Chapter 16 Meet the Sullivans

*Diana*

2021

"Hey Sullivan, where's my order? I've been waiting for it for over 10 minutes." Michelle, the most popular girl in school can be heard yelling for her food to appear. The other girls with her laughed.

"It's coming, Michelle. I'll make a follow up." I tell her. On the weekends, it's really busy at our diner. Usually my dad is here, but he was at the port with Uncle Mike. Bad weather was predicted to come in and he had to make sure our fishing boats were secure.

I go behind the counter of the diner to speak with our cook. "Hey John, you got Michelle's order ready? You know she doesn't like to wait."

"Those girls making life rough for you again? Don't I keep telling you, you need to stand up for yourself?" Didi, the other waitress in the diner. She's been working for us for almost 10 years now. She's what you call a hot single mom. Pretty, sexy and smelled like she dumped a whole bottle of perfume on her. She wore her uniform tight, showing off her curves and her well-endowed front and back. Gets her tips, she always says.

"I try, but I just can't. You stand up to them and they make life a living hell. Remember that girl, Stacey? She stopped doing Michelle's homework. So, during softball practice, they kept throwing the ball at her face. I don't want that to happen to me." I was already in my senior year of high school and as much as possible, I wanted it to go by, quickly, and painless.

"Here you go. Four orders of a stack of pancakes with bacon on the side." John rings the bell, signaling an order is up to serve.

"Thank you, John." I take a tray to serve the pancakes. The girls always sit where I'm suppose to serve. They tried giving Didi attitude once and Didi almost spilled scalding hot coffee on their laps.

I take the tray and serve Michelle and her three closest friends. I put there plates gently on the table and place extra table napkins.

"What is this? Why is my bacon touching my pancakes? Didn't I specifically say I didn't want my pancakes to touch anything else on my plate. Where's your father? I want to make a complaint." Michelle screams. The whole diner goes quiet. I turn red in the face. I was about to pick up her plate so I could fix it when a voice answers Michelle's question.

"He isn't here, sugar. I'm the next best thing here." Didi comes from behind. "Or maybe you want some COFFEE with those pancakes. I can help you with that."

"Ah, no thank you. Next time, when I make certain requests, I want them followed. Do I make myself clear?" Michelle bellows and the girls with her giggle again, making swinging gestures with their hands. Great. It'll be payback on the softball field.

"Yes, Michelle. Sorry. I'll just bring you guys some pie. On me." My Nana bakes the best apple pie in town. The reason why our diner is so popular to the locals.

"Oh yes ple---," one of the girls was cut off by the intense glare Michelle gave her.

"I don't want just one slice. I want the whole pie." Michelle quips.

"Don't you think you should stop eating pie? You're gaining a bit, around the waist." Didi retorts which gained a laugh from the girls sitting with Michelle. Michelle's face had gone red. Her weight had now become an issue which clearly wasn't. She was pretty and had all the right curves on her fit young body.

"Fine. A slice will be fine." I nod my head and walk towards the counter with Didi at my heels.

"Didi, thanks, but now they're going to take it out on me at school." I put 4 saucers on my tray and start slicing the whole pie from the pie tray on the counter.

"If they do, I'll make sure I pour coffee on their legs." Didi mutters from under her breath. She's known me since I was a little girl so she's protective. I wanted to tell her it's the story of my life, I've been pretty much the weak link. When I was little, the bullies targeted me because I was little than the rest of the kids. Now, it's because I'm tall, skinny, and gawky. Why can't I just be normal, you know, the right size with the right curves in certain places.

I serve the girls their pie without even gaining a thank you from them. I sigh. All the girls in school wanted to be Michelle, beautiful, rich and popular. I would be lying if I didn't want what she had. I did, but that's how life is. You need to be thankful for what you had.

The chimes on the door ring and I turn to see who walked in. I smiled at my Dad and Uncle Mike. Two of the most goodlooking men in all of Portland. Unattached too. If it weren't for these two men, I would probably have it worse in school.

"Diana, did you grow the last time I saw you?" It was Uncle Mike's personal joke when he greeted me.  I sprouted long legs over the years.

"Uncle Mike, you just saw me yesterday." I give him a hug.

"Don't I get one too, Pumpkin?" My Dad and I were really close. There was never a day when I wasn't with him. He had me apply to the local college not wanting me to leave home. I turn to him to give him a hug and he kisses me on my forehead. "When did you start sprouting legs? I don't need to bend anymore." He smiles at me, his green eyes twinkling. We had the same green eyes, but that was our only resemblance aside from our heights. I had dirty blonde hair and pale skin while he had dark hair and tanned skin.

