169 - Nicki's Anger
*When our kids were young, I was busy keeping a roof over our heads, food on the table and the electricity on. Dominique was in charge of the kids and the house. I never paid attention; men were not involved back then. - William*
Acknowledging the warning, and understanding why it was given, William agreed to the terms that were laid out. He explained to his grandchildren’s adoptive parents and their lawyer why he finally filed for divorce. It had been a long time coming, and he could make no more excuses for Dominique any longer.
Sitting at the handmade table, with spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove, the four adults discussed how to move forward. By the time the sauce met Darkness’ high standards, the kids were headed home. Darkness glanced at the group message on his phone from Rosie.
*Headed to the HS. Go to Zy? Or take hoe?*
*Jome*
*Gome*
*Mother duck I hate this new phine*
The amused smile that graced Camille’s face told him that she was seeing the messages herself. She swiped away the messages on her watch before moving to the kitchen island where her phone was. A moment later, a new set of messages came through.
*Mother Duck, this is Father Goose*
*Spaghetti for dinner*
*Grab Mitch from Zy*
Rosie replied with a thumbs up. As Darkness started to push his phone away from him, a new message from his own adoptive father popped up. He couldn’t help but laugh as he read the message before sending his own message.
*Father Goose – Grandfather Pigeon also lokes spaghetti*
*Damn it – likes. I likes spaghetti*
Knowing that they would need more than what they had prepared, he gave his adopted father a short shopping list.
*Grandfather Pigeon – grab salad, garlic bread and desert on your way over*
*Mother Duck – come straight over*
A message from Camille popped up with a list of produce ingredients for Zydeco. He replied with a good natured *Damned rabbit food*. Darkness smirked as his wife sent another message of a good dozen emojis of wine glasses and bottles with roses in between. Rosie sent a single red heart to indicate that she understood her assignment. If it was not for the fact that Darkness knew that his wife did not like red wine, he might not have understood the message. Rosé wine.
“You want me to start the noodles?” Camille asked.
“Please,” Darkness smiled at her. He chuckled at the look of fear that crossed Celt’s face. “She does a lot of cooking these days.”
“Really?” Celt asked, unable to hide his shock.
“Yeah,” Camille filled a pot to boil the spaghetti noodles. “I just haven’t told anyone in my family yet. I want to surprise them when we move back home.”
Celt looked from Darkness to William, and he knew what the lawyer wanted to ask about. Although they had reached an understanding, neither man truly trusted the older man. They would not discuss her natural ability to start kitchen fires in front of William Smith.
By the time that the pasta was done, Rosie and Zydeco had arrived with the two kids. Both teens came in happily but froze when they saw their grandfather. Nicki grabbed Mitch and pulled him towards her. She stood behind her brother and wrapped protective arms around him.
William stood up and moved towards them. Zydeco and Rosie flanked the siblings as Celt and Darkness flanked the older man. As if oblivious to the tension, Camille gathered the cloth grocery bags. William stopped short of his grandchildren and offered his plea.
“I owe you an apology, and I hope that I can earn your forgiveness. Your parents were right to have these two become your guardians and adoptive parents. They are better for you than I or your grandmother ever would have been.”
“Well,” Camille said from the kitchen as she put the salad together in a big bowl, “I would say that is the beginning of an apology. But you have a long way to go. Nicki, Mitch, come wash up and help me with dinner.”
They moved towards the kitchen, giving their grandfather a wide birth. Darkness joined them in the kitchen to help with dinner as this was their regular routine. Soon, the tension eased, and Nicki turned on her playlist. As they sang along to alternative and indie songs, they finished putting everything together and set the table.
As they sat down at the table with Darkness at one end of the table and William at the other, they did not clasp hands in prayer. Plates were filled and food was passed. Zydeco asked Mitch about his upcoming play, and he started talking about being the Baker in *Into the Woods.
“Do you no longer offer a prayer?”
“No.”
The harsh answer from Nicki caused William to flinch. She turned and gave him a cold look. Again, he flinched but he did not look away.
“It’s not that we have turned away from God, but we’ve been given a choice. That was something that we never had in your daughter’s house. Something that we would never have with you.”
He swallowed hard and Darkness watched the man as he was confronted with what his child had done to her own.
“I was told what to do, when to do it and how to do it. I had to be the perfect daughter and nothing that I liked mattered. The one thing that I was allowed was band. I was going to have to give up softball because it was making me too masculine. Too muscular.”
She could not confront her parents for the wrongs that she had endured. But she was given the chance to confront her mother’s father who assisted in the wrongs done unto her and her brothers. It was an opportunity that she was not going to pass up.
“Our futures were planned out, and we were told that we would follow the plans. There was no option. Our opinions and wants were never considered. I had to wear pink and could not have what I wanted.” She motioned to the T-shirt for the alternative band that she wore, “My choice of music was forbidden, and I could only listen to the bands that mom approved of.”
“Mitch could not do theater because someone might think that he was gay. Well, who cares if he’s gay? Vin was told that he had to go to Arkansas and become a doctor. He never wanted that. He can’t stand the sight of blood. He nearly passed out when we went hunting. When they did his first blood marks, they used dirt because he couldn’t stand the thought of blood being on his skin. But he wanted to participate, and no one made him feel less.”
William held up his hand in defeat and looked at his plate to compose himself. Looking up, he did not hide the tears that trekked down his dark cheeks. “She’s doing to report you for child abuse. That’s her plan to get custody.”
Celt gave him a cold glare, “Thanks for confirming. Anything else you wanna tell us?”
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