Chapter Twelve : This isn't What She Would Want
Crowley tried to stay calm and hum along with the radio as he turned down the dirt and rubble road heading outside of town.
He was tempted to make a left turn towards Bobby Singers house, but he resisted the urge and kept going straight. The only thing stopping him from charging into Bobby Singer's house and giving the man a piece of his mind, was Elizabeth.
Elizabeth had made him swear that he'd let Bobby come to them first. Though it was an agreement that Crowley had begrudgingly made. Personally he wanted Bobby to see every ounce of despair Elizabeth had gone through for the past two days.
He had fought the urge to pick up the phone and chew out Bobby at least a dozen times over the past few days. He knew that Elizabeth was right. It was better to wait for Bobby to come to them. To let her father cool off. But it still didn't make Crowley feel any better about having to see the woman he loved in so much pain.
The trip to Harvelles Roadhouse wasn't a long one. Elizabeth had told him that the reason the roadhouse was located on the outside of town was because the town had been dry in its early days. Meaning that no alcohol could be purchased inside of city limits.
And though times had changed and the town was no longer dry Harvelles remained in the same location that it had been in since Elizabeth's great-grandfather had opened it years ago.
Crowley pulled into the scarcely populated parking lot and put his car into park. He stepped out of the car the caliche rock and dirt still a little muddy from last nights rainstorm, before he made his way to the front entrance.
He reached down opening the door without an effort. Elizabeth had told him a long time ago that the place was rarely locked up during the day. The few employees that worked during the daylight hours slid in and out of the roadhouse stocking up on boxes of liquor and frozen foods.
Crowley was surprised to see a thin man with what could be best described as a mullet fast asleep his head resting on the bar,
Crowley raised an eyebrow as he approached the bar, not helping but to wonder how the mullet adorned man stayed seated in the bar-stool as he slept.
Crowley jumped a little startled as the man suddenly lifted his head sitting up. The man gave Crowley a surprised stare as he spoke up. "Sorry man we're closed. We don't open till Eight on Tuesdays. Don't know how you got in here."
"The door was unlocked." Crowley attempted to explain as Ellen walked in from one of the back rooms.
She rolled her eyes at her employee as she spoke. "Ash you were supposed to lock up. You're just lucky this is Liz's boyfriend and not someone looking to rob us."
The man whom was apparently named Ash scratched the back of his head the long hairs on his mullet sticking up as he did so. "Oops my bad. I'll be in the back."
And with that Ash slid off the bar-stool before disappearing behind the bar towards the back rooms. Ellen shook her head as the man disappeared from view. "I don't know why I keep him on payroll. The boy drinks more than he works."
Crowley couldn't help but to silently wonder the same thing. According to what Elizabeth had told him from her days working at the roadhouse, the man named Ash worked at the roadhouse as some sort of bouncer. Though Crowley wondered how the thin apparently drunken man bounced anyone from the roadhouse.
Crowley took a seat at the bar as Ellen reached under the bar. She pulled up a glass filling it with ice before she sat it in front of Crowley.
He raised an eyebrow as she filled it with whiskey before she began to polish the deep wooden bar-top. He was almost tempted to ask for a more expensive higher shelf whiskey but quickly decided that wouldn't be the best approach.
Ellen spoke as Crowley took a gulp from his glass ignoring the cheap burn of the liquor. "I assume you're here about the fit Bobby is throwing over Liz and you."
Crowley silently nodded his head in response causing Ellen to shake her head before she spoke again a chastising tone to her voice. "You two should've told him sooner."
Crowley frowned feeling as though he was being scolded by his mother. Which was a strange feeling being that Ellen was close to his age.
He still was unable to see her as anything but an authority figure and he was sure that he would never be able to see the two of them being on the same level. Her being Elizabeth's aunt put her in a place of almost a maternal superiority over him.
"And what are you two going to do now ? Expecting a baby ? All of this making Lizzie and you so stressed out during what should be the happiest moment of your lives." Ellen stated.
Crowley couldn't help but to notice that she was polishing the bar more rapidly as though she was channeling all her stress and worries into the bar itself.
He finally spoke as he placed the glass back down on the bar. "I don't know what to do for her honestly. I want to confront Robert and sort this all out, but she won't have it. I don't know how to help her. She just seems so sad and it's killing me. Seeing her like this, I just love her so much."
He paused shaking his head before he continued. "I can understand that Robert is angry, but to react like that. To hurt Elizabeth so much. I just don't understand how he could be so cold ?"
