Nadine tried to hide her downtrodden mood at dinner with her aunt and uncle, but of course Auntie Zaina's keen eye caught on quickly.
"You're awfully quiet," the older female commented, raising a fresh cup of tea to her lips, "did something happen?"
The feline officer flinched, "No." She glanced over to Ralph for help, but Suzie asked for the lupine's assistance with her homework. It was normally adorable to watch the wolf help the cub who was almost already his size. If it wasn't for the possible line of questioning from her aunt, the tiger may have allowed her mind to wander to the query of how good a father the lupine could be. Something that the female wasn't at all ready to discuss, but a nice day dream.
Zaina pursed her lips and narrowed her gaze. She remained quiet as she sipped her drink again. Silence settled over the female's cleared table. Uncle Aarav was helping in the kitchen, so Davista and Margaret cleaned up. Suzie and Ralph were at another table, going over basic multiplication. The officer and her aunt were alone at that moment.
Nadine felt the weight of that narrowed gaze, and looked away in guilt. Even though Auntie Zaina didn't follow many of the Bengali traditions, there was no doubt that she mastered the judgemental stare that all mother tigers possessed. The feline bit her lip, trying desperately to hold back the building tirade. She may as well have been trying to reverse the tide. Or stop time. Or even harder, have Wilde be serious for once. Eventually it was too much for the officer and she caved.
"I met my mo- former mother for tea, and…"
Auntie Zaina listened intently, her terse expression growing soft as the words grew stuck in Nadine's throat. The younger feline tried to continue, but all she could do was pinch her eyes and shake her head slowly.
"...it didn't go well…"
There was a moment of silence as the officer's statement hung in the air. It was broken with the older feline sighed heavily.
"I can imagine…" Zaina pursed her lips again, this time in thought. "Why did you?"
"It's...stupid…"
"It can't be," the older tiger retorted, "if it was, you never would have done it."
Nadine sighed, and ran a paw over her head. "I...needed to know if she loved me." The officer glanced at the aunt, then down at the table, "It's stupid."
"Once again, it's not."
""But it must be," the younger feline exclaimed, throwing her paws up in the air.
"It's what you feel," Zaina countered, putting her tea down, "and that's important."
"I shouldn't have seen her," Nadine groaned.
"You're her daughter."
"Former," the younger feline corrected with a raised claw.
Auntie Zaina laughed, covering her mouth with daintily with a paw, "That rule is so ridiculous!" The older female rolled her eyes as she clasped her cup. "I've been a mom for close to fifteen years, and I will never stop being one." She smiled softly, gaze on her tea as she slowly swished it around. "No matter what they think. I will always be their mother."
"I don't think she thinks that," the officer muttered.
"No, she's still in denial."
Nadine frowned, "What do you mean?"
Zaina grimaced, "When your mother and father come over, a much rarer occurrence now, Vanya talks as though you two are in regular contact. I know this is a lie because I amam in "
"And...dad?"
The older female smiled weakly, "He's...dealing with it." She shrugged, "Like I said, they don't come around as much, but of course Vanya needs to see her brother..."
"It must be hard…"
Zaina scowled darkly, "I'll never forgive them for what they did to my favorite niece...but they are good mammals." She leaned back in her chair as a smirk appeared on her muzzle, "When they aren't being so stubborn!"
Nadine smiled weakly, "It's a Fangmeyer thing."
"It's a tiger thing," the aunt emphasized, "and nothing will change that." Zaina sipped her tea. "Give them time."
"They don't deserve it," the officer mumbled feebly, laying her arms on the table and propping her head on her stacked forearms.
"Maybe," the older female replied sagely with a lazy grin, "and maybe they won't change. Or maybe they'll grow up. Or maybe both sides will come together. Either way, you still shouldn't hate them." The aunt's smile grew, "Be the bigger mammal and forgive. It can be fun." She winked.
Nadine couldn't help but laugh. In her family, she was always the bigger mammal. Literally. Only Uncle Aarav came close to her size, but the Z.P.D. made sure to add more muscle mass to the niece to keep her over the top. Still, the idea of being the better mammal sounded good to the younger feline. If her mother did love her, then eventually she would accept the officer's decision. If she didn't...well Nadine had enough negativity from her job and could do with less. Either way, the tiger didn't plan to change. As she mused over these thoughts, her aunt continuing to smile wryly across the table, an even younger feline decided to join the conversation.
"Mommy, I did it!" Suzie exclaimed, rushing to her mother's side. The young daughter was still in her school uniform, a plain dark blue jumper with a sky blue shirt, when she smacked into the older female's side. She beamed happily at her mother, only a head shorter than the seated adult, and waved a piece a paper in front of her.
