Hidden Talents

Ch.7: Different Eyes

Cindy stood in front of the door of her daughter's room. Her emerald eyes gazed at the wooden door, a sign hung on the front 'No Entry'. Though that sign existed, it was completely ignored. The blonde mother released a sigh.

"C'mon, that all you got?!" Dylan's voice taunted, loudly. "Ha-ha!"

She finally knocked on the door.

"Dylan?"

"Yeah, mom?" came her daughter's voice. She still seemed engross to her video game.

"Can I…come in?"

There was no answer except for the obnoxious video game noises for a few moments.

"Yeah, sure."

The Neutron matriarch opened up the door and walked through it, shutting it behind her. She saw her daughter sitting on her chair, feet propped up on her desk that was a hand-me-down from her father. She kept pressing buttons aggressively on her controller. On her computer screen was her favorite warfare game, Battleground IV: Insurgents. She enjoyed the violence just as much as teenage males would…which kind of concerned her mother a bit.

Once she approached the desk, she saw the look of concentration on her daughter's face. Her sky blue eyes squinted at the screen, her nose was wrinkled and her tongue was sticking out of the corner of her mouth, her lips formed a smug grin as she fired her virtual assault rifles at a bunch of foreign-dressed military targets.

She shifted her fingers slightly and pressed a different button. The hand of the player threw something and there was a loud explosion on the other side, computerized human targets flew.

"Booyah!"

"I thought you beat that game."

Dylan pressed the pause button and spun her seat around to see her mother, taking her feet off of the desk.

"What's up?" Her daughter asked, obviously surprised to see her mother.

"I wanted to…see if you were….well, alright." Cindy said, nervously. She wondered how she could be nervous around her 16 year old daughter. Dylan arched a brow.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Dylan questioned in confusion. She looked her mother in the eye. Cindy remarked at how blue her daughter's eyes were. It was an interesting outcome. Cindy would always grin foolishly remembering an argument between her husband her during her pregnancy, debating on the possibility of her eye color. Though neither was exactly correct, both the parents found the shade beautiful for their daughter's personality. They held a special twinkle and they lit in several different emotions. "Mom?"

Cindy shook her head at the concerned voice of her daughter, her voice had a deeper and more mature octave compared to her mother's.

"Huh?"

"You spaced out." Dylan informed. "You alright?"

"I'm fine." Cindy told her.

"Then, no offense, why are you in here?" Dylan asked.

"I noticed…I noticed that you overheard your grandmother and I." Cindy reported, softly. "And I just wanted to make sure you're alright."

Dylan sighed and set aside the controller next to her keyboard.

"I'm fine." Dylan answered.

"I hope you know that we don't think you're a failure." Cindy announced.

"Really Mom, I'm okay." Dylan voiced, assertively. Her arms folded over her chest and looked at her mother.

"Okay…I just…wanted to check up on you." Cindy said, walking over to the door but stopped when she saw something on her desk. She walked over to the table and picked up a notebook. On the page, there were a series of sketches that took up over half of the page. "Did you…draw these?"

Dylan spun again in the chair, her eyes falling upon her parent.

"Yeah." Dylan said, sheepishly.

"These are…really good." Cindy commented. She showed Dylan the drawings, pointing to one of them with her thumb. "What's this?"

"Thor's hammer." Dylan informed, this time one of her hands rested on her desk.

Cindy looked at the various sketches. She began to flip through the notebook, noticing the several different drawings of swords and other ancient artifacts. All the sudden, there was an obnoxious ringtone coming from Dylan's pocket. She took it out and answered it, standing up and exiting the room, leaving her mother to investigate the hidden talent her daughter had.

"Yo, what's up Bryant?"

Cindy sifted through the notebook even further until a loose piece of folded paper slid out, casually floating down to the carpeted ground. Cindy noticed the drop and placed the book back on the table and knelt down, picking up the creased parchment.

