When Sean got to a boutique that sold baby clothes, he asked the lady if she had something similar to what Chelsea had on. The sales woman looked in the tag and noticed that it was a Ranier collection dress, which was Gail's design under her maiden name and the boutique carried that line, so she quickly brought back an identical dress for Chelsea. Sean bought the dress and asked the sales person to change her. After Chelsea was finished Sean was given a bag containing the soiled dress and he ran out to go get Gail and Elana.
When he arrived at the facility, they were waiting for him.
"Where have you been, we were getting a little worried?" Elana asked as Sean was opening the car doors for them. Gail was already inside looking over Chelsea and making sure she was alright.
"Oh, we just got caught up with my grandfather." He said and then kissed Elana on the cheek before he helped her in the van.
Gail was talking to Chelsea. "How was mommy's baby. Nobody was mean to you were they?" She asked rubbing her face.
"No mommy. I make mess."
"Huh? What's she talking about Sean?"
"Don't know." Sean said as he closed the door and went to get in the driver's seat.
"Where did you go, honey?"
"I see toys, mommy. Big girl, toys."
"Big girl toys, huh?"
"Yeah, I was telling her she's a big girl at the toy store." Sean said, hoping Chelsea would not give away where they had went.
Gail did not pursue it seeing that everything was alright.
"Sean, I would like to stop and see my parents before we head back. I haven't been to see them in a few months and they'll be really upset if they find out I was in town and didn't stop in. "
"Sure babe." Sean had hoped she wouldn't ask him this, but since she had he figured he would just get ready to face her father's wrath. He just hoped this visit wouldn't be like the last where George Powers threatened to call the police on him.
Sean took his time getting to Elana parents' home even taking the long route, but she and Gail did not notice because they were too busy talking.
"Now this third time could be the charm, girl. It's got to be! I don't know why it's taking me so long to get pregnant again. It was so easy with Chelsea. I missed a pill and the next thing I know, I'm cursing Sam's birth while he was rubbing my back during my contractions."
"It'll work Gail, don't worry about it. Maybe you two should go on a long vacation together and relax. Then it may just happen naturally." Elana said.
"You know the funny thing is when a woman doesn't think about getting pregnant she usually does, but when she's trying to it seems to be impossible. But your suggestion Elana sounds good. Sam is coming home early today so that we can spend some family time together. Maybe tonight I'll suggest that. I'm also gonna be working on that jag I want tonight. I got some of that Indian love music he likes and after I'm finished with him, girlfriend is gonna have her jag by the end of the month. You hear what I'm saying." Gail exclaimed as she and Elana gave a high five. "I've been taking it easy on the man because of all the work he does, but I'm getting a little anxious now."
"You have to do all of that to get a car out of your husband." Sean asked butting into the conversation.
"Sean. No sugar I don't have to do anything. It's just a hell of a lot more fun loving it out of him than just asking him to get it for me or buying it myself. I've been trying to teach Elana that for a few years now." Gail said hitting Elana across the back of her head. "Besides this jag will be worth every position I have to be in to get it. It's custom designed, crème colored with gold trimming and rims. The interior is crème also with an oak-wood lacquered finish dashboard. I'm gonna put my last name on the plate and..."
Sean interjected. "You know Sheridan has a car like that. She just got it a few months ago. I don't think she appreciates it as much as you do though."
"Well, she certainly has good taste because those cars are hard to get and the only people who would know about them are those of us who actually go through the custom catalogue that they put out every five years. As a matter of fact, I do a lot of traveling and I've only actually seen...." Gail stopped because a thought had just hit her. "Where does Sheridan live?"
"Doesn't she still live here in Connecticut Sean?" Elana asked.
"Yeah, she does. She bought a mini mansion over in Glendale Estates a few years back. I'll never know why she bought that big house just for herself, complete with a full servants staff and everything, but that's just how she is. She only associates herself with the best of everything. It's all part of her perfect image obsession."
"Perfect image huh?" Gail asked while a few things processed in her perceptive mind. All of a sudden the car was quiet except for Chelsea's occasional slurs and nobody but Gail knew why.
