Hey guyyyzzzz
Thanks soo much for reviewing last chapter, and sorry for the wait – first I got a bit preoccupied with my three-shot A Fate Undeserved and Drake & Josh fanfic A Very Mad Monday, then studies stopped me from sitting at the computer.
Anyway, here's the twelfth chappie…and I decided to take a little break from all the action, and make this chapter a light-hearted, family themed one. Enjoy & review…review being the operational word. Just kidding.
TWELVE
NOSTALGIA
Olivia's POV
Dinnertime
"Hey Dad," I said, laying out spoons beside all the dinner plates. He was at the kitchen counter, tossing a salad for dinner.
"Yes, Olivia?" asked Dad, not looking up from his salad.
"I'm going to, er, ask you something at the dinner table. About Mom."
"Why don't you ask me now?" said Dad.
"Wellll…I kinda want it to be a thing between all three of us. That okay?"
"Por mí, ningún problema," said Dad.
"'Kay, Daddy."
Finally, we all sat down to dinner. I slowly chewed and swallowed a piece of French bread, then proceeded to say to Dad, "So, Dad, I was saying I wanted to ask you something." I threw a brief glance toward Mom. She gave me a little smile.
"Yes, you did say that. So go ahead and ask me."
"Yep. I wanted to ask you…er…were you Mom's only, um, boyfriend? Ever?" Okay. Somehow, this was way, way, WAY weird.
Dad, however, looked intrigued. "Why, yes, I think. Wasn't I, Susannah?" He turned to Mom for the latter part of his statement.
Mom looked a bit…abashed. "Well, er, not exactly," she said, wincing a little.
Dad frowned.
"Uh," said Mom, not looking too thrilled to be telling Daddy what she was going to. "Jesse, remember Tad Beaumont?"
Dad's brow crinkled as he tried to remember. Suddenly, he got a look of enlightenment on his face. "Of course! That spoiled rich brat whose father you thought was a vampire!"
Mom looked very, very, VERY embarrassed at the mention of the word 'vampire', for some reason. (A/N: You'll know what I'm talking about if you've read the first book!!)
I looked at Mom without turning my head. "Mom. What is Daddy talking about?"
Dad replied before Mom could open her mouth. "Oh, this was Susannah's first bit of trouble when she had newly moved to Carmel from New York," he said. "There was a certain boy called Tad Beaumont whom she, er, spent a lot of time with. She suspected his father was a vampire, but it simply turned out that the poor man had a mental disease." Dad laughed.
"Oh," I said. "I see. And the part about you…er, feeling threatened by this guy?" I continued slyly. "Threatened?" asked Dad, feigning confusion.
At this, Mom jumped up triumphantly and announced, "AH-HA!" "Okay, Mom," I said, a little taken aback. "Anyway. Dad, why and how, exactly, did you feel jealous of Tad Beaumont?"
"I'm telling you again," said Dad, sighing. "I did not feel in the least threatened or jealous of Tad Beaumont in any way." He stuffed a piece of chicken in his mouth with a weary look on his face.
Mom still had a triumphant, smug look on her face, her green eyes glowing. "Jesse, Jesse, Jesse. What's the point in denying the truth? You denied it thirty years back. And you're denying it again. But the truth still remains what it is, doesn't it? I still remember your face vividly at the time when Tad kissed me…" Okay, Nostalgia Lane was getting MAJORLY interesting.
"A kiss, eh? Interesting…" I said. Then I looked at Daddy. "It's okay, Dad," I assured him, sensing his obvious discomfort. "Fine," said Dad, grumpily. But I still needed to know the whole story!
I turned to Mom again. "Okay, Mom," I announced, sounding somewhat like a game-show host. "Dad's bailed out. It's up to you to complete the story now!"
Mom remained silent. "Come on, Mom!" I urged. "I thought you guys enjoyed trips down Nostalgia Lane!"
"Well," said Mom, finally, with apparent renewed confidence. "Okay. I had gone to my first party in Carmel. Also my first ever pool party. There, I met this pretty cute –" "–and madly rich, may I add," cut in Dad, smugly.