"She's his baby. I know it doesn't make sense. It's just that she's the only piece of Karen he has left. He's always been overprotective. Sometime bordering on smothering to be honest. It doesn't matter if you were the future King of England, you still wouldn't be good enough in his eyes." Ellen explained
She paused doing her best to give him a warm smile. "You're a good man. You've been better to my niece than any of her exes and I'm happy she found you. If anything you two have my approval...I just wish that Bobby could see what I see."
He felt a small amount of relief knowing that Ellen approved of him. He had been concerned that she may not be able to get over his age when it came to her niece and him.
Her explanation of why Bobby may never accept him didn't make him feel any better though. If anything it made him feel more like crap. He had always suspected that he would never be good enough in Bobby's eyes, but hearing it from an outside source just made it all the more real.
Ellen finally stopped polishing the wood as she spoke up a more soothing tone to her voice. "You can't worry about that now. Right now you just need to focus on Liz. Give it some time. It'll sort itself out one way or another."
Crowley took a final gulp of his drink before Ellen pulled the glass out of his reach obviously showing that she wasn't going to let him drink away his and Elizabeth's troubles.
She spoke the strict maternal overtone back to her voice. "Now. You go straight home and don't even think about swinging by Bobby Singers house. I know for a fact that Elizabeth doesn't' know you were planning on coming here, otherwise she would've insisted on coming with you. It's best you get back home to her."
He nodded his head reaching in his pocket to pull out a five dollar bill before she held her hands up stopping him. "You don't pay, you're family. Now you go home. I'll handle this."
He stood up tempted to ask her not to do anything too severe but he already had the feeling that no matter what he said Ellen Harvelle was going to do what she wanted.
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow as Crowley walked through the front door of his house looking sluggish. He removed his black coat shoving it into the closet before he made his way around a pile of empty boxes.
They had gotten the cardboard boxes in preparation of the move that they would eventually make, as soon as they actually went out to find a new house that is.
She spoke up spotting that he didn't have his black leather work suitcase in his hand. "I'm guessing you didn't go to the office to get some paperwork."
He gave her an apologetic smile. "No. To be honest I wanted to go talk to your aunt."
She frowned as he sat down beside her on the leather sofa in his living room. "And you didn't tell me why ? Please tell me you stayed away from my dad's house."
"You're under a lot of pressure love. I didn't want to add on any more. I just wanted to get some things off my chest. I swear I avoided your father's house." He stated hoping that he wasn't about to start an argument over the small lie he had told her.
She let out a huff not very happy that he hadn't told her where he was going to begin with. She didn't blame him though.
She had been nothing but a weepy mess since they had talked to her father. She had known that the fallout would be severe, she just hadn't expected it to be this severe.
She let herself lean against Crowley's open arms resting her head on his chest. She took a deep breath reminding herself not to shed another tear.
For now Elizabeth just wanted to focus on the future. Whether that future would contain her father was yet to be seen though, and she was unsure of how to handle the thought of a future without her father.
Crowley spoke up changing the subject thankful that he hadn't been thrown into the doghouse over this. "Have you eaten ?
She nodded her head not surprised by his question. He had practically waited on her hand in foot over the past few days.
She looked into his eyes spotting the clear look of worry in them. He'd had the same look in his eyes over the past few days.
She felt a tinge of guilt as she realized that he was under as much stress as her and he'd been focusing all his energy on her. He really had been so strong dealing with everything that had taken place over the past few days. She imagined that he had needed the talk with Ellen.
Elizabeth felt her eyes begin to water the pressure of the past two days creeping up on her once again.
Crowley sensed that she was about to start crying again. He placed his hand over her stomach before he spoke up automatically soothing her. "It's going to be okay we have each other. The three of us are going to be just fine. I promise."
She smirked attempting to make a joke as a few tears sneaked their ways out of the corners of her eyes. "How do you know there's just one kid in there ? There could be like six."
"Well if that's the case then we better find a really big house." He replied before he leaned down pressing a kiss to her lips.
She returned the kiss focusing on how much she enjoyed his lips on hers welcoming his affections as a distraction against everything else that was going on in her life.
He was right, she told herself. They would be okay as long as they had one another everything would be just fine.
Bobby Singer cursed under his breath as his cell phone once again began to ring from its spot on the passenger's seat.
He pulled over being sure to put on his hazard lights thankful that the highway was barely occupied at this time of night. He put the car into park as he grabbed his phone off the passengers seat.
