Coming in Waves

Chapter 6: Zeke

Devina just stormed out of her study leaving me to calm the pack of wolves. I look at them and they are all staring at the door. I sit down in her chair and wait for them to calm down. Mark was the first of them to sit down and then the rest of them followed. Max still stared at the door, hoping she would come back in. I always thought that their relationship would go back to normal. Back to the way it was before Lorelei died and before Lucas. They were quite a team before, a force to be reckoned with. One time, long ago, they even shared the same side of the courtroom. Devina, whether she wants to admit it or not, misses the relationship she once had with her father. He finally sits down and looks at me. No matter what is going on with Max, I still have my reservations with him, be we have a truce.

"Maybe you shouldn't have hit her." I say and smirk at him. His head goes down and her siblings look shocked.

"He hit the prodigal daughter… oh the mighty have fallen." Lucinda says

"Shut up Lucy. Not an hour ago did she beat you to a pulp." Mark says in defense of Devina which surprises me. He tried to get in touch with her when Lucas was two but Devina pushed him away.

"Nevertheless, I need all of you by my side." Max says which just angers me. "All of my children and their families. I'm at a disadvantage by my wife being dead already, but in a way that can make me stronger."

"Are you serious?" I ask and he looks at me. "So, what? You crack a whip and we're all supposed to come to your side like broken horses? You know as well as I do that if Devina heard what you just said she would call the mental asylum herself."

"Well I'm not talking to Devina, I'm talking to all of you. I need her there Zeke."

"We have lives, we have jobs and most importantly we have Lucas. Are we just supposed to leave him here just because you believe he ruined your life?" I ask in my condescending tone that Devina hates.

"Yes. That thing is an abomination. I'm still baffled that you two took him in rather than leave him on the streets where all the murderous people are." Lucinda says which makes me want to punch her in the face and bury her alive.

"Can you be quiet!" Mark yells at her. "What the hell is wrong with you? No matter what he did, he is still a person."

"why don't we all just take the night to calm down." Walden says. "Let's just go back to the hotel and calm down. We can have dinner tomorrow."

"What makes you think that Devina will agree to any of this?" I ask getting everyone's attention. "No matter what any of you say, she will get final say on any of this."

"What makes you so sure about any of this? She doesn't control this family." Max says while standing up.

"I am sure because that's who Devina is. She has the final say on everything, and not to mention, she hold all of your secrets." I say and smirk. "All of your secrets really."

"She wouldn't do that. Expose who Lucas' parents really are. It would hurt his precious little feelings." Lucinda says confidently.

"I really don't know what she could do, but I do know this. She despises all of you and will do possibly anything to ruin all of your lives." I say and she storms out with Max behind her. Walden and whatever the brunette's name is follow.

"I don't care." Mark says while looking me in the eyes. "She's my sister and I love her."

"Love her? You ruined her."

"I was 24. I was kid who had just lost his mother."

"People are parents at 24; your sister was a parent at 18. Why would you dare suggest that you weren't mentally stable to handle something like that?"

"Zeke, my mom had just died."

"You act as if Devina was the only one that didn't lose a mother, she did too."

"I tried helping her. She would hear it. I tried helping her financially, I even tried seeing him."

"I know, but if you knew Devina at all, you would know that she wouldn't forgive you with the amount of time that you allotted her to forgive."

"I have been trying for the past nine years. Every Christmas, every birthday. She didn't let me in."

"What?" I asked perplexed with that idea. She never told me that he tried every year, she just told me about the time when he was two.

"Just, tell her I'm sorry again. We're having dinner at the Plaza at six. Please make her come, you guys can even bring Lucas." He says and grabs his coat. He reaches the door and turns back. "Thank you, by the way. Thanks for being his dad. From what I can see, you are doing one hell of a job."

"Wait." I say and pull out my wallet. I walk towards him and hand him a picture of Devina, Lucas and I at his concert. "I think you deserve to at least have a picture of us."

"Thank you." He says and just like that he's gone. I walk back to the kitchen and the family room. I see Devina with a glass of vodka in her hands leaning on the beam. She was looking at all of our friends and their strange attempts to make him laugh. I hug her from behind and she turns around.

"Well, you pulled out the hard liquor." I say and look at the cup.

"I thought it was a special occasion. Meeting with ghosts doesn't happen everyday." She says and takes a sip. "Pizza's good." She says as she pulls me to the kitchen. She gets me a slice and puts it on a napkin and hands me it. I take a bite and look at her.

"So why didn't you tell me?" I ask and she looks at me with a confounded look on her face. "About Mark and his attempts to see Lucas."

"I didn't think it was important." She says and takes another sip. "He's been trying for a long time, but I didn't know how to react to it. So I didn't."

"I'm here for a reason, and one of them is for you to talk to." I say and put down the pizza. I move closer to her. I could feel her warmth that is coming off of her skin and I could smell the alcohol from her breath. I push her hair back and I kiss her neck slowly moving up and whispering "I Love You." With every breath.

"I love you too." She says as I reach her lips. She put down the drink and was now hugging my waist. "I know that you're always there for me. It's just, I don't even want to face my family. They are all so demonic, I cant believe I'm related to any of them."

"Well, I'll be your angel."

"You already are." She says and kisses my lips. She released and got herself another glass of wine and we walked to where our friends were. They are now playing charades and I think X was trying to act like a surfboard or he was just playing dead. The festivities ended around ten for Lucas, so Devina and I walked up the stairs. We reached the second floor and went to his room. He got changed into his pajamas and went into bed.

"Why didn't you tell me mom?" Lucas asked Devina and she let out a sigh.

"You know that the men in my life need to stop asking me that question." She responds and I just laugh.

"Or maybe you just need to stop keeping secrets from the men in your life." I say and Lucas laughs.

"Dad's right mom." Lucas says and she just rolls her eyes. She kisses his head and I give him a high five. We walk back downstairs to where our friends were and they were all cleaning. It's the thing for Friday night dinners. Everyone makes the mess, everyone cleans up.

"So, what'd you tell him?" Theo asks me as we pick up the pizza boxes from the family room. I just told all of the guys what just happened and they were as baffled as I was "You know, about Mark and Lucinda."

"We didn't tell him anything because he never asked." I say and walk to the kitchen.

"What do you think about the whole thing?" X asks me.

"I think it's D's family. If mom said something than yes, it would be my call to make, but since it's her family it's her call. So whatever she does I will support."

"Thank you Zeke." Devina says as we enter the kitchen. I guess the girls have been pestering her about it too. "You know, It's pretty late. You can all go home, Zeke and I will finish up tonight."

"How about we all stay over. It's like one really long slumber party. I mean, we all have cloths here." Lane says and Trisha immediately nods.

"Is it okay with you Devina?" X asks and she looks at me.

"Yeah, it's cool with us." I say and she smiles. We all finish up and go to our rooms. The entire place is huge and even with everyone in it; we still have three extra rooms. Devina falls into bed and I go to the bathroom and change. I get into my boxers and I jump into bed. I wrap my arms around D and we talk about what happened in the room after she left. She was calm while taking in the information.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow. I'm really tired." She says and kisses my hand. "Goodnight love."

"Goodnight. I love you." I say but I think she is long gone by then. I snuggle up to her and fall asleep.