*Author's Note*
Thanks for reading, faving, following, and reviewing.
I put a little Easter egg in the second scene. Hopefully ya'll get it. This chapter turned out to be a bit longer then I anticipated. Hope ya'll don't mind.
Just Picked A Side?
Cap POV:
I was sitting in the living room on my couch, eating one of those microwaveable ramen noodle cups, whenever I got a text from Nova. Damn, her text took me by surprise. Never would've thought Roseanna gave her girl the Hatfield name, but she did. Proof was in the puddin'. I had a picture of the kid's homework with the last name of McCoy-Hatfield on it sent to my phone. Damn hyphenated name. Nova was as shocked as I was, reason for her text was to see if Johnse knew and if I knew bout the name.
Poor Johnse, I had'a call him up and tell him that he got royally fucked by that McCoy whore. Eh, I don't know if she's really a whore or not, but that's the nickname for her that gets tossed around my family. The few times I talked to her she seemed sweet I guess, but that was back when I was a teen and she spent most of her time up my brother's ass anyways. I tended to stay 'way from her, reckon she got on my nerves or somethin' cause I weren't around her that much.
I placed my half-eaten soup cup on my coffee table before calling Johnse. After a few rings my brother answered with, "It's suppertime, Cap. What's goin' on?"
"Nova sent me a pic of Sarah Elizabeth's homework. Kid's name's Sarah Elizabeth McCoy-Hatfield." Itold him, cut and dry, the reason for my suppertime interruption.
"What? How'd that be?" I imagine that Johnse's mouth was wide open, catching flies, on the other side of the phone.
"Your sweet beautiful darlin' ex Roseanna stuck your name on her kid's birth certificate's how. Only way to hyphenate a name's to have a father listed."
"But I was told I didn't have no rights. Couldn't see the baby."
"Yea, well, that was a load of bullshit."
"What's gonna happen? Can I see my daughter?" Of course, he'd ask that.
"You'll have to bring her to court or mediation, but you should be able to get visitations. What's the problem is that Roseanna's got lupus, Johnse." I explained the situation as I watched the nightly news on mute.
"Yea, so?" My brother asked a bit flippantly.
I shook my head and did a facepalm before lengthily explaining to my fickle older brother, "Johns, lupus attacks the organs and the immune system. Somethin' like the flu could do her in. Her liver can go too from the disease attackin' it. She could die young and then you'd be stuck with 'nother mouth to feed."
"But Roseanna and Sarah Elizabeth live with Perry Cline."
"He can't care for her. Legally he has no claim, he never adopted the girl and as her legal father you have the responsibility to care for her if anything happens." I ain't a praying man, but I pray that Roseanna holds on for another decade. No way in hell is Johnse and Mira equipped to care for another kid.
"Oh. I'll have to tell all this to Mira."
"Mira's pregnant, be mindful or you'll get a hairdryer or a fryin' pan tossed at your head cause she's hormonal." I warned him, half-serious and half-mocking.
"I know how to talk to my wife bout things. Don't need no advice from ya. 'Sides, Mira don't mind my kids from my ex-wives livin' with us so she shouldn't mind the news 'bout Sarah Elizabeth." Johnse babble on in his always carefree sounding voice.
"Okay." Only reason why Johnse's got custody of his kids from his ex-wives is cause one's a pill popper and the other one's locked up for writing bad checks and forging. But he seems to think that him and his former stripper wife are the best parents. "I'll let ya go, Johns. Bye." I told him right before hanging up.
I tossed my phone onto the coffee table before leaning back on the couch and letting out a long, deep sigh. Fuck, shit was going to get nasty between the Hatfields and the McCoys now and not just over a murder trial either. Nope, now a child's life was in the balance. My girl just picked a side and drew a line in the sand whether she knows it or not. Everyone's going to figure out it was Nova that told me about the McCoy-Hatfield hyphenated name of Sarah Elizabeth.
Shit's gettin' real now.
Novella POV:
I was right about the cartoons Moses had on for Sarah Elizabeth. Batman was on the tv while I sat in the living room with them, waiting for Tolbert and Sally Elle to show up. Uncle Perry was in the parlor reading a book. He was very old fashioned and didn't watch much tv other than a few news programs and a couple of shows here and there. He spent most of his time reading. Moses seemed to be enjoying Batman more then Sarah Elizabeth, who most likely wanted to watch Doc McStuffin's or something like that. I didn't mind the superhero cartoon.
