A/N: Sorry for not updating in so long, guys! I've been really busy lately and just never had the chance. There's a bit of drama in this chapter!
Maria ignored Steve for the whole night, which confused everyone. Several of the children had kept asking them if they were fighting, and Shawna had said some not so nice words to Maria about how "unhappy Steve seemed to be in the relationship." They were both fine that morning, and then Alexa almost drowned and now they weren't speaking.
"Hey, what's going on between you and Steve?" Kyle, Jacqueline's boyfriend, asked, handing Maria a glass of wine. Maria just glared at him, half expecting for Jacqueline to have told him about what happened.
Kyle sighed, "Well, what do you say we ditch this place and go to a bar with Jackie? Emily can come too." He said, shrugging. Kyle was a mechanic with a medium build and curly dark hair, looking to be in desperate need of a hair cut.
"Emily's sixteen."
"I know. She can be the designated driver."
Maria sighed, "I don't know, Kyle."
"Well, it's either go to a bar, make up with Steve, or deal with Melanie all night."
Maria just looked at Kyle, confused, "What are you talking about?"
"Melanie decided to show up after all."
Maria sighed and got up from the table that she had been sitting at and went into the living room, her eyes scanning all over until she found Steve.
Talking to Melanie.
Melanie was a small girl, only five foot two and barely topped the scale at 100 pounds, which gave Maria a bit of an advantage. Melanie's blonde hair was pulled back in a tight bun and she was wearing a tight black dress that was much too short for her.
She was laughing, her hand gently resting on Steve's arm, which made Maria even more pissed off than she had been before.
The twenty-three-year-old turned, her green eyes landing on Maria and walked over to where she stood.
"Maria! It's been so long!" Melanie squealed, hugging Maria, who tensed up at her touch.
"Where's Emily?"
"She's still getting ready. She'll be down shortly." Maria answered, moving to walk past Melanie to find her father, and when she did find him, she pulled him to the side.
"Dad, what's Melanie doing here? You said she wasn't coming!" She hissed, trying to keep her voice down.
"Well, if I told you that she was coming, you wouldn't have come. The two of you need to sort out your issues." John answered, trying to calm his daughter down.
"Well that was wrong on so many levels! You know how much Emily and I can't stand her! However, it's not as wrong as when you forced Steve to keep a secret from me."
"What are you talking about?"
Maria couldn't believe that her father was trying to lie right to her face. He lied to her a lot when she was a teenager, but as an adult? She just about had it.
"I know you're sick, dad."
"He told you?"
"I got it out of him. I began to suspect it, but Steve confirmed it. The next time that you have someone lie to me and Emily, choose someone that's good at lying. And no, Emily doesn't know yet, but she will. Tell me, were you just going to wait until you were admitted to the hospital or already dead to tell us?" She asked, glaring at her father. Some things about her father never changed.
John sighed, "I was pushing you away to make my passing less painful. I know that I was never a good father to you, but I didn't know how you would react."
Maria sighed and turned on her heel as Emily came down the stairs, wondering just what the hell happened. She was just as confused as everyone else as to why Maria and Steve were fighting, but she didn't know that it was partly because of their dad lying to them that caused the fighting. Maria came back to where Emily stood by the stairs, grabbing her by the arm and turning to find Jacqueline and Kyle, and the four of them left to go to a bar.
Maria could not be there anymore or she would do something that she'd regret.
It was almost two in the morning now and the party had long since ended when Steve received a phone call from Jacqueline.
"Hey Steve, it's Jacqueline. So Maria and Emily are kind of...well...drunk. I don't know how Emily got her hands on any alcohol, but she did. Emily isn't too bad, but Maria is really drunk. Can you come pick them up?"
Steve sighed, "Yeah sure. What bar are you guys at?"
"The one on Main Street. You can't miss it."
"Okay, i'll be there soon." He answered, getting up and quickly getting dressed, careful not to wake anyone as he left the house.
When he got to the bar, it took awhile to track down the three girls and Kyle. Emily was with Kyle, who was trying to keep the teen in one place. Steve told Kyle to stay with Emily while he went to find Maria and Jacqueline, who were sitting at a table on the other end of the bar.
Steve cautiously approached his inebriated fiancée. He had only seen her drunk once before and knew how unpredictable she could be.
"How drunk is she?" He asked Jacqueline, who had gotten up and walked the rest of the way over to him.
"See for yourself," She started, leading him towards Maria, "Seeing how drunk she is made me realize that she acts like every type of drunk person that I know. Emotional, truthful_" She added, only for Steve to cut her off.
"Violent?"
"Haven't seen her get violent, but I suppose there's_" She started, only to be cut off when Maria saw them, got up, and before either of them could react, slapped Steve hard across the face.
"...always a first..." Jacqueline finished her sentence, trailing off as Steve held the left side of his face. He had also seen her pissed off many times, but she had never hit him. He looked at Jacqueline before looking at Maria.
"Tha's what ya get. 'spose i'm only good for...cheating on."
Steve would have laughed under different circumstances.
"Yeah. She's convinced that you're cheating on her. Any idea why that is?"
Steve shrugged, "My only guess is that she saw me talking with Melanie, but nothing happened," He started, finally turning back to look at Maria, "Okay, Maria, honey, we'll talk about this in the morning." He added, holding out his hand, hoping that she would take it, which she did, and drunkenly stumbled out the door to Steve's car.
The real issue was how they'd get her to bed without waking anyone up.
Maria coming back to the house drunk, especially after signing adoption papers, wouldn't sit well with anyone.
A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review :)
P.S. Please don't hate Maria. One lacks judgment when they have too much to drink.