Cassia and Poof sat down nervously at the edge of Cassia's bed, occasionally taking turns looking out the window for any visitors. After receiving no answer from Cassia's phone and almost no voicemails or calls back, they had no choice but to tell their parents about the situation, with the family deciding to have a nice lunch at their place one evening.
Although initially, she wanted to scream and object loudly, Cassia managed to hold her tongue, now focusing on the interactions she's had with her so-called "grandparents" lately. While she and Poof did manage to see them a good bit, it almost felt like they were strangers to them, with the 4 of them more focused on other things. Heck, Mama Cosma even flat out told them that she hated them, just because they were Wanda's kids.
Speaking of Mama Cosma, Cassia was most afraid of her showing up and ruining things, like she often did. She liked hanging out with Grandpa Big Daddy and Grandma Fairywinkle, even though they were both often too engaged in work and parties to really pay attention to them, and she tolerated Grandpa Cosma, even though she found his babying annoying, but if she could help it, Cassia and Poof avoiding Mama Cosma (they refuse to call her Grandma). Unlike their other 3 grandparents, Mama Cosma flat out refused to make an effort with the kids, only pretending to be nice when their father, Cosmo, was around. Otherwise, she was either drinking and watching TV, or screaming at somebody.
Despite this fear, Cassia secretly hoped that Mama Cosma would show up. There had been times that she had to stand up for Poof since Grandpa Cosma was too weak to do so (and often got beaten as a result. Cassia didn't want that for him), and there had been things on her mind that she wanted to tell her, now that hopefully she would be sober enough to understand.
"Cassia. They here.", Poof said, as he crawled towards the edge of the beg and hugged Cassia nervously, "I hope they're not mad."
"Yeah. I hope so too. Well, they might not be too bad if mom and dad are around. Besides, if they mess with you, I'm gonna tell them off. I'm not gonna let them mess with you.", Cassia said, hugging Poof back before sliding off the bed, taking a deep breath as they made it downstairs.
Wanda's parents came through the door first and as usual, Grandma Fairywinkle did not notice them, busy showing off to Wanda the wine she had bought for the occasion, which Wanda just stored in the back of the pantry. It took a few minutes but after talking about the wine for what seemed like forever, Grandma Fairywinkle had finally noticed the kids, giving them a nod and a smile.
"Hey! How are you two? You ain't gotta be shy around us! We're just here to party! Now, give your fun grandma a hug!", she said, scooping the kids up and hugging them as tight as she could, shaking them a little bit.
"Yolonda, put them down. You know they don't like it when you do that." Grandpa Big Daddy scolded, looking at the kids down with a slight smile on his face, "Hey you too. You guys doing good in school?"
"Yes Grandpa Big Daddy.",Cassia and Poof said in unison.
"Good. You two are gonna want to study hard if you're gonna own a successful business like your old man someday. Wouldn't want to be like your father's no good brother now, would you."
"No Grandpa Big Daddy."
"That's my grandkids. Now, where's your mother? I've got something important to ask her."
"She's in the kitchen.", Cassia said, trying hard to hide the annoyed tone in her voice. Of course they weren't here for her. Since when did her grandparents legitimately want to spend time with her? Sometimes, Cassia wondered if they only spent time with her and Poof in order to look good in front of the family.
Mama Cosma came in next, following her husband who seemed to be sporting another red mark on his face, as if he had been slapped. Mama Cosmo looked down at the kids coldly before walking to the kitchen move, allowing her body to push Cassia out of the way. Meanwhile, her husband knelt down where they were and reached his arms out, a soft smile on his face.
"Awww..sweeties, come here! Come give me a hug! Aw..I've missed you two so much.", he said warmly, hugging them close to him. "How have you two been? Have you guys started eating yet? Are you hungry? Do you want some water?"
"Uh..Grandpa Cosma, not to be rude or anything, but you're in our house. We should be asking you these things", Cassia said, as soon as he let go, a shy, embarrassed look now on Linnie's face.
"Yes dear, I know..it's just..you know I just love caring for you two. You were both just the sweetest little babies. I miss holding you close, and babysitting when your grandma was out of town for business. Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't pick up when you called, Cassia, sweetheart. See, I meant to leave a message or call you back but your grandma came home in a bad mood and I just didn't have time and.."
