Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Chapter 101-Reunion



Elphie looked like she had been crying and the boys all looked upset.

“What’s wrong?” I asked my heart sinking fast since Finley was still unaccounted for. “What’s happened where’s Finley?” The feeling of dread was already settling over me just from the expressions on their faces.

“She’s fine mom.” Dax said. “She’s with Carter and Vicki.”

“What why and why are you here? Not that I’m not happy to see you but I thought you were in Bridgeport.”

“Was he here yesterday?” Elphie blurted out looking on the verge of tears again. “Is that why you were acting so weird?”


The accusation in her tone was mirrored on the five faces looking at me. Mulo. I thought as I closed my eyes preparing for the onslaught of angry questions. I knew instantly what or rather who was behind her question.

Why? Why did you tell them?
Because I wanted them to know it was my fault.
But it wasn’t your place to do that. I wanted to do it in my own way so they understood.
They understand.
What were you trying to accomplish by telling them instead of letting me. They hate me enough as it is.
I was taking your suggestion and trying to be a good man. Taking responsibility for what I have done.

 “Guys let’s go have a seat please. I’ll tell you everything.” I said letting out a slow exhale. Even when he attempted to be 'helpful' he made things harder for me.

“There’s nothing to tell. Where is he? Where’s our dad?” Dunham asked.


“Will you guys give me a chance to explain? Please.”

All five of them begrudgingly filed into the living room. I could feel the hostility rolling off them. I had no clue what to tell them and I wasn’t even sure they would listen to me any way.

“How long have you known?” Dax asked after taking a seat.

“For a little while now.”

“He’s been here hasn’t he?” Dunham inquired. "He was the strange man that Kylie talked about."




“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner? Nevermind Mulo answered that. He doesn’t know us because of him.” Dax sounded hurt when he said that. I understood all too well the pain of that reality. “That doesn’t change the fact that he’s our dad. We are adults, you should have told us.”

“I’m sorry, I really am. I was trying to figure out the best way to tell you all and minimize the damage.”

“I guess some things never change with you huh Mom?” Dax said coolly."Only filling us in on things when you are forced to."

"That's not what, that's not how it is this time."


They all had the same look of anger and distrust. My relationship with the triplets was already rocky and this was only going to make it worse. I was only trying to protect them and still I had to face their anger. Mulo had done this, he was the reason they were robbed in the first place, yet I was the easier target. No matter how hard I tried I always seemed to be on the losing end. I couldn’t keep going through this, there was no way I could complete this crazy task. I headed into the hall to get my phone. I sent Marcus a text letting him know they were ready to see him. He responded almost instantly.

“He’ll be here shortly.” I said walking back into the living room. “I’m going to go fix dinner.”

“We’re not hungry.” Elton replied. It was the first time he’d spoken since they got home.

“Well I’m going to cook anyway.”

I heard the five of them talking, wondering what it was going to be like to see him. The triplets had only seen pictures but Dax and Dunham remembered him. They were telling the triplets about him when the doorbell rang. The talking stopped and I waited to see if one of them would answer but it seemed as if no one was moving. I wiped my hands on the towel, took a deep breath, then went to answer the door.

Marcus 



It seemed like forever before she answered the door. I could tell by the look on her face that the talk hadn’t gone well.

“Are you ok?” I asked softly. She just shook her head as she closed the door.  “Tell me what happened.”

“They’re waiting for you.” She said ignoring my request.



I was nervous as I followed her the short distance into the living room. Knowing I had children was one thing, but getting ready to actually meet them made it very real. The two older boys looked at Amari then at me. They looked like me, but I didn’t feel a ping of recognition. I was speechless and so were they. The triplets stood together. Each of the boys standing protectively on either side of their sister. I was now officially a father of five.

“Um that’s Dax.” Amari said being the first to break the silence. She pointed towards the one in the blue tshirt with dreads. “And that one is Dunham.” She continued pointed towards the young man with the shorter hair. “Elphie is easy since she’s the only girl. On her left is Elton and on her right is Edson.”




“Oh my God, Dad it’s really you.” The one she said was Dunham spoke first. He slowly walked towards me as if he were seeing a ghost before quickly wrapping his arms around me in a hug.