Eventually, Sean was driving up to the circular driveway of Elana's childhood home. He felt the pressure welling up inside him as he saw the same groundskeeper, who he had met right before he went away to college. When he parked, Gail busied herself getting Chelsea out of the car and Elana turned to Sean then took his hand in hers.
"I want you to come in with me Sean."
"You sure about that? I don't want to ruin an otherwise good day."
"You're not going to ruin my day honey. This is something I need to do for myself, once and for all.
Sean looked into her big brown eyes and knew he couldn't refuse her anything she asked of him even putting himself in a position of getting kicked out of her parents' home. The parents of many other women would have begged for him to walk through their door with their daughter, but the father of the woman he loved wanted to incarcerate him for loving her. "O.k. sweetheart." He said with hesitancy, not knowing what was to come about in the next few minutes. Sean got out of the car and went over to help Elana out and the four of them walked toward the front door. Gail moved in front of them.
"Ya'll gonna have to move out the way, so I can get in first. Because if Sean and Mr. Powers start throwing blows I want my baby out the way." She said as she rang the bell. Phyllis the maid answered the door. "Hey Phyllis girl, how you doing!" Gail exhorted when the two women saw each other.
They exchanged hugs and Phyllis grabbed for Elana too as they all greeted each other. When she caught sight of Sean she remembered him. "You back AGAIN Mr. Logan?" She asked in a humorous manner.
Gail went on past Phyllis trying to get Chelsea out of the pending line of fire. "Yeah, look whose coming to dinner ya'll. Just let me get out the way before you go get Mr. Powers."
Phyllis continued. " Well can't say you ain't persistent. Maybe if you didn't wait so many years in between visits Mr. Powers would've gotten used to you by now."
"I don't know about that." Sean said.
"Where are my parents Phyllis?"
"Oh , they're having lunch together in the sun room. You two can go on in there."
Holding Sean's hand Elana thanked Phyllis as she started to make her way to the sun room that overlooked the backyard and swimming pool. As they got closer they could hear Gail giving her normal festive and jovial greetings to Elana's parents. Eventually Elana walked in the room with Sean following closely behind her. When she saw her parents she let Sean go and went over to them. "Hi mom, Hi dad!" She said as she hugged them both individually. Elana made her way back next to Sean and he held her by her waist. "I'm sure you both remember Sean." She said with a faint smile.
"What the he..." Mr. Powers caught himself remembering that a child was in the room. "Why did you bring him here Elana?"
"Sean brought me here to see you and mom."
George and Denise Powers sat not knowing what else to say. Denise Powers was a very distinguished looking woman. She was light brown skinned with short wavy reddish hair that she wore cut very close to her head. She sported large exotic earrings and dark lipstick, which brought out her hazel colored eyes. She was a senior professor of African American Studies at Yale in New Haven, CT. Mrs. Powers had long since left Elana alone about Sean Logan and she knew that her daughter was not going to be satisfied with anyone else, so seeing Sean again really wasn't too much of a surprise to her.
"I thought we were good and rid of you Sean Logan. You haven't been around for about ten years and now you've come back into Elana's life. I told you too many times to stay away from my daughter, and now you're just out right disrespecting me in my own house!"
"Sir, I wouldn't have stayed away this long if it hadn't been for you and my father trying to keep us apart. And with all do respect sir, I don't really care about your opinion regarding Elana and me now. I did when I was younger, but now the only thing I care about is what Elana thinks."
"Whatever I did, I did for Elana's own good. You're nothing but pompous, white trash thinking you're God's gift to my daughter because you got a little money and because you want her. She can have any black man she wants, if you would just stay out of her life. You strung her along in college until you got caught, but Elana I hope you're not going to let this man do the same thing to you now. You're too smart and too old for this now."
"Daddy, there's no cause for this. I'm a grown woman now and the truth is Sean and I truly love each other. We always have, even while we were apart and now that we've come together again you and everybody else is going to have to get used to it or disassociate yourselves from us. So you make your choice daddy, you either accept Sean and me or we can leave, right now."
"Elana you don't have to be so melodramatic. I just don't want everything I worked hard for all my life for my family to go back to a white man. I don't want my daughter being used by a white man the way they have always used our women and I definitely don't want my grandchildren to be shunned from their white family because they have black in them. If you can't understand that then I guess you and Sean should leave."
