Once again thanks for the great support on this story. I did give you a little snippet on Joe, even though we know that doesn't excuse him.
This chapter came to be thanks to two reasons. The first one: ChristinaS pointed out in the review that we haven't seen Helen's reaction to the whole thing. We kinda know how it's going to go, so I used a fresh POV to showcase how the whole arrest situation would go down in the Plum home. The second reason: I found this cool jacket that I really liked, but I didn't like the price, lol. My mom called me a cheapskate for even debating about buying the jacket. Her argument: that I never really buy myself stuff and I can afford it. We have a very close relationship (she's 49 and I'm 31), but the comment was still hurtful. The jacket was $60 before taxes so I was just trying to figure it out if it was really worth it, if I'd really use it, etc before I compromised and bought it. The jacket, you ask? A Ghostbusters jacket. In the end I bought it and got it for half off thanks to my employee discount (long story)! And it's pretty great. There was also a miniature version of the jacket for a little kid. Stephanie would totally max out her credit card to get the jacket, lol.
Also, I know Val has four kids because when she married Albert she already had Lisa and was pregnant again. I don't think I know the name of the fourth daughter. Anyone know? Or was it just never mentioned in the books?
Let me know your thoughts. What do you think will happen next?
Disclaimer: The Plum Universe belongs to JE. Mistakes are mine.
Mary Alice's POV
Even before taking my seat at the table I had a feeling that this would be one of those dinners at Grandma Plum's house. Albert was busy shoveling food on his plate, second only to Grandpa Plum. Mom was juggling getting Lisa to sit still while glancing behind Albert at our sleeping little sister.
Great Grandma Mazur was seated between Grandma Helen and Albert. She was surprisingly chill today.
Cutting my eyes to Angie sitting beside me, I noticed she was in her zone reading one of her books resting on her lap. I not so discretely nudged her ribs to put her book away. If Grandma Plum noticed, Angie was going to get a lecture.
"What?" Angie cut her eyes to me, using her best don't bother me glare. I rolled my eyes before patting the page she was on. "Oh." Angie shook herself out of whatever fictional world she'd slipped into this time and discretely tucked the book below her right leg.
Dinner began as it usually did, with people scooping food onto their plates and the convo starting out slowly. I'd just shoved my first forkful of mashed potatoes in my mouth when the shit began to hit the fan.
"Poor Joseph…" Grandma Plum began.
I instantly rolled my eyes. Hard. Everyone, and I mean everyone, made sure Angie and I knew that our Aunt Stephanie had been arrested by her ex-boyfriend Joe Morelli. When the video of the arrest was released, Angie's phone blew up with the whole Burg teenage gang sending her the video. It was hard to watch Aunt Stephanie get so roughed up and not fight back. I couldn't understand why she didn't resist once he cuffed her, though that knee to the balls was great! It was Angie and then mom who had to explain that it was better that Aunt Stephanie didn't fight back.
"Mom!" Mom seemed close to snapping, sending daggers Grandma Plum's way.
"Helen." Great Grandma Mazur admonished at the same time as mom did.
"He got suspended!" Grandma Plum was using that tone she gets whenever she talks about Aunt Steph.
"Mom!" Mom was going to snap. I could tell. Angie was sitting ramrod straight beside me. Even Albert stopped shoving food in his mouth, shooting a wide-eyed look mom's way. Yup, she's going to snap.
"Hey!" Angie shot me daggers for yanking her cell phone out of her pocket. I shot her my best glare as I unlocked her phone and used it to send Aunt Stephanie a quick SOS text.
You need to come to Grandma's house. ASAP. -Mary Alice
I didn't wait for a reply before I gave the phone back to Angie. She'll come. Aunt Stephanie has made it very clear that if we ever need an out, she'll be the getaway. She gets it.
"What do you mean 'poor Joseph'?" Oh, yeah. Mom has snapped. This is going to be one for the books. And no one has even finished their dinner yet.
"He got suspended for having to arrest Stephanie." Grandma Plum was really not going to get the real picture. Like always. And it only took her a few minutes into dinner to start her tirade.
"Mom, you haven't seen Stephanie!" I've never seen mom so pissed off at Grandma before.
"She looks bad?" I asked, only to have Grandma shoot daggers my way. She doesn't like it when the kids interrupt or join the grown up conversation. But then again they make us sit with them and listen to them, so...