Actually, I liked superheroes. Just Marvel ones not DC. Scratch that, I liked the villain Donald Pierce from the Wolverine movie Logan that came out a couple years back. Eh, the reason for liking the villain was bad, but whatever. Oh, yea the reason was cause he's hot.
I was watching Batman take off in his Batmobile on tv whenever a knock sounded at the door, signaling the arrival of Tolbert and Sally Elle. Yay…nay…yay! "I'll get it!" I shouted loud enough that that everyone in the house would hear as I got up from the couch. Moses just nodded his head at me before I walked out of the room and into the entryway. A couple more knocks sounded out by time I reached the door. "Hi." I answered the door to find Tolbert standing in front of me with Sally Elle on his hip.
"Ella!" The girl exclaimed as she tried to leap out of her daddy's arms and onto me.
"Ya better take her. She wants ya." Tolbert advised me before I could say a word to him and the girl.
I just nodded my head and let him pass her off to me. Once I had the girl slung on my hip, which was a bit uncomfortable since I wasn't used to carryin' 'round kids, she told me, "Ella, I p'ayed wit' p'aydough t'day."
"Really? Did you have fun?" I asked in one of those fake excited voices used when talking to children as walked down the hall.
I heard Tolbert shut the door followed by his boots shuffling behind me while Sally Ella nodded her head, causing her ginger pigtails to bounce around, and told me, "Yea, I's did has fun. Lots 'n' lots o'fun."
"That's good."
"I gotta form t'fill out for her 'mergancy contacts an' some survey stuff from Mrs. Bray. Was wonderin' if ya'd help me wit' it." I heard Tolbert remark from behind me as we walked into the living room.
"Sure. Do did you bring it?" I asked before setting Sally Elle down on the ground telling her, "Go watch Batman with Moses an' Sarah Elizabeth. I need to help your poppy with something."
"'Kay." Sally Elle nodded before running towards the couch Moses and Sarah Elizabeth were on.
"Oomph. Watch where you're jumpin' kid." My brother groaned as Sally Elle jumped right onto his lamp, accidently kneeing him in his family jewels.
Tolbert just pulled some folded-up papers out of his pocket, handin' it over to me. Takin' it from him I asked, "So, do you want to fill these out here, in the study, or the kitchen?"
"The study I reckon."
"Okay, lets go." I told Tolbert before walking out of the living room and towards the study.
It only took a minute, maybe less, for us to reach and enter the study. I sat in the large leather desk chair at the desk while Tolbert grabbed one of the smaller sitting chairs and drug it over to the desk, taking a seat next to me. I unfolded the paper and placed it on the desk before grabbing a pen.
Briefly browsing over the forms, I discovered that they were simple. One was a contact form and the other was a survey, which I'm sure Tolbert could do himself. Looking at Tolbert I asked, "Why'd you ask for my help? This seems easy enough."
"I don't wanna do this alone anymore." He admitted as I filled out his daughter's name on the student information form.
"Huh?" My brow arched up, nose upturning, as I wrote down Sally Elle and Tolbert's address down in the section marked Student Adress.
"Takin' care of a child. I'd like some help." Tolbert clarified, giving me a little smile.
"Don't you get help from your family?" I asked as I skipped over the section marked Student Birthday and went right down to the section marked Parent/Guardian Name, filling out Tolbert's name.
"Ella, my girl needs a mother figure." He told me, his velvety voice a bit firm, as I wrote his number down in the section marked Phone Number.
"Oh." I sighed out, feeling a bit put on the spot. Not knowing what to say I just remained quiet as I started to fill Tolbert's information out in the section marked Emergency Contact #1.
"Sally Elle likes ya an' we got a love for each other. I don't see why ya can't help me with her."
"Sally Elle's a cute kid, but I don't want to confuse her or get her hopes up. I don't plan on staying once the trial's over." I told Tolbert as my pen hovered above the section marked Emergency Contact #2.
"Ella, why're ya runnin' 'way from us?" He asked me, his stormy eyes roaming over my face, before going on to say softly in his smoothly gruff voice, "Ya know I'm sill inlove wit'cha."