She opened it up after she righted herself. In awe, she saw the careful detailed drawing of two people, hunched over and yelling in each other's face. She recognized the two humans as her and Jimmy. A different mother would feel disturbed that this was picture when their child would think of their parents but Cindy's frown faltered when she read the bottom of the page.

Each Obstacle Makes Love Stronger.

It was written in Dylan's messy script but it was beautifully drawn. Cindy was about to place the artwork back into the notebook when she saw a passage written on one of her pages.

A child would hate it when their parents argued. But I don't. I just sit there and enjoy the show. At dinner, it is always fun to watch the angry glint in the eyes of my parents. My father would spit out statistical facts while my mother would spit out insults that originate as far back as their elementary school years. You'd probably cringe at the venomous snarls, but these 'fights' make me grin. To my right, Isaac, the little brother, would always cackle at the contorted face of my mom and her famous 'big-head' jabs towards Dad. You'd think I'd be sick of it by now, the constant fighting, the wicked insults but each fight seems to make this bond stronger. My parents not only fight, but they love each other. I have to interrupt their moments as the traditional offspring would, but it is admirable how such a rivalry could turn into something much more, that's what's beautiful about love. We can never tell when it will come to us, it can haunt us to the grave but it can change lives and make new ones. Love is an interesting thing, you have to take it slow and be ready for each curve and sharp turn…just like a road and just like life. Even in love, you got to give It your all but you have to listen and time your move.

And passage wasn't finished there, Cindy suspected the writing to be a journal entry of some sort and was willing to finish the flowing material but her daughter had just entered the room with a foolhardy grin, only to frown slightly at her mom's odd behavior.

"Mom?" Dylan questioned. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Dylan." Cindy told her, half of it was a lie but the other…was pride. Shaking her head, the mother quickly excused herself, leaving a questioning daughter to do her business.

Jimmy seemed to pick up his wife's suddenly astonishment.

"Everything okay, honey?" the genius inquired. Cindy nodded her head and had the biggest smile on her face.

"She sees the world differently, Jimmy." Cindy stated. Jimmy arched a brow at the ambiguous statement. The blonde adult picked up on his puzzled reaction and elaborated, showing him the amazing sketch. "I found this in her room."

Jimmy gently retrieved the parchment and unfolded it, Cindy had taken a seat next to him on their bed, gazing at the carefully drawn artwork. Jimmy's dark eyes examined the picture as if he was studying microbes.

"This is…amazing." Jimmy said, shocked.

"She views everything differently than we do." His wife concluded, realization dawning on her. "And it's not for the reasons we think."

"She drew this?" Her husband asked, his voice soft. There was a moment of silence. Jimmy kept his eyes on the drawing and Cindy was staring at the hardwood floor.

"My mom is wrong about her." She determined in a quiet voice. Jimmy looked up at his wife in interest.

"No offense, Cin, but she is rather…"

"Dylan overheard us talking. She heard my mother criticize her lack of talent." Cindy informed him, pang of guilt ripping at her heart.

"Dylan's something special, Cindy." Jimmy added after a couple of silent moments. "Even though she doesn't show it in science or martial arts."

"I know, I just wish sometimes that-"

"She's a teenager, Cindy. She'll be reclusive and ignorant."

"She hasn't been easy to coax, Jim. We've always had to work to get her to talk to us." Cindy told him. "At least, I did."

Suddenly, the conversation changed. Jimmy looked at his wife with concern eyes and briefly glanced back at the paper. With small motions, he folded the parchment and placed it on the foot of their bed. He then followed through by placing an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him and having her head fit between his shoulder and neck.

"I know you don't have the best relationship with her." Jimmy interjected. "You two have completely opposite personalities, therefore you clash a lot. But you know she loves you and she'll talk to you when she needs to."

"Jimmy-"

"If Dylan had to talk to either of us, she would go to you most assuredly." Jimmy convinced. "We just need to wait."

"…I guess you're right." Cindy sighed. "But just this once."

Jimmy laughed and pressed a loving kiss to the side of her head.

"She'll become something great, Cindy. I know she will."

"Well…she is a Neutron."

"And a Vortex."

To be continued.

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