Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or The Blues Brothers
Thought of this out of nowhere, wanted to type it up. Also, I changed around my previous story when I had Rochelle's mother die and instead made it her sister so I could bring back her mother for this story.
Enjoy
"Kaitlin dear, you and your mother should come more often."
The eleven year old girl couldn't help but glare at her grandmother, seeing the woman clearly in her peripheral vision.
The older woman's red, tight fitting dress looked like it should be worn by someone ten years younger as she touched up the make up that failed to hide her blemishes.
Kaitlin felt that side of herself appearing again, the side that only showed up in the presence of her grandmother.
Rochelle always says it's like she's Nick reincarnated; Kaitlin can't help but giggle whenever her mother mentions it, the thought of how much she was like her father was priceless.
'Grandma thinks I'm just a spoiled brat when I get this way,' Kaitlin thought, kicking her feet against the bottom of the couch until Rochelle lightly tapped her shoulder.
"Sorry mom."
"It's alright," Rochelle smiled, knowing that Kaitlin was merely bored with her mothers home. There was nothing really fun for the young girl to do except try to skip rocks on the small pond in the backyard, only to be yelled at by her grandmother about scaring the fish.
'I hate it here.'
"Kaitlin darling, did you hear me?" Julia's voice bellowed from her bedroom before she emerged again with a fresh coat of make up on her face, her smile only making Kaitlin's hate for the place grow.
"Yes grandma-"
"Grandmother."
Rochelle watched her daughter sigh and managed to catch her rolling her eyes before facing her grandma.
"Yes, grandmother." Julia's body stiffened at the familiar tone in her granddaughters voice, her eye brows getting closer as she studied the young girl.
"You're too much like that idiotic man, why don't you grow up to be a proper young woman."
Kaitlin's eyes snapped to the right to glare at her grandmother, again looking at her from the corner of her eye before finally standing up with her hands balled into fists.
"Don't talk about my dad like that!" Kaitlin exclaimed, her green eyes seemed to light up with anger, not even bothering to stop the tears that spilled from them.
"He's no father and he's certainly no husband! He's nothing more than a rat who con's people for his own selfish gain!" Julia barked as Rochelle put her arm around Kaitlin, staring down her mother who's face showed nothing but disgust at the thought of her son in law.
Feeling her heart begin to break as her daughter broke away from her, "Kaitlin." She whispered, hoping to calm the young girl down but found her efforts were in vain as her daughter looked up at her with tear stained cheeks.
"I want to go home mommy, I hate it here and I HATE HER!" The eleven year old screamed as loud as she could, running to her grandfather Daniel who took her to the next room while she cried in his arms.
Rochelle felt her anger boil over as she hastily went to her mothers side and back handed her, watching Julia hold her cheek and stumble backwards until she regained her balance.
"Rochelle, how dare you!"
"No, how dare you!" Rochelle yelled back, pushing her mother into a chair and placing her hands on the arm rests so the older woman couldn't escape.
"You do this every time you bring us over here, you bring Kaitlin just so you can have her listen as you bad mouth her father!"
"I-"
"SHUT UP!" Rochelle barked loudly in her moms face which showed she was now very shocked by her daughters attitude.
"Whether you like it or not, Nick is my husband. He's the father of my daughter, your granddaughter and I will not have you talking about him as if he were trash!" Rochelle yelled, feeling the tears filling her eyes, keeping her gaze on Julia who was still shocked.
"Rochelle, he's no father, he-"
"How would you know, you're not there. You've never been there to see him take care of Kaitlin when she's sick, or carry her on his back if she scraps her knee at the park."
Rochelle stopped to catch her breath and wipe her eyes, "you're not there to see how much he loves me and Kaitlin because you're too busy worrying about his race."
"I don't believe it's right, different races marrying one another is-"
"Perfectly fine, get it through your thick skull mother!"
Julia swallowed, taking in what Rochelle said before waiting for her to continue.
"I'll let you know right now, that the next time you call us to come here; I'm making Nick come with me."
Rochelle swallowed before getting right in Julia's face, "you're going to treat him just as you do me, and if you say anything to upset Kaitlin any more today then I'll never bring her to see you again."
