Ok.  So I know, I know.  Now that I have a CF blog I should no longer post here. BUT.  But I wrote this vignette a while ago and I'd like to post it today, on Valentine's.  It is, of course, out of order, but not too far off from where I left you with Maggie & Grey if anyon'es all caught up (Danielle?  Maybe?).  But whatevs.  I just wanna, so I'm gunna.  I reserve that right, right? Right.

So Happy Valentine's!

***************

Velvet was happy Grey and Maggie had decided to join them at the main house for the annual Valentine’s Day breakfast.  She would have understood had they decided to keep to themselves in the guest house.  She smiled as she reached for the blackberry preserve.

It was a peculiar holiday to make into a family holiday, she supposed, but it had everything to do with Grey so it seemed fitting that he’d decided to come and had brought his beautiful bride.

Velvet spread a thin layer of preserve across her already buttered toast and sighed contentedly, thinking of her first Valentine’s Day with Jonah.  She’d been a new mother, a divorcee, and pretty newly engaged to boot.  They were still living in the townhouse with the yellow door in the old factory district, still living with Nolan. 

She’d overheard a conversation between the brothers late the night before, while Jonah was up feeding Grey; and Nolan, just getting home from work at the bar, was unwinding and keeping his brother company. It was a comfortable routine.  Velvet lay in bed and listened to their conversation in the common area.  ‘I can take care of a baby for a night, Jones, really, it isn’t a big deal.’ Nolan was insisting.  ‘This is your first Valentine’s’ he’d lectured, trying to convince Jonah to take her out for a proper date.

Grey’d wailed then, for a few moments, and the conversation waited until he’d settled in once again and was suckling on his bottle contentedly.

“He doesn’t look sleepy at all.”  Commented Nolan adoringly.

“He’s a night owl.”  Jonah agreed indulgently.

Velvet loved what softies those two men were for babies.  Maybe because their parents had had their younger brother so late in life.  They were both great with Grey.  She was always grateful for the way Nolan not only adjusted to living with a young couple who were raising a new baby, but actually seemed to enjoy it.  Uncle Nolan was very much a part of their little family. “Maybe he’ll grow up to be a bartender like his Uncle.”  He posited and she heard Jonah chuckle low.

“Thanks, Nole, really, but I think I want to do a family style Valentine’s.”  He said after a few moments of what sounded like Nolan playing some version of peek-a-boo with the baby.

“You sure?”  Nolan sounded skeptical.

“Yeah.”  Jonah’d replied, yawning.  “Breakfast in bed, maybe an indoor picnic, cuddling on the couch and just, whatever she needs.”  He said.  “Besides, you don’t want to miss the bank you’ll make tending bar on Valentine’s.”

Velvet heard Nolan grunt.  “Tell the truth I was kinda looking forward to avoiding all those sad, lonely, desperate girls.”  She heard the water in the kitchen sink and knew he was rinsing his plate and silverware from the microwaved leftovers they’d saved him from their dinner.

“Have breakfast with us, then, in the morning.” Offered Jonah, and Velvet could hear the honest enthusiasm in his voice. 

“Oh, I dunno—“

“Yeah, please? Get up and have breakfast with us as a family.  I’ll make whatever you want.”

“Jones, C’mon, spend it with your family.”  Nolan said gently.

“You’re part of my family.” Jonah insisted.  “Huh, Grey? Don’t you think Uncle Nolan should be present at the first annual Delaney Family Valentine’s Day Breakfast?” Said Jonah, cooing at the months-old baby he was feeding.

Nolan laughed.  “Don’t use the kid as leverage, you asshole.”

“Hey, delicate ears over here.” Jonah said, chuckling.  “Grey thinks you should be there.  And I agree.”

They were quiet for a moment before Nolan said very quietly: “And your fiancée?”

Velvet flushed in the way one does when eavesdropping and the talk turns to oneself.  She tried to make herself even more still than she already was and strained to hear the much-lowered voices.

“She loves you Nolan.” Jonah was saying.  “No, she does—she thinks you’re great and she loves how you are with Grey, Nole, she’d want you there.”

“It’s Valentine’s Day—“

“Yeah, and the last one she had was with that son of a bitch—“

“Hey, impressionable ears!”  Nolan interrupted, teasing.

“ --And I don’t ever want this holiday to remind her of him in the least.  I’m not doing the usual stuff with her on this day.  Not ever.”

“I dunno if you have any control over how she feels or doesn’t feel about the man, my friend.”

“Knock it off.”

“Jonah, just—“

“Just what?  How many times are you going to say it Nolan?  I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I just want you to be careful.” Nolan said with a heavy sigh.  “People can’t just be expected to fall out of love with no strings attached, no confused feelings—“

In the dark of the bedroom she shared with Jonah, Velvet’s mouth fell open at Nolan’s veiled accusation.  And then she washed over cold because of how frighteningly close to the mark he’d come.

 “Nolan, she likes you, why can’t you give her a chance?”

“She’s great!”  Nolan insisted defensively.  “This isn’t about that, this is about you and how I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“I love her.” Jonah responded simply.  “She’s going to be my wife.”  He added as Nolan stayed quiet.  “We have a son.”

“He’s pretty great.” Nolan acknowledged, and Velvet could hear the smile in his voice.

Velvet heard the decisive pop of the bottle leaving Grey’s mouth and a contented gurgling.

“All done?” Jonah asked the boy incredulously.  “Think I should give him more?”

After a few moments she heard the refrigerator open.

“Bad luck, Brother.” Nolan said.  “You’ll have to bring him to the source, because you’re out of pumped stuff.”

“Dammit.”  Jonah said in a sing-song sort of voice, clearly entertaining the baby.  “Check the freezer?” She heard a raspberry sound that made the baby chuckle and burble appreciatively.

The Fridge door closed as the freezer door pulled open.

“Yeah.  It’ll take a while to thaw though, even doing the warm water.”  She heard Nolan yawn as he pulled a heavy glass mixing bowl across the surface of the counter and turn on the faucet again.

“Go ahead to bed Nole, I got it.”

“It’s not a problem—“ Another yawn.

Jonah groaned a little as she heard him getting up off the couch with the baby. “Goodnight.” He said, more firmly. “You need a good night’s sleep if you’re gunna get up and have family breakfast with us.”

“Jonesie—“

“Say g’night to Uncle Nole, Grey!”

Nolan had finally grunted his agreement and Velvet had drifted off to sleep sometime later, Jonah still up singing silly little made-up lullabies and playing the simple little games you play with babies, and when she awoke next it was to the heavenly aroma of fresh coffee and sizzling bacon and something cinnamon-y baking in the oven.  And to the sounds of animated, if quiet, conversation and the happy chipper sounds of the baby playing with the electronic light-up toys in his play seat. 

