Chapter 3
Wednesday Addams was of an irrevocable opinion that romantic relationships were stupid.
Dumb.
Pitiful.
Absolutely ludicrous.
They were stupid and made people do stupid, irrational things.
Her parents' relationship wasn't any different in that regard but, nevertheless, annoying as they were with their constant outpour of affections, their relationship, what it stood for and what it represented, was always her anchor.
And so it was unnerving to see them at odds, it unsettled her more than she was prepared to admit.
Her parents were so much different to any other parents - to most of the parents of her friends at school and she always loved how unique they were with their incessant obsession with each other.
Okay, perhaps she could do without them constantly scandalising every single PTA meeting and other public events but she really loved the fact that her parents were so in love with each other. She would never tell them that, of course, but it was, in many ways, the only constant she was always certain in her life, that no matter what happened, her parents would always be together.
To her father, especially, her mother could do no wrong. He adored her, he absolutely worshipped her and so she really couldn't imagine what could have happened for them to have a fight.
She could not imagine her parents separating.
"It's true that your father and I had a disagreement," her mother admitted in her usual soft tone as they were on their way back from the tailor when they asked her about "the fight". "And I understand it might feel...unsettling for you but it's really nothing to worry about. We will sort it out."
"But you never fight," Wednesday pointed out.
Never. She genuinely couldn't recall a single instance when her parents were fighting.
"We don't fight, but we do have disagreements," Morticia assured, smiling at her daughter. "We just don't have them next to you."
"Well, I know but usually the father is on his knees within fifteen seconds begging for forgiveness if you so much as frown at him."
Morticia could help but let out a small laugh.
"It will take slightly longer this time," she replied, smoothing her daughter's hair gently."Don't worry, my darling."
"So are you divorcing or not?" Pugsley interjected, leaning comfortably against the car seat, snacking contentedly on his pack of deep-fried worms they bought in their favourite Thai restaurant.
"Not at the moment, dear," Morticia replied smoothly."We still haven't decided who takes the children, it's hard to split the three of you in half."
"It wouldn't be a problem if you just killed Pugsley when you had a new baby," Wednesday imposed in her usual deadpan manner.
Morticia sighed in a purposely exaggerated manner.
"Haven't we discussed this already?"
"But mother….it's a tradition."
Pugsley snorted loudly.
"Mother would never kill me, I'm her favourite child," he pointed out, cuddling closer to Morticia.
"You're all my favourite," she assured, wrapping her arms around both of her children but apparently her son thought he knew better.
"Hmm, you keep saying it," he piped out."But we all know the truth."
If there was one thing Fester Addams absolutely did not understand, it was... women. They baffled him. Utterly and completely. After his disastrous and extremely short-lived marriage, he understood women even less, if that was even possible.
He really thought he's done all the right things, said all the right words, tried to anticipate Debbie's every wish - all for nothing. He should have known it was too good to be true.
Perhaps, all good things were ultimately too good to be true.
And yet, to think that his brother's marriage fell into that category was almost unthinkable. He has never seen a relationship like theirs. He has never seen two people so obsessed with each other, so in love, so… ridiculously in love.
It was impossible not to be happy for them. It was impossible not to be jealous as well.
And he was jealous.
He realized that he was so jealous he plunged into that relationship with Debbie like a madman. He wanted the same thing his brother has with his wife. The same love. The same dedication. The same passion.
Alas, though, it wasn't meant to be.
Although, he would be damned if his brother's marriage was not meant to be.
He couldn't stand seeing him so dejected, so heartbroken.
Surely, Morticia knew how crazy Gomez was for her. Why was she being so mean to him when he practically worshipped the ground beneath her feet?
He decided to do something. He had to do something. He will speak to her and tell her just how wonderful Gomez is, how he loves her and how unfair it is of her to call him unsupportive. Why, Gomez would kill for her. He would die for her! He -
"Is there anything I can do for you, Fester?" The soft voice of his sister-in-law interrupted his planning and he watched her turn gracefully towards him.
A crystal bowl and a silver fork in her hands.
"I, well, I -." he mumbled incoherently, suddenly unsure where to start.
"Is there a reason you're standing behind me for the last ten minutes muttering under your nose?" Morticia asked, her tone a curious mixture of amused and slightly irritated.
"No," he replied.
Why did his voice squeak like that?!
He promptly cleared his throat and came to stand next to Morticia, staring intensely at her plant.
"Interesting," he said, sparing a brief glance to the woman beside him."The plant."
"Well, thank you," she replied smoothly, smiling at him."It's still the same African Strangler as last year. Surely, you haven't just met."
"Right - "
He took a deep breath and shifted on his feet.
