Temper

With every one of Thirteen's words, Trent feels like he's being kicked in the gut over and over. Each heartfelt phrase drove spikes into his heart... his wretched heart that had caused this mess. Oh, if only years ago he had been wiser.

His eyes stay on the floor and he makes no move. He doesn't look up at Thirteen, but stands as a beaten man, the only sign of life being the red heat crawling into his face. What could he possibly say? There was nothing... nothing at all that could even do justice. He had no reasons. He had no answers. He stood here as a man condemned for his ways, in front of the entire family. He had failed. Years ago, and today. And he had no idea how he could ever fix it again.

Seeing that Trent made no move to even respond to Thirteen, Eric gives Ryder a look and toss of his head to signal he should take Thirteen away. Ryder understands and gently takes Thirteen's arms, pulling her back from Trent.

"Come on," he prompts gently. "It's okay. Come with me." Guiding her away, he takes her back to where they'd been sitting, easing her down next to him. Putting his arm around her, he rubs her arm and kisses the top of her head. "It's gonna be okay. You didn't do anything wrong, alright?" He only wished he could take her pain away.

Once Thirteen has moved out of the way, Eric steps up to his brother. "So you're just gonna stand there, huh?" he hisses. "You're gonna stand there and say nothing to your own daughter. Hasn't she suffered enough? Isn't going through heck and back once enough?"

No response. "Look at me," Eric begs, but Trent would not. "You selfish-" Cutting his own words off, he hauls back with his right arm, coming in with a strong fist to Trent's mouth.

Trent's head jerks and he stumbles back a step, but he makes no move to retaliate. Emotions flood his eyes but he still does not look up to meet anyone's gaze. He could feel all of their stares and could feel the condemnation for secrets he had kept. Licking blood from his lip, his head is still bent as he slowly turns around. Not bothering to get his jacket from the other side of the room, he slowly goes out the door into the cold night air.

Eric's fists are still balled at his sides, his temper flaring. Once Trent is gone though, he lets out his breath, feeling stupid. He looks to Rosetta with a mix of sadness and guilt. "I'm sorry," he apologizes. "I just... couldn't take it." Retreating to his chair, he sits down again, pain shooting through his leg and he winces, trying to settle down again before he injured himself further.

Ryder had heard a continuing argument and had looked up in time to see Trent get slugged. Though a part of him cheered, another part of him felt pain for this man. How could someone live like he had? How far did someone have to let their heart go before denying their own blood?

Sometime amidst the whole episode, Jeff had wandered closer, and now puts an arm around Rosetta's shoulders. They all knew how hard she was trying to make this a good Christmas despite the bad, but it wasn't made easy when things like this happened. "Come on," he coaxes. "Let's sing some more songs and make the best of it, okay?"


By this time, the music had ceased and Jason's emotions were strained.

Well... that went poorly. I never thought Thirteen would come to any conclusions on her own, let alone the one she did about Eric. Crap, she must feel awful.


Clint's eyes were still wide as he looks to Wendy and blinks. Trent had a daughter? Thirteen was his daughter? The older generation didn't seem surprised... apparently they'd known about this? What really was going on? It looked as though Trent had kept everything a secret from Thirteen but it had apparently gone horribly wrong tonight. Clint looks down at Chase who was so tired he'd managed to fall asleep through the chaos. He couldn't imagine not claiming this child as his own. How had Trent done it?

He glances back to Wendy, sadness and confusion in his gaze. He'd thought secrets of the past were over. Apparently he'd been wrong.


Trent closes the door of the barn and leans back against it, holding his breath for longer than he should before letting it out slowly. He felt like he was gonna throw up and he was dizzy.

Wiping his lip again, his hand draws away just a little blood. He'd deserved the punch... he deserved more than that. If Eric had gone further, he probably wouldn't have fought back then either. If he'd been pummeled into the ground, it wouldn't have mattered. The shame he carried with him couldn't just be washed off with a few kind words. No... it was deeper than that. He'd brought disgrace to this family from day one, first by being with a woman in ways he shouldn't have, then by harming the family itself through the Agency, then by scarring the Pent name by being in prison, and now by turning away from his daughter.

Taking a shaky breath, Trent goes to a nearby straw bale to sit down, rest his elbows on his knees and bury his face in his hands. It was cold in here and he was without his jacket, but warmth was the farthest thing from his mind. All he could hope for by now was to leave quietly enough not to make any more disturbances.