All familiar characters belong to Janet. Mistakes are solely mine.
"What are you doing here, Mom?" Valerie asked Helen, while she used her body to block the front door so her mother can't physically barge in despite the clear emotional ambush that she'd planned to carry out. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you after the silent treatment I was treated to for telling you to lay off Dad for at least a freakin' minute. And I certainly did not tell you that Stephanie was coming over here today."
"Of course you didn't. I had to hear about this visit from Angie Morelli."
"You've got to be kidding me? You're still polite to that woman after her son, other family members, or girlfriends of, have stalked your own daughter even while your granddaughter was there some of those times?"
"Angie Morelli just lost her son, Valerie. And she believes that man sitting inside your home right now is the reason Joseph died that day," we all could hear Mrs. Plum say. "She had a few things to say on the subject."
I threaded my fingers through my wife's to stop her when she shot to her feet, not only at the accusation that I murdered Morelli, but that her mother happily sat there and listened to it.
"Let Helen dig her own grave, Babe. What she says or thinks doesn't matter to me."
"It sure as hell matters to me! How dare she defend the Morellis, but attack us? All we tried to do was live our life away from the fucking bunch of them, and we end up being the bad guys instead of the people who are actually bad. What the hell?"
"You could call it a personality defect. Your mother needs to believe certain things in order to keep her view of herself - and of her carefully constructed world - intact. What she says isn't about us exactly. For her conscience to remain clear of any wrongdoing involving you, she has to accuse you, me, or both of us, of deserving whatever we get so she can maintain the paragon of virtue role she's fabricated. If she ever admits that she failed at being a wife and a mother, she'll implode while she's exploding the world around her."
"I'd say that's friggin' insane, but I've spent decades questioning and analyzing my mother's behavior, so I can see the truth in what you're saying. It's still crazy though."
"Certifiably," I agreed. "I prefer to deal in facts and the consequences of them myself."
"All the more reason why you shouldn't be talking to her, Mom," Valerie was saying to her mother when we tuned back into their discussion. Valerie's voice is getting much stronger and also a lot louder. "How could you sit there and let her insult family. Don't even, Mom. Ranger's a part of ours and accusing him of anything isn't going to get you any sympathy or brownie points. If you ask me, I say good riddance to Joe … after the way he was harassing Stephanie up until Mooch smartened up and got him the heck out of town. Joe died the same way he lived, by being stupid. What if Olivia had been in the car that time Stephanie's was hit? Would you still be defending that family if Olive had been hurt in that crash?"
"You can hardly blame Joseph for what some woman did, Valerie," Helen argued. "He wasn't there and didn't even know it happened until one of his officers told him."
"The only reason 'some woman' knew about Steph is because Joe was obsessed with her and couldn't shut his yap about her, making everyone he was with totally jealous of her. That's also why Mooch tried to blame Ranger and Steph for Joe's death. Why is Stephanie getting crap for doing nothing except falling in love with Ranger and having a beautiful baby girl with him? If I can't blame Joe for what his skank did to my sister, then you can't blame Steph for what happened to Joe. Go home before she decides she can't come to my house anymore because of you. She was nice enough to humor me and come look at the kitchen I'm so proud of myself for painting all by myself, she's not going to be punished for being a good sister by having to put up with you. I'm not letting you drive a wedge between us like you've done in the past."
"You know, Val just may be the perfect sister after all," Steph whispered to me with a genuinely happy smile on her face.
After three decades of being 'the problem' in the Plum family, my wife is enjoying the fact that she's not alone anymore. Others have begun seeing Helen for the manipulative string-puller, drama-starter, and relationship-sabotager she is. Steph was just about to sit back down beside me and let Valerie send their mother on her way, until she heard a voice joining her sister's and mother's conversation.
"It's time to go, Helen," Frank tried to quietly say. "You've said enough."
Unfortunately for him, Steph knows he's here.
"I guess now is as good a time as any to deal with this," she said to me, before she turned to head straight for the still Val-blocked door.
