TW: Abuse
As soon as she finally exited the restaurant, he sighed a long, heavy sigh of relief. She watched the traffic pass, as many fairies went about their daily lives, though the buildup tears were blurring her vision. She plugged her hands to her ears once more and sat down on the bench near the doors, curling into a small, tight ball.
"Cassia? Aw sweetheart, it'll be alright. Come here...", she heard a soft male voice squeak as even softer arms wrapped around her, squeezing her gently. "There now. It's ok. What's the matter?"
"I-I..", Cassia stammered, voice and body shaking, "I messed up. I ruined everything."
"Shh...come on now, breathe.", he instructed, still hugging Cassia gently, "You didn't ruin everything, baby. I'm sorry I made you so upset."
"What? Huh?", Cassia asked, looking up to see Papa Cosmo holding her, "Wha-What do you mean?"
"You seemed upset when I started asking about your food. I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were taken care of."
"But..you didn't."
"Hmm? What's the matter then? How can I help?"
Cassia shook her head as more tears began to fall, unable to answer him. She felt him hold her a bit tighter, rubbing her back softly.
"I- I just want to go home. Everyone's fighting and I don't know why, and I don't know how to stop. Why does everyone hate each other?"
"We..uh..", Papa Cosmo stammered, looking around for an answer, "Well..Sweetie..I. Well, I know we don't hate each other, per say. It's just..things are complicated between us right now."
"Why?"
"Your grandma and I..well um..we haven't been very happy lately, darling. She swore at me before I came out to find you, actually. Something about me being a bad father..", he mumbled the last part of himself, "Anyways, she's upset with me because of something that happened, and that's why she's protective of your father."
"What happened? What did you do?"
"I..", he whimpered, "I would really not like to talk about it, pumpkin."
Cassia nodded but continued to cry softly as he held her close, rocking her slightly as if she were still a baby.
"Honey..I'm sorry. I know this is overwhelming right now. Listen, I'll ask your parents to take you home, but will you please eat for me first?", Papa Cosmo asked, still stroking her back. She nodded again, before losing his grip to wipe her face.
"Dad? Is everything ok? Did you find her?", her father's voice asked. Papa Cosma sighed.
"Yes. She's right here. She wants to go home right now, so said I would ask you to take her home if she ate her dinner. ". He said, "How's everything inside? Are you alright?"
"Mama and Wanda are still yelling at each other. Wanda's mom is passed out drunk, and Blonda left. Said something about, 'Sick of wasting her time here'. She looked fine to me."
"Heh..no hun. She meant that she was tired to putting up with this and quite frankly, I am as well. I mean look at Cassia right now, the poor dear can hardly breathe right now."
"Cassia? Are you ok? Should I get mom?", Cosmo asked, looking equally as concerned. She finally looked up at him and shook her head, not wanting to get back involved with her and Mama Cosma's fighting. The 3 of them sat there quietly for a while, waiting for Cassia's sobs to slow down. The two males listened closely to the window next to them, trying to see if it was safe to go back inside. The yelling continued for a little while longer, until Cassia finally started to calm down. After a few more minutes, the three finally made their way back inside, with only her mother, Grandma Cosma, and Grandpa Big Daddy still at the table. The waiters had stopped serving wine bottles after Grandma Fairywinkle had passed out, resulting in Big Daddy poofing her home in their room. Cassia saw her mother give her a concerned yet apologetic look until a loud AHEM grabbed Cassia's attention.
"Welcome back dear. I'm assuming you're now ready to apologize?"
"Wait hold on. What does she have to apologize for?", Wanda snapped again, looking back at Mama Cosma.
"For that little attitude display earlier, of course. What else? Though now that I think about it, I guess I can forgive you Cassia. I mean, that's how she was raised after all."
"Mama! Stop it! Please!", Cosmo begged, while his father held Cassia tighter.
"YOU have no right to tell me how to raise my daughter! You barely even see her at all. The only time you do is when her father brings her over. You never visit her, yourself!"
"Oh, come on! You know I can't afford to move around much in my old age! I guess you want your husband to lose his mother then, hm?"
"Mama that's ENOUGH!", Cosmo finally yelled, making Cassia jump, "Don't you DARE talk to her that way! I know you two don't like each other, but how dare you! She is one of the few people that has made me happy my entire life! I'm sorry Mama. I love you, but..."
"But what, dear? Spit it out!"
"Talk to Wanda like that again, and I won't talk to you ever again!"
Mama Cosma finally shut her mouth, as the entire table and restaurant began to stare at the commotion going on. Big Daddy choked on his last piece of pasta while Wanda looked over at Cosmo, nearly swallowing a nearby fly. Cassia froze in her spot, as her grandfather held her even tighter, making it harder for her to breathe. Her father bringing her to his parents' place wasn't very often, but every time they went, Cosmo would do pretty much everything his mother told him to, no questions asked. If he didn't, then Cassia could expect the paint off the doors to chip from her slamming, and an evening of screaming and crying.
Heck, even her husband had a hard time standing up to her. Cassia remembered how much he flinched every time Mama Cosma raised her voice..almost as if he were about to get hit. She remembered that one time, he had accidentally knocked over a whiskey bottle that lied down on the floor. Oh boy, did he pay for that.
She absolutely HATED the nights she had to stay over. Every time her mom and dad had to leave for more than a few hours, she begged with all her power to stay with Wanda's parents instead. But they were always busy either tending to Big Daddy's trash company or having a company party, and knowing Grandma Fairywinkle, lots of alcohol was involved. Wanda didn't want her involved in that.