"What Ellen ?" He asked knowing it wouldn't be anyone else but her. She had already called once before and he'd been so irritated with her that he'd hung up.
Bobby had hoped to get out of town for a while. Up to a hunting cabin up in the rocky mountains, out in Colorado. It was a place that he had taken Elizabeth to often when she was a little girl.
He knew it was the only place where he could go to think. He hadn't meant to explode like he had. But it had just taken so off guard. And it was so wrong.
Elizabeth with Crowley. Crowley was ten years younger than Bobby. Crowley was eighteen years Elizabeth's senior. It was wrong, someone her age with someone his age. She hadn't seen how Crowley could be at work. How much of a bastard he could be. He had such a horrible reputation.
Crowley McLeod was a backstabbing smarmy jackass. That was what everyone thought.
Bobby didn't think that Crowley was good enough for Elizabeth. Besides she needed someone her own age.
Someone she could grow old with. At Crowley's age he would one day leave Elizabeth a widow.
Bobby knew what it was to lose a spouse. He never wanted Elizabeth to feel that pain.
For the first time in years Bobby had felt as though he'd finally gotten his child back. After all that she had been through.
Things hadn't been easy for her. The two of them had once been so close. When Elizabeth was a child she'd practically glued herself to his side. She'd been the definition of a daddy's girl.
Elizabeth was all he'd had after he'd lost Karen. She was his baby, his only child, the only piece of Karen that he'd had left.
He had done everything he could to protect her, to keep her close, to keep her safe.
He didn't understand what had happened. The second she'd become a teenager she had become so distant. It had started out with just the normal teenage behavior, smarting off, getting her nose pierced behind his back, sneaking out to go to parties. The older she was the more she'd become so angry, so rebellious.
She had run away the second she'd turned eighteen. She had pushed away his overprotective tendencies and run as far as she could from him.
He had tried to tell himself that it was okay at first. That she was going away to college, but then she hadn't come home for breaks and when she actually did she was so ready to leave again. It was as though she'd wanted to get as far away from South Dakota and him as possible.
After she'd come home from California ; from Andy, she'd changed so much. His vibrant tough little girl had become so empty, so lost, so broken. She'd tried to drink her misery away and he'd almost lost her.
After that car accident Bobby Singer had promised himself that he'd never let anything happen to his child. He would do everything he could to make sure that she had a good life, make sure that she made the right decisions.
Deep down inside he knew that he should be happy. His baby was having a baby. This would make most fathers melt into a puddle of elated goo.
He just couldn't get past Crowley though. He just didn't understand and it hurt to know that he had been left in the dark for so long. That she hadn't felt like she could come to him.
"Robert Singer what the hell are you thinking ? Ellen berated him.
"Just stay out of this Ellen !" Bobby ordered raising his voice. His sister-in-law was the last person he wanted to talk to at the moment.
"I will do no such thing. She's my niece. And she's hurting. You messed up Robert." Ellen scolded.
Bobby shook his head refusing to listen as she stared straight ahead at the empty highway. "He's too old for her Ellen. He's just going to break her heart. She's not old enough for this."
Ellen let out a sigh and he heard her slam something down in the background, maybe a plate, or a glass. "Elizabeth is a grown woman. And Crowley loves her to death. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at her. He's a good man Robert. He takes good care of her and I know that he is going to take care of this baby."
"Am I the only one who had no idea about this relationship ?" Bobby asked slamming his hand down on the steering wheel barely missing the horn.
"She came to me because she knew that you would react like this. Do you think Karen would want this ? Elizabeth and you not speaking to one another. You so angry. You know that Karen would want her daughter happy and Crowley makes Elizabeth happy. For the first time in your daughter's life she's in a stable relationship. She needs you to be there for her and this baby."
Bobby glared his grasp tightening around the cell phone. "Don't you dare tell me what Karen would or wouldn't want."
Ellen let out a shaky sigh. He could tell that she was trying to hold back her tears. "Dammit Robert, you weren't the only one who lost Karen. She was my sister. This isn't what she would want and you know it."
He took a deep breath before swallowing the lump in the back of his throat. "I...I have to go. I need time...Time to think."
He hung up the phone before he sat his ringer on silent. He threw the phone back into the passenger's seat before he stared back at the highway.
He took off his baseball cap running a hand through his thinning graying hair before he reached up putting the car back into drive.
He had to get out of town for a while. Time far away to to clear his head, he needed time to think.