Mom shot a quick glance my way, her eyes softening as soon as she realized we were sitting right next to her. "Yes, she looks bad."
"The video was hard to watch." Angie surprised me by speaking up and interrupting. This time she was the recipient of Grandma Plum's heated stare.
"What video?" No one noticed that Grandpa had stopped eating to join the conversation. That's a first. Or at least unheard of.
"There's this video..." I clamped my mouth shout when Grandma gave me the most heated stare I've seen. She was low key scary.
Silence stretched for several beats. I was going to bend my head down and lay low, but then decided not to. "There's a video showing the rough arrest." I said to Grandpa, keeping my eyes glued to his so I wouldn't have to look at Grandma.
"Rough arrest?" Grandpa's face scrunched up as his fork clanked loudly against his unfinished plate. "How rough?"
I didn't know how to answer that question, so I stayed quiet. Luckily, Angie was willing to tackle that one.
"Very." Angie's eyes were fixated on Grandpa, effectively ignoring Grandma's heated glare. I smiled at my big sis for joining me on the pissing off Grandma with the truth quest.
Angie was about to pull up the video on her phone when I heard the front door open and close. I touched Angie's forearm to stop her. Aunt Steph was here.
"It was very rough, Dad." Mom backed us up, effectively shoving it to Grandma. Oh snap!
"What was rough?" Aunt Stephanie asked as she waltz into the dining room, Ranger shadowing close behind. He's a big dude and looks kinda scary, but he's been really nice to us. Plus, he's Julie's dad, so he's a'ight. And Aunt Stephanie trusts him with her life. He's probably better than alright.
"S-st-stephanie..." Grandma Plum stammered when she got a good look at Aunt Steph's face.
Curious, I angled back in my chair so I could get a better look. Yup, pretty nasty bruise on almost half her face. She was wearing all black today, just like Ranger. He was in T-shirt and cargo pants. Aunt Steph was in similar pants, except she was wearing a long sleeved shirt with Rangeman in white letters all along one arm sleeve.
"What do you want to know?" Aunt Steph asked the room as she motioned for me and Angie to stand up.
I did as she instructed, quickly standing as close to the wall as possible. I inadvertently bumped into Ranger's arm, which prompted him to pat my shoulder in reasurrance. I shot him a small smile before I looked to my right to see what Angie was up to. Angie was busy helping Lisa get out of her chair, scooping her up before moving to stand next to me.
No one had replied to Aunt Stephanie, so she proceeded to untuck her long sleeved shirt from her cargo pants. When she started raising the shirt up, Grandma gasped and admonished her for undressing in the middle of the dining room.
"Calm down, Helen. You made her." I had to snicker at Great Grandma Mazur's comment. I mean, it's true.
"You seem to want to know how rough it was." Was Aunt Steph's reply as she discarded her long sleeve shirt on the floor. She stood in front of everyone in her cargo pants and a thin black tank top. The first thing that caught my eyes before she moved was the nasty hand print bruise above her elbow on her right arm. Oh, it was worse than the video showed.
Aunt Steph stretched her arms out, making sure Grandma and Grandpa Plum got a good look. Grandpa looked at the bruising on her arms and the nasty marks on her wrists. Grandma Plum was locked in on her face. When it looked like Grandma Plum was going to say one of her usual comments, Aunt Steph shook her head in the negative.
When she spun around to look at us, Lisa automatically squirmed out of Angie's hold so she could go to Aunt Steph. With Lisa in her arms, Aunt Steph walked over to mom and bent at the waist to whisper something in her ear. Mom nodded her head and then Aunt Steph told Lisa and us to say bye to our mom and Albert for the night. "You're spending the night with me!" Aunt Steph said in a cheerful voice as she bounced Lisa while Angie and I gave mom a hug/kiss combo as goodbye before waving to Albert. Since it's Friday night, there's a good possibility we'll get to hang out with Aunt Steph until late tomorrow afternoon.
S&R
Morelli's POV
To avoid prying eyes, I decided to wait to take Bob out for a walk until the official Burg dinner time. At six o'clock all respectable Burgers would be sitting around their dining tables to eat dinner. The streets would be peacefully empty. For that reason, at least that's what I was telling myself, I decided to include Stephanie's parents' street on our walk. No one would mind me just walking my dog while they were all busy having dinner.