"Dad, you know I got my height from you."

"That's definitely true. The rest you got from your mother." Every time he thought of my mother, there was always that tinge of regret mixed with longing and sadness in his eyes. He definitely loved my mom because he had never attempted to see anyone else while I was growing up. There were a number of ladies who hoped he would turn some attention to them, but he never reciprocated. He kept all of them at arm's length. The same for my Uncle Mike.

"Diana, sweetheart, I hope you don't mind manning the diner. Your dad and I need to discuss business." Uncle Mike pats my arm.

"Of course not. Do you guys want some coffee and pie? I can bring it in the office for you-" I wasn't able to finish my sentence. I was abruptly cut off by Michelle.

"Hi Mr. Sullivan. My mother was wondering if you'd be attending the PTA meeting on Wednesday. It's for the Christmas party." Michelle's mom was a wealthy widow. Michelle's dad passed away from heart complications a few years back. She's been eyeing my dad ever since. She's one woman I pray my dad will never give the time of day. Imagine living with Michelle...it'll be like living with the demon child.

"Tell your mother, if I have time, I will be there. There's a blizzard predicted to make landfall this week. I promised the Mayor I'd lend a hand and make sure the port is ready for the snow." Unlike most fathers, my dad attends PTA meetings. I keep telling him he doesn't have to, but he insists.

"Sure thing, Mr. Sullivan. She'll call you anyway to remind you." Michelle sashays back to her table. Weird. Her and that jock, Bryan, I knew were an item.

"They just get younger and younger, don't they Luke?" My Uncle Mike gives out a hearty laugh.

"And we just get older and older. Practically, a waste of time. No offense, Pumpkin." He winks at me.

"None taken, Dad. I'll get your food ready." I wink back.

"That's my girl. If anyone else needs me, just knock." They walk to the back of the diner to where my dad's office is.

I'll be turning 18 in a couple of weeks, on the full moon of the winter solstice. My Dad and Uncle Mike have been conducting business more often since autumn came in.

I was actually hoping they were planning a surprise birthday party or maybe were planning to buy me a brand new car. I knew we weren't poor, but my Dad acted as if we were. He said it was better to blend in rather than stick out. I could never understand what he meant by that, but I guess he just didn't want people to treat us any different. Well, for him maybe, because the kids in school have always treated me different.

When I was a kid, I would always have these really bizarre dreams and during art class, I would draw the dreams I would have. It was mostly about a black wolf chasing me. My dad thought it was because of all those slasher movies we've been watching together so, he decided to keep it G-rated and we would just watch cartoons. I remember a dream I had about a woman dying on a road near a forest. I drew that too and my teacher called up my dad to tell him to stop having me exposed to television shows that could affect my mindset. He actually told me to start drawing rainbows rather than the dreams I had because it frightened my teacher. I promised him I would, and I did, but apparently my classmates already started thinking of me differently.

The dreams eventually stopped as I reached puberty, however I started hearing a voice in my head from time to time. It was a soothing voice that guided me to do things. There was this one time, I got lost in the mall, and the voice guided me back to my dad.

These past few months, the voice has been giving me a kind of warning. It mentioned the blood moon, the total lunar eclipse, the coming of age. None of it made sense.

I put the saucers of the slices of pie on the tray with two cups of hot coffee. They both liked their coffee black. I liked mine with packets of sugar and cream.

I was about to knock when I heard my Uncle Mike's voice through the door.

"When are you going to tell her, Luke? On the night she shifts? "Oh, sorry honey, but it slipped my mind?" Luke, you have to tell her now. The blood moon comes soon, on the full moon of the winter solstice."

"Please, stop reminding me how such an incompetent father I am. I'm trying to muster the courage. Better yet, why don't you tell her then? Let me see how she takes it." My Dad is keeping secrets from me? That doesn't sound like him.

"Luke, we have been down this road before. Please, I beg you. Not again. She will find out soon. Be the man, the Alpha I once knew." Alpha? My father? An Alpha? What?

"You better knock before the coffee gets cold." Didi says loudly behind me. The door opens and a stunned Uncle Mike emerges from the office.

"Diana?"

"I-I was about to knock. But you guys were having an argument. I didn't want to interrupt." I give the tray to him and walk away, my head down. I look at Didi before I pass her, and she gave me a sympathetic look and patted me on the back.

I went back to the diner and started clearing out the tables. These were the times I wished my mother was still alive. Maybe things would be different, I would be different. I shook my head to clear my head. No use crying over spilled milk. This is what my life was now. I couldn't change it.

"You're mother loves you child. Do not fret. She is with you in spirit every day."

In spirit. I wish she were with me in the flesh.