"Tolbert, I'm not running away from us. There isn't any us. Hasn't been for a long time. We're just friends now." I snapped as I quickly finished writing my information on the form, dropping the pen down with a loud thud.
"Horseshit." He spat out as if the word was a bitter taste in his mouth. "We fired up our spark on yer birthday. We still got somethin' goin' on 'tween us." Oh no, he brought up the birthday incident.
"We were both drinking too much on my birthday. It was a onetime thing." And it was going to stay a onetime thing. I promised Cap that I wouldn't jump back and forth between his bed and Tolbert's, I was keeping that promise.
"I don't get why yer tryin' so hard to deny yer love for me. I know I hurt ya, but I hurt myself too. I loved ya so much I let ya go t'follow yer lawyer dream." Tolbert told me in a long heart-wrenching speech before looking at me with pleading eyes and begging, "Please, give me a chance t'make it up t'ya."
I shook my head before heaving out a sigh of, "Tolbert too much has happened, I can't do that."
"I understand, trial's ov'rwhelmin' on us." Yea, he would bring up that damned trial. Bastard, if he didn't flip his shit and kill Ellison I wouldn't be in this emotional mess of a defense job right now. "Just, answer me this one thing. D'ya still love me?" He asked me, his voice having more cracks in it then the sidewalks littering downtown Pikeville.
"Yes, a part of me always will." I revealed to him, my flowing voice quietly shaking. "It's just not the way you want me to love you, it's not wholeheartedly anymore."
A soft look passed over his features, his storm-blue eyes held a small twinkle in them. "But it's still love. I can wait for ya t'love me 'gain like 'fore ya went 'way t'schoolin'."
Needing to get off of the subject of feelings before I burst out into an emotional crying jag I slid the student survey over to told and told him in a clipped, but slight unsteady tone, "You know these answers, not me. It's stuff like Sally Elle's favorite color and food."
Sliding the paper back to me Tolbert told me with a half-hearted smile, "Just read out the questions an' I'll tell ya the answers."
"Okay." I nodded before asking, "Favorite color?"
"Pink." Tolbert simply answered.
So up until dinner was ready I read off questions and Tolbert answered them, in the process teaching me about the girl that he dotted on.
After my emotionally draining start to the week I kept busy drowning myself into my work in order to suppress my emotions. For the most part it was working, but once in a while my confusion, guilt, or another emotion would try to rear its ugly head up. Today was Hump Day, the middle of the week, and I was working on a simple probate case my uncle assigned me whenever my phone went off. Figuring it was most likely Cap calling to ask 'bout what time I would be over tomorrow night, since we'd be leaving together Friday morning for Florida, I quickly grabbed my phone. It wasn't Cap tho. I let out a small sigh as I saw Tolbert flashing on my screen.
"Hello?" I answered my phone while trying to type the probate document one-handed.
"I forgot on Wednesday's early release. School's out hour early. Can ya pick up Sally Elle? I'm out on deliveries." He said, sounding a bit desperate.
"Sure, what time do I need to be there?" I asked while giving up on trying to type one-handed on my keyboard. Yep, too hard to type like that.
"Soon, like 10 minutes." Shit, Tolbert, really? That soon?! Great way to give me a head's up, just call me at the last minute.
"Okay, I'll pick her up." I assured him since I was more or less stuck picking her up.
"Ya can take her to my house. Gotta key hidden under the welcome mat ya can use." Of course, he'd have that stereotypical spare key under the door mat. "Get her a snack an' watch her 'til I get back. If ya want ya can just stay for dinner too."
"Do you have anything I can make for dinner?"
"Yea, ma leaves freezed meals she cooks in my freezer." What's with men and microwaving frozen dinners?
"Oh, I meant fresh food I could cook. You know, food from scratch."
"No, if ya want that ya better buy it. But I'd prefer if ya'd just heat up what ma got made an' freezed up."
"I can cook, it's not a problem." I liked cooking. I don't see why Tolbert would turn down my offer to cook when he can't cook at all. Shit at least Cap can make breakfast, grill steaks, and make grilled cheese sandwiches.
"Do what ya want, Ella. Just that you've been 'way too long t'memba how folks et an' cook 'round here." Tolbert's velvety timbre sighed out of my phone.
