Love and Family
Plot Summary- Zane and Aster begin planning their wedding and new life. But planning a wedding is hard enough—and then Zane's parents come to make things all the more hectic. Can they get through it smoothly? Or will a family secret destroy everything?
Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-gi-oh GX or its characters.
Chapter 7: The Dead
Zane's POV
"Not what you were expecting?" She said more as a statement than a question. Louisa was sitting on a bench near the hospital room. I was surprised to find she was the only one there.
"Where's Aster?"
"He nearly passed out—Mrs. Francis insisted that he see an on staff Doctor." What? Why wasn't I pulled out of the room? I was about to set forth to find my fiancée when Louisa jumped up and stopped me. "Relax, he's fine. He's just a little sick from the jet lag still—I got it bad when I flew back from Japan, but Mrs. Francis didn't believe me….Besides, Aster wanted you to finish talking to Ollie so he said he'd come back after he's done."
I forced myself to relax; reminding myself that I couldn't have a heart attack every time something happened to Aster. Besides—it did give me a chance to talk to Louisa about Ollie. "Well, it didn't do us much good. The only thing I learned is that I liked him better when he didn't talk."
"So it's not just me?" Louisa asked. Her eyes were filled with dread and concern. "When we were kids, there would be days where Ollie wouldn't say a word, but since his improvement he seems to talk all the time and it's…just not like him."
I shrugged. "Before he wasn't really technically insane. Deranged, yes…Insane? Not certifiably. Maybe now he's…."
"Really insane? That's what he said but it doesn't make sense to me. It's almost like he wants us all to know it. Like a magician pulling up his sleeves." She sighed and combed her hair back with her fingers. "Did he tell you that he has no desire to leave the mental institution? Even if his lawyers can fight with insanity?"
"Yes…" I agreed. "It's obvious he's up to something. I just don't know what."
"Well, I'll just have to keep a close eye on him—it will be hard with my mom's trial coming up but it's not like he's going anywhere now." It was then I noticed just how tired the young girl looked. I doubt that Louisa, even with her freedom, ever had a moment to rest between Ollie, her parents, and everything else in her life. I couldn't fathom the responsibility she felt for the messed up family she belonged to.
Oh right, speaking of family. "So, on another topic, did you know I was your cousin when you sought me out?"
Her muscles stilled at my question. She tried to cover it over at first. "I'm your cousin? No way…" When my eyes narrowed, she sighed again and crossed her arms. "Alright fine, yeah I knew. But I'm the only one who knew besides my grandparents. My grandmother had tried to hide any proof that your mother had ever existed from our family was hard since my grandfather had kept a chest full of stuff about her."
"He did? According to his letter, his didn't want his wife to find out so he didn't keep any evidence around."
"He couldn't help it I guess. The chest had all sorts of stuff about Clarissa….Her birth announcement, news paper clippings, even pictures a P.I. must have taken. My grandmother didn't know a thing until she and I found it." Louisa shrugged. "It was probably for the better—The Jarvis's were about as family friendly as the Duncan's were."
I didn't ask; I took her word for it. By now, Louisa must have known a thing or two about messy families. It was my hope that my mother would never meet her half-sister or her nephew. I would like to introduce Louisa to her one day; but right now, things were too hectic. It was better to leave my mother in the dark as to whom exactly her relatives were.
()
We left shortly after Aster came back. I let him nap the rest of the afternoon but by nighttime his jet lag had worn off enough that he had wanted to get out and do something.
"Anywhere is fine." He said with a bored tone of voice. "I just can't take anymore of this room, and it's going to make tomorrow's plane ride hell."
St. James monument was a church a long time ago. Now it was a lonely building on a hill—serving only to impress tourists. But every once in awhile, the High Players Orchestra would play on the hill next St. James monument, and people would watch by the picnic side. I remembered how my mom raved endlessly about how great the music was, or how my dad had tried to learn violin after listening to them play. I decided seeing the orchestra was a relaxing enough of an activity.
"You're not going to propose to me this time, are you?" He joked while taking a sip of the crystal champagne I had bought. Come to think of it; it seemed like we always ended up on a picnic blanket drunk and aroused. Although, I don't think the other patrons would appreciate the aroused part as much as we would.
"You think I'm going to give you a ring every picnic? Sorry, I'm not made of money." I found myself sprawled out with my head lying against his lap. It was soothing and made it easier to hear the orchestra song. According to Aster, they were playing a song from the opera Carmen. His explanation being that his father was a big opera fan.
The sun was setting behind the church and the warm colors were beginning to fade. As the mystery of night began to take over; I noticed the church held up torches that reflected light off the wood of the instruments.
"Maybe we should have an orchestra play at the wedding."
"Hmmm?" I looked up, almost missing what he had said.
His hand brushed the hair away from my face. "I was saying that we should have an orchestra play at our wedding—in fact; make the whole thing a Victorian style event. Find a church like that one."
He pointed to the St. James church. I had to admit, I could very easily see myself getting married to Aster here. Dancing to a ritzy orchestra song by the light of the church. Smiling down at my husband with adoration in front of all our friends and family. The image seemed right to me.
"Why don't we just get married here then?" I suggested. "Here, at St. James church?"
He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't this a little far from our friends and family?"
I shrugged. "Not really. It's about a four hour plane ride for my parents, and our friends are pretty use to travelling anyway."