"Yeah it's fine, Grandpa Cosma. We got it all worked out..hopefully."
"What's that mark on your face?", Poof asked, though earning a nudge from Cassia. Linnie smiled sadly.
"Don't worry about it darling. I just uhm..had another accident, that's all."
"Dad? Kids? Are you coming to set your plates or what?", Cosmo asked from the dining room, grabbing their attention.
Though she had expected the dinner table to be filled with chatter about work or life or whatever their grandparents talked about, the evening was somewhat quiet. Cassia noticed that Mama Cosma and Grandpa Big Daddy, who had finished talking business with Wanda, were seated next to each other, a tense look in their eyes. Cassia almost wanted to ask what that was about, but knew better than to get into adult's business.
"Miguel? Miguel, what's wrong with you?" Grandma Fairywinkle asked, "I asked if you would pass the wine bottle over this way."
"Oh, yeah yeah. Here Yolonda.", he said, passing the bottle as he kept glaring at Mama Cosma, who smirked at him. Yolonda's eyes arched with interest as she poured herself another glass of wine.
"So..how are things at that garbage business of yours? Have you finally made a decent career out of it, Miguel?"
"I already told you, Nora. I'm a proud CEO of that so called "garbage business". I thought I told you then when we..nevermind. I don't want to talk about it."
"Talk about what, Miguel? Now that your wife, I'm assuming that's your wife, is here, you can finally tell her the truth."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Dad! Don't curse in front of the kids!" Wanda nagged, receiving a sorry glance from Big Daddy.
"I'm sorry sugar plum. Nora, drop the conversation. What happened is in the past and I don't feel like discussing it in front of our grandchildren."
"Absolutely not. You embarrassed me that night, so I think the least you could do is tell everyone here the damn truth!", Nora yelled, grabbing everyone's attention, including his wife's.
"Miguel? What is she talking about? Do you two know each other?", she asked, making Miguel uncomfortably while Nora sat next to them, with an anticipating smile on her face. One that said, You've almost ended my relationship. Now, I'm gonna destroy yours.
"Uh..Hey! Guess what everyone? I uh..I got a 100% on that history test I've been studying for weeks!"
"No one gives a damn about you, Cassia! Now shut up and eat your fucking food.", Nora snapped, making Cassia shrink in her seat, while Linnie looked at Cassia sadly.
"W-Wow..that's great, sweetie! We're so proud of you-"
"Linnie! You shut up too! No one asked for either of you to speak!"
"Mama, don't talk to Cassia like that! She just wants to spend time with everyone.", Cosmo whined, also looking at Cassia sadly, also noticing that Poof squirmed a bit in his seat. "Can't we all just relax and enjoy this dinner? I think you guys should try the potatoes. I think they turned out yummy."
"Well Miguel? Do you two know each other?",Yolonda asked, crossing her arms against her chest.
"Can we not fight guys?" Cassia asked, once again getting the attention of everyone at the table, "For once. Please?"
"Can you not backtalk us for once, Cassia? You see we're in the middle on a conversation; one that you're not part of. So now once again, shut the fuck up and eat your food."
"Mama! Stop it!", Cosmo yelled, with tears threatening to spill from Poof's eyes. Linnie, noticing this, picked up Poof and took him into another room, Cassia hearing him make some shhhing sounds, telling him everything was going to be ok.
"There there now. It's ok. Shh..Come on now, let it out sweetie. It's ok.", he said calmly as he went upstairs to Cassia's room, now allowing her to refocus her attention on the rest of the table.
"I'm not gonna ask you again, Miguel! Do you two know each other?" Yolonda asked again, her usually perky and cheerful voice now harsh and angered. Miguel started to sweat, and Cassia could barely keep up with the conversation. It wasn't unusual that they didn't pay much attention to her, but Cassia herself even started to feel angry. They knew it was Grandparents day. They knew Cassia and Poof would be calling. They knew that they had grandkids..so why was it that they barely recognized them? Were their real grandparents abducted by aliens? Cassia wasn't sure, but she started to get really sick and tired of it.
"Uh..I learned so new spells in wand waving class this week. Wanna see after dinner?"
"Cassia! I swear if you don't shut the hell up, then I'm gonna smack you until you do so, I swear!"
