lot of thought into this,” Whizzer  said, giving the same statement he always prefaced gifts with. From the bag Jason pulled out a large plastic object which looked like an oversized toy camera.

“What is it?” he asked innocently. Whizzer gasped as if Jason had just said he thought ponchos were fashionable.

“What is it? Jason, it’s a camera! Are you sure MIT let you in?” Cordelia and Mendel snorted while Marvin patted Whizzer’s back, muttering something to the effect of “calm down babe, he’s too young to know”.  Recovered from his initial shock, Whizzer continued: “It’s a Polaroid camera. This was the first type of camera I had when I was your age. My entire college experience was documented on one of those… Now yours can be too.”

Jason had always admired Whizzer’s photography, and now to be given something that Whizzer himself had used meant the world to Jason. “Wow Whizzer, I, thank you,” Jason stammered. “Will you show me how it works?” While Whizzer showed Jason how the film worked, Marvin silently left the table, returning a few minutes later. The table quieted as Marvin retook his seat, the others realizing he had yet to give Jason his gift.

“Just a warning kid, I had no hand in this. I have no idea what he’s got for you. It could be a box of condoms and we’ll all have to witness that awkward father-son talk for all I know,” Whizzer said dramatically.

“I’m not even thinking about that” Marvin grimaced. Jason watched his father next to him twiddle his fingers in what seemed like nervousness, a state Jason was unaccustomed to seeing him in. “I guess it’s just me left then,” he said, breathing deep. “I’m going to be honest with you Jason, I couldn’t think of anything to give you to help improve your college experience. I’d, I’d like to think I’ve been giving you those things your whole life, and you’ve turned out to be a much better man than I could’ve ever imagined.

“But, I still wanted to give you a gift of some sort,” he said, picking up a box from off the floor. “This has been sitting on my dresser for the past five years, but I think it’s time you had it now. It’s my thank you to you, Jason.” Marvin handed Jason the box, and Jason swore he caught his father’s hand shaking. He cautiously removed the box’s lid to reveal an old baseball within. Jason examined the red stitches frayed and faded, and the green, grass-stained streaks across the now off-white face. He stared curiously at the ball, wondering what significance it could hold, what would make his dad keep this dirty old ball around for all these years.

“If you don’t like it I--”

“I, I just don’t understand,” Jason explained, looking to his father for answers.

Marvin swallowed, looking down at his feet. “This baseball changed my life,” he explained, though Jason still didn’t understand. “This was the first homerun you ever hit. I went and found it after the game was over.” It was at this moment that Whizzer realized the true significance of the ball, a loving smile coming across his face. “I want to thank you for being yourself and inviting Whizzer to come to your game that day.”

Jason’s eyes lit up as the pieces finally came together. This was the ball he hit at that game so long ago, that game where he had plucked up the courage to find Whizzer’s phone number and invite him to see his game, under the false pretense of needing some expert baseball advice. Okay, he did actually need that, but that was not his real reason for inviting him .

“With this baseball you gave me the family I’ve always wanted, kid, and there’s no way for me to properly thank you for that,” Marvin rubbed his eyes in an attempt to hide the tears that had started to form, “but I hope this is enough. It’s yours now, I want you to have it.” Marvin let out an oof as he was almost tackled by the seventeen-year old.

“I love it,” Jason muffled into Marvin’s shoulder. “I’m going to take it to school with me and put it on my desk right next to our baseball picture.” Marvin returned the hug with force.

“I’m going to miss you kid. I love you.” Jason squeezed him harder.

“Don’t squeeze too hard, you might break the old man,” Whizzer commented next to them.

The air around the table lifted with Trina reminding Jason that, “You can always tell him you take ‘thank you’s’ in the form of cash or check too, you know..” Jason laughed and looked knowingly at his father.

“Yeah I suppose I can give you something like that too,” he conceded, smiling. It was only after dessert had been cleaned off the table that Jason remembered the pile of envelopes sitting in his room. He quickly grabbed them and returned to the living room where the others were lounging after dinner.

“Thank you, again, for all the stuff you guys have given me. I really appreciate it and it was all really thoughtful of you. But, I also have to say thank you for something else.” The six adults all gave Jason various looks as he started passing out personalized enveloped to each of them. “You see, I really wouldn’t have gotten into college without you. I um, had to write an admissions essay, only I kinda waited until the last minute because I couldn’t think of anything to write. But then Mendel, in all his words of wisdom, told me that all the admissions people wanted was to get to know me besides my grades and test scores. What made me, me. And I came to the conclusion that who I am is a result of all of you. So thanks for being my inspiration.”

