Caleb watched Luke as he held up the cereal box in an attempt to figure out the puzzle on the back, and tapped a fork on the empty plate in front of him.
'Brave' Luke informed him, sensing his Mothers agitation at Caleb's expectation that she would be bringing food to him and shook his head when his older Brother continued on his unwise path with the folk, choosing not to heed his warning.
Gail tapped her foot on the floor as she waiting for the coffee machine to finish grinding the beans she had just put in for her Husbands morning coffee, and tried to blank out the irritating sound of Caleb's fork on his plate. After getting a much needed release from Lucas in his car last night, her pent up frustrations had returned with a vengeance and it was taking all of her concentration to remain calm.
Caleb hummed the song Monster Bash to himself as he continued tapping the fork on his plate and rested his chin in his hand casually, nodding courteously to his Father when he entered the Kitchen. Before he had a chance to fully address his Father, he felt his plate fly out from underneath the fork and crash loudly against the wall, shattering into pieces on the floor.
'Problems Love?' Lucas asked amused by the overreaction.
'Drowning Soulmate' Gail responded in a sweet tone, as though she had not released her darkness to discard of the incessant noise.
Caleb stared from his Mother to his Father, then opening his mouth the address the comment.
'Don't be so dramatic Darlin', you have all the time in the world' Lucas said before Caleb made the unwise choice of provoking his Wife, ensuring her rage was directed solely at him.
Gail broke out into a fit of laughter, then ripped her 'to do' list off of the Refrigerator and slammed it down in front of her Husband. 'Breakfasts, packed lunches for you two, bathe the children, walk the dogs, get Abe to work, go grocery shopping, clean the house, mow the lawn, put the washing out, home school the children, pick up the dry cleaning, walk the dogs again, entertain the children, check in on Abe, make lunch for us, continue to entertain the children, and that's all before 2pm...I haven't even factored in any time for Rita yet who's just about ready to blow her top with your useless lump of a Deputy and I feel like I'm going to scream' she snapped and ran her hand through her hair in frustration, already feeling overwhelmed and it was not even 8:30am yet.
'What did you do before you quit?' Caleb asked in disbelief of all the stuff that she was required to complete on her own.
'Take her freedom for granted and piss it away on some old fool who she couldn't ignore' Lucas answered for Gail, reminding her of who was really to blame for her current predicament.
'That old fool attacked your Daughter-' Gail started in her defence.
'No, he pushed her in retaliation of your constant disrespect of places that are of no business of yours...Look at her, she's like rubber and throws herself down all the time' Lucas laughed sarcastically at his Daughter who was currently hanging off her high chair mimicking a monkey. He did not condone his Fathers behaviour last month, but he knew that he would have kept in line if Gail had.
Gail shot her Daughter a look of annoyance for not being able to at least pretend that she was well behaved in the presence of her Father when she was trying to make a point, then threw her hands up in the air in exasperation and opened the Refrigerator to pull out the bacon.
Caleb glanced at his Mother cautiously as she began slamming the frying pans down on the cooker and reluctantly started cooking breakfast.
'Your welcome Son, next time why not pay attention to your Brother and keep the damn noise away from her when she's in this state' Lucas chided Caleb, laughing at his own stupidity for actually believing they had a breakthrough last night and believing things would be back to normal now.
'Oh normal ain't touching this house Sweetheart...You wanted a housewife, well this is what she looks like' Gail snapped at him, not bothering to turn around for fear of losing control and murdering them all.
Gail Jr stared wide eyed at her siblings, then quickly pulled herself up on her high chair and chose to remain seated quietly like a good girl.
'It's about time' Luke sighed smugly, warning his Sister earlier of his Mothers bad mood and gloating that he was the only one of them who had not added to her frustration.
'Oh there's still time Son, you just wait and see' Lucas shot down Luke's unspoken gloating effortlessly and spotted the boy gulp hard at the warning.
'Still time for what? Our eldest to explain why I got a call from a crazed Mother last night due to her Son being inconsolable after spending some time with him in the dark?' Gail asked agitated, not appreciating being blindsided by Boone's manic Mother and sick of waiting for Caleb to own up to what he had done of his own volition.
Caleb stared wide eyed at his Father for a moment, hoping for some assistance and let out a long sigh when Lucas just shook his head, indicating Caleb was required to deal with his own actions. 'I didn't do nothin'' he shrugged, believing ignorance was the smart move here, then spotted his Father close his eyes and wondered whether he had made the wrong choice.
Lucas glanced at his other two children, who rolled their eyes at Caleb's unwise stance and suspected that they sensed what his eldest had not, that Gail was fully aware of what went down last night and wanted to test whether Caleb would come clean.
'Didn't do nothin' huh?' Gail mimicked in her best southern drawn, then pulled up a chair beside Caleb and gently placed his cooked breakfast on the table in front of him. 'You sticking to that?' she asked calmly, feeling her darkness stir within her at the thought of a possible release.
Caleb stared deep into her eyes and sat up tall, ready to stand his ground, then felt a strong hand on his shoulder as his Father stood up and forced his demeanour to soften.
