TMBA

CH 16

Fitz made his way downstairs ahead of Olivia, who had excused herself to the restroom only seconds after Harper exited the room. When he got the front door, he was met with the faces of his teenage cousins and niece.

"Anna, how are you?" Fitz smiled at the teenager who was flanked by cousins. Anna was the daughter of his brother, Roosevelt and his wife Trish. They weren't exactly the people he was most eager to see, but at the same time, this little reunion was pretty much because of his offspring so he figured he would put on a good face.

"Uncle Fizzy….I would ask you how you are doing, but the media pretty much told me all I need to know." Anna snarled at him as she dropped her bags at his feet and stepped over them. Her idiotic counterparts, who Fitz knew as Kate and Marley, followed suit and left a total of about 5 bags for him to carry.

If I wasn't the man I am now, I swear I would have snatched a knot in her little a-

His thoughts were cut off by his brother, Roosevelt calling his name.

"Fitz! How the fuck are you, dude?" He said as she made his way to Fitz. Fitz tensed a bit at his language, but decided to TRY to shake it off.

Fitz groaned silently, wishing he were anywhere but here and hoping he didn't have to put his brother and sister-in-law in their place. Trish reminded Fitz of a well-dressed lap dog, following her "owner" around in a circle and doing whatever needed to be done all while looking model like…

Well, everything EXCEPT raising their kid, Anna, who was clearly an accident.

Fitz just sighed.

"Rosie…how are you?" Fitz asked as he bent to pick up the discarded bags left by the devil's offspring. He knew calling his brother by this name would positively make his ass itch and he wanted to at least get the first punch in….

As childish as it was, Fitz didn't even care.

"I'm good. Glad to be out of the car with those cackling females! Man, I can deal with my own considering I have to, but those others? Nah, I'm good bro…speaking of females, I hear you-"

"I would think really hard about the next words that come out of your mouth." Fitz dropped his voice a few octaves and Trish stopped walking behind Roosevelt, both of them catching on to his tone.

"I didn't mean…never mind, dude. I wasn't gonna cross you like that. I was just gonna ask if she was here."

Fitz was NO IDIOT. He knew his brother and his snarky ways. He also knew that there were NO positive reasons behind him asking about Liv and could feel his blood begin to boil. Roosevelt and Fitz had been close as children, but as Roosevelt grew older and realized how much allowance they got a year THROUGH COLLEGE, not to mention what that money could by….well let's just say he started "feeling" himself too much.

"She is here…as a matter of fact…" Fitz turned around at the angelic voice of Olivia. He sighed inwardly, thinking "here we go…"

"Hi, I'm Olivia. It's nice to meet you." She extended her hand to Roosevelt and his wife while keeping her other arm snuggly around Fitz's waist. Liv could physically feel Fitz relax under her touch and wanted to pat herself on the back for that one.

"Olivia, the pleasure is all mine. My wife, Trish…" Roosevelt motioned for Trish to lean forward and shake Liv's hand.

"Ahhhh, I see where you daughter, Anna, gets her looks from. Speaking of, Anna?" Liv called behind her without losing eyesight with Trish and Roosevelt.

Anna came stomping back out the door, STILL flanked by her mean girl crew, and the crew grabbed their bags off the ground. Fitz stood still, a bit shocked as the girls grabbed all but 2 of their bags. Anna broke the silence.

"Uncle Fizzy, can you PULEEASE get the rest of our bags?" her tone was ANYTHING but polite, but the fact that she was actually asking had Fitz at a loss for words. Roosevelt and Trish seemed to be in a trance as well, watching their generally spoiled brat of a daughter succumb to the instruction of an adult.

"I'm sure he won't have an issue with that since you actually asked him this time. It's much more refreshing to see you ladies at least try to help getting your loads of bags in the house. As I was just telling your parents, I can definitely see where you get your….Looks...from." Liv finished with a smirk on her lips. The girls were steaming, but especially Anna. She looked like someone had flat out pissed in her cheerios and Liv had to bite her bottom lip to keep from bursting out into a laugh.

"Ah, well thank you, Olivia. If you will excuse us…" Roosevelt and his lap dog made their way into the house, leaving Fitz and Liv on the porch alone for a moment.

When the door closed, Fitz released a sigh and began to laugh. Liv just stood beside him, smiling like the cat that ate the canary and twisting from side to side with her hands linked behind her back.

"Livvie, really? How did you…"

"Fitz, you know me…well enough I hope to know that I will NOT tolerate such awfulness from a CHILD. I don't care how old you are or who you belong to…if I come across you acting foolish, it's over. Period. Harper could have told them that." She began to laugh.

Liv continued to tell him about how when the girls came inside, they were talking about Fitz, Liv, and Harper in not so nice tones and words. They girls seemed to have a vendetta out for the trio and were expressing their first battle win with the bag fiasco when Liv emerged from the stairs and burst their bubble.

"Ok. But they didn't come back at you? At ALL?" Fitz was in awe now.

"Fitz, baby…" Liv smiled as she moved in closer to him, placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Game recognize game, baby. Let's just say she knew better. I can't wait for her and Harper to meet…." She stated through laughter and turned to reenter the home.

Fitz followed behind her smiling to himself and feeling a bit more confident about everyone being under the same roof.

/

Harper stood her ground, one hand on her hip and the other hip popped slightly out. She was ready for battle and with the room as silent as could be, apparently everyone else was too.