"You can't make my choices for me daddy, so if that's the way you want it then so be it. Come on Sean. Get me out of this racist house." Elana turned around and hurried toward the front door with Sean following slowly behind her. He figured the less he said the better. His presence said enough about how he felt for Elana.
Denise Powers was ashamed of how her husband was reacting. "George I don't believe you're going to let her go like that! This girl pined away for that boy all through college and she's only brought one man home in the past nine years. It seems that she knows she's found someone who can really love her. And now it's to the point that she's choosing him over you. Honey she shouldn't have to make a choice like that. She shouldn't have to choose between a father who adores her and wants the best for her and a man who loves and cherishes her and wants to give her the best. Our daughter deserves both George."
"What about what we've built Denise, you know it'll eventually all go to her and that white family of his."
"From what I hear Sean is a pretty good business man and you might be happy for him to take over things and there are always our grandchildren, whom you will never see if you make her do this. And if it's that important to you donate everything to the African Historical Society. You'll get a bronze bust made of your image and it will serve as an eternal remembrance of you in the black community. Then you won't have to worry about any white man getting his hands on what you worked for.
Gail had been sitting in the corner listening to everything. "Um, Mr. and Mrs. Powers. I have to tell you from experience that Sean really loves Elana. I've never seen anything like the two of them when they're together. He practically worships the girl and I have to say she feels the same way about him. He's never taken advantage of her and to this day he's really been honorable towards her in every way."
"But Gail there are so many good black men she could get with. Doctors, lawyers, even that psychiatrist she was with was an excellent choice. I would love to see her get with Jon Lambert. He's a lawyer and a CPA and they work so well together." Mr. Powers lamented.
"Yeah, you're right they do, but I can tell you that Jon Lambert will screw anything with two legs and a skirt on and I don't think it'll make a difference if he's married or not. He's tried to come on to me more times than I can count, even while I was pregnant. And as for Henry, the psychiatrist, you haven't seen him knocking on your door after he and Elana split. If he really loved her like she needs to be loved then he would have been here like Sean has always been. And besides, Elana has tried to get with other black men. Nice ones the kind that you'd want her to be with, but there was only one problem."
"What was that?" Denise Powers asked.
"None of them were Sean Logan." Gail continued. "I can also tell you from experience that there's nothing more heart wrenching than loving someone so much when other people who you love don't accept your choice. It's like you've been betrayed all your life by those people, thinking they loved you unconditionally, when actually there were a few conditions, but you can't abide by them because it goes against your very existence. The result is that everyone looses out, because just as sure as Elana walked out of here tonight, she won't come back unless you show the man she loves some respect. You don't have to love him or fall all over him, but you do have to recognize that he's the main factor in your daughter's happiness and that should be reason enough to at least be cordial to him."
"She's right George and you have to give the man credit. He's been around for, what has it been, thirteen or fourteen years now, which shows his loyalty to her. What other men have waited that long for a woman? I only know of one, Jacob, from the Bible. He waited fourteen years for Rachel, so don't you think it's time to give the man a break?"
George Powers knew his wife and Gail were right. He still had strong feelings about not wanting his daughter to be with a white man, but he couldn't deny that Sean obviously loved her as much as he did. He thought that despite his objections he didn't want to lose his oldest daughter over any of this, so he reluctantly wiped his mouth with his napkin and got up from his seat then went in the direction that Sean and Elana had gone. He found them outside on the driveway by Sean's car, waiting for Gail. They were facing the passenger side of the car and Sean was standing behind Elana rubbing her shoulders while she was trying to contain her anger and sadness. Elana was sad for her father's not caring for Sean and she was angry that he was making her choose between the two men she loved, but she was not going to live her life with her father and her husband always at each other's throats.
Watching them Mr. Powers could see how gentle and sensitive Sean was to Elana, who had never been a very emotional person. He remembered that as a little girl she never cried too much when she got upset, she just found a way around the situation and moved on. He knew none of her suitors stayed around too long because she was somewhat brash and extremely independent and most men were threatened by that, but for some reason she seemed to be softer with Sean, like she was with him when she was younger. "Sean." George called out and Sean turned around.