"So - "
He should have rehearsed it, he decided. Spontaneous decisions have never done an Addams any good. Okay, well, he would just calmly and reasonably explain to Morticia that she's mistaken and shouldn't be angry because Gomez is the best husband a woman could have -
"PLEASE DON'T LEAVE MY BROTHER!"
He blinked, suddenly startled. Did he really just shout at his sister-in-law?
Well, apparently he really did because she seemed as flabbergasted by his actions as he was. He watched Morticia freeze in mid-motion of feeding another piece of meat to Cleopatra and simply stared at him in some suspended disbelief.
"Sorry - " he mumbled."I didn't mean to be so… vocal."
Morticia closed her eyes briefly and sighed before turning to Cleopatra and fed the carnivorous plant the last bit of her meal.
"Fester," she said finally."Nobody is leaving anyone. Where did you even get that idea?"
He immediately dropped his gaze to the wooden floor.
"Gomez said you've argued," he admitted, still not looking at her." And he looked extremely dejected about it and - look - ," he finally lifted his gaze from the floor to look at her."He's really crazy about you, and he loves you and the children… you shouldn't be angry with him."
"I think people in this house are going to soon hurt themselves... jumping to conclusions," she replied, putting the crystal bowl and the fork neatly on the side table.
"What do you mean?"
"Fester, I appreciate your concern, I really do," Morticia said, her tone smooth but no-nonsense sharp at the same time." But frankly speaking, I would rather not discuss the issue with anyone but Gomez."
"But - "
"No one is divorcing anyone and no one is leaving," she assured but Fester could tell she was getting irritated."But this thing is between me and Gomez and I would appreciate it if everyone would respect that."
"We're just trying to help," he pointed out.
"I understand that," she replied."But it seems that I'm discussing the issue with everyone but not Gomez himself and that's not right."
He nodded, quite unsure what to do with himself.
"I know," he started hesitantly."That it's been quite a year...almost two years and things were...tense...because of me -"
"You're not the problem here, Fester," she shook her head."And what happened… it wasn't really your fault."
"I was a fool."
She smiled gently.
"That's not a crime."
He smiled back, smoothing his hand over the skin of his head.
"Gomez really loves you, Morticia," he told her simply.
She tilted her head slightly and looked at him for a moment.
"I know that," she replied softly."You don't have to tell me that," she told him and pursed her lips ever so slightly," I know my husband, and I know he loves me. And you don't need to tell me how wonderful he is, I know that too. And if I didn't love him and wanted to be with him, we wouldn't have this disagreement, do you understand?"
He nodded and smiled at her gently.
Fester Addams did not understand women. He probably would never understand them. He doubted he understood the one before him either but he understood one thing for sure.
He knew and understood, without any shadow of a doubt that -
"Gomez is really lucky to have you, Morticia."
"Wednesday, you worry for nothing," Pugsley insisted as they made their way to the playroom."Mother said it's nothing to worry about. Stop being annoying."
"What if she just said so to make us feel better?" Wednesday pointed out, quite dismayed that he didn't take the issue at hand seriously.
"Then it worked."
"Father slept in the library," she pointed out insistently."In what universe would he be upset enough not to sleep in the same bed as mother?"
Pugsley rolled his eyes and sighed, stopping in the midway and turned to look at her.
"You know, for someone so out of touch with your inner feelings, you sure are being mighty dramatic."
Wednesday only glared at him indignantly.
"Our whole world as we know it might be turned upside down and you make a light of it," she insisted with a very uncharacteristic intensity, her voice acquiring unfamiliar high pitch note."It's a disaster, a tragedy - "
Pugsley took a step back, watching her with his eyes wide.
"Oh...my God, I think you're turning into Gomez Addams right before my very eyes," he commented."I'm a little scared right now."
Wednesday narrowed her eyes at him.
"The only thing you should be scared of is me murdering you in your sleep tonight," she hissed.
"Phew, that's more like it."
"Pugsley, be serious," she sighed, resisting an urge to stomp her foot."We have a crisis on our hands… again."
Pugsley rolled his eyes.
"There's no crisis to speak of, it's just you… look - Father!" He called after the dejected silhouette of Gomez Addams as he so much as put his foot on the stairs.
They waited for their father to turn to them as they both made their way towards him.
"Father, if you and mother split up," Pugsley stated flatly before his father could so much as utter a greeting."Who do we get to live with?"
Gomez frowned and for a moment looked at both of his children in astonishment.
"What on earth are you talking about?" He asked, shifting his gaze between his children."Why would we split up?"
"Because you argued," Wednesday pointed out."And you slept in the library."
Gomez Addams bit his lips and turned his eyes to the ceiling as if praying for some divine intervention.
"Is there no secrets in this house?"He muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
"No," both children replied in unison.
