William just stood there, his arms crossed and his face looking somewhat blank.

Behind them were six of his seven children. First up was his oldest child Selim. He was supposed to turn nineteen in a couple months. Despite this and the fact that he was as tall as his father, Selim still had that boyish look to him. Next, there were the twins Solaris and Axel. Solaris and Axel were both somewhat good-looking at just seventeen years old, enough so that they could get modeling contracts if they so wanted. The twins' black hair and dark eyes were easily traits someone would covet for themself. Axel, however, hid his eyes behind round dark shades. Then, of course, there was Bruce. Despite only being twelve (he would turn thirteen in May), he seemed to have already devoted himself to building up plenty of muscle for his body. Maybe it was because of all the strife at home and the stress that came with it... or maybe it was just because his mother Dante had forced it upon him. Either way, he seemed to be well on track for a bodybuilding career. Then there were the youngest two, Kirby and Bradley. Kirby was remarkably overweight for a nine-year-old, weighing just 100 pounds as opposed to the average 63 pounds. He also had little to no hair; and he had small eyes, an exceptionally thin upper lip, a short, upturned nose, and a smooth skin surface between the nose and upper lip. Kirby seemingly had little to no understanding on why he was here or what was going on around him, only caring about when he would eat next. As for Bradley, who was only six years old (he would turn seven in September), he was the only one of the children to have been adopted. His adoption had come during a dark time in the Hendersons' lives, but he still felt somewhat like a member of the family all the same.

"Father?" William just asked.

"What is it, William?" Van asked, somewhat irritated by his presence.

"Do you know where I can find Ivy?"

"Please don't call them that."

"What? What are you talking about? I just asked you where my daughter's room is."

"Malachite isn't your daughter. They're your child."

"Just tell me where Ivy is."

Van quickly stood up out of his chair and glared at William. "No."

"Careful, Father. Don't do or say anything I might make you regret."

"Like what, William? Like how you've had a normal childhood?"

William just glared back at his biological father. "How dare you."

"I dare. You're not special just because you were conceived through rape. You're not special because your stepfather resented you over how you were conceived. You're not special because your mother took out all of her frustrations on you. You're not special because your parents disowned you because you fell in love with someone they didn't like. And you sure as hell aren't special just because your siblings on your mom's side ignore you. Plenty of people have dealt with these things, but you know what? Not all of those people are like you. I can count on one hand the other people I personally know who have dealt with at least one of these hardships. One of Garnet's mothers was kicked out of her house because she dared to fall in love with another woman, for God's sake, but she's nowhere near as bitter and angry as you are."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that the way you've coped with everything that's happened to you... you've been going about it all wrong. You've passed that on to your own children. How you've acted is affecting them. Have you ever considered that maybe the reason Malachite was sneaking off and fooling around in a love triangle with their own uncles was because you were too caught up in your own little bubble to notice something was up?"

William couldn't help but scowl. "That's ridiculous. Ivy's too much of a loner to do that kind of crap, right, Solaris?"

Solaris just smirked. "C'mon, Grandpa. You don't know Ivy like we do."

Now Van was starting to feel his blood boil. "No, you don't know Malachite like I do. The way you keep deadnaming them and misgendering them makes that very clear."

William just sighed in frustration. "I'm clearly not getting anywhere with you, Father. C'mon, kids. We can just go find Ivy ourselves."

William's children just chattered amongst themselves while they followed their father down the hallway. Once Van knew they were gone, he sat back down and tried to calm down.

"Man, I'm really sorry you had to deal with that," Ed apologized to his dad.

"Me too," Al added. "I really couldn't stand listening to them invalidate Malachite like that. I wish there was a way to change their minds."

"Unfortunately, I don't know if we can," Van just said. "People like your brother can be too set in their ways to realize how wrong they are. It doesn't matter if they'll ever change their minds or not. At the end of the day, we just have to live with the fact that some people would rather detach themselves from reality than ever admit that they were wrong."

Maya felt a chill go down her spine as she spotted William and his family heading towards Malachite's room. She quietly signaled to Ruby and Sapphire to go hide in the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Garnet stayed beside her great-aunt while holding her children in her arms. She at least was familiar with the rest of Malachite's family. She'd heard stories about them. She'd heard about how the Henderson matriarch Dante was a QAnon supporter who still held out hope that former president Donald Trump would one day get another chance inside the White House. She'd heard about how cruel the Henderson patriarch could be. Garnet wanted to stand her ground in case the Hendersons tried to pull something.

"Hello, Miss Diamond," William just greeted Maya while he and his children practically forced themselves inside Malachite's room.

"What do you want, Mr. Henderson?" Maya asked, slightly annoyed by his unwanted presence.

"I just came to see Ivy, that's all," William just said while feigning a smile.

"Ivy? Oh, did you mean Malachite? I don't think they like when you call them that. Why do you want to see them anyway?"

"I'm here to take her home."

"Malachite just gave birth, Mr. Henderson. They have to stay for at least one more day."

"Of course she does. And who's this gorilla-looking woman beside you?"

"Who are you calling gorilla?" Garnet asked, a tinge of furious anger in her voice.

Maya placed a gentle hand on Garnet as a way to subtly restrain her. "That would be the woman adopting Malachite's children. Her name is Garnet Harvey-Dahl." Despite trying her best to hide it, an angry tremble ran through her body. There was something about this man that was pissing her right the fuck off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. Maybe it was the blatant disregard for Malachite's identity, maybe it was how he dehumanized Garnet, or maybe it was something else.

"So this is why you had to reschedule, huh?" Solaris suddenly asked her manager. "Funny, I thought it was because of something else."

"Miss Henderson," Maya sternly said. "Now is not the time to talk about that."

"Now is the perfect time to talk about it. Who do you think you are, telling me to reschedule? When I want to come in and do a recording session, goddamnit, I want to come in and do a recording session!"

"Miss Henderson, if you would just try to understand-"

Before Maya could finish her train of thought, Solaris huffed in frustration and slapped her manager so hard it left a five fingered red mark on her face. Now Maya was developing a migraine. How was she supposed to keep her composure when the Hendersons were testing her patience?

Maya just groaned exasperatedly while running her fingers through her hair. "For Christ's sake, Miss Henderson, I was trying to spend time with family. Is that such an alien concept to you?!"

Solaris and William looked at each other, uncertain how they could answer. It wasn't that they didn't love each other; they were just so dysfunctional that one had to wonder whether anything was keeping them together.

"Solaris," Garnet now spoke. "If I were you right now, I would think about leaving right now."

Solaris glared at this woman who dared to speak at her.

"Leave," Garnet said again. "Now."

William seemingly got the hint, and he took his six children with him out of the room.

Maya breathed a sigh of relief despite the migraine that still plagued her. "Thank God. I thought they'd never leave."