Bonds of Another Kind

Chapter 1

Anya

15 years later

“Brandon! Come on you’re gonna be late for school!”

“Be down in a minute!”

Anya and Toby stood by the front door, ready to leave. She took in the moment to admire how responsible and mature her younger son was. He was dressed in black jeans with a white t-shirt and a grey cardigan that highlighted his grey-toned eyes. Toby was always on time and made sure to be ready for his day the night before. 

Brandon was more of a get-it-together-in-the-morning person. 

Toby, much like Brandon, had grown to six feet by age 14. Both boys had bronze skin and straight black hair. Each had been very athletic from a young age, had been well built, and had very keen senses. They could practically hear their mother’s heartbeat, it seemed. 

As similar as they were, they also had many differences, physically and characteristically. Where Brandon had more amber colored eyes, Toby had deep grey and blue hues. Brandon had some freckles on his skin and nose, and Toby had clear, undamaged skin. 

Both of her sons grew to be respectful and family-oriented. They loved and adored their mother. Both were very different when it came to showing their love for her. Where Toby was more caring and tender with Anya, Brandon was more possessive and protective of his mother—especially when his mother went on the occasional date. 

Toby could spend quality, friend-like time with Anya, whether it was in the kitchen, or just watching a show or movie they both liked.

Brandon…could be her body guard most of the time, it seemed. He attempted to take on the parent role more often than not. It got him grounded more times than one should be for punching out guys that Anya invited over to introduce her sons to. 

“Toby, why don’t you go get in the car and start it for me while I wait for your brother?”

“Alright, I’m sitting in the front though, since he’s making us wait on his ass.”

Anya chuckled, “sounds good to me.”

Toby headed out to start their car, and settled into the front. Once the car started, Brandon came running down the stairs in some light wash jeans, a white t-shirt, and a long sleeve button-up shirt. He had his backpack slung over one shoulder. As always, he looked his best. Anya rolled her eyes and rushed him out the door to the car.

“Hey can I drive today?”

“Got your permit on you?”

“No but-“

“Then no. You already made us leave late.”

Brandon groaned then slid into the backseat and pulled out his phone. As they drove to school, Anya reminded them she would be working late on some project for a new client and would be home after dinner. If they wanted, they could go to their uncle Cam’s house for chili and burgers. They just needed to text him to pick them up after football practice.

As they pulled up to the school, Anya stopped and turned to the boys before they could leave. 

“What is it, mom?” Brandon asked.

“So, I know we all kind of had a rough time after Roger and I split, but it has been two years, which I think is long enough. Your aunt set me up with someone she knows. Says he loves kids, and just went through his own divorce-”

Before she could even finish getting the words out, Brandon immediately stopped her. “MOM! You know none of these guys are ever going to treat you the way you deserve! You are so amazing and a queen. Why do you insist on putting yourself through these pointless dates when you already know they’re just going to treat you like trash once they get whatever it is they want from you?”

“Dude, shut UP!” Toby turned around to slap his brother on the side of his head. “She’s old enough to make her own choices, let her live her own life with whoever she wants.” He turned back to Anya. “Mom, I hope it goes well.”

Anya, not shocked by Brandon’s outburst, patted Toby on the shoulder and nodded. “Thank you, sweetie.”

Brandon rolled his eyes and groaned. “Great, so another guy we would have to follow around and catch checking into hotels with other women.” Before anyone could respond, Brandon got out of the car and headed into the building.

“I love you, mom and want you to be happy. He will get over it.” 

“Thank you, Toby,” she sighed. “I always appreciate your tender heart.”

He hugged his mom and exited the car, heading to school.

Anya drove off to work, thinking about Brandon’s words. It was true, she had gone through a difficult divorce in the last two years with someone Brandon caught cheating with some twenty-something slut. It was a difficult scene to walk into when Anya was coming home with Toby.

FLASHBACK

Anya and Toby had just gone grocery shopping to get dinner for Brandon’s birthday and planned to fix all of his favorites. As they turned the corner on their street, Toby sat up in his seat looking toward the house.

“What’s up, Toby?”

“Something is happening with Brandon. He’s upset.”

