Power Games

I sit there really nervously because I have no idea what is going to happen and I know there is plenty of resentment right now towards anybody in my family from Danny and I’m not sure how Adam is particularly feeling right now either.

“There are two boys out there haven’t done anything to deserve this situation that they are in and we need to rectify it immediately; So this afternoon Danny will take the boys home because they can’t be missing school for all this alright and they need to be somewhere safe and comfortable” Dad is definitely taking control of the situation as Brendan shakes his head looking at Tash not happy with what Dad is suggesting.

“The other thing is that Tash and Danny need to have a conversation between just the two of them about their relationship because NOBODY in this room should have a say in that other than Tash and Danny and if you want to do that here in one of the rooms, we have then that is absolutely fine” Dad suggests so that they can talk about their issues in private.

“This goes to Brendan and Isaac in particular, you need to put your squabbling behind you for the sake of everybody in this room and the boys outside,” he says looking at us both as the others sit rather awkwardly as Brendan and I get told off for our behaviour which is fair enough.

“You two are never going to be the best of friends anymore but Brendan you need to let Isaac live the life that he wants to and whether you support that or not it’s not up to you because it’s Isaac’s decision and you need to let him do that,” he says to Brendan who begrudgingly nods before my father looks at me.

“Isaac, you need to realise that you will always be under extra scrutiny because you’re a Keppel and your past actions are always going to follow you around and you need to accept that every now and then we will check to see if you’re doing alright which I know you will be appreciative” I sit there nodding knowing deep down that I won’t ever fully be able to just live under the radar which I would like but also I appreciate my family checking in with me especially now that our relationship is building back up.

“Danny, Mitch and Adam, was it? I could see how much Isaac idolised you as a friend when I visited the mine Danny and seeing you here, I can see why” Dad says looking at each one “Mitch, you came with Isaac when really you didn’t need to come all this way and I can see that you bring out the best in him and Adam, I appreciate you coming down here for this and Isaac and Mitch speak of you highly” my father says as Adam smiles as well.

After a few minutes of Dad talking Danny and Tash go upstairs as Brendan slinks out the front feeling defeat. Adam sits there and looks at us “So how long have you two been here for before you called me?” sitting there we look, “Honestly, since yesterday afternoon I needed to speak to my father about Brendan trying to sell my house and Mitch came with me because I needed a lawyer with me to get the paperwork for my father to sign so that he couldn’t sell the house” we sit there as Adam nods.

“I would have told you but I know that you would have talked me out of it with everything that is going on,” I say as I look across at him apologetic about not telling him that I came up here and then still feeling the blame for everything that happened. “Look I’m sorry for all of this, if I hadn’t come to Yellow Peak and then handled the situation better and not given my brother his ultimatum then we wouldn’t have been in this issue”.

Adam sits there for a minute “You’re right, we wouldn’t have been in this issue BUT for all the drama that it has caused, it has actually meant that the situation between Tash and Danny can be sorted because this has been going on for a lot longer than what you have been in town for” he says looking at me.

“We love you, Isaac, you’re a troubled kid we get that from a different background to all of us but you made no song and dance about who you are and where you came from, you worked hard and earnt the respect of just about everybody in town,” Adam says looking at me “Hell you even got Danny to like a Keppel and the fact that you got your father involved to look for Tash and the boys means heaps to him and he will never admit that but he’s appreciating this immensely”.

Dad wanders in “Why don’t you show Adam around the estate?” he says as he sits down on the couch feeling exhausted and I can see that he is mentally drained by the past few days. “Are you ok Dad? You look pretty average with all due respect” I say as he sits there rubbing his face.

“Yeah I’m ok just been exhausted and frustrated with this whole situation with everybody but thankfully it’s close to being resolved now so I’ll be glad when it's done” wandering over I give him a hug “I love you Dad and hope we can rebuild our relationship”. He smiles as I say that and nods “I think we’re well on the path of that” as he again suggests showing Adam around the estate.