"I know how to cook, Tolbert. Trust me." Hell just cause I haven't lived in Pike for the last decade doesn't mean I can't cook anymore. Sheesh.
"I gotta go make my deliveries. Bye." Tolbert gruffly told me before hanging up.
Oh lordy, look like I'm playing babysitter and dinner guest tonight. For some reason the thought of it made me feel weird. I don't know why.
I saved the document I was working on before turning off my computer. I placed my phone into my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and stood up. I walked away from my desk and out of my office, making a quick beeline to my uncle's office. I knocked twice on the door before opening it slightly and popping my head in. "Uncle Perry, Tolbert called and he needs me to pick up Sally Elle for him. He wants me to bring her home and watch her for a bit."
Looking up from the work he was doing on his computer Uncle Perry said, "That's fine. Are you staying for dinner too?"
"Yes."
"That's good. You need to spend more quality time with them." My uncle smiled a bit fox-like, giving me an approving look.
"I know Uncle Perry. Bye."
"Bye and do have a good time." I heard my uncle tell me as I closed his door.
Not wanting to be late to pick the little girl up I rushed to my car and hurried down to the school.
Picking up a kid from school turned out to be the most time-consuming thing I've done in my entire life, including the time I spent over 15 minutes in line to go pee at the ice arena In DC whenever me and Cap went to one of the Stanley Cup Final games for the Capitals verses the Knights. I swear the pickup line stretched past the school entrance and down the street flooding the nearby neighborhood. As if the long line weren't bad enough, the random teacher or aide that goes and fetches the kid once you get to the front of the school is slower than a damn snapping turtle crossing the highway by the Tug. Geez.
Once Sally Elle was successfully in my car I pulled out of the school and then proceeded to drive to the Food City since it was the closest store. Another lesson I learned is that shopping with a 3-year-old's not fun. Not fun at all. Little wants want almost everything they see and then start pouting when they get told no. I have no idea how Tolbert goes grocery shopping with Sally Elle and doesn't spend all his money considering she wants just about every sweet, candy, treat, pudding, juice-box, cereal, chicken nugget, and ego she sees. The kicker was when she saw an orange stuffed bear with a pumpkin printed on it. Sally Elle nearly hyperventilated and had a fit claiming she needed it or she'd die. Needless to say, I broke down and got her the bear, only cause she wouldn't listen to me and stop crying.
Eh the checkout experience wasn't that bad considering the cashier was Squirrel. He was slow and had to scan some items over and over until the barcode binged, but all in all he did a good job. He mostly made small talk with Sally Elle, asking how her day at Pre-K was and simple things like that. Oh and of course under the blue uniform vest he had to wear was his signature home-made squirrel fur vest complete with tail tassels. Dear lord he always had to wear his squirrel fur.
After buying some things for dinner I took Sally Elle home. I put my purchase in the kitchen before making her a snack consisting of some apple slices and peanut butter since that's what she asked for. I watched some cartoons with her for a while until it was time for me to start dinner.
So that's what I was currently doing, making dinner.
I was flipping over the porkchops in the frying pan whenever I heard the front door open and shut along with Sally Elle's excited shrill of, "Poppy, yer home!"
"Course I'm home. Just had'a work a bit late's all." I heard Tolbert tell his little girl with a warm and lightness laced in his velvet-gruff timbre.
"Ella makin' dinner." Sally Elle informed her poppy from her spot on the couch watching Doc McStuffin's.
"Oh." Tolbert let out before the sound of his bootsteps could be heard leaving the living room and entering the kitchen. "What'cha cookin'?" I heard Tolbert ask as he come to a stop right behind me. I knew he was right behind me cause I could feel his hot breath on my neck.
Tilting my head a bit to look at him over my shoulder I simply answered with one word, "Porkchops."
He pointed to the pan while asking, "Okay, but what's the sticky stuff in the pan?"
"The brown sugar maple glaze the porkchops are cooking in."
"Uh…why couldn't ya just fry 'em up like ma does? I ain't likin' no glaze, we don't eat no glaze either."
"Tolbert it's good. A plain fried up porkchop can be a bit dry. The glaze keeps it moist and adds flavor."
"Whatever." Tolbert rolled his eyes. "I think ya ruined a good piece o'pork, but yer the cook t'night." Oh wasn't he so sweet, insulting the cook.