"So, it's actually you, hunh? You actually had to audacity to show your face? You do realize you were a bastard of a child before a few months ago, right?" Anna asked as she went to push past Harper. Harper was indeed her mother's child. She knew how to school her face in order to not show emotion, but inside, she was beyond pissed.

Thirty eight hot would probably best describe her temper right now.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to make sure you were speaking to me." Harper kept her face stoic and her tone simple, but firm. Marley was the next to speak up.

"Well, she sure as hell wasn't talking about the chea pet standing next to you." All three girls snickered. The rest of the room remained silent. Moriah's cheeks grew hot and red and Harper felt her temper starting to rise a little more.

"What's up, brace face?" Kate chimed in. "did you want to say something?"

Harper looked over at Moriah, who kept her gaze at the floor. She looked around at the rest of the room, waiting on someone else besides her to speak up. When she realized no one else was going to speak, she took a deep breath and decided now was the time. Clearly either everyone else was afraid or waiting to see what kind of balls Harper actually had….

KING SIZE.

Harper took a few steps toward the trio and chuckled lightly. "Yeah, ok, so FIVE, the way you came in here, you might want to go back to the original cast of Mean Girls and get more lessons because that shit is SOOOOO played out. FOUR, when you walk past me again, it would behoove you to at least say excuse me because trust and believe I give NO FUCKS about wiping the floor with your dusty asses. THREE, Moriah is, at this very moment, none of your concern although if I were you, I would think twice about how her name and anyone else's comes out of your mouth again after right now. TWO, I was ACTUALLY going to talk to Mo about you guys and how we could possibly have a NICE time during this trip, but CLEARLY that is NOT going to happen, which brings to me to ONE…."

By now, Harper was in Anna and her click's faces and her tone was all but considered yelling.

"Who my parents are or are NOT, and who I do or don't belong to is NONE of your DAMN business so I suggest when you come at me, you do your homework and come correct."

Anna, Marley, and Kate all took a deep breath. Anna seemed to be the most disturbed by Harper's rant and was about to fix her lips to comeback when Katherine's voice drew the ladies out of their zone.

"Anna, sit down somewhere. It's a shame that I found you in exactly the place I figured I would when I came down here." Katherine was pretty much the only person Anna actually respected and listened to so when her Nana spoke, she listened and sat down, followed by her make up wearing minions.

"Harper, sweetheart, come with me. Moriah, your parents are looking for you, dear."

Harper took a step back from Anna, but didn't take her eyes off of her until she was turned by Katherine. As soon as she did, Katherine noticed the same fire in her eyes that she had seen in Fitz's as a child. She did her best to channel her amusement, but as soon as she went to escort Harper and Moriah out of the room, Anna tried her luck again.

"So, you aren't gonna say anything back to her? She cursed me, Nana!" Anna tried to bring fake tears to her eyes. The sound of her voice made Harper want to turn around again, but Katherine pushed her out the door and up the stairs before responding to Anna.

"As well she should have. You had better be glad it was her and not me because mine would have included tagging your hide, young lady!" Katherine hissed. Anna gulped and sat back, clearly sulking.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Moriah excused herself to go join her parents. Harper wished she could have said something to her, hoping she didn't offend her by taking up for her. Katherine insisted Harper join her in her husband's study. After the door closed, Harper turned to face Katherine and took a deep breath, bracing herself for the tongue lashing she was going to receive.

"Harper, sweetheart, I have only just met you today. As the Matriarch of this family, I simply cannot condone such behavior, especially from a young lady." Katherine's face was stone straight and her tone was clipped. Harper felt her heart sink, tears already beginning to surface in her eyes. She had already failed her new family and couldn't do anything about it.

Katherine shocked her when she continued in a softer voice.

"…But, as your grandmother, I say right on, girlfriend. You are clearly the missing piece to the youth in this family. No one ever stands up to those three, and I heard each and every word you said. I wish there hadn't been as many sailor's words in there, but nevertheless, I am more than proud of you, sweetheart." Katherine walked toward Harper as she spoke and Harper allowed tears to stream down her face.

Katherine wiped her eyes with her apron and continued to speak.

"You know, when you father was your age, he didn't take too lightly to someone being bullied either. He actually got into physical altercations because of it. He didn't take any foolishness off of anyone and this made him stick out like a sore thumb. I suppose shouldn't be surprised since you are his spitting image, but I can't help but wonder how much of that came from your gem of a mother."

"I'm sorry, Nana Katherine. I didn't mean to disrespect-"

"Oh, sweet girl, you are ok. I'm just proud of your for standing up for yourself and Moriah back there. I know what you have been through and let's just say Moriah hasn't had the easiest road coming up recently either.

Harper nodded, filing that info away for later.

"Stop all there tears. I'm not upset with you, baby. Just promise me after you calm down and they settle in their new places, you will try once more to get along with them before this trip ends?" Katherine smiled at her. Harper nodded and Katherine kissed her temple, pulling her in for an embrace.

Harper released a deep breath. Crisis avoided….

For now…

AN: so, what did you think? I feel like Harp could have snapped a little harder, but as long as the terrible trio learned their lessons, she won't have to do that again. Do you think they will give up?

Any predictions on the rest of this trip? I'm not one for much drama, so just trust and believe that unless I'm in the cliffhanger mood, all drama/angst in a chapter will be nipped in the bud that chapter from here on out. This trip should last at least 2 more chapters and this story has between 5-7 more chapters left in it.

BTW, I really miss TFTH! It was my baby and I plan to update it soon…I actually do work 2 jobs though, so it will HOPEFULLY be one day this weekend….

Happy Reading!
XOXO