I show Adam around taking him outside as the boys are out there “Hey boys” I say as they turn around “Uncle Sac” they both say as I smile still weird hearing them call me but loving it. I notice Brendan sitting not too far away outside as he looks across and sees the boys happy to see me.

Sitting there I notice he has a slight smile on his face but I ignore him as we check in with the boys before we go walking around and I take Adam down to the birdhouses. “This is where I used to go when I was a kid to be with my grandparents, this is where my woodworking talent comes from,” I say showing them off to Adam and Mitch.

“You’ve never said what happened to your grandparents if you don’t mind me asking?” Mitch says as I show them another spot that I used to spend my time with my grandparents. “They were visiting some old friends of there’s up in the mountains and as they were driving home, a truck driver had a blackout and unfortunately crashed into my grandparents' car and they didn’t survive,” I say sitting there crying.

Adam puts his arm around me “I had no idea about that, I know you were close to them” he says as I sit there and nod. “Yeah they were my escape from everything, my Grandparents were the most amazing people and when I lost them I lost my sense of balance and purpose because I could never talk to anybody without stress like I could for them,” I say sitting there trying not to get upset but I can’t help it because they were the closest people that I could talk to any always give me a non-political answer.

Walking around the rest of the estate takes about 45 minutes, showing Adam around the estate and the various pockets of things including the cottage which was my grandparents’ house. Mitch smirks as we go inside and sees the unmade bed that we fucked on last night but we don’t tell him, Adam, that part of the cottage’s history.

Heading back up to the house, “So I probably should tell you about what my plans are for the future” I say as we walk towards the house. Adam looks across at me “You’re staying here aren’t you?” he says almost looking annoyed at me before I have even explained what is going to happen.

“No, I am staying in Yellow Peak but when the new College Semester starts I will be going back to College here in Grantham,” I say looking across at him and Mitch who both nod. “I will still be predominantly living in Yellow Peak but depending on the College schedule there will be times where I come back and stay here at the estate if I either have an early start or a late finish”.

Adam looks a bit better as I explain what is going to happen “The other major factor that I haven’t told either of you or anyone yet is that for my remaining College time, my father has agreed to change my major given that I had only just started so I am going to be majoring in Law”.

Mitch shakes his head and laughs “Why would you be doing that?” he says treating me like an idiot “Because honestly, I’ve seen you at work and you need somebody else there and I don’t want to be a lawyer like my brother, I want to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves which is something that my Grandparents taught me and that I believe in” I say as Mitch smiles reflecting back on what my father had to say about me donating money to the Basketball Centre.

Adam smiles and looks and pats me on the back “I’m proud of you Isaac, you’re proving yourself to be an excellent person and I know that we’ve all judged you but I think you’ve proven that you’re a really good person at heart” he says as Mitch agrees with him.

Heading back to the house we get up there as Danny is sitting outside with the boys, playing with them as we get up there. “Hey, how is everything?” Mitch asks as we head up there and he looks pretty bothered by this all.  “Not too bad considering, why don’t you go inside boys Mrs Keppel has ice cream for you” the boys go inside as my mother takes them into the kitchen with some Ice Cream she went out and got.

Danny doesn’t look at me as he talks about what happened “Tash and I are over obviously, I told her that I couldn’t have her back after so many years of lying to me and the mistrust that would be between us” he says as Adam sits next to him patting him on the back.

“What about the boys?” Adam sits there as he pats Danny on the back “They will be coming back to Yellow Peak with me and living with me for the foreseeable future until we come up with a proper agreement in the divorce”. I stand there and look at Danny “Well we will all be here for you to look after the boys and babysit when we need to” he looks at me with a smile.

I know that there will be some trust that needs to be rebuilt between me and Danny and that’s the speedbump that any friendship has to deal with when you have issues. Not saying anything further, I let Mitch and Adam do the talking as Danny keeps explaining.