Changing the subject, I told him, "I also made potato salad and green beans."
Tolbert just nodded his head before asking, "So dinner's almost done?"
I nodded, "Just about."
"Sally Elle, git in 'ere! Bout time t'et!" Tolbert shouted as he walked over to a cabinet, grabbing some plates out of it. As Tolbert placed the plates on the table Sally Elle appeared in the room. Silently she climbed up onto her booster seat while her father continued to set the table. "Ya want water, beer, pop?" Tolbert asked me as I turned off the stove.
"Pop's fine." I answered while transferring the glazed chops from a pan onto a serving plate.
I heard the fridge close as I grabbed the meat platter and the bowl of beans. As I walked over to the table I saw that Tolbert was sitting down next to Sally Elle and that he had our drinks set up for us. He had a beer while both me and his little girl had pop. I don't think that a 3-year old should be drinking Mountain Dew, but apparently Tolbert thought that it was fine. After grabbing the bowl of potato salad and bringing it to the table I sat down.
Tolbert said a quick grace before we started to divvy out the food and eat. I thought the food was good and I did a good job cooking, but apparently the McCoys were tough food critics.
"It sticky." Sally Elle complained as she grabbed a piece of her pork with her fingers. Eh, why was Tolbert letting her pick up the meat for with her hands. The little girl used a fork when she was at Uncle Perry and Roseann's house.
"That's cause of the glaze Ella slapped on it." Tolbert gruffly remarked as he cut a piece of his pork with more force then necessary.
"Oh." Sally Elle said before eating another piece.
"Do you like it?" I asked with a smile before going on to eat my own pork.
The little ginger girl shrugged, making her pigtails bounce, and said, "It okay."
Tolbert ate a forkful of the hot potato salad and then grabbed his bottle of beer. He took a long swig before gruffly snapping out, "Jesus, how much vinegar did ya toss the taters in?" Setting his beer bottle down he whistled out, "Damn, more vinegar then mayo, darlin'."
"It's not that much, just enough to make a mustard vinaigrette with." I explained before taking a bite out of my own serving of potato salad.
"Is there even any mayo in these taters?" Tolbert spat while pointing his fork at his serving of potatoes.
"Yes, there's some for creaminess." I explained between eating my food.
"Not a lot, can barely taste it. Just taste the damn mustard an' vinegar. Ya didn't even put 'nough egg in it. Few slices ain't 'nough." Tolbert complained gruffly, picking apart the way I made the potato salad. Lookin' at me with his nose scrunched up Tolbert spat, "Tastes like somethin' ya'd get ov'r in West Virginia."
Oh shit! Reckon my cooking did have more of a West Virginia flare to it then a Kentucky one considering for months on end I've been making meals for my boyfriend who's from West Virginia. Wait a second, I never really noticed that my taste buds favored West Virginia styled foods. I just thought that the recipes I've seen or read sounded good so I made them. Oh hell, no wonder Cap loves my cooking. It reminds him of his mama's.
The rest of dinner with Sally Ella and Tolbert went by a bit quietly with only small talk here and there about what the little ginger girl did in school. Once the meal was over Sally Elle took off into the living room leaving me and Tolbert behind in the kitchen to clean up.
"Even tho yer cookin' needs work, thank ya for the meal." Tolbert told me with a contradictory softness to his velvety gruff voice as he dried one of the freshly washed dishes that I just handed him.
"You're welcome, but I doubt my cooking's ever going to be up to your par." I told him, thanking him with an honest zinger.
"It could be, darlin', if ya asked mama to teach ya a thing or two."
"That's not happening, Tolbert. I can cook just fine without lessons from Sally."
"Eh, guess I'll be chuggin' down lotta beer when ya cook." The moody ginger told me, a smirk painted on his face.
I let out a long sigh before giving him a serious look and saying, "Talk bout you chugging down a lot of beer, I noticed your recycle bin's nearly full with beer bottles and it's only Wednesday. I know the thing got emptied on Monday too."
He crossed his arms over his chest, raising a brow up at me. "Yer point?"
"My point is, Tolbert, do you have a drinking problem?" I asked, washing the bowl the potatoes were in.
