"You took her to Joe Beaufort's house?!"
A few days had passed since Cath and Daisy had been invited over for a movie marathon with the Beauforts. Viona had gotten suspicious of their actual whereabouts that day when Daisy somehow knew all the plot beats of a new movie she wanted to show her. She had confronted Cath for details, and soon enough, the truth came out.
"He invited us! You know I hate turning down invitations!"
Viona turned her attention to Daisy. "Did he do anything to you, lovey?"
"No," said Daisy, a bit frightened at her mother's anger. "He was really nice, and gave us snacks."
"What about his daughter?" Viona pressed further. "Did she look hurt?"
"No."
"Scared?"
"No!"
Viona looked back up at Cath. "I cannot believe you would bring our daughter into the home of a predator who abuses his daughter!"
"Now you wait right there, Viona," said Cath, straightening her back. "I would never let my children be near someone who I thought was hurtful. I trust Joey, and I know that he would never abuse his daughter, or mine, or me."
"What are you yelling about?!" Claire stomped down the stairs into the kitchen. "I'm trying to record a video!"
"I've learned that Cath cannot be trusted to take Daisy anywhere," said Viona, her voice smothered in cold venom.
Claire lowered her phone. "What did she do?"
Viona huffed. "She brought Daisy over to play good neighbours with the Beauforts."
Claire's jaw dropped. "Are you freaking kidding me, Cath?! You saw all that and you don't care?"
Cath gave her a stern look. "Claire, you told a lie that day. You told me that Joey was hurting his daughter and she was taking it out on you, but when we got to school, it turned out that you were bullying her."
"Don't change the subject," spat Claire, "he literally cannot stop touching her."
"I give you hugs and kisses, does that mean I'm abusing you?"
That made Claire go quiet.
"And I did not like your comment that Joey only married his husband because he was desperate and couldn't find a woman. Do you think I'm desperate and couldn't find a man because I married your mother?"
After another moment of stunned silence, Cath plucked the phone out of Claire's hand. "I shouldn't have let your mother talk me out of grounding you when we got home after that meeting."
"No," said Viona, intercepting. "I'm her mother, I have final say."
"And I'm not?" Cath whirled around at her wife, her eyes constricted with fury. "You share all the responsibilities with me, but when I actually need to guide her, suddenly I need to step back because I'm not her mother?!" She gave both of them a cold look, and, with Claire's phone in hand, left the kitchen and went upstairs to her room.
The next morning, after checking to see that Claire and Viona weren't around to notice, Cath took Daisy out to get breakfast at a coffee shop. When she got there, she found Joey already there with Katrina and his husband. After getting their food, they went to sit with them. "Hi, Joey, Trina."
"Salut encore, Cath," said Joey. "Nous avons un petit déjeuner spécial pour bienvenue mon mari en retour." (Hello again, Cath. We're having a special breakfast to welcome my husband home.) He then noticed Cath's crestfallen expression. "Qu'est-ce qui se passe?" (What happened?)
Cath sighed. "I had a falling out with Viona last night. I just don't understand what happened between our families."
"Claire started lying," said Katrina. "She's upset because she doesn't have the kind of bond with you and your wife that I have with Dad and Vati, so she had to find some way to feel like she's better than me."
Cath shook her head. "I want to be close to Claire, but…you know, being a stepparent is hard. I never know when I'm overstepping, and…there are times where I don't really feel like her mother."
"Frau…" (Ma'am…) Joey's husband sat up a little straighter. "Stiefvater zu werden war eine meiner größten Sorgen, als ich Joseph heiratete. Obwohl ich Katrina fast ihr ganzes Leben lang kenne, konnte ich mir nicht vorstellen, ihre Eltern zu sein." (Becoming a stepfather was one of my biggest concerns when I married Joseph. Although I've known Katrina almost all her life, I still couldn't imagine being her parent.)
He took Joey's hand. "Aber sobald dieser Knoten geknüpft war, fühlte es sich an wie das Normalste aller Zeiten. Ich denke, das ist das Problem; Du darfst Claire nicht genug Zeit haben, um dich wie ihre Eltern zu fühlen." (But after that knot was tied, it felt like the most normal thing ever. I think that's the problem; you don't have enough time with Claire to feel like her parent.)
Daisy pulled herself up on her knees to reach the table. "Why does Sissy tell lies?"
"She's jealous," said Katrina. "She wants my life, so she wants to tear me down to her level."
"Jealous?!"
Everyone at the table jumped. Viona and Claire had found Cath and Daisy.
Claire came to the table to confront Katrina. "You think I want your life, with parents who use me and beat me?!"
"Beat me?!" Katrina's face started to go red. "Dad and Vati never hit me!"
"Oh, and I suppose you got those bruises on your arms from getting caught in an elevator door," quipped Claire, gesturing to the twin bruises on Katrina's biceps.
"No, I got these because I took up boxing a few weeks ago," said Katrina, glaring. "Didn't you hear about how the brash and mighty Aran Ryan fell to sweet li'l Chaton Cheri?"
"Yeah, like you could ever win a boxing match. You can't solve any of your problems without running to Daddy." Claire stood up straight and glared down at Katrina.
"Lass meine Tochter in Ruhe." (Leave my daughter alone.) Von Kaiser gave Claire an equally stern look.
Daisy moved in closer to Cath. "Mummy, she's mean."
Cath looked up at Viona and furrowed her brow. "I won't listen to your daughter's lies. Joey is a nice man, and he never hurt his daughter or anyone else." She picked Daisy up. "I'll be spending the day at my mother's." With that, she collected their half-eaten breakfast into a little takeaway bag and left the coffee shop. Not long after, Von Kaiser corralled his family to do the same.
When the three got home, they finished their breakfast in the kitchen. "Je suis désolé, Viktor," Joe mumbled solemnly. "Je veux seulement faire quelque chose de gentil pour toi." (I'm sorry, Viktor. I only wanted to do something nice for you.)
Von Kaiser shook his head. "Es war nicht deine Schuld, Joseph." (It wasn't your fault, Joseph.) He turned to Katrina. "Oder deine." (Or yours.) When they were finished eating, he gestured for them to come closer, and held them in a tight hug.
"I hope Claire isn't in any of my classes this year," said Katrina.
"Ich hoffe um deinetwillen, dass sie es auch nicht ist," said Von Kaiser. (I hope for your sake that she isn't, either.)
