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10 - smouldering children

"Ladies and gentlemen, the ham." Constance presented, holding the dish as she approached the table where her three remaining children sat along with her boyfriend.

"Ah, wow." Larry admired.

"It looks lovely." Tate said, smiling at his mother.

Parker weakly raised her head, staring at the dish of meat before back down at the table. The girl had been bed ridden for quite sometime, it was easy to say she was feeling overwhelmed.

Especially, considering her only human contact or reminder of life had been her older brother coming in to check on her and give her small meals to eat.

Tate took it upon himself to look after his sister when her depression had hit worse and her body felt weak and fragile, finding it helped her more when it was him rather then the others.

Parker didn't like being around so many people when she had managed to coax herself out of her room, especially when there was so much sound, noise and generally anything that tipped off her senses.

The dish was placed upon the table.

"Now, who wants to say grace?" Constance asked.

"Oh, mother, may I?" Tate questioned, after his eyes had scanned over his sister.

Parker had her head down, eyes covered by the palms of her hands as she tried to slowly get used to everything around her. It was a common occurrence amongst the residence of the Langdon family, watching Parker come out of her depressive episodes and work her way back to her normal self. 

"Oh, of course, son." Larry answered. "I was hoping you would choose to become a part of this family."

Tate smiled at Larry before take his hand, amongst his younger sisters.

Parker took her brothers hand and her mother's, allowing herself to look up as she adjusted to the light. She smiled at Addy before allowing for the usual routine ( a routine of which Parker was rarely involved in due isolating herself to make life easier for her family and her inability to leave her bed on many days ) to carry on.

"Dear God, thank you for this salty pig meat we are about to eat, along with the rest of the indigestible swill. And thank you for our new charade of a family. My father ran away when I was only six. If I'd have known any better, I would have joined him."

Parker flinched back upon her mother reaching around and slapping her brothers arm.

"And, also, because she's been trying to get back into this house ever since she lost it, Lord, a big thank you for blinding the cocksucker that's doing my mother, so that he can't see what everybody knows. She doesn't really love him."

No one had their eyes closed by the end of it looking amongst one another.

"Amen." Parker and Adelaide said, looking at each other with bright smiles.

Larry awkwardly clasped his hands, his elbows on the table.

Parker stared at his elbows with great annoyance. She wasn't particularly about table manners, until it came to Larry, who she dearly hated.

"Now, Tate, I know you've had a hard time making the adjustment, with all the recent changes — moving back in here after the, the tragedy that my own family went through—"

"You mean when you burnt them alive?" Parker asked, her voice sounding sore from a lack of use. "Wait, I'm sorry, they burned themselves, correct? Because you were having an affair with my darling mother, no?"