After that chaos erupted with a flurry of hugs and questions and I felt so out of place with it all. Overwhelmed didn’t even begin to describe the feelings and pressure. They wanted answers to questions I didn’t have. I saw the hurt look in the eyes of the older two when they really picked up on the fact I had only vague memories of them. The triplets asked more questions about my current life. They wanted to know what life was like in Italy, what I did if I travelled to other places. It was easier with them since we were meeting each other for the first time. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed before I finally noticed Amari was not in the room.

“Where did your mom go?”


“I dunno.” Dunham said with a shrug. For the first time I picked up on the hostility they all seemed to have towards her.

“She didn’t do anything wrong.” It took them a minute to figure out what I meant and how I knew what they were feeling. “This is just as confusing for her. Everything that has happened has been out of her control so cut her some slack. I may be fuzzy on some things, but I know she loves you guys. She needs you all; you shouldn’t be ganging up against her.”

“But she didn’t tell us.” Edson stated. “And she let us get close to him.”

The truth of the issue came through in that statement, at least for the triplets. They felt conflicted looking to Mulo as a father figure when he was the very person responsible for them not having me around. I remembered sharing those same feelings of anger and if I found it hard to understand as an adult, I could only imagine how hard it was for them. The twins however were just upset for being kept in the dark.


“Try not to be too hard on her.” I understood the frustration they were feeling over her not telling them everything. I had that same frustration.

“But she knew and didn’t say anything. She didn’t even tell us, he did. How can we not be mad at her? Aren’t you?” Elphie asked.

Now I understood why Amari looked so upset when I got here. That man had interfered again and his version was probably to color himself in a better light. I looked at the faces of my children and saw the sadness they had over this. Amari explained why she let him come back into her life, into their lives, but it didn’t make it excusable knowing all he had done.



“She was planning on telling you. When I got here yesterday, she was preparing to explain the situation; he just beat her to it. That was not his place. You have to understand; a few weeks ago I didn’t know any of you existed. She was only doing what she thought best to protect you from being hurt even more. No one blames themselves more about what’s happened than your mother. I’m not mad at her; this isn’t what she wanted for any of you, or herself.”


They all sat quietly digesting what I said to them. It felt odd giving a fatherly speech to children I didn’t really know, but it seemed natural as well.  

“I’ll go look for her.” Dunham said.

Amari


I listened to the chatter in the living room as I finished dinner then slipped upstairs to let them have their time. I was tired, tired of everything always having to be so hard. Days like this really made me consider provoking Marisol to the point of no return. I sat up and started wiping the tears from my face when I heard the light tapping on my door.

“Mom.” Dunham called as he poked his head in.

“What’s up Sweetie, you need something?”

I kept my back to him not wanting them to see me crying. I knew they probably knew I did, but I still tried to not do it in front of them. He closed the door behind him then walked over to take a seat next to me.

“Dinner smells good. Embry is getting better at it, but I do miss your cooking.”

“Well you guys are welcomed to come have dinner anytime.” I looked over and gave him a warm smile.

We sat in an uncomfortable silence. I could tell he had something he wanted to say but I wasn't going to rush him. This was hard for all of them, and they were the ones most affected by what happened to Marcus.

“We just wish you would have told us sooner.”

“I know. But with his lack of memory, I just thought it would be harder on you all. I wasn't trying to hide things, I was simply trying to minimize the damage. I'm sorry.”


“We know, but I guess you've always been the easy target." He glanced down for a moment as his own words sunk in. "We're sorry mom, we know this isn't easy on you either."

"It's ok son. We'll work through it." I replied.

"It is a little odd that he doesn’t really remember us. Do you think he will ever get it all back?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s going to happen? With you two?”

“Nothing. He lives in Italy, and is getting married. I’m not part of the equation.”

“But don’t you still love him?”

“Honey what’s important is you kids having your father back.” I replied taking hold of his hand and giving it a small squeeze. “I want you guys to enjoy this and not worry about me.”

There was another quick knock at the door before Dax walked in carrying a plate.


“Man mom I’m so tempted to move back in right now.” He said as he shoveled another forkful into his mouth.

I laughed shaking my head recalling now their never ending appetites.  “Well guess we can convert the gym downstairs. No one has used it since you moved out.”

“Sweet someone to cook my meals and do my laundry. There’s no place like home.”

I smiled at my boys. They had been through the worst of it with me and it wasn’t easy but in the end, they were great kids. Life hadn’t been easy, but I loved all of my kids, even when they didn’t like me so much. Being a mother was probably the most thankless yet fulfilling job and I wouldn’t change that for anything.