"Daddy, we heard everything you had to say. Now you don't have to come out here and rub it in. As soon as Gail comes out of there we'll be on our way."
"Wait Elana, let your dad say what he wants. It doesn't phase me."
Elana just rolled her eyes and was quiet letting her father speak.
"Sean, look. I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time. It's obvious you really have strong feelings for Elana and I've ignored that, thinking it would pass, but I guess after fourteen years I need to give it a rest. It's just hard handing your daughter over to another man, especially a white one. I made sure she would never have to depend on a man for anything, but I couldn't keep her from depending on a man to love her, so I guess all I have to do is give my blessings to that one who fulfills this need for her and my part is done. So you don't have to worry about me interfering with the two of you again. Sean I just ask that you treat her with love and respect and that you protect her from whatever negativity your family may want to put her through. You must know that she's not a fleeting flower and if you mess up she's not going to stand for it. She's like her mother, she'll give you all she has to give, she'll support you in all your endeavors whether it's a good idea or not, but if your wrong she's gonna let you know."
"Thanks Mr. Powers. I'll keep all that in mind. I just want to get on with our lives. We've wasted too much time already."
"Call me George, Sean, since you seem to be a permanent fixture around here. I can't seem to get rid of you, so I guess I'm gonna have to accept you." He said patting Sean on the shoulder. Elana hugged her father and thanked him for being more understanding. "Say, why don't you all come over for dinner in a few weeks. I know you'll need it Sean because as you know Elana can't cook worth a damn."
"Daddy!"
"Oh, sorry, you didn't tell him that. So Sean I guess she's been getting you to take her out to those fancy restaurants she likes all the time."
"Yeah, she has."
"Now you know why. Sorry baby girl. I didn't mean to tell on you. Don't worry Sean she can do just about anything else though."
"Thanks Mr. Pow - George. We'll set something up, but right now we really need to be going because we have some friends we're trying to get to see." By this time Gail was coming outside with Chelsea and they all said their good-bye's and the four of them headed back to New York to drop Gail off. They talked about the relief of Mr. Powers finally relenting and promising to not interfere with Sean and Elana and somehow it seemed that everything was going to be alright.
When he arrived at the facility, they were waiting for him.
"Where have you been, we were getting a little worried?" Elana asked as Sean was opening the car doors for them. Gail was already inside looking over Chelsea and making sure she was alright.
"Oh, we just got caught up with my grandfather." He said and then kissed Elana on the cheek before he helped her in the van.
Gail was talking to Chelsea. "How was mommy's baby. Nobody was mean to you were they?" She asked rubbing her face.
"No mommy. I make mess."
"Huh? What's she talking about Sean?"
"Don't know." Sean said as he closed the door and went to get in the driver's seat.
"Where did you go, honey?"
"I see toys, mommy. Big girl, toys."
"Big girl toys, huh?"
"Yeah, I was telling her she's a big girl at the toy store." Sean said, hoping Chelsea would not give away where they had went.
Gail did not pursue it seeing that everything was alright.
"Sean, I would like to stop and see my parents before we head back. I haven't been to see them in a few months and they'll be really upset if they find out I was in town and didn't stop in. "
"Sure babe." Sean had hoped she wouldn't ask him this, but since she had he figured he would just get ready to face her father's wrath. He just hoped this visit wouldn't be like the last where George Powers threatened to call the police on him.
Sean took his time getting to Elana parents' home even taking the long route, but she and Gail did not notice because they were too busy talking.
"Now this third time could be the charm, girl. It's got to be! I don't know why it's taking me so long to get pregnant again. It was so easy with Chelsea. I missed a pill and the next thing I know, I'm cursing Sam's birth while he was rubbing my back during my contractions."
"It'll work Gail, don't worry about it. Maybe you two should go on a long vacation together and relax. Then it may just happen naturally." Elana said.