Now, 24 years later, she still got a little misty at the memory of walking out into the open-concept kitchen\living\dining area of the old brick townhouse and experiencing the first-ever Delaney Family Valentine’s Day Breakfast.

“—more, Velvet?” 

Velvet blinked and then flushed slightly.  Whoops.  She’d been caught day-dreaming.  “I’m sorry?”

Jonah stood beside her chair with the glass pitcher of fresh-squeezed orange juice.  “I asked if you’d like any more.”  He told her gently.  “Happy Valentine’s Day, Wife.” He added quietly, in a way that made her think maybe he knew exactly where she’d wandered off to just then. 

She grinned up at him and then looked around the table at her family.  They were all there—Viola, looking bleary eyed and grumpy as a teenager should, the twins, both in their glasses because it was way too early to think about putting in contacts, Even Avalon had decided to come and she’d somehow convinced Ben of the endeavor, and the handsome young man was enduring it gracefully, she thought.  And, of course, Grey with Maggie. 

Velvet had asked Nolan, when he’d married Zahra, if he would keep coming over to their place—She and Jonah had moved out of the townhouse when they’d married, but he’d made the early morning trip over to their new place annually—for the traditional breakfast.  He’d smiled, said he would miss them very much, but that it was time to start his own family traditions. 

She wondered what that Delaney bunch did on this day.  She’d never thought to inquire.  And Caleb sometimes joined them, but this Valentine’s was especially prickly and he couldn’t be convinced to crawl out of bed this time around to celebrate ‘that idiot cupid’. 

But she had her family, and that made her warm and contented.

“No, thank you, Sweetheart.”  She said in response to the juice query, and he moved around the table to offer to Avalon and Ben.

She listened to Maggie discussing the wedding with Ava, and to the twins teasing their father about the silver at his temples, and to Grey trying to pull his youngest sister out of her moody teenager-y gloom with humor, and she turned to Ben, who was sipping his coffee and casting his glance about, looking for a conversation to join.

She leaned over to him and confided: “I wasn’t a Delaney at my first Delaney Family Valentine’s breakfast either, you know.”

He lowered the coffee mug from his lips and smiled.  “No?”

She shook her head and giggled.  “Grey wasn’t either, I guess, come to think of it.”  She added thoughtfully, realizing that while Jonah’s intent was clear from before Grey’d been born, she hadn’t actually processed the papers until he was around six months old.

“I wasn’t what?”  Grey asked sharply, always able to hear his name when spoken in a crowd.

“A Delaney, at the first Valentine’s day.”  She answered, throwing a contrite look at Jonah who was leaning in to ask Viola about more orange juice, the very idea of which seemed to make the girl faintly ill. 

“Ah.”  Said Grey in response and met eyes with Maggie.   Velvet followed his gaze and saw Maggie nod marginally and nibble her lower lip.  “Funny you should bring that up.”  Grey said, rising from his seat and going to stand behind Maggie’s chair.

The table quieted down and everybody was watching Grey curiously.  Velvet felt a hand on her own shoulder and looked up to see Jonah smiling a little, captivated by Grey.

“Because, this time next year there will be another Delaney with us.”

Velvet looked at Ben for a moment before remembering that Ben wouldn’t become a Delaney, Avalon would be becoming a Sinclair.  She looked back at Grey, who seemed to be locked in a challenging gaze with Jonah, and then at Maggie who didn’t seem able to meet anyone’s eyes.

The hand on her shoulder squeezed gently and she looked up, puzzled.  Then the hand was gone and Jonah was crossing around the breakfast table to where Grey stood, and extending the hand for a shake.  “Congratulations, Son!”  He said warmly “That’s wonderful news!”  Velvet watched him pull Grey into a hearty embrace and then kiss the boy’s cheek before pulling Maggie from her seat, hugging her and bending to kiss her cheek as well.  “Congratulations.”  He said again.

“Thank you.”  Maggie said shyly, still hardly able to keep her eyes off the table. 

“When are you Due?”  Velvet heard Avalon ask sharply.

Maggie looked at Grey, who smiled easily at his sister.  “Summer.”  He replied vaguely, but in a tone that did not invite follow-up.

“Due?”  Velvet heard herself ask. And she felt all eyes upon her, even Maggie’s. 

Jonah chuckled into the tense stillness of the kitchen.  “She’s in shock.”  He said pleasantly. “Can you blame her?  She’s still far too young to be a grandmother.”  He said, crossing back and kissing her atop her head, before whispering in her ear “Love, Our son is going to be a father.”

Her eyebrows lifted in the middle and her mouth opened in an ‘o’.  “Grey?”

Grey met her eyes and his lips quirked into something like a smile, his expression almost bittersweet.  “Surprised?”

“Maggie?”

Maggie blushed and smiled weakly at her mother-in-law and gave a little nod of affirmation.

Velvet knew, for certain, in that moment, that he’d married her because she’d gotten pregnant; and the image of Vaughan Grey’s arrogant, selfish face swam, unbidden, to the forefront of her mind and she quite suddenly began to weep uncontrollably.

“Velvet?”  Jonah’s voice was all concern and Grey’s joined in, “Mum?  Are you alright?”

Soon others at the table were asking, Jonah had Ava put the kettle on for more tea and Velvet felt ridiculous.  It was as if someone had pushed a button and opened floodgates.  She felt foolish and embarrassed and perfectly awful for ruining the big announcement.

“I’m so happy!”  She managed to force out through chattering teeth and sobs, earning nervous laughter from a few parties around the table.  Jonah knelt beside her chair and gathered her against him and she sobbed into his neck.  “I’m so happy.”  She repeated as he patted her back soothingly.

Dimly she was aware that Ben Sinclair had helped ease the awkwardness by getting out of his seat and going over to the opposite side of the table to congratulate the couple, which cued all her daughters to follow suit.

By the time all the family had congratulated them Velvet had managed to get herself mostly under control.  She sat up a little straighter, took her head from her husband’s shoulder and hastily swiped the wetness from her cheeks.  Sniffling and forcing herself to take reasonable breaths she smiled a watery smile at Jonah.  Her rock.  Her everything.  “I’m so sorry.”  She whispered and he smiled.

“Don’t you dare.”  He warned her playfully.  “Now go hug your son and daughter, Grandma.” 