Aster gazed at the church. His mind storming up the potential a wedding here could bring. It'd be beautiful that much was for sure. It'd be fitting for the two of us. Aster would enjoy the classic feel of it; and I'd have a happy fiancée.
He chuckled gently and leaned down to kiss my cheek. "Well, I guess we have our place."
Aster's POV
"Hello boys." It was early afternoon when we arrived at the Truesdale's beach residence. We frowned when Rissa wasn't smiling. Her normally happy exterior was worn down by some kind of depression.
Did she find out about Caroline? I winced at the idea. Maybe it was a bad idea to tell her about her father and sister.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
She sighed, looking at Zane with sorrowful eyes. "We had to cancel the party—your grandpa's very ill Zane."
()
It turned out that a few days ago, William Truesdale, or grandpa Truesdale as he often referred to as, caught a pretty fever. A normal man might have been able to shake it off no problem, but William was nearing 80 years old and had lung problems from years of smoking—his immune system was so knocked down that even the simplest cold could cause hell.
Sam had emerged from what I assumed to be his father's bedroom with a trey in hand. He gave me a small nod but didn't look me in the face to do so. Zane wrapped an arm around me to ease my obvious discomfort. "Has he seen a doctor?"
Rissa nodded slowly. "He gave us antibiotics and if he doesn't get better, he's going to be admitted into the hospital." My mother glared at my father when he reached into his pocket. "Samuel, there better not be cigarettes in there…"
My father pulled his hand out quickly and cleared his throat. "Maybe he'd feel better if you spent a few minutes with him Zane?...I think I should explain the situation to Aster."
Zane and I looked to each other—the situation was clear as day, but it wasn't what Sam was making it out to be. He wanted to talk to me privately—probably about what had happened between him and my mother. I gave Zane an approving nod. He pulled away from my embrace to visit his grandfather. I trailed Sam out to the porch.
"I assume my son has told you about my relationship with your mother?" He began rather formal-like.
"Yeah, he did." I said softly, trying to suppress the nightmare I had about it. "I guess that's why you don't like me very much."
He leaned against the rail, giving me a confused look. "Who said I didn't like you?"
"Well, I just assumed..." I rubbed my arm nervously; finding the conversation more awkward than I would have liked. "I mean, you never really tried to talk to me and you were really angry when Zane and I announced our engagement—I didn't think that was all because of my mother."
"Well, anyone in my family would tell you that I'm a hard person to befriend." He admitted, pulling a forbidden cigarette out of his jacket and lighting it. "And it is because of your mother…"
"We were both too intelligent for our own good. It made it difficult to engage people and make friends. So a lot of the time, during our studies it was just she and I… I was madly in love with her but Shiloh didn't think it was possible to love anyone without a blood connection; but she figured being with someone she liked to be around was better than being with no one."
A great sorrow filled Sam's eyes. The cigarette shook gently in his hand—this was the most emotion I had ever seen from him. "I asked her to marry me—multiple times. But Shiloh had always come up with a reason not to. I was stupid; I was convinced one day she would see we were meant to be. But I was wrong; she did eventually begin to believe in love, but that was only after she met your father. I was heartbroken; she began spending more time with him than she did with me."
"He invited her to see this author that was speaking at his college. She broke up with me right before she left, telling me that we were never in love; we were only convenient for each other. I didn't believe it. I followed her there, hoping to change her mind or if nothing else, confront this Silas Phoenix for what he took from me…But much to my surprised, Rissa was there—and she made me realize Shiloh was right… We were never meant to be."
I tried to take in the words, but it was near impossible. I could only imagine the heart break my mother had inflicted on this man. It was odd how fate had brought him to Rissa on that the day that should have ruined his idea of love forever. I was somehow impressed by how the story turned out and how everyone ended up happy in the end.
"I still cared for Shiloh even after Rissa and I got married. Maybe more than I should have—and the pain carried with me long after she died. I guess that's why I was so opposed to you and Zane being together but…maybe this is what was meant to be." He offered me a sad, small, smile. The first one he had ever given me. It should have felt put-off but instead, I felt strangely satisfied. Sam was accepting me as his future son-in-law. "Maybe this is fate's way of fixing the past."
After a moment or so, I departed back into the house, letting Sam finish his cigarette. Rissa was facing away from me when I entered the house. She was bent over the sink—I thought she was doing the dishes until I heard a great heaving sob.
"Rissa? Are you alright?" She didn't face me. She tried to regain her broken breath to no avail. I walked forward and gently placed my hand on her shoulder. "Rissa?"
She jumped and turned to face me. Her eyes watering with tears. Even after she saw me, her panic didn't resolve. Only now she looked more like she had been caught as opposed to startled. I didn't understand this—what was she trying to hide?
Without a word, she ran past me and down the hall to where I figured her bedroom must be. Zane emerged just as his mother walked by. "Mom?" When she didn't acknowledge him, he looked to me for answers. "What happened?"
"I don't know…" I whispered. Unsure of what to make of her breakdown.
Then it occurred to me. What were the chances that Rissa overheard our conversation? It never once occurred to me that Rissa knew nothing of her husband's former love. Even though Sam said Rissa had saved his heart from completely breaking—he had also said some things that suggested he still loved my mother. What if Rissa came just in time to hear those things, but was too late for the first part of it.
My heart sank. What else could it be? Rissa had just found out her husband of almost two and a half decades had loved another woman—and as far she had heard; she had only been a consolation prize.