"You know the funny thing is when a woman doesn't think about getting pregnant she usually does, but when she's trying to it seems to be impossible. But your suggestion Elana sounds good. Sam is coming home early today so that we can spend some family time together. Maybe tonight I'll suggest that. I'm also gonna be working on that jag I want tonight. I got some of that Indian love music he likes and after I'm finished with him, girlfriend is gonna have her jag by the end of the month. You hear what I'm saying." Gail exclaimed as she and Elana gave a high five. "I've been taking it easy on the man because of all the work he does, but I'm getting a little anxious now."
"You have to do all of that to get a car out of your husband." Sean asked butting into the conversation.
"Sean. No sugar I don't have to do anything. It's just a hell of a lot more fun loving it out of him than just asking him to get it for me or buying it myself. I've been trying to teach Elana that for a few years now." Gail said hitting Elana across the back of her head. "Besides this jag will be worth every position I have to be in to get it. It's custom designed, crème colored with gold trimming and rims. The interior is crème also with an oak-wood lacquered finish dashboard. I'm gonna put my last name on the plate and..."
Sean interjected. "You know Sheridan has a car like that. She just got it a few months ago. I don't think she appreciates it as much as you do though."
"Well, she certainly has good taste because those cars are hard to get and the only people who would know about them are those of us who actually go through the custom catalogue that they put out every five years. As a matter of fact, I do a lot of traveling and I've only actually seen...." Gail stopped because a thought had just hit her. "Where does Sheridan live?"
"Doesn't she still live here in Connecticut Sean?" Elana asked.
"Yeah, she does. She bought a mini mansion over in Glendale Estates a few years back. I'll never know why she bought that big house just for herself, complete with a full servants staff and everything, but that's just how she is. She only associates herself with the best of everything. It's all part of her perfect image obsession."
"Perfect image huh?" Gail asked while a few things processed in her perceptive mind. All of a sudden the car was quiet except for Chelsea's occasional slurs and nobody but Gail knew why.
Eventually, Sean was driving up to the circular driveway of Elana's childhood home. He felt the pressure welling up inside him as he saw the same groundskeeper, who he had met right before he went away to college. When he parked, Gail busied herself getting Chelsea out of the car and Elana turned to Sean then took his hand in hers.
"I want you to come in with me Sean."
"You sure about that? I don't want to ruin an otherwise good day."
"You're not going to ruin my day honey. This is something I need to do for myself, once and for all.
Sean looked into her big brown eyes and knew he couldn't refuse her anything she asked of him even putting himself in a position of getting kicked out of her parents' home. The parents of many other women would have begged for him to walk through their door with their daughter, but the father of the woman he loved wanted to incarcerate him for loving her. "O.k. sweetheart." He said with hesitancy, not knowing what was to come about in the next few minutes. Sean got out of the car and went over to help Elana out and the four of them walked toward the front door. Gail moved in front of them.
"Ya'll gonna have to move out the way, so I can get in first. Because if Sean and Mr. Powers start throwing blows I want my baby out the way." She said as she rang the bell. Phyllis the maid answered the door. "Hey Phyllis girl, how you doing!" Gail exhorted when the two women saw each other.
They exchanged hugs and Phyllis grabbed for Elana too as they all greeted each other. When she caught sight of Sean she remembered him. "You back AGAIN Mr. Logan?" She asked in a humorous manner.
Gail went on past Phyllis trying to get Chelsea out of the pending line of fire. "Yeah, look whose coming to dinner ya'll. Just let me get out the way before you go get Mr. Powers."
Phyllis continued. " Well can't say you ain't persistent. Maybe if you didn't wait so many years in between visits Mr. Powers would've gotten used to you by now."
"I don't know about that." Sean said.
"Where are my parents Phyllis?"
"Oh , they're having lunch together in the sun room. You two can go on in there."
Holding Sean's hand Elana thanked Phyllis as she started to make her way to the sun room that overlooked the backyard and swimming pool. As they got closer they could hear Gail giving her normal festive and jovial greetings to Elana's parents. Eventually Elana walked in the room with Sean following closely behind her. When she saw her parents she let Sean go and went over to them. "Hi mom, Hi dad!" She said as she hugged them both individually. Elana made her way back next to Sean and he held her by her waist. "I'm sure you both remember Sean." She said with a faint smile.