Her eyes widened and she half giggled-half sobbed.  He helped her to her feet and when she was steady she practically flew at Maggie, wrapping the girl in a startlingly fierce embrace.  “This is absolutely wonderful.”  She told the girl passionately, holding her close, wanting to tell her so much more than was appropriate to do so in the kitchen, with all the family gathered around.  “Thank you.”  She said, pulling back enough to look deep into the girl’s dark eyes.  She wondered if the girl was frightened, or regretted her condition.  “Oh Maggie!”  She exhaled.  “I love you so much.”  And she squeezed her again, feeling the bonds of a kindred spirit, even if the poor girl was flummoxed by the overpowering surge of affection.  “And this baby will be everything to you, trust me.”  She said in an almost whisper.

“Gracias.”  Maggie said, reflexively slipping into Spanish with the heightened emotion.  “Thank you.”  She corrected shakily.

Between Jonah’s efforts and Ben’s too, the kitchen was soon bubbling with animated conversations.  Velvet heard the twins arguing playfully about whether it would be a boy or a girl, Viola wondered when, exactly it would be due, and Avalon made some comment about bridesmaid’s dresses. 

Still clinging to Maggie, Velvet felt a hand on her back and knew it wasn’t her husband.  Almost regretfully she released Maggie at last and, with a last reassuring smile that she tried to fill with all the subtext she couldn’t speak just now, Velvet spun to face her son.

He was so tall and handsome and grown up.  He looked like his father, only his eyes, her eyes, were kinder, she was sure of it.  She took his handsome face in her hands and searched those pale green eyes, trying to discover the truth that was eluding her.  “You’ve got to be good to her Grey.”  She told him at last, and she watched his bemused smile dissolve and his face grow serious.

“I know.”  He replied in a low voice.

“Grey—“

“I understand, Mum.”  He said curtly, his brows heavy over his eyes.

She swallowed and felt a trembling in her knees.  She hoped he did understand.  She hoped he would prove to be more Jonah’s son than Vaughan’s.  She pulled him into an embrace too, though this one was more guarded, wary. 

When she broke the hug she hitched a super-bright smile in place and declared with her signature verve: “We’ll have to have a baby shower!”

Long Night; Part 10

Good morning! Happy Saturday!

I have to go to professional development today! Something called NEDS. Sounds like a schmuck, doesn't it? I', sure you can't wait to hear all about the riveting world of an after-school care educator!

But i get paid to go, and apparently there will be breakfast pastries, so off i go! The saving grace is that I get to go with Aaron. If this were some theatre teacher conference i could bet on having more fun and caring more about the shit, and maybe seeing some old friends, but at least here i get to be with my bestie (and, incidentally, the man who gave it to me but good last night when Eric & Gina went out for a couple hours to see eric's friends--score for me!!).

So before I depart for fucking WAYLAND MA (where????), let me put up part 10.

This is Ben. Danielle had a question about Mr. Sinclair. Here you find out a smidgen more.

Short but loaded with some ammo.

See you all on the flip side of NEDS!

****************

Ben tried not to know too much about other people’s sex lives.  He wasn’t a prude or anything, he just, that stuff was private.  He especially disliked knowing anything at all about his parent’s sex lives.  He always got red around the collar whenever his mother made ribald jokes—which is something she had the tendency to do around Jonah and Velvet Delaney.

He remembered their family vacations with the Delaneys as distinctly awkward for him because of the easy camaraderie between the three adults.  They teased eachother mercilessly, threaded everything with double entendres, and if they’d had just a little too much to drink they started getting very frank on topics Ben would rather never even imagine his mother discussing, let alone overhear it.

And he’d often had occasion to wonder about just how close the three of them really were.  The summer they’d all gone to the Bennett cabin upstate, the summer he’d turned thirteen, Grey had alluded to the notion that perhaps their parents liked to bunk together when everyone else had gone to sleep.  Ben knew Grey’d said it to get a rise out of him, to needle him, and he’d laughed it off.  Dismissed it.  Pretended it hadn’t bothered him.

But ever since then he’d wondered.  They were, all three of them, best friends.  Could it be out of the realm of possibility?  He really didn’t like thinking about it.  He already knew more than he’d like to about his father’s affairs.  He’d known too much about all that from about the age of five.  And perhaps the most uncomfortable thought of all was the notion that maybe he couldn’t blame his mother for seeking a physical arrangement outside of her marriage.  It baffled him that his parents were still married, actually.

But the idea of her engaging in those activities with Velvet and Jonah made him feel uneasy.  He’d been raised to think of them as his aunt and uncle.  Thinking of his mother with them felt way too close to incest.  It was weird.  They were going to be his parents-in-law for Christ’s sake!

So when he bounded up to the open front door of the Delaney mansion and heard Velvet commenting about his mother’s ass and about spankings in that very suggestive tone of voice, he just wasn’t able to maintain his composure.  He felt like an ass for blushing like a schoolboy, especially when they laughed at his discomfort, but it was quite beyond him to control his gut reaction to their flirting.  He hoped they would refrain from playing that particular pet game this evening.  The evening promised to be long enough without that fun little repartee that made his skin crawl and his ears burn.

He hung the coats in the closet and was grateful his father had taken the hint and opted not to attend.  The tension that sparked between Holden and Jonah in confined spaces was enough to give Ben a sour stomach.  He often wondered how the two of them would conduct themselves at the wedding.  He was comforted by the fact that Jonah Delaney was an upright fellow.  The best man he knew, really, and that he could be counted on to behave like a gentleman.

But there was going to be open bar and Ben’s dad was not a merry drunk.  Holden Sinclair liked to pick fights when he was drunk.  And worse, he liked to brag about his conquests and he liked to hit on young women.  Ben knew Jonah well enough to know that the man would not be able to tolerate Holden disrespecting Grace in his presence.  Ben often wished he and Avalon could elope.

He closed the closet door with a sigh and moved to check his hair in the mirror.  He was displeased to see that his cheeks were still slightly stained with high color.

“You look good enough to eat.”  Avalon’s voice purred from the dining room archway.

He smiled and turned to face her.  His eyes scanned her from her toes to her eyes.  “And you look pretty darn delicious yourself.”  He murmured appreciatively. 

She smiled and moved toward him with a small laugh.  “I could kill you for being so late.”  She cautioned him even as she moved into his waiting arms.  “It’s been a damned nightmare here without you.”

He gave her a sympathetic look and then kissed her deeply.  “That help at all?”  He asked when they drew back to look at one another.

She smiled briefly and then frowned, her eyes doing a quick scan of the foyer before fixing him with an intense purple stare.  “Gideon was cheating on my uncle.”  She told him in a quiet but fierce tone of voice. 

Ben was stunned.  “Oh no.”  He said, a rush of sympathy chasing the shock.

