This is my one and only voice, so listen close, it's only for today -- Early Summer 2010

Things were starting to come to a head with Annette having woken up. She was trying to take the kids... well, she wanted to spend time with them.  I knew I was being dramatic, but I was not going to lose them.  Yes, they were her kids as well as mine, but they were mine.  I was not going just stand for this.  Rosalynn was easy to talk to... Seth, however, was a different story.  He had always been difficult when it came to speaking about his mother's side.  He never understood why I disliked speaking of her... and I never understood why he wanted to always speak of her.  Rosalynn tried to help -- as did Dora -- but I did not want to always use them as buffers.

I went back to Seth's bedroom and knocked on his bedroom door. "Seth?  I want to talk," I said to him through the closed door.

I opened the door and faced my dad.  "What about? It's pointless for us to even speak to each other anymore," I said to him, knowing how our conversations always turned into arguments.

Seth's tone automatically upset me.  I took a calming breath and then answered him:  "Seth, it's never pointless to talk to me.  I'm your dad... I'm always here for you," I said to him slowly.

I laughed sarcastically in my dad's face.  I knew that was merely going to make him rather upset, but I did not care at this point.  "Oh, yeah, you're totally there for me," I started in a sardonic tone, "totally.  Just so long as it's about something you agree with then yeah, you're my best mate.  But once I start thinking with my own mind, then all bets are off."

I shook my head.  "That's not the case, Seth," I said to him as calmly as I could.  "I am always here for you.  Yes, sometimes it's more difficult than others... but that is one thing that never changes.  I just don't understand all of this angst and frustration."

I raised my eyebrows.  "What's not to understand?  I'm bloody pissed that you're basically not letting me see Mum now that she's awake... it's all because you're bloody jealous or some petty shit like that," I said, not caring if I was cursing at my dad.  "And you got the whole bloody family pinned against her and me!  How is that hard to understand where my anger comes from?  I can barely even talk to my sister.  I can't even stand being home; I don't want to talk to Sid.  I feel like I can't talk to Mumsy because then I feel like there's some sort of comparison.  And then there's you.  Where every bloody thing I say gets turned around and we have a bloody argument!  I'm just done with all of it."  I was breathing heavily from the anger and heat from my words and being worked up.

This was more difficult than what I thought it would be.  "Don't use that tone with me, Seth," I said to him in a warning tone.  "I will not tolerate it."  I was not sure what else I wanted myself to say at that point.