characteresque

character :: Dylan Walker

Dylan wasn't prepared for life - to be someone's employee, to be someone's husband, to be someone's father, Dylan wasn't prepared for any of it. It used to be, he thought, that it all happened too quickly and that's what caused his missteps as both a spouse and parent but even as he reaches the 'true' adulthood, he realized that he was running from the truth all along, a truth he wasn't sure he could accept: that maybe he wasn't the kind of person that was meant to follow that life path of the picturesque family with a white picket fence. But even that is overreaching. A more likely explanation, Dylan has come to accept, is that the mistakes he made were brought on by his own reckless actions and ultimately, there is no one to blame other than himself for his failures.

One could hardly call the short-lived flicker of a love life between Kathy and her boyfriend, Justin, a relationship. The two had met at a bar in the early twenties, dated briefly before Kathy found herself pregnant and Justin, the so called 'love of her life', didn't last long, practically dropping from the face of the Earth after hearing the news that he had fathered a child he had never wanted in the first place. Despite being abandoned, Kathy gave birth to Dylan and did the best she could as a single mother in Michigan until she received some unexpected news: a new charter school in Brooklyn had just opened and Kathy was offered the job as an events coordinator, provided that she would be willing to relocate. The decision was difficult, moving away from family and friends with a young son, but with benefits and higher pay offered, Kathy had no choice - she was off to New York, unaware of how quickly things could change for the worse.

Upon arrival, Kathy was given a temporary job that lasted a little less than two months before being told that there was not a full-time open position available as had been promised and she would need to find new employment elsewhere. With a bone dry bank account from her relocation and a child to care for, Kathy had no other options than to commit herself to working several jobs to make ends meet for her small family. But not everything in New York was bad news - almost two and a half years after relocating, Kathy put herself back out in the dating scene and met the real man of her dreams: David, a system's administrator that adored Kathy and took to Dylan very quickly. And from then on, the rest was history. Dylan grew up knowing David as his father, raised in Brooklyn from a young age that immersed him in all types of cultures and experiences unlike any others. He did well enough in school and although his hobbies were few and far in between (beyond skateboarding), he caused little headaches for his parents, a welcome relief after the stressful life the two of them had lived. But it would be a woman named Danielle that Dylan would meet in his freshmen year of high school that would turn his world upside down in both in the best and worst ways possible.

The two were opposites in almost every way, being raised in different boroughs and neighborhoods, but Danielle hardly seemed to notice the wealth gap between the two of them and Dylan was just content to enjoy some eye candy, if only for a little while.

Their relationship blossomed over the next several years, with the encouragement of Dylan's parents, even through high school graduation and into college where Danielle set her sights on being a fashion designer and Dylan struggled to find a passion. His parents urged him to find a job to support Danielle and set up a life for their future family but Dylan, still stuck in his early high school years, was more focused on his motorbike and skateboarding with friends than a family of his own. After all, why should he put the brakes on his good time? And then, Danielle let it drop: she was pregnant which meant Dylan would have to put everything else on the back burner. The news, albeit of a shock to Dylan, kicked his priorities into gear as he enrolled in college to become a systems administrator like his father but with a baby on the way and school work piling up, there had to be something he could do to feel like a teenager again. Just as Danielle reached her eighth month of pregnancy, Dylan picked up his motorbike again and as he crossed through an intersection, felt himself get thrown through the air before darkness took over.

By the time Dylan woke up from a seven week coma, his son had already been born and around his bedside stood his girlfriend Danielle, their newborn son, Camden, and his parents. Dylan could remember very little from the accident but the pain was almost immediate, as were the medical bills that followed. A couple of surgeries resulting from bleeding of the brain, multiple broken ribs, a broken arm, several blood transfusions, a fractured hip and pelvis and a broken leg that had to be pieced back together by steel plates and screws left a bill so high that Dylan, just for a moment, wished he had died if not to spare his family the costs. But as he looked at his newborn son, the thought left him and all he could do was work on getting better. Months of physical therapy helped him to make progress and Danielle's support reaffirmed Dylan's decision of why he had fallen in love in the first place so it became his mission: to get well enough to propose to which Danielle later would say yes. The married couple worked through Dylan's therapy but wedded bliss couldn't last forever.

Bills shocked the couple into reality as Danielle's hospital bills rolled in, followed by Dylan's all while the spouses struggled to find a way to fight the costs but it was hopeless; with the hit-and-run driver long gone, someone would have to pay and it just so happened to fall into the newlyweds laps.

Years of struggle turned into countless fights, then frustration until the husband and wife were at each other's throats at every turn and the two had, for the first time in years, agreed on just one thing: a divorce was the only way they would be happy. And as if their marriage had never happened in the first place, the divorce became final and Danielle moved out of the family home with Camden in her arms and a split-custody agreement. Dylan's parents balked at the idea of a divorce, especially with a woman as 'wonderful' as Danielle but with his own struggles coming to a head, he knew that his choices were limited. The job market was struggling to stay afloat and the intense amount of pain that Dylan felt made it difficult to hold more than a job for over a month; he was drowning and everyone knew it. By the grace of his parents, his drive to provide for his son and his own stubborness, Dylan continued to tread water for four years and then, his world came crashing down.

A letter arrived from the court's with his and Danielle's name, challenging the custody agreement on the grounds that his unemployment proved that he wasn't able to provide for their son and therefore, Danielle should gain full custody. But Dylan would be damned to let it happen - dressed in the best suit he could afford, Dylan appeared before courts just as Danielle sauntered in with a new, rich man on her arm and fought with everything he had had, keeping it at bay for another year until the judge finally put his foot down and gave majority joint custody to Danielle; one day a week is all Dylan would have his son and it would be Danielle that would hold the power of major rights concerning their son's well-being and health.

Over time, Dylan watches in horror from a distance as his young, ten year old son grows from a selfless, sweet boy to a bratty, self-entitled pre-teen under the privileged care of his ex-wife and her new husband, all while he struggles to maintain control of his own life. Now, with semi-permanent employment as a test rat for experimental drugs, Dylan income is irregular but existent and although his pain is still limiting his experiences, he feels as though he's reached a point in his life where he can provide for his son more often. However, it won't be Dylan fighting his battle alone anymore - a quirky, easily excitable con artist turned baker soon drops into his life and has Dylan feeling like a lovesick teenager all over again. (and who knows, maybe this one will be for the long haul?) But ultimately, it'll be Danielle who will turn Dylan (and Camden's) entire life on its head and alter their lives forever and, per the usual, all Dylan can do is sit back and watch the drama unfold.

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