Prompt: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

“A Tight-Knit Family” or “How Three Moms and Three Dads Taught Me Everything Will Be Alright”

A wise man once told me that “everyone hates their parents; that’s how it is.” I certainly see this statement exemplified in a lot of my peers, and I used to believe I firmly fell into “parents-hating” category as well, especially because I’ve got six of them. Crazy right?  That’s like, three times the normal amount of nagging, intrusiveness, and embarrassment that most teenagers have to deal with. But then, as I stared at my computer screen, desperately searching for something to write about, I happened upon the cork board hanging on the wall above my desk, absolutely covered with pictures of myself and my family throughout the years. It was at this moment that I realized that yeah, having six parental figures isn’t always the easiest, but these men and women have built me, and looking in the mirror, I can find so many pieces of themselves in me.

First are my godparents, Charlotte (excuse me, Dr. Charlotte) and Cordelia. Looking at myself, I see my love of math and science firmly planted in Charlotte fueling my curiosity and always telling me about her days at the hospital. On days spent at their apartment, we would always do science experiments and Charlotte has taught me everything I need to know about first aid, hence why I’m always the one in my friend group who’s prepared with bandaids and Tylenol. As for Cordelia, let me just say, she’s the reason everyone always asks me to make all the treats for the baseball team’s annual bake sale. Not only can I now impress any girl with my baking skills, but I’ve also found a hobby that I love, and also produces delicious cookies..

Next are my mother Trina and step-father Mendel. My mom is obviously part of the reason I’m here, but through the years, she’s taught me so much about raising a family. I realize now I wasn’t the easiest child to raise, yet she took it like a pro, and after everything she’s dealt with from my dad and I, she’s the strongest, most resilient woman I know. I like to believe she’s where I get my ability to stay strong and push through, even when times are tough. Mendel however, well, he’s the wise man I referenced earlier. Ever the kooky psychiatrist, he’s taught me to always look at a situation from all angles, and how everyone is fighting their own battles. I truly think I’m a better person because of his endless words of advice, even though they’re usually filled with bad “dad-jokes”.

Finally are my step-dad Whizzer and my dad Marvin. Where do I even start with Whizzer? He is someone who exemplifies not being afraid to be yourself, that’s for sure, and he’s instilled that in me for years. Whizzer is the one person who I’ve always been able to tell anything to, judgment free. He’s helped me become for others the person he’s always been for me. And then there’s my dad. When I look in the mirror he’s who I see staring back at me, only slightly taller and a lot younger. Whizzer always comments about how we have the same mannerisms and if upset I can give him a look eerily similar to my dad’s own. He inspired my love of baseball, even if he falsely claims to hate it himself, and I have so many years of good memories of baseball games thanks to him. I only hope someday that I find someone that looks at me the same way my dad and Whizzer look at each other, with so much love it’s almost sickening. They both have given me the confidence that I will.

My dad has always been infatuated with the notion of a “tight-knit family”, and I honestly don’t know what I would do without the one I’m surrounded by. These people have raised me with so much love, looking at them, I understand myself so much more. Out of everything I’ve gained, I believe the most important is something that’s become a bit of a catch-phrase around my family: “Everything will be alright.” Even though I’m heading off into the great unknown, I know that with the love of my family, everything really will be alright.

Jason stood in waiting, hands in his pockets as the six most important people in his life opened the envelopes and pulled out the paper from inside. He watched their eyes light up as they read the title, and observed the looks of love form on their face as they read the words in front of them. Cordelia grabbed Charlotte’s arm tightly as Charlotte covered her mouth with her hand. Across the room Mendel had put his arm around Trina, pulling her closer. Marvin and Whizzer looked at each other, smiling like they had just won the lottery.

Finally, Marvin looked up and made eye contact with Jason, eyes red around the edges. Not breaking the silence in the room, he motioned to Jason to join he and Whizzer on the couch. Jason plopped himself down in his usual spot in the middle, worn from too many movie nights. He was going to miss them all so much, this tight-knit group of people he had spent so much of his life with.

One more night: he had to make the most of it. Jason elbowed Marvin’s side, getting his attention. “One last Star Wars movie night before I leave?” he asked. Marvin smiled wide, surprised.

“I’d love that, kid.”