"What the he..." Mr. Powers caught himself remembering that a child was in the room. "Why did you bring him here Elana?"
"Sean brought me here to see you and mom."
George and Denise Powers sat not knowing what else to say. Denise Powers was a very distinguished looking woman. She was light brown skinned with short wavy reddish hair that she wore cut very close to her head. She sported large exotic earrings and dark lipstick, which brought out her hazel colored eyes. She was a senior professor of African American Studies at Yale in New Haven, CT. Mrs. Powers had long since left Elana alone about Sean Logan and she knew that her daughter was not going to be satisfied with anyone else, so seeing Sean again really wasn't too much of a surprise to her.
"I thought we were good and rid of you Sean Logan. You haven't been around for about ten years and now you've come back into Elana's life. I told you too many times to stay away from my daughter, and now you're just out right disrespecting me in my own house!"
"Sir, I wouldn't have stayed away this long if it hadn't been for you and my father trying to keep us apart. And with all do respect sir, I don't really care about your opinion regarding Elana and me now. I did when I was younger, but now the only thing I care about is what Elana thinks."
"Whatever I did, I did for Elana's own good. You're nothing but pompous, white trash thinking you're God's gift to my daughter because you got a little money and because you want her. She can have any black man she wants, if you would just stay out of her life. You strung her along in college until you got caught, but Elana I hope you're not going to let this man do the same thing to you now. You're too smart and too old for this now."
"Daddy, there's no cause for this. I'm a grown woman now and the truth is Sean and I truly love each other. We always have, even while we were apart and now that we've come together again you and everybody else is going to have to get used to it or disassociate yourselves from us. So you make your choice daddy, you either accept Sean and me or we can leave, right now."
"Elana you don't have to be so melodramatic. I just don't want everything I worked hard for all my life for my family to go back to a white man. I don't want my daughter being used by a white man the way they have always used our women and I definitely don't want my grandchildren to be shunned from their white family because they have black in them. If you can't understand that then I guess you and Sean should leave."
"You can't make my choices for me daddy, so if that's the way you want it then so be it. Come on Sean. Get me out of this racist house." Elana turned around and hurried toward the front door with Sean following slowly behind her. He figured the less he said the better. His presence said enough about how he felt for Elana.
Denise Powers was ashamed of how her husband was reacting. "George I don't believe you're going to let her go like that! This girl pined away for that boy all through college and she's only brought one man home in the past nine years. It seems that she knows she's found someone who can really love her. And now it's to the point that she's choosing him over you. Honey she shouldn't have to make a choice like that. She shouldn't have to choose between a father who adores her and wants the best for her and a man who loves and cherishes her and wants to give her the best. Our daughter deserves both George."
"What about what we've built Denise, you know it'll eventually all go to her and that white family of his."
"From what I hear Sean is a pretty good business man and you might be happy for him to take over things and there are always our grandchildren, whom you will never see if you make her do this. And if it's that important to you donate everything to the African Historical Society. You'll get a bronze bust made of your image and it will serve as an eternal remembrance of you in the black community. Then you won't have to worry about any white man getting his hands on what you worked for.
Gail had been sitting in the corner listening to everything. "Um, Mr. and Mrs. Powers. I have to tell you from experience that Sean really loves Elana. I've never seen anything like the two of them when they're together. He practically worships the girl and I have to say she feels the same way about him. He's never taken advantage of her and to this day he's really been honorable towards her in every way."
"But Gail there are so many good black men she could get with. Doctors, lawyers, even that psychiatrist she was with was an excellent choice. I would love to see her get with Jon Lambert. He's a lawyer and a CPA and they work so well together." Mr. Powers lamented.
"Yeah, you're right they do, but I can tell you that Jon Lambert will screw anything with two legs and a skirt on and I don't think it'll make a difference if he's married or not. He's tried to come on to me more times than I can count, even while I was pregnant. And as for Henry, the psychiatrist, you haven't seen him knocking on your door after he and Elana split. If he really loved her like she needs to be loved then he would have been here like Sean has always been. And besides, Elana has tried to get with other black men. Nice ones the kind that you'd want her to be with, but there was only one problem."