'It ain't our boy's fault that his friend is a cry baby who can't handle a little Halloween fun' Lucas advised sternly, inserting his dominance knowing that Caleb was out of his league here with how much Gail accepted her darkness these days.
'A little Halloween fun instigated by who I wonder?' Gail asked knowingly, sensing Malcolm's foul odour as soon as Caleb sneaked back in after curfew last night and disappointed that Caleb had allowed him back into his life, even after knowing the cursed fool wanted to hurt her.
'He's a teenager, it's natural for him to test boundaries without the intension of hurtin' you Love' Lucas whispered in her ear, as he knelt down beside her and began running his hand up her leg teasingly.
Gail could not contain her laughter at her Husbands attempt to distract her from the true focus point of her rage, expecting her to push down her feelings of betrayal over a little bit of attention from him. She shrugged off his hand and stood up, pulling her Daughter out of her high chair and signalling for Luke to join her. 'You two deserve each other...Have fun in that cursed bubble you both appear to be drawn to so much, we don't require the approval of a bitter old leech so we're off to the sane world where we can actually thrive rather than be pulled down into a pit of relentless vindictiveness' she responded coolly, choosing not to react how Malcolm would have counted on and left Lucas with Caleb alone in the Kitchen.
Lucas' mouth dropped open in disbelief of her comment, then he let out a frustrated sigh at being dragged into something where he could be perceived as supporting Malcolm. 'You choose to entertain that insultin' fool of your own unwise accord and I somehow get dragged into the gutter with you?' he asked in exasperation, sensing Gail's fury aimed back at him and not believing Caleb was accepting his old man again at the worst possible time.
'I didn't do nothin'!' Caleb exclaimed in his defence, not understanding why everyone was so mad at him.
'That childish response is growin' old Son, at least own up to your choices like a man and it might be easier to defend your poor judgement' Lucas retorted, then took the plate of breakfast Gail had left him on the counter and chose to eat alone on his porch, hoping to get some peace before he started work.
Gail walked through the small park not far from her Uncle Abe's Antique Store, watching as her Daughter pretended to be a dinosaur and chase her Brother on the grass. Luke was purposely running slowly, clearly aware that Gail Jr could not catch him and not wanting her to fall in her attempt to best him. Gail was not oblivious to his strong desire to protect his Sister, even at such a safe place as this and it made her smile. Her life may be frustrating right now; however, it was evident that at least one of the boy's in her family were on her side and it reinforced her belief that she was doing the right thing.
Lucas had been brought up with Malcolm, it was easy for him to play down the danger that his Father truly posed as his ego allowed him to believe he could see everything that was going on his little Town. Malcolm had wormed his way in with Caleb before any of them realised, playing on his fear of being pushed out when Lucas got her pregnant. Gail suspected that it was Malcolm's influence, although well disguised at the time, which took over Caleb when Lucas had 'died' and caused the loss of their first child. Lucas had taken on the blame for the change in Caleb at that time; however, something deep inside of her knew it was not his fault and that had allowed her to forgive them both, opening herself up to the union they now shared.
Malcolm's continuous disobedience and meddling was unacceptable, like her own Father he did not know his place and he was toxic. Caleb and Lucas could not see that, much like her own inability to accept the bad influence that her Father had on her; however, her Father had been taken off the board without her authority under the guise of 'what was best for her', so she had no problem returning the favour even if her Husband had categorically warned her against an unprovoked assault. The issue now was trying to get to the ass while her hands were tight with her children.
Gail Jr sensed her Mothers attention shift from them, and rushed towards her to ensure that she was alright. 'Momma?' she asked concerned, feeling even more connected to her with how much time they were spending together
'The boy's don't see his provocations, just my 'obsessive' attacks on him. How am I supposed to get to him to protest us when they just perceive me as dramatic?' Gail asked herself, thinking back to the severe warning Lucas had given her for arranging the demolition of Malcolm's first gathering place for his overentitled men's group the previous month and not fully noticing her Daughter.
'Silly boys' Gail Jr pouted, climbing onto her Mothers knee and hugging her to show which side she was on.
Luke rolled his eyes at the unnecessary divide in his family. They were all so stubborn to realise that this was what his Grandfather wanted and although he was on no-ones side, he was feeling the frustration of the situation as much as his parents. 'I'm goin' pumpkin pickin' with Abe' he waved off the girls and started heading towards his Uncle Abe's Store for some peace, at least that old man did everything in his power to shield him from his parents stubbornness.
'Hey!' Gail called confused, when she spotted Luke abruptly walking away towards her Uncle's Store, then her eyes fell on her Wicca Store and she felt a strange pulling that she had not felt in a while. 'Good plan little man, I'll take you to look after Uncle Abe while me and your Sister go dust off a few cobwebs on our own' she advised as she stood up, smiling when Gail Jr began clapping and decided it was best to keep Luke out of anything Malcolm related to allow him deniability in the eyes of the male Buck line.
-To be continued-
