Chapter 5 Is it Impossible?

"Thank you." The waiter nodded and walked away. Roy took one of the buns they had just given him and broke a piece off. It tasted sweet, almost like…honey.

"Hey, Cee, are you…" his voice trailed off. Celia was looking rather forlorn; her gaze was directed at a random part of the floor. While her hands were on the table, they were nowhere close to her plate or her glass of water. They just laid on the table, empty.

Roy blinked. She was probably upset over not being able to see her cousin and aunt arrive. Realizing this, Roy's heart sank. Why did he have to be so selfish? Why couldn't he have waited for another day? Seeing your long estranged family for the first time in your life was a pretty big deal! Roy should know; he only recently met mother, his stepfather, and his twin half siblings.

Roy bit his lip. Man, why was he so dumb? He broke off a piece of the honey bread and handed it to Celia. "Hey. Try some of this; it's really good."

Celia slowly directed her gaze toward the piece of bread. "Thanks," she said quietly. She took it and bit into it. "You're right; it is good." Her glassy gaze and whispery inflection caused the arteries leading to Roy's heart to constrict.

"I'm sorry."

Celia lifted her head. "For what?"

Roy cringed. "That I'm keeping you from meeting your family."

Celia sighed. "It's okay. Honestly, that's only part of the reason I'm upset."

Roy blinked. "You mean there's more?"

Celia nodded. She traced circles along the surface of her place setting with her finger. "I know you didn't see this, but my Mom was really stressed out this morning. She and Singe were scrambling trying to get the house under control." Her gloom grew stronger. "She actually had tears in her eyes. I don't know if she noticed though; she was too busy."

Roy's lower lip sank. "Man. She must have been really on edge." Roy couldn't even imagine a time where he would experience those types of emotions.

"Mmhm." Celia pulled her hand away when the waiter came back with Chicken Gnocchi soup. She took a tiny bite of it as the waiter left. "It makes me wonder if I was right to go down there."

Roy twirled his spaghetti around on his fork. "Really?"

"Yeah," Celia said as Roy took a bite of Mario's favorite meal. "I mean, Mom and my Aunt Alicia have been in a heated feud for a while, if what she has told me about her was any indication." Her face sank, the happiness slipping away like soup through a fork. "My aunt actually screamed when she saw me me for the first time."

Roy nodded; this was a fact that he was already very much aware of. "That probably doesn't make you feel good."

"No. You're right, it doesn't." Celia curled a strand of her hair over her left ear. "But knowing that I have a broken family doesn't make me feel good either. I mean…" Celia bit her lip. "Family is very important to me."

Roy pursed his lip. This was a very true fact about Celia Patch. Born as an amalgamation between two very different species, very different worlds, she always felt like she didn't have a lot to claim as her own. Being bullied in school, having lived life in a sewer, and being rejected by her paternal grandmother, Celia was a person that just didn't fit into reality, into ANY form of reality, human or koopa. She was, for all intents and purposes, a paradox.

That was why she valued family as much as she did. For the longest time, all she had was her mother. It wasn't until recently that she met her father, as well as get an opportunity to meet her extended family. And this was all thanks to Roy himself.

Realizing this, Roy felt his face grow warm. He realized that he was so important to Celia because she thought of him as her family on some level. Well, maybe that was a good thing. He felt the same way.

"And that's not a bad thing at all," Roy said.

Celia nodded. "I know. But…." she shook her head. "Sometimes in life, there are just things that are broken beyond repair."

Roy felt a pang. "So…you're saying repairing your family is impossible?"

Celia sniffled. "It may very well be."

Roy smiled. He reached out and grabbed Celia's hand. "Celia, if I told you three years ago that you would not only meet your biological dad, but also have him be a major part of your life, would you believe me?"

Celia paused. "Well…no, I suppose I wouldn't."

Roy's grin grew brighter. "So…that would have been impossible?"

Celia blinked before putting on a smile. "Yeah, I guess." She giggled.

Roy chuckled. "Cee, there's no such thing as impossible. Believe me, I know. I was adopted by the king of a country before I was even born!" He beamed. "My whole life, as well as the lives of my brothers and sister, show everyone that impossible standards are just walls that are waiting to be knocked down! Cee…Celia…you don't have to worry. Where there's a will, there's a way."

Celia's face almost appeared to be glowing in the soft mood lighting. "You really should be a motivational speaker."

Roy laughed. "What, little old me? Come on!"

The two of them laughed until Roy noticed that there was an uncomfortable silence in the room. He blinked and saw that every other customer in the restaurant was staring at them. Some had dirty looks. Others whispered back and forth.

Roy felt chills run up and down his spine. "I should have known coming to a Mushroom Kingdom restaurant was a bad idea." He reached into his hammerspace and placed a moneybag on the table. "Let's get out of here. Your family is probably waiting for us anyway."

…

The sun was just a little bit off from the highest point in the sky. Celia looked over at Roy, walking alongside her down the well worn path. A cool breeze ruffled her fiery hair. Roy noticed this and smiled. Celia smiled back at him.

They were almost to her house. Celia was obviously a little nervous; Alicia and Albert were more than likely already there. While she had already met them, she obviously had no idea how well their introduction to her father and reintroduction to her mother went. Her money was on it not having gone well.

Thankfully (or unfortunately) they had already arrived at her house. Exhaling a stream of air, Celia turned the knob. The atmosphere in the house was as thick as pudding. Both Roy and Celia noticed it, and it caused them to sweat bullets.

"Celia?"

Celia breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, Dad. Where is everyone else?"

"They're…um, well, there in the kitchen." Singe cringed. "Ruby and I tried to make dinner for them, but…it's not exactly going well."

Roy sighed. "Oh boy, that's not good." He took a step forward. "Do you want me to knock them senseless for you? I can do it in a way so they won't remember getting hit."

Celia and Singe did a double take. "Roy, no!" Celia said.

"No, Roy, that won't be necessary," said Singe. "We're just…well, you know. We're just trying to get to know each other better." A very loud and very dirty cuss delivered in a male voice could be heard from the kitchen right at that moment.

Roy sniffed. "Icebreakers don't involve profanity." He cringed. "Seriously, even I don't say that, and I'm one of the Koopalings!"

Singe let out a sigh. "Look, we kind of got off to a rocky start with Albert and Alicia. But it's nothing that a little bonding couldn't fix. We just need to figure out how to approach the next few hours."

Celia and Roy exchanged a look before both of them smiled.

"Well," said Roy. "Maybe we could introduce them to A Thousand Blank White Cards?"

Singe's face lit up. "Oh, that sounds fantastic! Humans don't typically play that game; it'll be perfect!"

Celia beamed. "Great. Let's go see what they think about that!"

So, with each of them wearing a grin, the trio made their way into the kitchen.