"Oh...this is all my fault!" Cecily groaned. "Henry said I could use the whisky to make some marinade for dinner tonight. I totally forgot how important it was to put it securely away."
"What fault is it of yours?!" Helga asked angrily. "It's all on Miriam for being such a screw up! And it's all on you for bringing her here."
"What?" Olga mouthed softly, in surprise, as Helga gave her an accusatory glare.
"We were doing just fine before Miriam showed up! Then you brought here in and she can't even go a few weeks without the bottle!"
"So what do you want me to do?!" Olga hissed, surprising everyone and herself.
"Dump her back on Bob! It's not our problem! I warned you! I warned you!"
"OK, you warned me!"
"Now just hold it, you two." Penelope sighed, rubbing her temples. "Just wait until Henry and Louis get back before I have to treat you both for battle wounds."
The two sisters looked at her and stopped squabbling. Then, they all heard the door open, and their faces brightened into rays of hope. They rushed into the foyer.
"Hey all!" Henry chuckled. "You'll never guess what we just got at the..." He stopped when he saw angst etched on their faces. "Well, I'm guessing this isn't because you're anxious about what your Christmas presents might be. What's going on?"
"Louis! Thank God!" Olga ran into his arms, crying. He looked flabbergasted.
Miriam was slowly coming-to. The hangover would be bad. She heard the basement door creaking. Louis slowly walked down the stairs and Miriam's hairs stood up all over her body. She felt like a helpless zebra facing a lion, with nowhere to run. He silently sat beside her on the couch, expressing nothing, withholding everything. He didn't even look at her, just toward the wall.
"I...I..." She stammered.
"Sorry?" Louis answered monotonically. "You knew my terms. You decided to break them and bring great stress to your daughters."
"But I...let me..."
"And I told Helga you weren't the enemy. I believed in you more than she did. AND NOW YOU MADE ME LOOK LIKE A DAMN FOOL!" Louis growled.
Miriam yelped. She'd never heard him raise his voice.
"If you'll just please let me explain..."
"Why should I?!" Louis chuckled haughtily. "If you care that little about your own health and daughters, why should I care about you?"
"Louis...I..."
"Don't even look at me!" He snapped back. "Why should I even get mad...?" He snickered to himself, calming down. "All I have to do is throw you out, right?"
"Louis!"
His eyes constricted for a split second before he turned to look at the top of the staircase.
"Mom...why are you standing there?"
"May I have a word with you?"
Louis rolled his eyes and walked up the steps. The march continued, up to the second floor, and into the home office, accruing stares from everyone in the house along the way.
"Alright, what's the deal, mom? This is none of your business."
"I'm just trying to make sure you do the right thing."
"So let me get this straight..." Louis snickered. "You're trying to tell me what I can or cannot do in my own house?!"
"No, I'm not saying what you can't do." Cecily replied. "But you're not a cruel person. I didn't raise you to be. So I want you to think carefully before you act."
"We had an agreement. She violated it. If I don't put my foot down, she'd just take further advantage of my generosity in the future, and I'd lose face with Olga and Helga. God knows it's about time someone started looking out for them. You weren't there to see the environment they grew up in."
"No, I wasn't, but think about this for a moment - maybe that environment was just as bad for her, and even for her husband, as it was for them?"
"What are you getting at?"
"I'm saying, maybe we should let her explain what happened, and then maybe we can take a less hot-headed approach. Any decision made in the heat of emotion is probably incorrect. You know this."
Louis sighed. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because sometimes, people have more potential than it seems, but just need the right kind of support. Or need I remind you what you were like before Henry whipped you into shape?"
"..." Louis growled underneath his teeth.
"You became the man you are now because you had his support, right? And it isn't like it was easy for you. Then maybe..."
"Alright. Fine, mom. You win. We'll give her a chance to explain herself. Then we'll all decide what to do."
Getting the family together was an awkward experience. With Henry and Penelope it was easy enough, but Cecily's patient council was needed to its highest degree among the Pataki women, and Louis couldn't hide his own reluctance.
"Alright, Miriam." Louis sighed. "You have one chance. Explain yourself. You better tell us the whole truth. Then we'll all decide what to do."
"...OK." She sighed, her head drooping. "I was at Budnick's in the electronics department looking for things Olga and Helga might like and there, I ran into...Bob."
