"Damn," I tease, with a smirk, "I guess not." I nuzzle her nose, and shift over on the bench to rest my back against the wall. I wonder if Stitch could take a look at Vee... If she can fix the other folks, maybe she could help re-wire Vee the right way... Nobody should have to suffer through a life without chocolate. "If you could fix what that jerk did to you, Vee... Would you?"
She glances down at her leg, but then it clicks. She huffs a little laugh and shrugs, "I dunno, Momma. I mean, of all the drek wrong in the world, a little girl who goes into heat because of a candy seems like, you know, not that big a deal? I mean." She smirks, "It's not like Ima get knocked up or anything. Just makes it easier on you an Rinnie to have you way with me. It's not so bad. But thanks." She lays her head against your good shoulder.
After she spends a moment enjoying the closeness of you, she perks up to ask, "You wanna go see everyone else? Hump, Gramma an Ollie? They've been worried, too. I'm startin to feel selfish, you know?"
I guess she's right... I don't want to use that candy. It's like a cheat; and after what happened to my Ma', I want everything to be on the up and up. I nod, "Can you grab one of the girls to come stand watch here? I don't want folks bugging my Ma' while she sorts herself out."
VB nods. She reaches up to gently pull you into a very long, sweet kiss. With medium tongue. Then she smiles when she pulls back and gives you that sparkle again, "Be back soon, Momma." She hops up, a fresh skip in her step, and leaves.
My smile goes away when Vee skips out the door... For the first time since that dinner, I'm alone. Just me and baby. I run my hands over my tummy, and silently whisper, "I'm so sorry baby... Mommy's going to be more careful from now on. I promise."
I guess I'll just chill here until Vee gets back with Mamba.
After ten minutes of waiting, the door opens up and Hump walks in. His eyes are wide with excitement and he's smiling. "Sis! Vee said you were out!" He comes in, shutting the door behind him, moving up to hug you.
He asks how you are, if you need anything, if they did anything to you. Then, "Where's Ma?"
I look up at Hump with a content smile, and slowly rise to hug him. I fill him in about what happened since the dinner, giving him my side of the story, and letting him know where not to squeeze too hard. When it comes to Ma', I stall for a while before commenting...
"Ma' is really frakked up about what happened, Hump... She thinks she's pregnant with Branigans' baby, and her memories are all shot to hell... She said she wants to be alone for a while."
I deflate a little when he asks what Ma' intends to do... "Well... On the off chance Branigans was a breeder, then she said she's gunna get rid of it, one way or another... If not... Well... I dunno... I guess that depends on whose it is..." I can't even begin to imagine how Branigans would contrive to knock Ma' up with Dad's... Uh... Y'know what? Let's leave it at that...
"This is beyond frakked up, Hump... I nearly... I mean, I love Rinso, and when I found out there were dangers out there that would threaten this baby, I ..." I sigh, and pause a moment to build up some courage. "I was ready to do what needed to be done. I'm glad it didn't come to that; but I would have, to spare my child a life of pain and suffering."
I pull Hump down onto the bench with me... "We need to be here for her Hump. For better or worse, and be as patient as we can. No matter what. She needs to know we're a family, and that we'll forgive her."
Hump says glumly, "I just... I can't believe she did this to Dad. A whole year and she never noticed? I asked about it in The Bay, Kiddo." He looks up at you, grief and hurt in his eyes, "There's no way she couldn't have known. Everyone knew that was Branigans, he frakked with people, he was a frakkin king here! She had to know, Kiddo! She did this to him, let him rot!"
I sigh, and grip his shoulder lightly, "Hump... I was there. On two separate occasions she stopped dead in her tracks because Branigans laid a hand on her... She was a completely different person in his presence. She swore Branigans was our Dad, and that Dad was a brain frakker..."
Gods, I never want to relive that dinner again...
"But in spite of all that, she came to my rescue ... She swore the whole frakking way down to the infirmary that she was going to kill Dad... Did she?"
Hump breaks away from the stare between you. Or the one he was trying to have with you. Sullenly, "No, she didn't. But hell, he could have died any day in here, and she was busy, you know, frakking him. It's drek, is all. I don't trust her, sis."
The door from the outside opens up, and Mamba comes in. She's got a cut on her lower lip, and her right eye is bruised. She has a machine pistol stuffed in the front of her shorts.
Yeah... It's a tough one, isn't it? I pout sympathetically, and nod a few times. "We're all frakked up right now Hump... I should have worked harder to find them. Maybe if I was smarter back then, I could have stopped it all before it started." Mamba enters, and I greet her with a nod, "C'mon Hump... I wanna see Dad."
I stand up, slowly, and address Mamba on the way out. "My Ma's in one of the cells back there... Nobody gets in, OK? She wants some privacy. When she comes out, tell her she can come find us in the Infirmary."
Mamba nods, heads over to take a seat and faces the door you and Hump walk out of. On the way out, Hump says quietly, "I'm pissed at Gramma, too, Kiddo. She should have done something. You think she wanted Dad to die?"
I stop dead in my tracks when Hump expresses his concerns about Gramma...