23 comments:

  1. Fucking Mulo! Ugh! Way to go and make them once again look at Amari like "Worst Mother of the Year"! I swear he does this on purpose. -- "doing what you said and being a good man" there's is NO WAY he couldn't have known telling the kids before her would be bad. It was so not his responsibility and made things ten times worse. Ugh I hate him so much. He could have had his chance to explain AFTER Amari told them about him. But NO. He had to beat her to the punch and make Dax and all the rest think she was only telling them again because her hand was forced.

    Yay for Papa Marcus trying to take some of the hate off of Amari. It's nice being "similar" I guess in a way he can pick up on emotions and such from the kids he didn't get to raise; makes it easier as far as getting to know them. I feel bad for them all though. I know how completely frustrated and angry they must be over the whole thing. And I agree, that whole "getting close to him" thing. I would never be able to understand (if I were one of the trips) why Amari would allow that when he was the sole reason for all the bad shit that has happened. She did fine as an only parent. He could have helped them with the vamp thing but not in the role as a father.

    “Sweet someone to cook my meals and do my laundry. There’s no place like home.” -- HAHAHAHA - I guess that substitutes as an apology over what he said. I'm glad they are able to understand that this isn't something she chose, it was all forced on her. Amari deserves so much better than what her Father has made her life into. It's sick to think this is all because of her selfish asshole parent.

    Hoepfully Marcus will be able to help soothe things over for them and make it all better. And then they all need to gang up on Mulo and take his ass out once and for all! Marisol too - oh and George! (why stop at one?)

    P.S. The Trips look FREAKY! WTF! That is some scary ish right there!

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    1. LOL I always feel so warm and fuzzy from the love you have for Mulo. :P

      Yes his attempt to 'take responsibility' again only served to cause Amari grief. He really wasn't trying to make things harder this time, but he should have stayed out of it. He just doesn't know when to quit so yeah it made it look like she had no choice in telling them. :(

      Yeah he's slipping into daddy mode easily. He's a natural and some things are just instinct I guess. They do have a right to be angry at the choices she made since they did affect them in such a profound way and she will at least explain her actions. She can't make excuses for what she did, but she can let them see that she really only had their best interests at heart. She never wanted him in role of father, they gravitated towards him more because of the strained relationship they had with Amari. She would have rather he had less contact with them.

      LOL guess that could serve as an apology of sorts. :P She's had to deal with a lot of their anger and resentment. She's been dealt the short stick sadly but she does try to make the best of it. She's not a perfect parent, but she loves her kids and tries her best to give them a good life.

      Yep good old George. He is the real cause for all of this and he has a hell of a lot to make up for! He really needs to be the one to right this wrong, but she wants nothing to do with him and rightfully so.

      Marcus is trying to make things better, but sadly he does make things harder on her. :( Hopefully he, or someone will free her from Marisol and Mulo.

      hahaha yeah those eyes are scary for sure. I might give them a makeover so they are more like Marcus. A vamp without being a vamp in game since I don't really do much with my vamps anyway.

      Thanks for reading. :)

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  2. Mulo again! I hope he told them for the reasons he said and not just to make himself look better to the kids! Of course the way he did it made Amari look in the wrong again. It wasn't his place to do that. He should have let Amari tell them about Marcus. I'm glad though that Marcus helped them to reason on it and see how much their mother loves them. Help them see that she was trying to protect them.

    Marcus and the children don't realize that Mulo and Marisol haven't left her many choices in her life. She can't keep them out of her life!

    I like how she helped the twins to see that their relationship with their father was what should be important to them, and she avoided answering that question about her own feelings. Maybe now that Marcus has tried to intervene her relationship with her children can be better. It was sad that he didn't really remember even the twins. I hope that he can grow to love all five of them and that they can all feel close to him like they would have if it weren't for Mulo!

    Also the way that Marcus held Amari's face between his hands to make sure that she was okay is a very loving gesture. He seemed to do it automatically. I hope that means that his feelings for her are even stronger than he realizes!

    I wonder what they will think of Florence when they meet her.

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    1. yep Mulo again. He's always making things harder on poor Amari. :( This time he really was trying to do the right thing and own up to what he did. He didn't think how his actions would have affected the children so he told them and ***wait for it*** apologized for what he did. LOL Yep he apologized for his actions.