“And my sister’s boyfriend just broke up with her because he’s ‘met someone else’.”  She said.  Ben registered the accusatory edge to her words, but chose not to respond to it.

“That singer?”  He asked.  Ben had figured that guy for a sleaze from the get-go.

“Is there anything you need to tell me?”  She asked, her body going stiff in his arms, her lips getting thin, and one dark eyebrow lifting expectantly.

Jesus.  This was the last thing he wanted to do this evening.

“That I love you, and adore you, and that I can’t wait till you’re my wife?”  He asked with a soft smile.  He did not want to be dragged into one of her flights of unfounded jealousy.

“My grandmother says all men cheat.”  She said without acknowledging his warm sentiment.

Ben’s smile fell and he clenched his jaw.  “Your grandmother is wrong.”  He said firmly.  Many less polite comments leapt to mind, but he held his tongue.

“She’s also been kind enough to remind me about what a brazen philanderer you father is.”  She added, a hint of a challenge in those violet eyes of hers.

Ben kept his features as passive as he was able while roundly cursing that old bitch up and down in his head.  “I am not my father.”  He said after a heavy moment of silence.  He was sensitive about the issue.  He felt as though every girl he’d ever dated had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for him to look too long at a passing waitress, waiting for suspicious e-mails or texts, waiting for him to follow some genetic path to infidelity.

And if the girls weren’t bad enough, their parents were worse.  Even Jonah had changed toward him when he’s started dating Avalon.  Uncle Jonah, the man he’d looked up to all his life, the man he considered his role model and mentor.  The man he’d wished was his real father on more than one occasion, though he’d never tell that to another living soul as long as he lived.  That Jonah.  Had suddenly become somewhat aloof, distant, and Ben couldn’t deny it, he’d become extremely protective of his daughter.

Ben started calling him Mr. Delaney more often than Jonah or Uncle, and he’d lost a lot of the camaraderie they’d once enjoyed.  Only when Ben had gone to the man to ask for Avalon’s hand in marriage did the relationship begin to revert back to the way it had been.  They’d had a very long, somewhat awkward, but overall cathartic talk, man-to-man, in his study, and since then things had been getting a lot better—slowly but surely.

“If you ever cheat on me—“  She began.

Ben dropped his arms from around her.  “Don’t.”  he told her, his voice a clear warning.

Avalon Delaney did not respond well to warnings, threats, or ultimatums.

“Don’t?!”  She hissed.  “Don’t what, stand up for myself?  Don’t call you out?  Don’t pretend you’re not a man just like every other cheating piece of—“

“Avalon, I’m not the one who’s cheated.”  He said, desperate and yes, angry.  He shouldn’t have said it.  He regretted the words as they left his lips.

She froze.  He already felt awful. 

“You swore you were over that.”  She whispered.

“I am.  I’m sorry—“

“You said you forgave me.  How many times do I have to apologize for it?  What do I have to do to make you forget it?”  Tears were welling up in her beautiful eyes and he wished he could punch himself in the jaw for causing her this pain.

“I’m an ass.”  He said, reaching for her, but she turned away.  “I’m so sorry angel, please, look at me.”

He watched her shake her head and cross her arms.  She was putting on the armor.

“I guess I’ll just never be good enough for you, right?”

“Ava, you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me—please honey, look at me.  I love you.  Please.  I’m so, so, so sorry I brought that up.  I’m an idiot.  It was small and cheap of me.”  He placed a cautious hand on her shoulder.  She shrugged it off and moved a few more steps away from him.

“Whatever.”  She said, her voice rigid and unforgiving.  “Let’s just slap happy smiles on our face and get through tonight.  If you still have doubts about me we’ll call off the wedding, but let’s have the courtesy to wait until after this goddamn dinner.”

Then, without looking back at him, she strode out of the foyer toward the living room.

Ben rand a hand over his face from scalp to neck and stared blankly at the magnificent staircase before him.  What a nightmare.  This was going to be an excruciatingly long night.

Long Night; Part 9

Hey!

Shaping up to be a long ass night here-- my brother in law is super grumpy!

Anywho.

Also, i'm sick :( boo, and I have to go to professional development tomorrow :(

And right now all i wanna do is curl up with sookie and go to bed (and have awesome taboo sex), but what i need to do is the dishes--grumpalump! The tension in here because of my brother in law and his GF is so thick I feel like I can't even breather! I almost feel like I need to get out of here, but wait, this is my fucking home!! yikesaroni!

Work today was super fun. I like my aftercare job. i just wish I didn't have a headcold-- it makes me a bitchasaurus rex.

K, enjoy the next segment!

****************

“I thought I heard the bell!  Hello handsome, how are you?”  Velvet was always very glad to see her youngest brother-in-law.  She hurried into the foyer, removing an apron as she hastened to deliver a kiss of welcome to both his cleanly shaven cheeks.  He smelled great.  “Is that the new cologne from the boutique?”

He grinned.  “You’re a goddess, you know that?  Jonah you married a goddess.”

“Don’t I know it.”  Jonah responded adoringly while he helped her with the stubborn apron string knot.

Velvet giggled.  Everything was just about ready, and to her mind Caleb had arrived not a moment too soon because all the free time to mingle was causing unprecedented amounts of tension around the house.  Her mother was being especially prickly, which she had somewhat anticipated.  But Jonah wasn’t quite himself, Grey seemed unenthusiastic, Viola was moody, Avalon was uptight, Vienna was upstairs in a tailspin with a broken heart, and even Nolan seemed less genial than usual.  What was going on with her family this evening?!

“You’re too sweet.”  She gushed at Caleb, who she really thought of as her own younger brother and not just an in-law.  He’d been young when she’d gotten together with Jonah, so she’d been a part of his growing up.  She’d been there for so many of his formative years, and she’d dedicated herself to being present and involved in his world.  He was one of her favorite friends.  Hell, he and Gideon could gossip till the wee hours of a cocktail party and never run out of juicy bits to treat her with.  “Where’s Gideon?  You took separate cars?”  She asked, with a small frown.  Dinner was ready and Ben had yet to arrive with Grace.  Now it looked like Gideon would be late as well.

“He won’t be joining us this evening, Love.”  Jonah answered when Caleb looked stumped.

Velvet blinked.  “Oh?”  She was having trouble figuring this one out.  “Is everything all right?”  She couldn’t imagine anything mundane keeping Gideon away from one of her dinner parties.  He loved socializing and he loved the family.  And Velvet was certain there was no way he would willingly pass up the opportunity to finally meet Grey’s new bride.

“We’re not together anymore.”  Caleb leveled, sounding tired and resigned.