I mean, I was pissed enough when I heard the details about the message from that slimeball in Tradertown — but that thought hadn't even crossed my mind. I know she wanted her daughter back, but Ma' risked everything bringing Dad here to save his life — at the very least, she could be bitter about Dad. Frak... This whole deal to her was about getting Ma' back...
I give Hump a troubled look, "I'll talk to her." The thought makes me very uneasy though... "You need to calm down, yeah? Dad's had a harder year than all of us... Abandoned in that room alone, forced to listen to that bastard gloat about violating his wife, not sure if his kids would ever come... We're here now, Hump. We need to make Dad better. Ma' needs to see that... What do you say we play Dad some music?"
Hump pushes things aside and lights up when you mention playing, "Yeah, let's play for him! I've had more practice lately. Ima play yer ass off, sis."
You head into the ICU to visit with your father. He brightens when he sees you, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a little smile. Jemma is there, pacing like a caged animal, but she eases up when you arrive. Do you take the guitar, or let Hump have it? What do you play for them?
I let Hump have a go at it first — he really has gotten better since I last heard him. I pull Gramma aside to sit with me, and while Hump is belting out a song he wrote himself I lean close to her and whisper, "Ma's confined to this level for the time being while we sort some shit out. She's in her cell, free, but she wanted some time alone — so I'm giving it to her. I've got one of the girls making sure nobody bothers her for a bit."
I sit there, holding Gramma's hand, and listening to Hump sing for a minute before adding, "she's really messed up, Gram... That asshole did some horrible shit to her..."
Hump is singing for all he's worth, and your Dad's foot is swinging the rhythm of it. Jemma turns to whisper back, "And you killed the frakker for it. My girls are tough. She'll be fine. She has to be fine, get me? We didn't do all this drek to feel sad about it, Kiddo."
I nod, and smile contentedly when I see Dad's foot wiggling to the beat. "Just a matter of being patient I guess, and hoping for the best... Moms have got to learn these things."
Comments
She glances down at her leg, but then it clicks. She huffs a little laugh and shrugs, "I dunno, Momma. I mean, of all the drek wrong in the world, a little girl who goes into heat because of a candy seems like, you know, not that big a deal? I mean." She smirks, "It's not like Ima get knocked up or anything. Just makes it easier on you an Rinnie to have you way with me. It's not so bad. But thanks." She lays her head against your good shoulder.
After she spends a moment enjoying the closeness of you, she perks up to ask, "You wanna go see everyone else? Hump, Gramma an Ollie? They've been worried, too. I'm startin to feel selfish, you know?"
VB nods, "Sure, Momma. Got a preference?"
VB makes an unsure face, "You sure you wanna leave the rest of them out there with Omo to boss them around?"
VB nods. She reaches up to gently pull you into a very long, sweet kiss. With medium tongue. Then she smiles when she pulls back and gives you that sparkle again, "Be back soon, Momma." She hops up, a fresh skip in her step, and leaves.
What do you do?
I guess I'll just chill here until Vee gets back with Mamba.
He asks how you are, if you need anything, if they did anything to you. Then, "Where's Ma?"
"Ma' is really frakked up about what happened, Hump... She thinks she's pregnant with Branigans' baby, and her memories are all shot to hell... She said she wants to be alone for a while."
After a while, he asks, "What's she gonna do, sis?"
"This is beyond frakked up, Hump... I nearly... I mean, I love Rinso, and when I found out there were dangers out there that would threaten this baby, I ..." I sigh, and pause a moment to build up some courage. "I was ready to do what needed to be done. I'm glad it didn't come to that; but I would have, to spare my child a life of pain and suffering."
I pull Hump down onto the bench with me... "We need to be here for her Hump. For better or worse, and be as patient as we can. No matter what. She needs to know we're a family, and that we'll forgive her."
Gods, I never want to relive that dinner again...
"But in spite of all that, she came to my rescue ... She swore the whole frakking way down to the infirmary that she was going to kill Dad... Did she?"
The door from the outside opens up, and Mamba comes in. She's got a cut on her lower lip, and her right eye is bruised. She has a machine pistol stuffed in the front of her shorts.
I stand up, slowly, and address Mamba on the way out. "My Ma's in one of the cells back there... Nobody gets in, OK? She wants some privacy. When she comes out, tell her she can come find us in the Infirmary."
I mean, I was pissed enough when I heard the details about the message from that slimeball in Tradertown — but that thought hadn't even crossed my mind. I know she wanted her daughter back, but Ma' risked everything bringing Dad here to save his life — at the very least, she could be bitter about Dad. Frak... This whole deal to her was about getting Ma' back...
I give Hump a troubled look, "I'll talk to her." The thought makes me very uneasy though... "You need to calm down, yeah? Dad's had a harder year than all of us... Abandoned in that room alone, forced to listen to that bastard gloat about violating his wife, not sure if his kids would ever come... We're here now, Hump. We need to make Dad better. Ma' needs to see that... What do you say we play Dad some music?"
You head into the ICU to visit with your father. He brightens when he sees you, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a little smile. Jemma is there, pacing like a caged animal, but she eases up when you arrive. Do you take the guitar, or let Hump have it? What do you play for them?
I sit there, holding Gramma's hand, and listening to Hump sing for a minute before adding, "she's really messed up, Gram... That asshole did some horrible shit to her..."