Olga gasped. "You ran into daddy?"
"Yes, completely by chance. And you know how he can get. You know it better than anyone, Olga."
Olga's head drooped and Louis rubbed her back in reassurance, knowing that this brought up painful childhood memories. Even Helga, knowing the same thing, drooped her head too, before glaring at Miriam instinctively.
"And well...I just saw the whisky and..."
"THAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?!" Helga burst out with an intense ferocity that even took her by surprise.
"I...I...don't know..."
"Helga!" Penelope scolded - another surprise.
"But Penelope..." She trailed, hurt. "We agreed that if she fell off the wagon she'd be out!"
"Helga, I know what this is like. I've treated patients for addiction." She replied, trying to assuage her. "I can't tell you how to run your own house...but I do know that most of the time, overcoming addiction isn't a straightforward process. It's really important for patients to have the right support during those low times."
Louis tapped his fingers together. "Noted." He replied grimly to the silent room.
"Miriam, this doesn't excuse your method of coping with the problem. That's what got you here in the first place." Cecily spoke. "But I think we understand more now. It should also mean that we don't cast you off where you'll inevitably just to go back to the source of the problem. Think about it, Louis, and you girls. If she doesn't get support from her own family, then who can she turn to?"
Louis grumbled. Helga outright growled.
"Mommy, I understand your impulse, but what you did really hurt us. I wish you would have thought about Helga and me more or at least told us what happened before you did what you did."
Olga's harshness was the latest surprise.
"You...you...weren't home...you know that!"
"And you couldn't have waited for us?!" Olga snapped back.
"Honey...you just don't understand...! I heard his loud voice, over and over, and over..."
Olga sighed, relenting. "I remember what that was like..."
"Just listen to you, Olga!" Helga screamed. "She promised you that she was going to change and at the first sign of trouble, she just goes right back to the bottle! That was part of the old life Louis got us away from, remember?! Louis, if you don't make good on your word, I don't know what we'll do..." Helga began to tear up.
A chill went down Miriam's spine. She knew she was teetering. Helga wanted her gone. Even Olga might agree. And if Olga agreed, what would stop Louis from kicking her out? Cecily and Penelope didn't live in the house, after all.
Suddenly, Henry rose to speak, and all went silent again. Miriam understood what everyone else did, even if she didn't know Henry that well. Because of how much Louis respected and adored Henry, it was obvious that his opinion would carry the most weight, especially since the scales were now slightly tipping against her. It wouldn't take much to tip them past the edge. On the other hand, they weren't so far from reach that Henry couldn't still tip them back in her favor.
Her fate was in his hands.
"In my line of work, we don't leave room for mistakes or quitters." He explained. "In training, you ring the bell and it's over. You decided to quit. If you decide to quit elsewhere, or make a mistake in the field, it's much worse than that. You're dead. One mistake, one quitter, doesn't just affect you, it affects your entire team."
Helga was nodding furiously.
"But..." Henry looked at her and trailed off. "Not everything is like that. The reason we go to such trouble and commit to such a lifestyle is so that our loved ones and our countrymen don't have to. If one mistake were to doom everyone at home, much less those suffering from some kind of addiction, this country would be a dark place indeed - and we would create that disaster on our own accord. I don't think we need to do that here. Penelope and mom are right about how this goes. Proper support through the hard times is essential. And it's the same way in my world, too. Nobody does anything without help."
Miriam stiffened when he suddenly turned to her.
"Miriam, I trust that this experience has been a wake up call for you. While I don't think you should be ruined for one mistake, I'm sure you understand that you can't expect to keep making them and still retain favor. This better scare you straight. That means you need to find other ways to deal with your problems and turn your life around. Seek further support. Fortunately, my mom seems to like you. I suggest you make the most of it. And it also means, Helga, that we should stay by her side as long as she wants to get better, which she does, judging by how much she regrets her actions. Trust me, you can't fake that."
Olga drooped her head. "You suddenly made me feel guilty, Henry."
"Alright, you win, Henry. You can thank him and my mom for saving you, Miriam. I really did intend to throw you out, you know. I trust that in addition to your own daughters, you won't disappoint them. You owe them big time."
Miriam glanced up at Henry and drooped her head again. Helga groaned.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone. Just a few chapters left.