Velvet felt her eyebrows rise to the top of her forehead and her eyes get wide.  “Oh, no, really?  Oh no.  Oh Caleb.  What happened?  Are you ok?”  She had a million more little nothings to mutter but Jonah’s hand on her shoulder reminded her to get a hold of her tongue.

“Maybe you two can have lunch tomorrow?  I’m sure Cale doesn’t want to drag all that out tonight—this is a happy occasion.”  Jonah said gently.

“But—“  Velvet felt torn.  She wanted to know everything, be there for her brother, listen to his woes and help however she could.  But she also had a house full of guests waiting for their dinner and to meet the newest member of the family. 

“No, Jones is right Vell, Let’s do lunch and I’ll give you all the sordid details when I can get good and liquored up.”

Velvet tried to smile but failed.  She crossed to him and wrapped him in a firm hug.  He was much taller than her, almost as tall as his brothers, but part of her would always see only the young boy she used to hug when he’d come to her with all his confusion and angst and trouble with his father. 

“We love you.”  She said, speaking for the whole family.

He hugged her back.  “I know.  I love you guys.”  He said quietly.  “Thank you.”  He added meaningfully.

She pulled back from the hug and looked into his deep blue eyes.  “Did he cheat on you?”  She asked in a hushed tone.

He didn’t need to say anything.  Velvet saw it flash across his expression as clearly as if he’d painted a sign.  Poor baby.  Delaney Curse.  She hugged him again, her heart bursting with empathy.

He cleared his throat and sniffed twice before patting her back with some finality.  “Forget that jerk.”  He said with a forced laugh.  “I’m dying to meet this wonderful new daughter you’ve acquired.  You’ve been talking my ear off for two weeks—don’t hold out on me, direct me to the bride!” 

She giggled weakly.  “You’ll just love her.”

“So you’ve said, about a hundred times.”  He teased.

“Sweetheart, is there anything you still need me to do?”  Jonah asked, folding her apron neatly.

Velvet flashed him a smile.  He was perfect.  She reminded herself how lucky she was to have him.  She knew he could never find out about her semi-annual indiscretions.  She loved him more than life.   She would crumble into a million pieces if he left her.

“Hey—you ok?”  He asked quietly.  Her smile had faded while she was lost in thought. 

“Just thinking.”  She lied brightly.  “Could you make sure there’s enough champagne on ice?”

“Sure thing.”  He responded, then leaned down to kiss her brow before wandering off toward the kitchen.

“No, first see if you can talk to Vee—can you?”

“Let me do the champagne first.”  He decided with a sigh.

“Oh, and be an angel and text Grace—tell her to hurry the hell up!”

She heard Jonah chuckle from somewhere within the dining room.

“Next time I see that two-timing prick I’ll cut his cheating cock off.”  She said when Jonah was out of earshot.

Caleb guffawed.  “I love you sis.”  He said when he’d caught his breath.  “Now really, fetch the blushing bride already.”

Velvet tisked and shook her head, but decided not to press the issue any further tonight.  “I think they’re in the den.  I’m not sure.  Grey’s doing his best to keep her away from my mother.”

“You raised a smart boy.”  Caleb said wryly as they started toward the living room together.  “So any more word on why they up and eloped like that?”  He asked in an intrigued whisper.  “I mean it’s all so very scandalous.”

Velvet tittered.  “My mother is downright furious about it.”  She conceded.  “’It’s the talk of the town and none of it too favorable!’”  She parroted her mother, eliciting a snort of laughter from Caleb.

“Oh my God I’ve heard it all—“  Caleb agreed with a playful smile.  “The most popular story at the radio station involves a Spanish art heist and her father being the heir to the abdicated thrown of Mexico, like before they overthrew the monarchy and established democracy or whatever—so she’s got all this wealth and prestige tied up in an ancient Mayan temple somewhere, but she can’t get to it because of the Mexican army and, oh shit, I forget the bit about the Pope and the Catholic church getting involved, but long story short, Grey rescued the penniless but regal damsel while he was spending winter break in Cabo.”

Velvet’s mouth fell open in astonishment.  “What would Grey be doing involved in a Spanish art heist?  He doesn’t know the first thing about art.”  She wondered.

Caleb laughed uproariously.  “That’s the only part that seems far-fetched?!”

The doorbell rang just as they were getting to the den.  It sounded like Zahra was in there with Genny and at least one or two of Nolan’s kids. 

“I’ve gotta get that Sweetie, Just go ahead, Grey’ll make the introductions—If you can find him!”  She gave his arm a little squeeze and spun on her heel back toward the foyer.

She could hear Caleb’s falsely buoyant entrance to the den as she hurried to answer the door.  Poor Caleb.  She’d have to put her thinking cap on and come up with a better match for the guy.  He deserved to be happy.

She swung the door open with a wide smile, happy to see her best girlfriend on the front step.  But Grace Sinclair was engrossed in the little blue screen of her cell.  She held up a finger to halt her friend’s greeting before Velvet could manage a ‘hello!’

“Did you tell me to hurry the hell up and get my sweet ass over here unless I want a spanking later?”  She asked, arching a perfect golden eyebrow and cocking her head to the side quizzically.

Velvet clucked her tongue.  Jonah.  “I delegated the texting to an associate.”  She confessed.

Grace laughed.  “Damn.  Here I thought my sex dreams were finally coming true.”

Velvet stepped aside to allow her friend to sweep into the foyer, then wrapped her in a hug.  “I’ll spank that perfect ass anytime you want, you just say when, where, and how hard.”

That was the moment Ben arrived at the door, jogging up the walk with a covered tray of some kind.  Velvet giggled at the expression on his face.

“Hi Ben.”  She said sweetly, releasing the blushing young man’s mother and reaching for the covered tray.

Ben’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he cleared his throat and managed a weak greeting as he handed off the tray. 

Grace laughed at her son’s blushing embarrassment.  “I made a cheesecake.”  She explained about the tray. 

Velvet gushed her thanks for the dessert before turning to kiss Ben’s reddened cheeks in greeting.  “Be a doll and hang up your mother’s coat too, will you Ben?  Avalon’s in the kitchen, I think.  I’ll send her your way.”

He nodded agreeably and took his mother’s coat. 

“Grace, there’s so much to tell you I don’t even know where to begin.”  She whispered as they started toward the kitchen.  She needed to figure out a way to fit the cheesecake in the refrigerator.

“Velvet, honey, focus, and prioritize.”  Grace was less tolerant of Velvet’s stream-of-consciousness babbling than Jonah was. 

