Double Fated (Book One)

by C.K. Mullinax

  Chapter Twenty Four

  My brothers avoided me like they would a leper while we ate a fancy meal in a very upscale restaurant. I was weary and I needed to use most of my brain power to just keep up with the conversation. But, I found a creative way to make them sweat my retribution.

  Haven had stayed stuck to me like glue. She was sitting in my lap during most of the meal. I would intermittently whisper something to her. My niece would snicker and look over at them like they were the subject of our secret enterprise.

  Fearing having their weapon pointed right back at them my brothers would spring a collective channel bribe on me. Whatever they sent in my direction not only woke me up, but it felt like I had just come from an hour long massage.

  Nodding once, I smiled at them in gratitude. But, I still held Haven and kept up the fun – not wanting to let my brothers off the hook too easily.

  I said goodnight to my royal grandparents and thanked them for coming to see my performance. Although they maintained a certain air of formality, they were as thrilled and as proud of me as Meemaw and Poppy had been last night. They raved about my singing and acting abilities.

  I accepted their praise without dismissal because my Momma-G was beaming. Her parents complimented her on the fine job she is doing raising me. She curtsied and blushed, before thanking them.

  Because I spent the dinner hour covertly teasing my brothers, I missed most of everything else going on around me. So, when g-mom called me over to the side for a private chat I wasn’t aware of the brewing trouble.

  I handed Haven off to her mommy before I met g-mom in the corner.

  “Since when have I become the last person you talk to?? When were you planning on telling me?? Or, am I no longer an important part of your life??” she whispered and I could hear the very evident hurt in her voice.

  “You’re not the last person I talk to! I tell you everything! I love you, g-mom. What did I forget to talk to you about??” I responded as tears started flowing, automatically.

  G-mom’s feelings were injured because she didn’t know I could sing. The other plays they had seen me perform in had no musical numbers with them. Nobody else in the family had acted surprised by my ability when I started belting out tunes on stage. So, she naturally assumed that she was the only one who didn’t know I had that talent. She believed that she was the only parent, in the dark.

  Fortunately, my royal grandparents had already made their exit. They would have been perplexed and would have riddled Momma-G with questions. But, the words were going to come out, regardless of who might hear them and judge them.

  I startled the rest of my family when I turned to them and loudly asked, “Did anyone know I could sing before tonight??”

  They shook their heads ‘no’ and stared at me in confusion. I looked back at my g-mom without explaining my outburst.

  “See, g-mommy! They didn’t know either. I would never keep anything from you, ever! You’re my best friend and you mean the world to me. Nothing happens to me without you knowing about it…nothing!” I exclaimed through my sobs.

  Although she tried to sooth me, I couldn’t seem to get control over my emotions. I held g-mom like she was going to disappear any second. She realized I needed some time to get it back together. She excused us and then, asked Daddy-Jax to send us home for a bit. We needed to spend some time together.

  She repeatedly, told me she was sorry for jumping to conclusions. She even tried to convince me that she had just overreacted. I refused to accept her apology though because, as far as I was concerned, she didn’t. Until we joined this family, we only had each other. I can’t even envision how much it would hurt me if I discovered everyone else in our family knew some secret about her and her life that I didn’t. I would be injured beyond repair if I thought someone else had taken my place in her heart.

  G-mom held me in her lap, rocking and soothing me. I had inadvertently hurt her feelings. So it would take me a little longer than usual to calm down.

  “There, there…now…I didn’t mean to upset you, sweet little Bunny Baby of mine…” she offered for about the hundredth time.

  “My life is an open book for you to read – anytime, you feel like it. You have the passcodes to my cell phone and computer. You kept the key on my diary and we even read it together. I talk to you about everything…and I mean everything…even the little stuff that you’re probably not even interested in hearing.

  “I’m close to every member of our family. But, you, of all people, never have to question which place you hold in my heart. That’s been well-established through my lifetime and it won’t ever change no matter how many people we add to it…” I revealed to her.

  Once I regained my perspective, g-mom shared a brilliant idea with me about a unique gift she needed my help creating.

  “I want to get this together by the Warming on Sunday, if at all possible. I’ll need your help gathering pictures and helping me shove them into that infernal computer program – pow-point…” she said.

  “You mean PowerPoint?”

  “If that’s the music and picture show we can have up on the screen, then yes. I kinda borrowed some pictures of your Meemaw and Poppy while I was at their house, visiting. I didn’t ask, but I’m sure they won’t mind my sticky fingers. They have so many snapshots, they’ll never miss fifty.

  “I can’t swipe anything from the Rhinehart’s without breaking and entering. So, I sorta procured a source to help me borrow some pics of Dylan’s parents when they were younger. The snapshots of Scarlett and Dylan were easy-peezy to get.

  “I’ve got your Aunt Tabby working on getting her hands on a few others that I need. And, I have another source that helped me select the right song for our present. You and I, Bunny Girl, can inject them into the computer, together. If everything works out like I’m plannin’ then, we can give them the gift on Sunday…” she told me.

  “Let me pull out my phone and see what times I have available to inject your pictures, mommy dear…” I offered, comically.

  I knew she was aware of the appropriate terminology, but she made the funny comment to make me feel better. We were both giggling when I pulled out my phone and scheduled in a time to download the pictures for her.

  “Oh, speaking of brilliant ideas, I was hoping you and grandma could help me with something. I want to give the couples in our family an unexpected honeymoon. Ember was in tears last night because she misses Jaysen. She was telling me that Willow’s missing Tray the same way, too. I figured Momma-C and Momma-G are in the same boat, or even worse, with their bio-gypsy families monopolizing all of their time. I’m sure Reid and Fallon will be thrilled to have additional days to spend together too.

  “I thought maybe you, me and Grandma Edie could sorta hold the fort down and take care of the kids. That’ll give them some alone time. Here’s the rub though, I don’t exactly know what any of them do…which makes it hard to cover for them…” I stated, honestly.

  “I don’t either. Well, I don’t know much at least. But, I’m sure your grandma and Kyrann have a good idea of what goes on and how to hold a fort. And, I could ask that uptight General…what’s his name?”

  “Zann…”

  “That’s the one…I’ll just ask General Zann to do us a solid and take over the army for a long weekend. Gives your Daddy-Jax some time to spend with Momma-G without worrying…” g-mom told me.

  “Okay, the Ava’shay are taken care of, but how are we gonna get Vaydem coverage?” I asked.

  “That’s the question of the hour. I don’t know anything about their daily ins-and-outs…”

  We called grandma to meet with us because her input was necessary.

  Grandma Edie initially voiced a passing concern about her kids not taking sufficient time to nurture their marriages’. But, she didn’t pursue her worry any further than the one comment and a fleeting look of genuine worry.

  The three of us spent most o
f the night plotting and scheming. They were more excited than I was about perpetrating the ‘honeymoon surprise’. Before I hit the hay we had most of our strategy worked out. And, my g-mom was content in the knowledge that she had not lost any piece…of her daughter.