      He should have stayed out of it and let Amari handle it, especially knowing she was planning on doing so, but he thought he was helping. Marcus does know that she loves them and while he doesn't agree with her choices like them, he doesn't think they should be angry with her since she is also a victim.

      It's easy to pass judgement on what someone should do when its not you making the choice or being stuck in the situation. That sort of judgement is what Amari faces often.

      She tries to remain strong for her kids and doesn't want them to view Marcus badly based on the relationship they (Marcus and Amari) have. Plus she doesn't really want to unload her feelings on her kids. It's not their place to deal with her emotions/feelings in her eyes. She needs a friend or someone to talk to, but she really has no one she can lean on right now.

      I don't think they will have any problem building a relationship with their dad. It's Marcus and he's freaking awesome LOL. His kids are gonna love him and he's a vamp so that's even cooler for them.

      Aww yeah you saw that. He didn't even hesitate when he saw she was stressed. He is getting back those feeling and they are all new to him. It's a mess because he does have Florence to consider and stringing her along while he figures things out isn't fair to her. They will have to talk about that at some point.

      Ha they meet their soon to be step mom next chapter. :P

      Thanks for reading.

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  3. ~ This made me cry,& of course Mulo HAD to interfere, AGAIN!
    ~ Mulo needs to die,but then we all know he is not done yet!!!!!
    ~ Marcus did good with his children even though he does not remember much!
    ~ Surely her children can see what pain & torment she is going through,there are some things you just can not hide & her pain is always obverse!
    ~ Do they ever wonder why she cries at night! They know she does!
    ~ I loved it,the reunion,but hate Mulo more fore this!(",)

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    1. aww sorry Karima. I didn't think this would be a sad chapter. **hugs**

      Mulo can't stay out of her life. He just needs to leave it alone and let her clean up the mess he made, but he won't.

      Marcus did slip into dad role easily enough. He doesn't remember much, but he was a great father before he was taken and that didn't change.

      They do know she cries, they can hear her but I don't think they ever stopped to really considered why. :( She does try to hide her pain but its not always an easy thing to do.

      The reunion went off smoothly other than Mulo.

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  4. I hate how they're all mad at her when it's all that Mulo's fault. grrrrrr
    Thank you, Marcus!

    Someone needs to take Mulo out. HE's the one that need to be 'out of the equation'.
    In a way, I'm also mad at Amari. She's letting herself be a doormat to a certain extent. She LETS people walk all over her, especially Mulo and her kids. I'm tensing up thinking about it. I'd better shut my MFing mouth before I say stuff I'll regret. But you'd better believe I'm thinking them!

    Marcus needs to take a stand on which woman he's going to be with, and it needs to be Amari. Sorry, Italian-woman-who's-name-I-can't-remember-because-she's-not-important-to-me, but he's not yours.

    :)

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    1. yeah she gets a raw deal when it comes to the kids. They are angry at Mulo as well, but they are upset over the situation and the fact that she didn't tell them sooner.

      haha people have been wanting Mulo dead for a long time. As for Amari, she's gotten better. Mulo has always been an issue for her from the very beginning. :( As for the kids she's had a rough go of thing with all of them except for Aric. The relationship with the trips has been the worst. She couldn't bond with them from the beginning because she suffered for PPD since she was still grieving over Marcus. Then she realized they were vamps and she feared she had cheated on Marcus until she found out what Mulo did to turn them. After that there was the near death incident with Finley created an even bigger rift with them. :(

      Yes Marcus does need to take a stand and he will address that soon I promise. LOL poor Flo gets no love.

      Sorry this chapter got you so worked up. Thanks for reading.

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  5. I forget why is Mulo making Amari's life a living hell? I know why the other bitch is, but why Mulo. This poor woman has been through so much, I know it would have been more than I could have handled. Personally I would have offed everyone, myself included, just to put it to an end.

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    1. um because he is a major ass that's why. He does care for her in his own way, but he causes more grief than anything.

      LOL it is surprising that she hasn't taken that route, but she does keep going.

      Hopefully all these trials will lead her to a happy ending.

      Thanks for reading.

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  6. Stupid Mulo, somebody really needs to drive a stake through his heart... or whatever is in it's place. He just has to make everything worse, he needs to shut his stupid mouth and not screw things up... he should have just left it to Amari.

    Marcus was awesome though, I love how he was trying to get their children to go easy on Amari and explain to them how she wasn't trying to avoid hurting them as much as possible and she wasn't just trying to keep secrets.