“Ok.”  Said Velvet, trying hard to prioritize.  “Gideon cheated on Caleb so they’ve split, Avalon is thinking about changing the venue again, Vienna’s in her room crying her eyes out over some folk-rock college band singer and she won’t come out no matter what I say, my mother’s insulted every single one of my guests already, I burned the shortbread--so good thing you brought a cheesecake, and Grey threatened to leave if we didn’t make his grandmother leave.”  Phew.  Velvet managed to finish all that just as they reached the door to the kitchen.

“Impressive.”  Grace said with a smile.  “Breathe.”

Velvet did as she was commanded.

“I think you may have some screwy priorities, but I think I got the gist.”  She teased.  “I can’t believe it about Gideon!”  She whispered.

“I know.”  Velvet replied, commiserating.

“So did she leave?”

“What?”

“Your mother—did she leave, or did Grey?”

“Oh!”  Velvet rolled her eyes.  “Jonah fixed it—for now, but Grey’s in one of his moods, so be an angel and help me keep the peace?”

Grace smirked and she put her hand on the kitchen door, ready to swing it open.  “Isn’t that why I was invited?”

Velvet bit her lip and smiled. “I have a feeling this is going to be a long evening.”  She confessed.

The Dinner; Part 10

Sheesh. Ten Parts?  Holy Mackerel.  Well we're almost there kiddies.  This is another Grey vignette (I haz made my text Gray in honor of Grey.  Yup.  I iz bored), then tomorrow ye shall receive the final installment of The Dinner and we'll be on to something else!

(Please peep the re-posted #9 if you missed it.)

I have great plans for us!  So many things on various back burners!  My writing kitchen is smelling spicy and tantalizing!  Savory and Sweet and loaded with sexy secrets!

So, Enjoy your dessert here with one of the final installments of The Dinner!

This one has sort of two halves, and I love both of them for different reasons.  Lemme know what you think?

*************

His mother drew him aside while the rest of the family gathered in the living room and den.  Following into Jonah’s study after her, he moved to close the door part of the way.  Before he did, he watched Maggie for a moment, seated in the center of the couch, flanked by the twins as they laughed and pointed at baby pictures of Grey in the photo album Velvet had just gifted her with.

She still looked somewhat overwhelmed by the whole situation, and what was that other emotion?  Guilt, probably.  He recognized it because he felt it too.  Pulling the wool over everybody’s eyes like this.  Making believe they were a loving husband and wife and allowing everyone to act like fools about it.

Jonah crossed Grey’s vision, coming from the sideboard with a gingerale in hand.  They locked eyes.  Besides Maggie and himself, Jonah was the only other member of the family who knew why Grey’d married her.  And Jonah had been a fucking sweetheart all night, deftly helping Grey and Maggie dodge and skirt the seemingly ceaseless barrage of awkward questions peppered at them from all angles.  Grey was still furious with him over the money, but since Maggie turned out to be the kind of woman who couldn’t be bought-off, rationally he supposed it didn’t matter much afterall.  He nodded just slightly at his Dad and Jonah responded in kind.

“Honey?”  His mother half-whispered. He took a breath and turned.  She had that look.  That very ‘Velvet Delaney’ look about her.  That glowing, emotional, idealistic sort of hopeful radiance that made people love her.  Despite himself he smiled at it.  Though he knew it was likely something he’d have to grin and bear, something he’d have to pretend to be enthusiastic about to appease her.

“Thanks again for dinner.” he said, crossing to her and bending to give her a kiss on the cheek.  She was such an angel. And good Christ, did she ever seem to adore Maggie.  He rolled his eyes just thinking about the way she’d fawned all over the girl for the entire evening.  By the time he straightened up, though, his face was composed again and he was smiling pleasantly.

“I have something for you.  Well.  And for Maggie, really, I suppose.”  She giggled.

“No, Mum, you and Dad have done so much already, really, no more.”  He was sick of pretending gratitude for things he could give two shits about.  That fucking honeymoon?  The Cottage? Now the money for a house?  Plus his dad had mentioned something about freeing up the trust fund early, or at least making sure Grey was covered until graduation came around and his money was at last his money.  Fuck.  They were entirely too generous.

“Well, yes, no, but, oh—“  She grinned and slipped something small from Jonah’s top desk drawer.  Good God, she’d planned this out, given it a lot of fucking thought.  She held out a breathtaking princess cut diamond, Grey guessed 2 ½ to 3 karats, set in platinum.

“Jesus Christ.”

“Grey.”  His mother tittered, lifting his hand and pressing it into his palm. 

He didn’t say anything more, because all he could think to say involved harder expletives than ‘jesus’ or ‘christ’. 

After a moment, Velvet, never comfortable with quiet, rushed to fill the silence.  “I noticed Maggie didn’t have an engagement ring, and well, that’s probably because it was all so spur-of-the-moment and in-the-heat-of-passion that you two eloped!”  His eyes were glued to the flawless diamond.  It must be worth a fortune.   “And had I known you were even thinking about settling down, well, I would have given this to you before the marriage! I realize this is a little backwards--”

“Mum, I don’t want my mother picking out my bride’s engagement ring.”  He said as kindly as he possibly could.  It wasn’t that she didn’t have impeccable taste, it’s that it was fairly emasculating.  He huffed and held the ring back out to her.  Besides, he didn’t want to get his ‘wife’ any ring of any kind.  She had the gold fucking band and that would be the end of it.  He wasn’t going to play these games.

“Oh, no, no, of course—“ she said, her voice changing.  “But this belongs to you.”  She held her hands up and refused to take the ring back from Grey.

He scrunched his eyebrows and looked at her.  “Pardon?”

A melancholy smile flashed over her face and her pale green eyes welled with emotion.  “That was my engagement ring.”  She stated, her voice a little wistful.

Grey’s eyes went automatically to her left ring finger where the more modest tear-drop diamond he’d always known her to wear sat alongside her white-gold band.  And then he understood.  He stared at the princess cut monster again and felt every urge to drop it.

“I don’t want anything from that man.”  He said, trying to keep the ferocity from his voice; he didn’t want to frighten his mother.

“But—“  Velvet looked crestfallen.  “It isn’t about him.”  She explained.  “This ring, in my mind, is about you.”  She searched his eyes but he was stony.  “I’ve saved it for you, for when you finally found the one.”  She whispered, a single tear slipping down her cheek.

Grey pressed his lips together and wanted to curse.  He couldn’t stand it when his mother was upset.  “I’m sorry Mum, and thank you, the sentiment is beautiful, but—“  He took a breath.  There was no way he was going to put this ring on Maggie’s finger.  Even if the marriage was every bit the sham his mother’s had been.  “Everytime I’d look at it all I’d be able to think about was what that man did to you.”  He finished passionately and fixed his eyes on the floor.  He didn’t want to watch more tears.  He pushed the ring further toward her and at last she took it from him with trembling fingers.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and waited for her to speak.  Waited for the signal that it was safe to look up once again.