"No, I'm not a drunk. I just like the taste of a cold Bud after workin' hard makin' an' sellin' shine all day." Tolbert haughtily answered me, snatching the bowl from my hand. Drying it with a dish towel he asked in a wondering scoff, "Goddamnit, ya really think I'm a alcoholic?"
"I was just asking cause I saw all the bottles and got concerned."
"There's nothin' t'be concerned 'bout." Tolbert told me, his stormy eyes locking onto my cornflower ones, as he closed the space between us. "I promise, Ella, I don't gotta problem." He vowed in his smooth timbre as his calloused covered hand pushed a loose piece of my coppery hair behind my ear, away from my face.
I just nodded my head while staying silent. I didn't know what to say. A part of me wanted to believe him, but another part of me didn't. No way in hell was Tolbert not a nightly binge drinker with all of those bottles filling up his recycle bin.
I tried to turn away from Tolbert so that I could go back to washing up the dishes, but he stopped me by quickly pinning me against the sink counter. He placed a hand on the side of my cheek and kissed me, taking me by surprise since I wasn't expecting it. As his lips drifted over mine I stood still, my mind in a daze. Suddenly flashes of Cap went through my head and heart. Cap, I cared deeply for him and promised that I'd stay faithful to him. I couldn't just stand here and let Tolbert kiss on me.
I placed my hands on Tolbert's broad chest and pushed him away, causing him to look at me with confused filled eyes. Looking up into his puzzled stormy blues I softly told him in my flowing voice, "I'm sorry, but this can't happen."
"Why not?" He pressed, his eyes searching mine. Before I could answer him, he leaned his forehead against mine and whispered smoother then velvet, "I know ya love me. I can wait for ya t'love me as deep as I love ya. Ya know I can."
I knew I needed to tell him about Cap, but I couldn't. I didn't want to hurt Tolbert, as crazy as that sounds. I may not be madly in love with him, but a part of me still felt some sort of love for him. If I wasn't with Cap things could be different, but they weren't. Deep down I knew that I'd always run back to Cap and that wasn't fair to Tolbert. Tolbert deserves somebody to love him unconditionally and untainted. Of course, when I'm around Tolbert all those old feelings flow back into me, but they're not strong enough to cut the craving I have for Cap.
I could feel tears welling up in my eyes as I pushed Tolbert away. Shaking my head, I shakily told him, "It won't work. I don't know if I can love you the way you love me. Too much time had passed." And I started to move on with Cap back in Baltimore, something that I took up again after moving back to the Tug River Valley. "I'm sorry, but we can be good friends." I said before rushing off, leaving him alone at the sink with dirty dishes floating in soapy water.
As I ran into the living room Sally Elle spotted me and asked, "Ya leavin', Ella?"
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and blinked back any tears trying to spill out. I turned to look at Sally Elle and said, "Yea, sweetie, I gotta go home."
"Okay. Bye an' g'nite, Ella." The cute girl with the ginger pigtails innocently smiled at me from her spot at the coffee table coloring in her coloring book.
"Good night, honey." I warmly told the girl, who had wiggled her way into my heart, before going over to the hooks near the door to grab my blazer and purse.
I put my blazer on and slung my bag over my shoulder while Tolbert's loud curses could be heard from the kitchen accompanied by the loud crashing sounds of glass breaking. I walked out of the house, shutting the door, knowing that my rejection had made Tolbert break all of the dishes in the wash basin.
I feel like such a shitty person. I hurt Tolbert even though I didn't mean too. Damnit, why can't I just reciprocate his feelings? Why can't I love him enough? I mean I love him, but not with my everything. I feel so torn. I should love Tolbert, but I can't or at least not as deeply as I should. I should hate Cap cause he's a Hatfield, but I can't hate him cause I have such deep rooted feelings from him. I'm literally stuck between two men on opposing sides. I need to pick a side, but sadly I think I'm in denial about the fact that I seemed to have already picked a side.
AN:
Whew, wasn't this chapter full of goodies? Tolbert's trying to keep the love alive and get out of the friendzone. Novella realizes that she's leaning towards a certain man while Cap stirring the drama pot by telling Johnse about Sarah Elizabeth's surname and that he has rights. Oooo…..DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA! Drama's in the air, yay! Oh, did you guys get the Easter egg lol?