The young African American woman took a breath to calm herself, but her gaze still kept it's anger pointed at her mother.
"She'll only visit with father because he seems to see what a caring, and kind person Nick can be." Rochelle finished, getting out of her mothers face and backing away from the chair just as Kaitlin returned to the room.
"Baby girl, are you okay?" Rochelle asked, getting down on one knee as Kaitlin ran into her waiting arms.
She felt the little girl shake her head, her shirt wet with old and fresh tears as she sniffed quietly.
"Can we go home?"
"Yea, we can go home."
Rochelle was stopped by her mother, the older woman's hand gripping her shoulder firmly before she was completely turned around by the hand.
"Wait."
"What!" Rochelle snapped, looking at her mother as she pulled her arm away and started gathering their things to leave.
The air in the room was full of anger, Rochelle's father couldn't stop the small shiver from going down his back at the sudden change in the atmosphere of the living room.
"Julie, why don't you just let Rochelle and Kaitlin head home."
"I will Daniel but-"
Kaitlin's head snapped up to look at her, the small girl couldn't help but stare in disgust similar to the look her grandmother had before.
The older woman took a deep breath as if preparing to say something very important.
"I'm going with them."
"Why?" The young girl barked, her feelings of anger seemed unstoppable as Julie closed her eyes.
"I need to apologise to..." Rochelle saw her take another breath, "to him."
She said the last two words as if they were acid that was slowly burning the inside of her mouth, her mouth was dry while her voice seemed to almost fail her.
Rochelle knew her mother didn't want to do this, she wanted to scream and yell at Nick for marrying Rochelle, she wanted to throw Nick out of her daughters life.
'Why is she doing this?' Rochelle questioned, biting her lip for a minute before nodding her head which got her a shocked look from Kaitlin.
"What if she's mean to daddy again!"
"It's alright sweetheart, she's not going to be mean to daddy anymore. Right?" Rochelle said, casting a look at her mother who nodded.
"I give you my word darling, I will not belittle your husband anymore."
The ride back home was a quiet one as Rochelle spared glances to see her mother sitting nervously in the back seat.
Rochelle unlocked and opened their front door to find it empty, setting her keys on the small hook beside their coat rack before shutting the door behind her mother who took a seat at the kitchen table.
Silently watching Kaitlin sit down on the couch and turn on the DVD player to continue the movie she'd been watching before leaving to visit her grandmother.
Rochelle and her mother sat at the table drinking coffee until the front door opened again; Julie's eyes rested upon her son in law who was dressed in a black suit with a black shirt that wasn't tucked in.
A small black fedora hat resting on his head, his eyes meeting hers for a moment as he stripped off his jacket and hung it up.
"Daddy!" Kaitlin yelled, jumping off the couch and quickly running to her father, gripping him in a tight but loving hug as he patted her back with a smile.
"Hey runt, what are you watching?" He asked, hearing the music that came from the movie as she looked up at him with a bright smile.
"Our favorite, The blues Brothers!"
"I'll be in there in a sec to finish it with you."
Kaitlin nodded her head, pulling away from Nick just as he took off his hat and placed it on his daughters head before she ran back to the couch.
Julie saw how her granddaughter's eyes seemed to light up at the sight of her father coming home as the little girl adjusted the hat that was obviously too big for her.
Rochelle stood and hugged him, kissing his cheek before leading him over to the kitchen table.
"Julie."
"Nicolas."
"What's going on?" Nick asked in a voice that sounded almost uninterested, instead his attention was on Kaitlin as Julie shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
"I've come to.. to apologize, for how I've treated you since I found out about you and Rochelle."
Nick's attention switched to her as he looked at her with some shock, swallowing before nodding.
"I'll have to get back to you on that one... But thanks for telling me to my face." Nick said quietly as Rochelle smiled, knowing that was Nick's way of accepting her mother's apology.
Nick cleared his throat, a little uncomfortable at the moment before giving Rochelle a small kiss on the cheek and Julie a pat on the shoulder.
"If you'll excuse me," he said to them, joining Kaitlin in the living room to finish the movie while Rochelle hugged her mother.
"Thank you for accepting him."
I hope you liked it, I stopped there because I couldn't think of anything else to add. Feel free to let me know your opinions on it.