“Your father thought you might feel like that.”  Velvet said in a tremulous voice.

Grey sighed and shrugged.  Fucking Jonah—poor fucking sap.  He wondered how much it had cost him to allow his wife this little fantasy, how much it had hurt him to have her keep this remnant of her first marriage and save it up as some symbol of Grey’s birthright.  “I am sorry, that you’ve been saving it all this time.”  He told her, a finality edging the words.

Before he could remove his hands from his pockets she’d wrapped him in a fierce hug.  “Don’t you apologize Grey Delaney.”  She said, her voice strong despite the sob he could hear welling up underneath it.  “That was probably the sweetest this you’ve ever said to me.”

He struggled to pull his hands free of his pockets to return the hug, feeling awkward and shackled by her slim but surprisingly vise-like arms.  He rolled his eyes and furrowed his brow.  He believed he could think of a lot sweeter things he’d said to her over the years, but he guessed he understood.

“I want you to know that I don’t regret any of it, with him, with Vaughan, because you are the best thing that ever happened to me.”  She whispered against his chest.  His heart lurched and he had to swallow hard and blink rapidly.   He knew he was her favorite, people say mothers favor sons and he was the only boy, but the best thing that ever happened to her?  He almost felt guilty about that.

“Mum—“

She let him go and quickly wiped the wetness from her cheeks.  “Shh.”  She said and giggled shortly.  “Don’t tell anyone else I said that.”  She joked shakily, and he laughed once in response.  He screwed up enough courage to meet her eyes, now that she was teasing and laughing at herself.  But he found she wasn’t looking at him. 

She was looking at her left ring finger.  He heard her suck in a deep breath and watched as she slowly slipped the teardrop shaped diamond from her finger, very carefully, very lovingly, and she lifted it to her lips, then held it out to him.

He took a step back.  “No.”  He said, hardly more than a whisper.  That ring meant too much.  “That makes even less sense.”  He told her with a little laugh.  “Give that to one of the girls.”  He said, glancing from where she held it out to him to her face and back.

She smiled, though a frown pulled the corners down.  “Don’t be silly.”  She said, but her voice hitched.  “We only have one son.”  She said heavily.

He ran a hand through his hair and blew an exhale through his lips.  He shook his head.  “It doesn’t feel right.”  He said, cursing his legs for shaking.  His Mom and Dad’s marriage was beautiful.  It was as close to perfect as Grey believed any real-life marriage could get.   Even with the screwing around his mom still did with her ex, and even with whatever the fuck his dad had been doing a couple weekends back when he’d had the house to himself, even despite all that—because sex was sex and nobody understood that better than Grey—so even despite that business, their marriage was loving and solid and committed, and good and true.  He would feel like a fucking asshole if he gave that ring to the woman he’d been blackmailed into marrying.

“Why not?”  She asked earnestly.  “Your Dad gave this to me on the day you were born.”  She told him, a sweet smile curving her lips and a far-away look pulling her eyes to some distant memory over his shoulder.

He hadn’t known that.  The impact of it hit him like a freight train.  He felt it almost like getting the wind knocked out of him.  His eyes welled unexpectedly, and his knees went weak, and for some reason he couldn’t really draw a proper breath.  He moved to the desk and sat on the edge of it, one leg hooked over the corner, the other extended straight, anchoring him to the ground.  He watched his mother for a long moment.  “Why?”  He asked.  Though he thought he knew his Dad well enough to guess.

She sighed and walked toward one of the windows and looked out in the direction of the cottage, though it wasn’t quite visible from the study.  “He really should have waited—I was still married to your, to your, Vaughan.”  She said.  “But he did it anyway.”  He heard her sigh as if it were the most romantic thing in the world to poach another guy’s wife.  “He said we were a family and he wanted to spend the rest of his life making us happy.”

Grey’s Adam’s apple bobbed and his nose twitched.  He’d never heard this.  They hadn’t married for another three years after his birth.  “Why the long engagement?”  He asked.  He’d wondered it before.

“I was afraid.”  She said simply, turning from the window and facing him.

They locked eyes and he gave her a soft smile.  “Of Dad?”  He was the opposite of Vaughan in every way he could think of, what was there to be afraid of?

“Of making a mistake.”  She confessed.  “I loved your Dad from the minute I laid eyes on him but Vaughan—“

Grey held up a hand and she stopped.  He didn’t want to discuss anything more of Vaughan Grey and she understood.  They fell into a silence and Grey heard the bubbling, overlapping conversations from the den.  The sounds of a happy family.  He wondered how Maggie was faring.  Not that he should care.  But he knew he wouldn’t be thrilled to be abandoned in the thick of her relatives all-by-his-lonesome for this long.

“He asked you for permission.”  His mother said in a fond voice.

Grey cocked an eyebrow.  “I’m sorry?”

She sighed warmly.  “He held you; you were so small!  And he told me ‘this is between us men’,” She giggled at the memory.  “And he asked you if you would consent to him marrying your mother.”  She sighed again, twisting the ring in her fingers adoringly.  “You made a little sound and we were both so surprised—“ She laughed, “And then he pulled the ring from his pocket.”  She lifted it to her lips again.

Grey was quiet.  His eyes had welled up again and he felt like a fucking pussy.  What the fuck was wrong with him all of a sudden?

“And he told me, ‘Velvet I know you aren’t ready to marry me yet, and I understand, but I want you to know there’s nothing more I want to do with my life than stay by your side and be a family and make you happy, and I’ll wait forever for you’…”  She trailed off and Grey looked at her expectantly, blinking the moisture from his eyes.  What a fucking sap his dad was. 

Velvet was looking past Grey again, but this time her eyes were here in the present.  Grey turned over his shoulder to see Jonah, who’d slipped in quietly and was standing with his arms crossed, leaning up against the wall of the study looking sadder than Grey had ever seen him.

“You made me a dad and a husband, son.”  He said quietly.  “The rest is semantics.”

Grey sniffed and ran both hands through his hair before rising from his seat on the desk.  “Thank you both, but I’d rather not take that ring.”  He looked at Jonah.  He heard his mother’s little inhalation behind him and silently he begged his Dad to help him, communicated his desperation with his eyes.

Behind the glasses Jonah blinked once and then turned to his wife.  “Choosing that ring was very important to me, dearest, and I think Grey wants to take his time and find the perfect one for his wife.”  Grey closed his eyes and thanked his Dad wordlessly before turning to smile charmingly at his mother. 