But Mom simply continued like she hadn't heard Dad. "–guy called Tad Beaumont. I started spending a lot of time with him, which got your dad insanely jealous, even though we weren't yet dating at the time. And then, one night, Tad brought me home in his car, and that was when I received my first ever kiss from him. And that is also the exact moment your father suddenly chose to materialize in the backseat of the car and shoot me an extremely disgusted look. He claimed his so called 'disgust' to be over a manners-and-etiquettes issue from Tad – and still does, I'm sure – but I just know it wasn't that. Jesse was plain as the word JEALOUS." Mom looked like she was relishing every bit of this conversation.
Poor Dad, by now, was looking thoroughly harassed. "Vale, ite he oído! I was jealous," he cried. He ran his fingers through his hair at a fast pace, a gesture he often uses when tense or nervous. "But can you blame me? I loved you, querida." Awwwww. That is so sweet. "But then, I must comment, your choice in the matter of Tad was understandably disgusting. That boy, completely devoid of common sense. God did not bestow the poor fellow with much brains. That you must admit." I laughed.
"Well, yes," said Mom, somewhat grudgingly. "Tad wasn't much of an Einstein, that's true." "Oh-kayyyy," I interrupted. "Sorry to interrupt your, er, in-depth trip through memories, but I really do need to know about the other guy!" I used the term 'other guy' purposely, despite knowing full well that the 'other guy' was Mr. Slater. "Other guy?" asked Dad, innocently. "What other guy? Tad was the only other boy you stepped out with, Susannah, at least as far as I remember…" "Yes, Jesse, but have you forgotten Paul's little love tokens so soon?" said Mom, smilingly.
But Dad's face turned kind of cold. "How could I forget?" Then he muttered something in Spanish. Sure, I could translate for you, but trust me, you're better off not knowing.
"Oh, come off it now, Jesse," said Mom, playfully. "Although the part when you beat him up at the Mission the time he tried to get in my pants is quite unforgettable."
"More unforgettable for him than me, I'm sure," snorted Daddy. "That fellow was extremely stupid back then. Thought he was a god, he did." Then, realizing the 'get in my pants' phrase, he shot Mom a stern look, which she completely ignored.
"But who is 'he', Dad?" " 'He,' " said Dad. "was Paul. Your own precioso Jason's father."
"Daddy," I said, blushing.
"What?" said Dad, matter-of-factly. "He does seem to be your novio, now…" (novio means boyfriend)
"Dad, please." Okay, on a regular basis, this wouldn't be embarrassing. But being teased about your boyfriend by your father? I mean, come on, GET REAL.
"Well," said Mom. "Jesse. Wasn't that memorable? And the time you came to know about the mediator lessons…" Dad looked more disgusted than ever.
"What mediator lessons?" I asked, eagerly. "Temme, Ma!" Mom told me how Mr. Slater made her attend mediator lessons with him in exchange for not zapping Dad away. Which, no offense, sounded pretty rotten. "Then, one day, Paul kissed me at one of the lessons," Mom went on. "Your father, Olivia, was beyond livid. He went quite berserk with rage…it was quite a task, stopping him from going and beating up Paul. But," she said. "Inwardly, although I didn't tell anyone, I was quite pleased that Jesse was so possessive of me." She gazed at Dad fondly, and Dad gazed back. Ick. I HAD to interrupt this. I mean, yeah, I'm glad that my parents love each other a lot and all, but can't they save all this stuff for the bedroom? Seriously.
"Ahem," I said, awkwardly.
I remembered very well what Jason had told me about the little friendship between my mom and his dad, but I didn't exactly expect this 'other guy' to be Mr. Slater. Stupid, I know, but true.
"Anyway, Mom," I said, getting up to put my plate and glass in the sink. "I'm glad you fell in love with Dad and not Mr. Slater."
"Well, he was too creepy to be liked back then," replied Mom, her emerald eyes (which I had inherited from her) twinkling. "But anyway. Why do you say that?"
"'Cause if you had gotten married to him, Jason and I would probably have been brother and sister," I said, grimacing at the very thought of such a thing. "Which would have been just too bad."
Mom chuckled.
I decided to take a teeny-weeny break from all the action, and so I put in a light-hearted family thing. Hope you guys liked it. But the next chapter will be way more eventful, not to worry!!!!!
And a gentle word of warning for my dear readers: IF I DON'T GET AT LEAST 8-10 REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPPY, THERE WILL BE NO UPDATE FOR A LONG, LONG TIME. So review away…
Lurve PGP