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    1. LOL yeah he just won't just leave her alone. He thought this would be better for her, but he was wrong.

      Marcus is always awesome. :D He slipped into daddy mode easily enough and took up for Amari. She needs someone in her corner and he did a good job letting them know she's not any happier about this than they are. She really wasn't trying to keep secrets, but she should have told them sooner.

      Thanks for reading. :)

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  7. That's it? I need more... :`( .... Stupid Mulo! Muuuule, that's what he is, and not the cute end of one either. (^_^) ... I wonder if he said something with completely good intentions and just fumbled it like a dolt, or if he said something knowing full well the problem it would cause.

    Marcus talked with them like an old pro. He has a lot of thinking to do still, poor guy. I don't know who got the worse end of that underhanded deal, Amari or Marcus :( .... the triplets may be young, but they've been sadly anti-Mom for a long time, or so it seems to me.

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    1. aww sorry. I didn't think this one was short, but I guess they could have talked more. There is a lot of subjects I could cover if I really wanted to delve into all the inner working of this situation.

      He did say it something he thought would be helpful and had good intentions. He should have just stayed out of it and let Amari handle it.

      yes he dropped into that role very easily. He does have a lot to thinking to do and it won't be easy. Amari has tried to push him away, but he doesn't want to go. :(

      Well Amari's deal is terrible over all, then add this she's not having a good go of things. Marcus gets the raw end because all he did was love Amari and had his life stolen. So hard to say who has it worse.

      The trips have been anti mom. They have had a very strained relationship for a long time but there are little breaks in the wall. Hopefully they will come around.

      Thanks for reading. :)

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  8. I hated how they all jumped on her. I'm so tired of her kids yelling at her, and even though she's screwed up she's still the mom and they need to respect that. I was so proud of Marcus for defending her even though he was confused himself lol. In the end, it was really nice to see the twins try to apologize to her.

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    1. :( Amari has always had it rough with her kids. She messes up a lot and they do tend to be disrespectful to her at times. They end up good in the end, but it's not an easy road to get there.

      Marcus to the rescue. :D He is confused and trying to understand, but he sees things differently from how the kids will view stuff and can take a different approach in handling it.

      Yes, after they got past their initial anger/frustration with the help of Marcus, they realized that this is hard for her as well. Harder considering they can have him back, but she can't since he is engaged. :(

      Thanks for reading.

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  9. I totally understand the kids' reaction, if my parents kept something as big as that I'd be

    upset too, but I also understand Amari's predicament, it was literally out of her hands, Mulo

    really screwed with everyone up. Funny how keeps saying he loves Amari, only to end up hurting

    her over and over. Still, their talk went better than I'd expected. I'm glad everything is out

    in the open now, maybe they can all move on and focus on healing?

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    1. Yeah that was hard for them, and with Mulo telling them instead of Amari, they took it even harder. :( She was trying to spare them the pain she was going through due to his memory loss but it just looked like she was hiding stuff.

      He does hurt her a lot sadly but now with the bond they share, it allows him to really see how much what he does affects her.

      Now that the kids know everything, it will be a turning point (hopefully) for the family.

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  10. I think Muko was trying to be the good man, by taking the blame and explaining to the kids it was his fault, it may have actually helped. Would the kids even have listened to her had he not told them himself? I don't know, it wasn't his place really but i do think it may have helped a little.

    Poor Marcus, lol, he's not sure what to think now. No kids to 5 kids in a blink pretty much.

    I don't think is going to be cut and dry. I can not see him going back to Florence now but he has already signed the papers so we will have to wait and see...edenz~

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  11. Muko=Mulo when my fingers work correctly=b...edenz~

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    1. He was trying to soften the blow by owning up to what he did, but it didn't work out so well. :( I don't think it would have mattered how they got the news, they were going to be upset regardless because of the nature of the news.

      Yeah Marcus was really thrown into being daddy, but he is handling it well.

      Nothing about this situation is cut and dry. :(

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  12. Well, that didn't.. I'm not sure how that went :/ It's sweet that the boys apologised in their own ways, hopefully the triplets won't stay mad at her either.

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    1. It didn't go over too well considering the kids were already angry at Amari, made it much harder to explain. :( The boys are older, so they could understand a little better, but the triplets. They have always had that strained relationship, and this sort of made it worse. :(

      thanks for reading

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