"Alright that's it! "Wanda yelled, while Cosmo got behind Cassia and put his arms around her, shielding her. "Get out! Now! We have been very patient with you up until now, but we are not going to tolerate threats on our children! Now, get out of here!"
"Oh really? You're kicking me out? Well, who helped finance this stupid house for you?"
"Don't start with that, Nora! Get out of our house, before we make you get out!"
"Pfft..I'd like to see you try. Don't you know who I am?", Nora asked, standing up from her seat, Yolonda and Miguel now turning away from each other to face her. "Don't you know what I can do to each and every one of you? I would watch who you're speaking with if I were you, Wanda. You're actually quite fortunate right now, all things considered."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're very lucky you're even still alive right now. You know, I could have you killed for taking my son away from me."
"Oh hell no, Nora!", Miguel yelled, now staring at Nora, "I know damn well you didn't just threaten my daughter like that?"
"Oh really? You didn't mention anything about that pink slut being your daughter when you were over at my house."
"Wait? Hang on. You visited her? At her house? What the hell were you doing there?", Yolonda asked, "You told me you were at work when I came over to pack my things for a little while."
"I..uh..". Miguel stammered, while Nora let out a loud laugh.
"Well, since your idiot husband isn't saying anything, I might as well say something. You see, Yolonda. I had allowed him inside out of the kindness of my heart since I knew he was working long hours in the dumpster truck, and he just BEGGED me to sleep with him. He had told me that you had left him and well..that turned out to be quite the lie. Unfortunately, my idiot husband came home right before we were able to have our little fun."
"Wait. Miguel, you cheated on me?!", Yolonda screamed, making Cassia hide in Cosmo's arms. "What the hell? I thought you loved me! Why the hell would you lie to me!?"
"I..Ok Yolonda. Yes, I did come over to her house but I didn't want to sleep with her! She's lying! She wants you to think I've cheated on you just because her heads so far up her own ass, she thinks making people's lives miserable will land her a new husband."
"Cassia, I'm going to need you to run up to your room where Grandpa Cosma and Poof are. I think you'll be safer there.", Cosmo whispered, letting go of Cassia as she did as she was told, practically zooming up the stairs.
"Ok, you know what? Everybody out!", Wanda yelled, now completely lost her patience, "This was supposed to be a nice night for the kids to spend time with their grandparents, but everyone here is so concerned with themselves, they don't realize that there's two crying children upstairs right now. You all should be ashamed of yourselves."
"Don't fucking talk to us like that! I didn't even want to be here! Linnie made me!", Nora yelled.
"But the kids wanted you here! They want a relationship with you, and all you care about is ruining my parents', not to mention your husband's, lives. But then again, that does make sense since all you've ever cared about was yourself. When will you stop blaming Linnie for everything shitty thing you've done and take some accountability for once in your miserable life!"
Nora stood there silent for a minute, making everyone in the room incredibly nervous, almost forgetting the conversation involving Miguel for a moment. Just then, Nora flipped the table over, causing several glass bowls, plates, cups, and silverware to go flying before she stomped towards the stairs.
"Linnie! We're leaving! It's obvious that we are not welcome here! Get your bitch ass down here, now!"
"J-J-Just a minute, Nora please. I-I'm just tucking the kids in. Please."
"Now! Before I tear your little ass up, limb from limb."
"OUT!", Both Cosmo and Wanda had just about enough, now forcing all 4 adults out of the room, anger fueled in their bodies. Of course, they'd do this. Of course, the 4 of them would be disrespectful. Why did they even think this was a good idea.
Cosmo went upstairs to check on the kids while Wanda swept up and poofed away the now broken glass and dining table, the wine that her mother brought looking pretty good right now. After cleaning up and once she knew Cosmo had put the kids in bed, she poofed to the liquor store and got herself a bottle, pouring herself a glass as she cursed Nora in her head. That was the last time she was ever going to let them disrespect her family. As much as she hated it, it was high time she started talking to Cosmo about cutting his parents off from their lives.
Meanwhile, Cassia and Poof finally went to sleep, though Cassia still tossed and turned between the blankets, wondering what went wrong. She knew it wasn't her job to make them happy but felt guilty she had been disrespectful to her grandma and it set her off? Whatever the reason, Cassia lied awake in her own guilt, wondering if an apology would at least help any of the scars that were caused this evening.