He shook his head and placed his palms on each of the children's shoulders.
"Come you two," he nudged them toward the open door of the library."Sit down," he pointed at the brown, leather settee.
He watched the children sit obediently, Wednesday with her palms neatly on her knees and Pugsley next to her, with his arms crossed, both looking at him expectantly and he suddenly didn't know where to start.
He grabbed the chair near his desk and sat in front of the children, his legs apart, resting his elbows on his knees as he folded his hands together.
"Do you think I'm childish?" He started.
"Yes," his children replied smoothly in unison.
"Right," he nodded and pursed his lips slightly."But…do you think you could come to me, if… if you had a problem?"
"Sure," Pugsly agreed immediately."You helped me when I was building a computer."
Gomez couldn't help but smile.
"A grown-up problem," he clarified."Be honest."
"Yeah, I guess…" his son replied evasively.
His daughter, however, sat silently and he noticed her shoulder tense slightly.
"Wednesday," he prompted.
"Maybe... if it wasn't something that would cause you a nervous breakdown," she admitted."And no one else was available."
Well, he supposed he asked for honesty. It seemed that lately, honesty felt like a kick to the gut.
"Right," he nodded quietly.
"Is this what you argued about?" Wednesday asked."You and mother?"
Gomez caught her gaze and nodded, reluctantly.
"Your mother thinks I'm not...as supportive as I should be."
Wednesday frowned.
"What do you mean?" She asked in disbelief."You? Not supportive? You're practically two steps away from building an altar to worship her. To say you're not supportive is just… wrong."
Gomez smiled, suddenly ridiculously pleased that his girl thought so highly of him. Ever since she entered the uncharted water of the teenage years, and then with the addition of Pubert to the family, she tended to keep more to herself and he felt rather gutted that she no longer sought him out to tell him about her day or ask him to tell her about all the gruesome details about the court cases he was working on.
It felt good that she felt so defensive about him. Even though, in this instance, it was rather misplaced.
"Your mother is never wrong," Gomez said gently.
"Except that time when I was building that supercomputer network for NASA and she thought that Beowulf was some old English poem instead of a computer network, " Pugsley said with unbridled amusement, snorting to himself.
Wednesday couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"Ehm, Pugsley... son... -'' Gomez started to say but his daughter waved him off.
"Don't bother father," Wednesday shook her head."He's a half-genius, half-idiot, accept it,"
"It was so funny, I still chuckle when I think of it," he continued, as if he didn't hear her sister's comment, and then chuckled to himself.
"I think you do your best," Wednesday supplied." And you're very supportive."
He smiled at her but then immediately sobered.
"That time…," he said tentatively." When we had to move into the motel and...how...did you think I failed you?"
"No," Wednesday replied promptly." It was a bit...scary. It was scary to see you like that," she added slowly, realizing where this was going." And mother was scared too."
"It was very difficult for her," Pugsley confirmed."But we helped her. She said our lemonade was delicious."
Gomez smiled at that.
"But I didn't like to see her cry," his son added and Gomez's gaze shifted to his in alarm.
"Pugsley, shut up-" Wednesday hissed, elbowing her brother in the ribs.
"She cried?" Gomez asked.
Good God, this week couldn't get worse if it tried.
"No," they replied in unison but then Wednesday slumped her shoulders in defeat
"Okay, once, she thought we were asleep," she admitted.
"It wasn't a huge cry," Pugsley tried to comfort."It was just a few tears. She was fine after we hugged her."
God, this was unbearable, the mere thought that he caused her so much anguish - all of them. He has never felt more pathetic in his life.
He failed all of them.
"I'm sorry I scared you," he breathed out.
He watched the children look at each other uncertainly, before looking at him again.
"It's okay," Pugsley said quietly."No big deal."
"No," he shook his head, his voice unbearably hoarse. "You deserve better, you deserve to feel secure no matter what and I didn't give you that and I'm sorry. I will do better," he said and swallowed heavily." I promise."
The children nodded at him, apparently quite undecided what to do with themselves and he couldn't help but smile slightly. God, what a pathetic thing he was.
"You may go and play now," he said and both of them stood up and made their way towards the door.
Things had to change, he decided. He won't have his children grow up thinking they could not share their problems with him because he might not be able to handle them, that he might just fall apart. They needed to know they have support in him no matter what. No matter what life threw at them, they needed to know they can always come to him.
"Father," he heard his son's voice and before he could turn towards them he was assaulted by two small bodies, hugging him tightly.
"You are the best father," Pugsley assured. "Always, and we all love you."
"Yes, what he said," his daughter concurred smoothly but hugged him even closer.
Perhaps, he thought as he curled his arms around his two little devils, he wasn't so pathetic after all.
A/N: Thank you for reading!