"What was that?" Denise Powers asked.
"None of them were Sean Logan." Gail continued. "I can also tell you from experience that there's nothing more heart wrenching than loving someone so much when other people who you love don't accept your choice. It's like you've been betrayed all your life by those people, thinking they loved you unconditionally, when actually there were a few conditions, but you can't abide by them because it goes against your very existence. The result is that everyone looses out, because just as sure as Elana walked out of here tonight, she won't come back unless you show the man she loves some respect. You don't have to love him or fall all over him, but you do have to recognize that he's the main factor in your daughter's happiness and that should be reason enough to at least be cordial to him."
"She's right George and you have to give the man credit. He's been around for, what has it been, thirteen or fourteen years now, which shows his loyalty to her. What other men have waited that long for a woman? I only know of one, Jacob, from the Bible. He waited fourteen years for Rachel, so don't you think it's time to give the man a break?"
George Powers knew his wife and Gail were right. He still had strong feelings about not wanting his daughter to be with a white man, but he couldn't deny that Sean obviously loved her as much as he did. He thought that despite his objections he didn't want to lose his oldest daughter over any of this, so he reluctantly wiped his mouth with his napkin and got up from his seat then went in the direction that Sean and Elana had gone. He found them outside on the driveway by Sean's car, waiting for Gail. They were facing the passenger side of the car and Sean was standing behind Elana rubbing her shoulders while she was trying to contain her anger and sadness. Elana was sad for her father's not caring for Sean and she was angry that he was making her choose between the two men she loved, but she was not going to live her life with her father and her husband always at each other's throats.
Watching them Mr. Powers could see how gentle and sensitive Sean was to Elana, who had never been a very emotional person. He remembered that as a little girl she never cried too much when she got upset, she just found a way around the situation and moved on. He knew none of her suitors stayed around too long because she was somewhat brash and extremely independent and most men were threatened by that, but for some reason she seemed to be softer with Sean, like she was with him when she was younger. "Sean." George called out and Sean turned around.
"Daddy, we heard everything you had to say. Now you don't have to come out here and rub it in. As soon as Gail comes out of there we'll be on our way."
"Wait Elana, let your dad say what he wants. It doesn't phase me."
Elana just rolled her eyes and was quiet letting her father speak.
"Sean, look. I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time. It's obvious you really have strong feelings for Elana and I've ignored that, thinking it would pass, but I guess after fourteen years I need to give it a rest. It's just hard handing your daughter over to another man, especially a white one. I made sure she would never have to depend on a man for anything, but I couldn't keep her from depending on a man to love her, so I guess all I have to do is give my blessings to that one who fulfills this need for her and my part is done. So you don't have to worry about me interfering with the two of you again. Sean I just ask that you treat her with love and respect and that you protect her from whatever negativity your family may want to put her through. You must know that she's not a fleeting flower and if you mess up she's not going to stand for it. She's like her mother, she'll give you all she has to give, she'll support you in all your endeavors whether it's a good idea or not, but if your wrong she's gonna let you know."
"Thanks Mr. Powers. I'll keep all that in mind. I just want to get on with our lives. We've wasted too much time already."
"Call me George, Sean, since you seem to be a permanent fixture around here. I can't seem to get rid of you, so I guess I'm gonna have to accept you." He said patting Sean on the shoulder. Elana hugged her father and thanked him for being more understanding. "Say, why don't you all come over for dinner in a few weeks. I know you'll need it Sean because as you know Elana can't cook worth a damn."
"Daddy!"
"Oh, sorry, you didn't tell him that. So Sean I guess she's been getting you to take her out to those fancy restaurants she likes all the time."
"Yeah, she has."
"Now you know why. Sorry baby girl. I didn't mean to tell on you. Don't worry Sean she can do just about anything else though."
"Thanks Mr. Pow - George. We'll set something up, but right now we really need to be going because we have some friends we're trying to get to see." By this time Gail was coming outside with Chelsea and they all said their good-bye's and the four of them headed back to New York to drop Gail off. They talked about the relief of Mr. Powers finally relenting and promising to not interfere with Sean and Elana and somehow it seemed that everything was going to be alright.