"I knew you had a reason for asking my parents to watch Olivia instead of letting her come over here with us," I said, right on her heels. "You knew as well as I did that there was a ninety-six-percent chance your mother would show up."
"Yup. That and I still don't trust the paint claiming it doesn't give off stuff that'll hurt her little lungs. And also as predicted, I'm just annoyed enough to deal with this mess."
She stopped short behind her older sister and wrapped both arms around me for an anchoring presence I'd guess.
"Val," my wife said when she was ready to end this, "go ahead and let them in. It's okay."
"Steph, I swear I didn't tell them you were here. I wouldn't do that to you."
"I know. I also know the Burg. Someone was going to rat me out the second they recognized me or Ranger in your driveway."
"And you came anyway?" My sister-in-law asked, still not sure she should let their parents in.
"Yes. It may be hard to believe, but I love you and my nieces. I'm not letting anyone prevent me from visiting you or them whenever I want to. Did you drive Mom here?" Steph shifted gears and asked Frank over Valerie's shoulder.
He froze for a full two seconds before answering. "No," he finally said. "Once I realized that her car was gone after she got that call saying you and Ranger were here, I was afraid she'd shoot over here and make things worse."
"She came, she accused, and she didn't seem interested in leaving," I informed him.
"I figured as much. I'm really sorry about this. I should've been smart and popped a spark plug out while she was still on the phone."
"You're not responsible for what Mom does, Dad. I keep trying to tell you that," my wife told her father.
"I should've stopped her,'' he told us. "I'm sorry."
"She should be sorry. Even more, she should've respected her daughters' relationship and stayed home," I said to Frank.
"This is a family discussion that really doesn't concern you," Helen said in my general direction.
"I disagree. When are you going to realize that controlling your family isn't what normal people strive for? Loving them, and being loved by them, is."
"Awww," Valerie said. "Ranger looks like that and still says stuff like that … you're one heck of a lucky woman, Steph. I love Albert and all, but even I'll say ... he ain't Ranger."
"Kloughn definitely isn't like my guy, not many are, but Albert loves you, Val. That's the important thing," my wife said. "Knowing that someone like Ranger could love me, had me seeing what's actually lovable about me."
"Everything about you is lovable, Steph. More people should see that," I said to my wife, while giving what Julie would call 'side eye' to my in-laws.
"I love my daughters," Frank stated, as I'd hoped he would.
"That's easy to say. You need to prove it to both of them now," I added.
"Are you going to let him talk to you like that, Frank?" Helen demanded. "Stephanie, do something."
"I am doing something, Mom," my wife replied. "If you won't leave, we will. When Albert comes home with the girls, you all could meet us for dinner at a place to be determined on the phone and out of grapevine earshot, Val. Dad, you're welcome to leave with us now and join us for dinner later if you want, since my gut believes you came here to protect us, not to save Mom."
Valerie visibly relaxed, knowing that Stephanie hasn't been lying. She actually sees Helen's actions separate than what everyone else chooses to do.
"I hate for you to leave because of this, but I'd honestly love a family night out," Valerie told Steph. "Will Olive be there?"
Steph grinned. "I don't know. I'll ask her when we get home. She's always got things to do and important people to see. Do you want to follow us back to Rangeman, Dad? We can have the first of what I'm guessing will be many talks, if you're up to it."
"What are you trying to prove, Stephanie?" Helen asked. "You won't be happy until your father hates me as much as you do, will you?"
"I don't hate you, Mom. I hate what you do. There's a difference ... which you could do something about if you cared about Val, Dad, and I, beyond what we can do for you. I know you can't fathom the concept, but this really has nothing to do with you. I'm fully prepared to have a relationship with Dad totally apart from the crap between you and me. I'm only asking if he wants that." It broke my heart the way she hesitated before meeting her father's eyes. "I won't cut you out of my life unless you decide not to let me into yours, Dad. The choice is yours. But keep in mind that this is the last time you'll be given an opportunity to make it."