"No." I chastised when Bob pulled on the leash as he inspected a row of flowers sticking out of someone's property. When I realized I didn't really have anything to do or anywhere to be, I cut him some slack.
My eyes cut across the street in time to watch Stephanie burst out of the front door carrying her little niece Lisa. Mary Alice emerged behind Cupcake and a small smile tugged at my lips. I've always felt that girl was birthed by the wrong sister. Mary Alice is a lot like Stephanie was as a kid.
I watched Cupcake move down the steps, walking towards the shiny Porsche SUV parked at the curb. Ranger and Angie came out behind the others. Angie went to the minivan parked in the driveway, seemingly to grab something from the vehicle. Ranger, on the other hand, sidled up next to Stephanie and took Lisa from her when the little girl outstretched her arms towards him. I frowned, because she never reached out for me to hold her.
Once her arms were free, Cupcake was in full view from the waist up. She looked good in her painted on tank top, but it was strange that was all she as wearing when it wasn't necessarily scorching hot out. I could only see half of her face due to the fact that she was watching Angie unload the booster seat from the minivan before walking over to the SUV.
It wasn't until Angie moved past Stephanie to help secure the car seat that I saw Stephanie's full face as she moved. The bruise was distinguishable even from across the street. It had to be more prominent from up close. That's when I decided to stop checking her out in that way and doing it in a more clinical way.
I noticed two more bruises on her arms and some marks that almost looked like wristbands, but I knew were from the handcuffs.
Oh shit. I really fucked up.
S&R
Stephanie's POV
Waking up to a penthouse apartment full of activity is not the norm for me, much less Ranger. I ignored my phone as long as I could, deciding to turn it on only after my shared lunch with Ranger yesterday. I was glad I did when I got an urgent text from my niece Mary Alice around dinner time. When Ranger saw me frantically bolt out of the kitchen and reach for my keys, his muscular arms wrapped around my waist to stop me. Once I explained what was going on, he offered to drive. I was thankful he tagged along, because he got us to the Burg in half the time it would have taken me to get there. And I knew exactly what they were talking about as soon as I neared the dining room.
To make it up to the girls, we ordered pizza from Shorty's and had a movie marathon literally camped out in the living room. With Ranger's help, the girls built a pretty nice fort for us to cuddle and watch our movie marathon in. I waited until they all fell asleep in order to join Ranger in our bed. We weren't alone for more than five minutes before Lisa popped into our bedroom claiming she couldn't sleep and wanted to sleep with us. Ranger gave me a quick nod to let me know he didn't mind our companion.
I awoke on Ranger's side of the bed and with my niece's tiny foot on the small of my back. That little girl can karate chop just about anyone in her sleep. As soon as I climbed out of bed, Lisa bolted upright. One moment she was asleep and dead to the world, and the next she was wide awake. It was a little scary.
"Come on." I waved her to join my side so we could go look for the others and then get some breakfast.
I could hear Ranger's voice as we exited the bedroom. When we joined the rest of our group in the living room, I realized Ranger and my older nieces were working on dismantling the fort we built. Before I could join in and help, I heard a very loud set of knocks on the front door. Ranger and I shared a knowing look before I bent my head to ask Lisa if she wanted to help me open the door.
"Yeah!" She shouted, pulling on my arm to drag me towards the front door. "Hi!" Lisa enthusiastically greeted Ella once I opened the door. With her help, Ella proceeded to wheel in our breakfast cart.
Mary Alice and Angie were busy serving themselves once Ella arranged the pancakes, egg, bacon, and fruit on the kitchen island. I was busy cutting up a pancake for Lisa while Ella poured glasses of milk for everyone except Ranger.
"What about the baby?" Lisa asked once I placed the plate in front of her.
"What baby?" I asked distractedly as I reached for my glass of milk. "Is your mom having another baby?" I asked Angie and Mary Alice over Lisa's head before I could take a drink out of my glass of milk. Both girls did a palms up gesture. They didn't know. Val didn't mention she was pregnant, again, when I saw her yesterday during her visit to Rangeman. Maybe she was shooting for a boy, but who knew.
"No." I caught the shake of Lisa's head out of the corner of my eye as I brought the glass to my lips. I was in the middle of a healthy gulp of milk when I felt Lisa's hand splay flatly on my abdomen. "Your baby."
I coughed, choked and proceeded to spew milk all over my breakfast when Lisa's words registered.