She had also tried to convince them to let her stay at Bongo's place until they got back. His parents loved her as if she were their daughter instead, and said they were more than happy to let her stay whenever she needed. But her parents said they didn't want to burden them with their problems. Instead, her father would tell her to just do what Mama Cosma asked, and she would be ok. She had a temper but wasn't known for getting mad if she didn't have a reason, unless her mother was involved. Tonight however…
"You know, Cosmo. You really should be more grateful. Who took care of you when you were sick with the fairy flu?"
"You did Mama, but- "
"Who raised you as a baby? No thanks to SOMEONE- ", she asked, glaring right at Papa Cosma, who squeaked and teared up in response. "Big baby...you weren't crying when you left our son."
"I-I didn't leave! I-I just"
"Just WHAT, Linnie? Wish you had your wand on you? You know, sweetheart, not having a wand doesn't excuse you from not turning back."
"I thought Grandpa Cosma couldn't do that? I thought he needed his wand. Didn't he give away his..uh..what's it called, Mom?"
"Fagiggly gland, Cassia. And I believe so..Cosmo?", Wanda asked, receiving a confused shrug in response.
"Nuh uh! Don't excuse him! He missed a lot of things, Cosmo. He missed potty training, and he missed the day you finally went to daycare for the first time. Oh, let's not forget when you finally let go of that stupid pacifier of yours! He at the very least could have buzzed over!"
"I DID!", Papa Cosma's voice shouted, finally letting Cassia go as he marched over, "I was out the window! Every day, I would fly out there to see if the window was cracked. Sometimes, I would slam my body on the glass to get your attention, but you never heard me. But then you decided to bake an apple pie for whatever reason."
"Your son's elementary school had a bake sale then, and he begged me to make one for it. I'm so sorry you wanted to miss out on that too."
"I DIDN'T! Why do you think I was near that..that..fu-"
SMACK!
"Don't you DARE swear at me! You have nothing to swear at me for. I was there when you were not. If anything, you should be thanking me! I essentially made your job as a parent easier!"
Cassia's heart began to race as she stared at Papa Cosma, who was covering his now red-stained right cheek. Grandpa Big Daddy also looked in his direction, as did the entire restaurant.
"Honey..I-I'm sorry.."
"It's too late for sorry now, Linnie.", Mama Cosma growled, floating towards him. Cassia got in front of them, motioning for the other 3 at the table to guard him. Big Daddy and Cosmo grabbed her arms and tried to pull them away, while Cassia pushed her grandfather away from her. He collapsed to the floor and cried hard, not even coming up for a breath. Cassia felt herself begin to cry again to, as her mother escorted them both outside, as security began to head towards the family. The other two struggled against her. Cosmo immediately lost his grip on her, falling on his back as a result, while Big Daddy tried to grab her other arm.
"Mama! Just calm down! He's here now! Doesn't that mean anything?", Cosmo begged.
"I'm so sick of people leaving me! My first husband, your brother, your father, even YOU threatened to leave me."
"Dad didn't leave..he's outside."
"I meant when you were a goddamn BABY!", she screamed, yanking her arms from Big Daddy, now storming outside as fast as she could. She slammed the glass doors open, searching around to find he husband on the ground, sobbing his green eyes out. "Get up."
He shook heavily as he stood, still cowering. Even though he normally stood a good bit taller than her, Papa Cosma managed to look smaller and weaker as she got closer to him. She huffed as she clutched his sweater firmly, forcing him to look into her eyes.
"I can't believe I was so desperate that I married someone like you. I'm done with you, Linnie. I don't ever want to see you around my house again. I'm sick of all your excuses. You damn well knew what you were doing, and I'm tired of hearing you defend yourself."
Cosmo ushered Wanda and Cassia to get in the car and wait for them, while Big Daddy had already excused himself home. He grabbed his wand out of his pocket, and charged it up, pointing it towards Mama Cosma's direction.
"Listen to me closely. We are over! I'm going to be talking to my lawyer tomorrow so we can work out the paperwork needed. I hope your happy now. I really do."
"B-But please. N-Nora I'm sorry- "
SMACK
"Shut up. Now, I'm going home. Don't you dare follow me ho- ", she snapped before a flash of yellow light hit her within a blink of an eye. Papa Cosma recognized that flash all too well. Within the next second, her body was gone, replaced by a cyan fly with large compound eyes, similar to what he turned into. He continued to cower, expecting her to turn back straight away, but to his surprise, he heard a soft buzzing sound fly away. He straightened himself up to find his son look at his, with his wand still raised.
"Cosmo? Um.."
"Don't worry about it. Let's just go."
"And so, to top it all off, I don't know where she went, but hopefully, I won't have to hear from her for some time. Or at the very least the rest of the night. So yea, a drunk grandma, an insect grandma, and now my grandfather is staying over for a little while", Cassia said, as she and Bongo continued to watch the 4th Harry Poofer movie. Surprisingly, their parents had allowed them to spend the night with each other, almost as a way to apologize for the night's events.
"Man..makes me appreciate my family. I'm sorry that happened, Cassia.", Bongo sighed, noting the sad look in Cassia's eyes, "Is there anything I can do?"
"No. I think we're ok for now. I just want to put the night behind me."
"Yea I feel you. Man, all that makes spilling mashed potatoes seem like water under a bridge."
"Heh yea..", Cassia said, "Hey, pass the popcorn would ya?"
Cassia sighed as she began to devour the popcorn, to fill her up since she only had a few pieces of salad. Papa Cosma fussed profusely earlier, wanting her to eat some more before she left the house. But she didn't care. She had left before he could talk to her much more. She lied down, though her body was still tense from the night's events.
As Harry Poofer made his way towards the Philosopher's stone, Cassia's mind continued to race. She wondered where her grandmother flew off to and when she would be back. Most importantly, she worried about what she would do once she turned back. Bongo squeezed her hand and snuggled closer to her, allowing her a small brief of relief. She knew that she would be back, but she would ok eventually, just like she was right now.