"Alright, alright," Zaina chuckled, looking at her youngest lovingly, "let me see."
Nadine was distracted from the adorable scene by a paw sliding across her shoulders. She closed her eyes as Ralph rested his forehead against the side of her head.
"You alright?" he whispered, gently rubbing his head into the feline.
"I will be," the tiger mumbled back, leaning into the lupine. Of course Ralph heard the aunt and niece's conversation, he and Suzie weren't that far away. Nadine was just glad the wolf remained silent. Not that she didn't respect his opinion, but this was definitely a conversation that the feline needed to have with a parent. Even if it wasn't specifically one of hers.
The doors leading to the kitchen swung open, and the rest of Nadine's family entered the dining area. Uncle Aarav held a stained white rag between his paws as Dave and Maggs were arguing loudly about something behind their father. The older male moved to a chair next to his wife, pulled it out, then collapsed into it.
"They have been arrrguing non-stop," Uncle Aarav groaned, pinching the bridge of his muzzle with closed eyes, "and arren't listening to me!"
"Davista, Margaret," Aunt Zaina said sternly, arm wrapped around Suzie, "Quiet."
"But moooom!" Maggs wined.
"She started it," Dave grumbled folding his arms.
"Well I'm ending it," the mother stated authoritatively, "and that's final."
The restaurant grew awkwardly silent, with Dave and Maggs shifting uncomfortably on their paws. Aarav remained in his exhausted position, while Zaina finally released her younger who rushed back to her homework. Without looking at her other cubs, the mother pointed up, then to the table that Suzie was working. Dave groaned loudly and Maggs openly pouted, but they both went to the table to do their respective work.
"I was at your competition recently," Nadine said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence, "the new place in the Rainforest called Svaad."
"And how does it measure?" her uncle asked, eyes still closed with a cocky smirk.
"I...didn't stay…"
"Oh…" Aarav's smile waned. The male tiger straightened in his chair and focused on his niece. "Maybe we shall trrry it." His smile grew, "Though I know we arrre betterrr!"
"Do you know a Jaipal?" Nadine asked her uncle. A smaller, much less important, thing that bothered the officer was she could have sworn she knew restaurateur. No matter how hard she tried though, the tiger couldn't remember.
Uncle Aarav frowned and rubbed his chin with the paw holding the rag. "...no."
Auntie Zaina rolled her eyes, "Yes."
"Who?" the older male questioned.
"Latika's son." replied the older female.
"Rrreally?"
"Yes, love. What did you think his name was?"
"Daksh."
"Ha! That's Loku's son."
"Then what about Manoj?"
"Loku's son as well. So is Vinod and Bodhi."
"Fourrr sons...I can barrrely keep up with one!"
"If you didn't eat so much sweets, you may be able to sweetie!"
"Anyway," the feline officer interrupted before her uncle could retort, "he's the owner of Svaad."
"I am not surrrprrrised," the father mused, "he loved talking to me about Taj."
"Who's Taj?" Ralph asked, still standing next to Nadine and running his paw across her shoulders.
"Taj is where we met," Zaina started coyly, glancing at her mate.
"And my firrrst rrrestaurrrant," Aarav finished, returning the look with a knowing smirk. The male's expression faltered, and then fell. "I...do not believe I will everrr have anotherrr like it."
"We'll see what the future holds," the older female stated sagely.
"I will be old," the uncle sighed, "too old."
"No way!" Ralph chimed in, "Sixties the new thirty."
Auntie Zaina laughed behind a paw as Uncle Aarav playfully glared at the lupine.
"And how old do you believe I am?" the older male questioned pointedly.
Nadine could feel Ralph balk, but didn't help the wolf out of his predicament. Instead, as the male's began their discussion about Uncle Aarav's age, the officer focused on her aunt. The older female sighed with a contented smile, rolling her eyes at the ongoing conversation, before looking at her niece. The mother shrugged and the younger feline couldn't help but smile.
Auntie Zaina was right. Time will tell, and they would have to see what the future held in store for them. And no matter what, Nadine hoped for more tea time with her aunt.
Hello readers,
To start, an apology is in order. I accidentally uploaded this chapter last week unedited and wasn't aware of that snafu until someone commented on it. The original part two is now in place. If you've already read this chapter, but haven't read the techincial one before, I reccomend going back. Hopefully it'll fill in some blanks. Thank you to the Guest who commented on my mistake! As soon as I was alerted to it, I fixed it. Let me know what you think!
-CG