“Tash has decided to stay here in Grantham, I put it pretty swiftly that nobody would trust her anymore and she agreed and she does want to talk to you Isaac about her part in this,” he says to me as he looks really upset. “I just feel so stupid that I couldn’t see what happened right under my nose all the time,” he says as I walk over to him and put my arm around him.

“The point is it’s not your fault in any of this Danny, you are an amazing person and you took me under your wing at the gym and we became really close,” I say as I pat his leg. “You proved to me that if you could accept me then anybody can and I have to apologise for escalating this situation making this happen when I could have handled things so much better”. I hug Danny and stand up as he stands up as well “Can we have a moment?” I ask as Mitch and Adam agree and head back inside the house.

“Look, I know that you’re angry with me and I hate that it got this way and I should have told you as soon as I knew, but I was trying to protect you and the boys from all the fallout of this and that’s why I didn’t tell you,” I say as I gesture for Danny to take a walk with me.

It might’ve been selfish of me to reflect on my past but I take him down to the special spot that I showed Adam and Mitch. “This is where I used to spend my time with my grandparents, they were the closest people I had in my life and when I lost them I lost my way,” I say looking at the birdhouses “I didn’t want the boys to lose their family if there was a way that it could have been avoided and that’s all that I wanted to do for you, because you are an amazing person Danny”.

I feel him hug me tightly as we stand under the trees “Hey Isaac, I don’t hate you” he says as he looks at me and holds my shoulders. “There was a part of me when I read Tash’s note and what she put in it that did make me hate you for it because I thought you had lied to me” I stand there nodding seeing the emotion in his eyes as he says that to me and I can understand where he is coming from.

“When Adam told me what you were doing here getting your father involved, I thought for sure that you were backstabbing me after everything but then he put me in my place to tell me that your father was getting his security team to find the kids, I found a new respect for you,” he says as he hugs me again. “I’m glad that you are family and I hope you’ll come back to Yellow Peak”.

Walking back to the house, I tell him the plan of what is happening and he smiles glad about what is happening with me staying in Yellow Peak. “Good, it took me years to find a boxing and lifting partner and honestly, you wouldn’t be able to keep those massive arms up if you left Yellow Peak” I laugh as he squeezes them and I notice how big they’ve gotten since I moved.

As I get back into the house, my mother is playing with the boys as they make a mess with their Ice Cream mixing chocolate and lollies in with them. Mum has fun as I watch them as Tash comes over to me “Do you have a moment Isaac so that we can talk alone?” she says looking at the boys, her face clearly upset.

I take her to the dining room and close the door behind me as we sit on either side of the table “Look, I just want to apologise to you for everything that I did to you and for spying on you giving your brother information on what you were doing” she says as I don’t really want to entertain her apology.

“I just want to know that first day when I was in the car with Danny, you knew who I was so why did you even have to ask me who I was or act like I was a stranger,” I say trying to stay calm about the situation. “Just because Brendan and you were still a thing, it didn’t mean that you had to keep him updated when you knew that I was trying to do the right thing did you?” my calmness slowly turning into unfiltered anger as we continue to talk.

Tash nods and starts to cry as I roll my eyes as she does that “I know, I should have ignored your brother asking me for information but he told me that it was for your own good and just that I was making sure you weren’t getting into trouble” she says looking at me “I was never going to tell Danny about your past secrets” she says as I shake my head.

“Jeez thanks for that, I’m so appreciative that you did that because it absolves all the sins and I’m happy now; There is a guy out there who is an amazing father and you had more interest punishing me so that your love affair with Brendan could continue and he could do no wrong,” I say as I look at Tash.

“I don’t want your apologies, I’d prefer that you get arrested for kidnapping if I’m being brutally honest, but what I want is what I told Brendan a couple of days ago,” I say to Tash as I look at her “I want you and Brendan to go as far away as possible and leave the boys with Danny and just let everybody live their lives rather than you being the selfish self-centred bitch that I always knew you to be Natasha, but then Danny is a better person than you and I would ever be” getting angry I don’t really care as I walk out of the room and head back to my family.

