Breakfast was awkward to say the least. Snow and Florian were being nice, but there was a small amount of tension in the air. It wasn't enough that Evie, Mal, and Raymond were frightened, but they were nervous. Mal felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and checked her message.
Evie: M, theyre barely tlking 2 each othr
Mal: I know. Do u think theyre still mad about last nite?
Evie: Idk
"I should probably mention that Mom and Dad hate phone use during meals," Raymond whispered to them. They looked at him and in a casual, non-suspicious manner, slid their phones under the table.
"So," Evie started nervously, hoping to lessen the pressure filled atmosphere. "What are we doing today?"
"It's a surprise," Snow answered her.
"Do you know what it is?" Evie asked Raymond. He shook his head.
"I doubt that," Mal chimed in, not being known for liking surprises. Since Raymond had seen fit to seat himself next to her, Mal leaned over, put her arm around his shoulder and smiled at him. When she felt him tense up, she batted her eyes at him and almost broke out laughing when she saw him gulp hard. "I'll bet you know exactly what we're doing today, don't you Ray? So how about you tell pretty little Mal what it is, and I'll plant one right here," she said flirtingly as she tapped his cheek.
"B-but I don't know," he whimpered. Mal looked him in the eyes and studied them for a moment.
"Yeah, he doesn't know anything," she deadpanned with two quick, playful slaps to his cheek.
"Aww," he whimpered.
"Mal, that wasn't nice," Evie admonished her, though she couldn't help giggling. Mal looked over at Snow and Florian and mouthed the word "sorry" toward them, a small smile on her face.
"Sorry, kid," she told Raymond with a ruffling of his hair.
"No problem," he said, though everyone else held back their laughter at the sight of him blushing.
Without them realizing, Mal's ploy had lightened the mood immensely to the point that breakfast ran smoothly, thought there was still a slight tension, it was almost ignorable. It might have been ignored for the rest of the day if Florian hadn't decided to address it as everyone was finishing up their meal and getting ready to leave for the day.
"Can I have a minute with Evie?" Florian asked as everyone started to get up. Snow looked at him cautiously. "I just need to talk to her. Please?"
"I don't know if that's such a..."
"It's okay, Snow," Evie interrupted her.
Snow looked between her sister and her husband and felt herself become torn. Eventually she decided that maybe those two needed to have some kind of conversation. It had only been a day and already all of them were on eggshells. It couldn't keep going like this. If she really wanted Evie to be part of this family, every member had to be on board. So she, reluctantly, decided to give Florian his request.
"Be nice," she whispered to him. He nodded and Snow fought the feeling that she should stay to meditate. But she wanted to show her husband that she trusted him. "Okay, while these two have a little...talk, we'll get ready for our day," she said, hoping her cheerful front was believable.
Once everyone else was out of the dining room, Florian motioned for Evie to sit down. She did, and much to his dismay, she looked nervous, or scared. He couldn't really tell. No wonder Snow was so spooked, he thought.
"Evie, I want to say I'm sorry," he began.
"But..," Evie started only to be silenced by Florian holding up his hand.
"Let me finish. Last night, when the subject of your mother and magic came up, some things got stirred that weren't handled well; mostly by me," he told her. "The truth of the matter is, when I heard you mention that you were - are - a...," he trailed off.
"A witch," Evie finished for him.
"Yes, a witch. When I heard that, memories from twenty years ago came back. Flashes of Snow in that glass coffin, lifeless because of a potion put in an apple. Stories from the dwarves about an evil queen who used witchcraft to hide in plain sight. Then finding out that Snow, and you even if you weren't taught, are capable of it. Well, it scared the hell out of me and I…reacted badly. I let what happened before you were born allow me to judge you for something you had nothing to do with. I was wrong and I'm sorry," he finished.
Evie stayed quiet, processing something she was totally unprepared for. She could tell by the end of dinner last night that things were strained to put it mildly. But, she didn't know it was enough that Florian felt the need to apologize. She also never figured that it was she was the subject of that strain.
"I…it's okay," she said slowly, grasping for the right words.
"Are you sure? Because you don't sound that convinced."
"I just; Snow didn't mention anything to me when we talked last night."
Florian smiled. Even when things were tense she still managed to make sure that the kids didn't know a thing, he thought. "Snow doesn't like to make people worry, especially when it isn't their fault. Now I know it's going to take some time, but I hope we can get past this and keep trying to make this situation happen for Snow, because I would hate to have to tell her that what I did caused her sister to distance herself – mostly because my back couldn't handle sleeping on the couch long term."
Evie smiled at that last comment. She didn't know if he was joking or not, but the meaning behind it was clear. He didn't want to hurt his wife. And even though she didn't feel any of stress of what happened between him and Snow being directed at her, she appreciated his attempt to make her feel like what Snow wanted still had a chance. And if she was honest with herself, she was slowly coming around to liking the idea.
"I'm willing to just act like nothing happened and hope things go okay today." Evie told him. Florian smiled and got up from his chair, and politely motioned for Evie to follow him out.
"Then let's catch up with Snow, shall we?"