“Your advice and expertise will be most welcome.”  He assured her smoothly.

Velvet tilted her head to the side.  “You’re sure?”

“Thank you—Both—Yes, I’m sure.”  He crossed the short distance to where his mother stood, somewhat disappointed and adrift.  “That belongs on your finger.”  He said and kissed her cheek softly.

He strode toward the study door and paused for just a moment when he reached Jonah.  He wanted to thank him but found himself unwilling to do it.  Instead quirked his lips in a small, arrogant smile and departed the study. 

As he strode into the den he heard the door click softly behind him and wondered just what Jonah would say to his mother.  Then Maggie looked up from the photo album on her lap and her relief at seeing him manifested in a tentative smile.

Before he could control himself he smiled back in answer.  Son of a bitch.  He wished the woman weren’t so fucking likeable.  He forced the smile into a scowl and crossed to the sideboard. 

“What are Mum and Dad doing in there?”  Viola asked him in a whisper, meeting him at the sideboard and looking at the door to Jonah’s study suspiciously.

Grey got himself a tumbler and reached for Jonah’s best scotch.  “Fucking, probably.”  He answered in a bored sort of deadpan.

Viola’s scowl was more fearsome than his own.  “No.”  She said adamantly.

Grey studied his little sister for a moment.  On most days such a supposition would have elicited a laugh from her and encouraged her to one-up his outrageous claim with something more revolting like: ‘yeah, she’s probably making him lick her asshole while she takes his cock down her throat.’

It was something they did.  Sort of a gross-out game of chicken, and they’d play until one of them couldn’t take it anymore.  Grey usually won, by virtue of having more world experience and having a wider vocabulary of filth to draw upon, but Viola could hold her own.  The trick was to distance yourself from the fact that they were your parents, or real people at all, and just try not to visualize it too clearly.  As soon as you thought of the actual people involved it was all over.  They did it with all sorts of people, not just their parents.  The best was perverted imaginings about Granny Calder and her Bull Mastiff, Rufus.

“Why not?” He challenged, carefully pouring about two fingers into his tumbler.  “They fuck like horny teenagers all the time.”  He reasoned.  “No offense.”  He added with a smirk.

Viola opened her mouth for what Grey expected was a biting retort but then she seemed to swallow it whole.  “What did she want with you?”  She asked, veering away from the game completely.

He replaced the stopper on the decanter and shrugged, a little disappointed that his baby sister wasn’t in the mood to be a good sport.  He was feeling the need to be particularly outrageous after that awkwardly emotional tete-a-tete in the study.  “She wanted to give me an engagement ring for Maggie.”  He answered honestly.  He didn’t trust any of his other sisters farther than he could shove them, but he’d always liked Viola, and she’d always proven to be a true blue confidant.

“No shit.”

“Yup.”  He said and breathed in the smoky, stinging scent of the scotch.

“Where’d she get it?”

He sipped.  “Fucking Vaughan Grey.”  He answered with all the loathing he felt.  He turned toward the room at large and sat on the sideboard, crossing his long legs out in front of him.

Viola’s face changed and she looked again at the door. “Poor Dad.”  She said heavily.

Grey nodded absently and ran his tongue over his teeth and gums, savoring the feeling of the scotch on the inside of his mouth.  “She’s kept it for me all these years.”  He said with a mirthless laugh.  “She can’t even hide a fucking Christmas present.”

“You didn’t take it right?” Viola kept her eyes on the door.

“Nah.”  He answered.  “Fucking thing was grotesque anyway.  Liz Taylor huge.”

Viola glanced at him, trying to decide if he was joking.  When she read that he was not, her eyebrows rose quite high.  “I’m surprised she doesn’t wear it, then.”

Grey bristled.  He liked Viola.  Alot.  But in the last couple years they seemed to clash often over their differing opinions regarding their mother.  He tried not to get too prickly about it.  He knew he was more protective than other sons were where their mothers are concerned, and he knew Viola was a teenage girl and thus biologically designed to hate her mother.  So, as often as possible he tried to avoid an out-and-out conflict.  She was the only sister he liked enough to bother having conversations with and he’d rather not jeopardize the only thing that made attending family functions partway bearable.

“I bet she wears it when she jerks him off—he seems like a masochist doesn’t he?”

Viola again ignored the bait.  “Can I have some?”  She asked, eying his scotch.

Grey glanced at the still-closed study door, and then to the next most likely to disapprove, but Avalon was busy searching through Jonah’s old record collection, with the attentive aid of her goody-two-shoes fiancée.  Maggie was engrossed in some story the twins were regaling her with, so Grey quirked his lips in a mischievous smile and handed the drink to his little sister.

“Be careful.”  He cautioned as she lifted it to her lips.

Her violet eyes widened and her eyebrow crinkled in a question.

“Drinking scotch always makes a person want to eat pussy.”

The light in her eyes danced with amusement and she took a sip despite her wide smile.

He watched her eyes water as she swallowed and her face scrunch up and twist in her uncontrollable reaction to the stuff.  He couldn’t help chuckling as he prized the tumbler from her fingers.

“Holy fucking shit.”  She gasped, smacking her lips and blinking rapidly.

“Yeah.” Grey responded, taking a sip and savoring the tingle and the smoke of it.

“How the fuck does anyone drink that?!”  She marveled, opening her mouth as if she expected to breathe fire like some storybook dragon.  “I can’t believe Dad drinks that.”  She said, clearly in awe.

Grey shrugged.  “Maybe he enjoys feeling like eating pussy.”

Viola blushed and Grey raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise.  Heaven knew he’d said a lot worse of their father when playing gross-out chicken, (one of his favorites involved a rusty trombone, a banana and a Cincinnati Bowtie) and Viola rarely batted an eyelash, giving almost as good as she got.  Why the girlish blush now, about something so mundane as oral?

“Can you sneak me a rum drink?”  She rushed, and he entertained the idea but the study door opened and their parents returned to the little party, ruining Viola’s chance at spicing up her evening. 

“Sorry kid.”  He said with an easy shrug.  “Next time.”  Grey took a long swallow of Scotch, felt his nose and lips twitch in response, and then commanded his legs to go join the rest of the family.  He stood and stretched. Jesus fucking Christ, how the fuck had this all happened?

“Hey Grey.”  Viola whispered, and he turned.  “This mean you’re going to bring your wife back to the cottage and eat her out?”

It was Grey’s turn to blush.  About something so mundane as oral.

“Touché.”  He responded, pushing his shoulders back and quickly looking away.  She’d got him. 

Well-fucking-played.