“How could you know? We aren’t even home yet. Matter of fact, he shouldn’t even be home yet.”

“No, something is happening. I gotta go.” 

He jumped out of the car she was still driving and darted for the house. When she pulled up, the front door was wide open and she hurried inside. She heard yelling and crashing noises coming from upstairs. When she made it up the stairs, she saw her bedroom door knocked off its hinges, a lamp thrown across the room, Toby holding a very enraged Brandon back as best he could while Brandon was laying punch after punch into an unconscious, bloody, Roger.

“Brandon! What are you doing?! STOP!”

Brandon continued beating Roger. She grabbed his hands and he looked up at his mother. For a split second she swore his eyes had gone completely black in the middle. She closed her eyes and shook her head and looked back to see his eyes were back to normal. 

“Mom,” he started with tears in his eyes, “whatever you do, do not go in the bathroom.”

“Why?”

“Please just don’t.”

It wasn’t enough of an answer, and she was not going to have her teenage son telling her what to do. Also, just saying ‘don’t’ was one of those flashing neon signs telling her exactly what she needed to do. She got up and went toward the bathroom.

“Mom,” he begged, “please don’t.”

She went in to the bathroom, and found a woman wrapped in her satin robe, crying.

“Umm…who are you?”

Through tears she said “it doesn’t matter who I am. YOUR son has no business barging in on what was happening. Roger and I—”

“Excuse you. This is not your house OR Roger’s. I think I have a good idea of what happened here.” She looked around at discarded clothes and torn-open condom wrappers on the floor. “Get out of my house.”

With that, the young woman huffed and gathered her scattered lingerie and what looked like a duffel bag and headed out. The boys had separated, and Roger was starting to wake up. Brandon sat inches away from him, breathing heavy with every bit of anger he could possibly have in his entire being. For a fourteen-year-old, it was more than the average twenty-year-old, she knew. His fists were still clenched, ready to start in on Roger all over again.

Anya rushed over, kissing Brandon on his temple, patting Toby on the shoulder, and asked them both to give them some privacy. Though it took convincing to get Brandon out, Toby was able to pull his brother out of the room so their mom could speak to her husband about what happened.

Roger still laid on the floor, holding his nose, groaning. “I think that bastard broke my nose. Either you get him in line, or I will. And if it’s going to be me, it won’t be pretty.”

“Actually, you will not touch my son. As you can see, he can handle himself pretty well, especially when it comes to protecting his mother. You however, may get out.”

“What?!”

“I know you heard me. You and your little w***e can get out of my house.”

“So you’re just going to throw this all away for a one-time mistake?”

“If this was a one-time mistake, it wouldn’t have been in my home in what I am assuming took place in our bed.”

“You know what, fine! You knew this wouldn’t last. You’re the one that pushed me into her legs, you know that?!”

“WHAT! How?”

“All you ever cared about are those two shits out there. While one has prospects and will do fine, the other one is gonna end up in prison because of how YOU allow him to behave. Don’t come crawling back to me when you realize the mistakes you made right here, right now.”

“Get out of my house!”

“FINE! I will be back tomorrow for my things.”

“You won’t. I will send for your things.”

With that, he huffed, got on whatever clothes he had laying on the floor, and walked out of the house. 

The night finished with Toby cleaning up the broken glass and picking up the thrown items from the floor, while Brandon went into the garage taking out his remaining anger on his punching bag.

Toby helped his mother change the sheets, and sat with her, rubbing her back while she tried to recover from the events of the evening. 

When Brandon finally made an appearance, he came into the living room and immediately came to his mother’s side hugging her with his sweaty arms. She managed to put either arm around each boy reassuring them everything was going to be fine and that they would get through it. 

END OF FLASHBACK

Occasionally Anya saw Roger around town with a different woman under his arm each time. Anya ignored him, but always wondered what life would have been like if she had been married to someone long enough to have had more children. She loved her boys from day one, but did long for a daughter of her own. She longed for a partner to be by her side through everything. One that would be a father to Brandon and Toby. A true partner that would be there for her. 

By the time she finished her thoughts, she was pulling into the underground parking garage in her building.