That afternoon, I send Adam, Mitch, Danny and the boys back to Yellow Peak so that they can go home because they’ve spent more than enough time in Grantham dealing with all the shit that went on here while I finish off dealing with the technical details of getting back into college and accessing the money.

Sitting having dinner with my family, I decided that I want to make the announcement “Dad, you alluded to something last night that I wasn’t comfortable talking about but given that I want to be honest with you I will do it now” I say letting out a sigh as he looks back at me.

“Mitch and I have decided that we want to start dating each other, we’re not putting a label on what we are but we just bring the best out in each other and for a long time I’ve been happy and that’s all that I want,” I say as my parents smile and both say that they are proud of me as we finish off dinner.

The next day I finish signing all the paperwork that will allow me to have all restrictions on me accessing everything which I don’t want to touch the money. The access to the money would make me a millionaire but I don’t want the money so I keep it locked in the trust but donate plenty of it.

I make sure that Dad puts $50,000 into the fund for Kevin’s family and then donate to all various causes around Yellow Peak anonymously because the place is home and I feel so connected to everybody there.

Once I get back to Yellow Peak in my new car, I organise another Barbeque but this time it’s all about appreciating my second family in town so that I can pass on my thanks to everybody who has been there for me and made me so welcome after my poor start to things. I’m still not fully welcomed by everybody in town but that doesn’t bother me anymore because the obvious hatred has died away and any resentment is now held behind my back rather than flat out hostile.

At the Barbeque, Mitch and I officially tell everybody that we’ve decided to date and I feel worried that I never told Adam about it but he holds no resentment or anger that we didn’t tell him because for him Mitch and I aren’t friends with him but instead we are family.

The next few weeks I spend time with both my families, reluctantly agreeing to appear with my father at campaign events helping promote causes that were closest to my grandparent's heart which is the same as what I secretly tried to assist.

My father wins the election comfortably and as much as I would love to be a part of the family, I put my Yellow Peak family first so that I could be at Kevin’s fundraiser on the same night. Danny stays living at his house with the boys but we all take turns being the babysitter during the week.

Every Thursday afternoon is my turn to look after the boys, it’s more of a joint effort between me and Adam as I use him for moral support so that I can handle the boys which becomes easier every week even though it still takes plenty of getting used to, I enjoy it.

At the start of this journey, I thought that I would be alone right through after not wanting to do anything with the Keppel’s and thinking that the people of Yellow Peak would never ever get close to me but now not only did I reconnect with my family I managed to get two families.

I never talk to Brendan and haven’t heard from him or Sarah in months since the incident which doesn’t bother me at all and I think that it is better because without them being around my family seems closer and Eliza is spending more time in Grantham and visiting me in Yellow Peak.

Danny still never knows about the night he fucked me and I’m glad that it stayed that way because he is happy being a single dad with the boys, Adam has found a boyfriend from Sapphire Ridge that he is happy with and then Mitch and I practically live together nowadays either at his place or my place.

Sitting on the backstep, I look at the sunset and reflect on everything that I have been through and even though I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody; I cannot lie and say that I don’t appreciate everything that I’ve been through because I’ve gained two families my original one back and my Yellow Peak family.

Coming through my now fixed back door, Mitch comes out and sits next to me and puts his arm around me and we sit there and puts his head on my shoulder “I love you Mitch” I say as he kisses me before he pulls away and looks at me “I love you too Isaac” as we look at the sunset and start our adventures together.

Thank you everybody for reading this story; I had the idea for this story for a long time but was always worried about how it would be for you; All the comments and enjoyment that it gave you means so much to me and whilst I admit that the story ended differently to my original plan; I’m so proud of it and the support you’ve given me. I’ll take a few days off to decide which of my new story ideas I want to work with. Thanks everyone.