Whiskey 'n Lace

~ Chapter Forty-Four ~

"Olivia had the babies, " Stephanie spoke, sipping tea in her mother's kitchen.

"When?" Serena questioned plainly.

"Early Wednesday morning, " Stephanie sighed, "two girls and a little boy, all are healthy."

"Good, " Serena huffed.

"What is your problem?"

"Excuse me, young lady?" Serena snapped, spinning on her heel to focus on her daughter.

"How are you not happy for her? She's your daughter. Your first baby just had her first babies and you don't show any emotion towards her or them. Olivia is the glue to this family and it's clear to me that without her our family is going to go to shit!" Stephanie yelled.

"Your brother's baby was just born and you don't talk about your nephew! It's no different Steph, you're being dramatic."

"No! No, I'm not being dramatic. You have ruined this family by taking and condoning Charlie's behaviors towards Sasha. That little boy Sasha had is my nephew, but I'll never know him because your son is an abusive and narcissistic piece of work."

"Get out!" Serena screamed.

"No! You need to hear this! You are a selfish bitch, and you deserve to never see any of your grandkids, ever! And that's the road you're heading down because you're getting out of hand. Mattie and I aren't coming here anymore, you are to cease contact with me and my daughter, " Steph sniffled, "until you can pull your head out of your ass and screw your brain back in!"

"What the hell is going on down here?!" Deb yelled, moving down the stairs in her robe, her hair still wet from her shower.

"Your wife is an enabler!"

"Stephanie, " Deb scolded. 

"Of course you're going to take her side!" Steph screamed, shaking her head. "You're just as bad as her."

Stephanie stood to leave and tried to push past Deb in the hallway, but her mother grabbed her arm.

"You need to stop, " Deb growled at her daughter.

"Excuse me, " Steph's nose twitched.

"You need to stop, your mother is sick and I'm working on her behavior, okay, but you and your sister have to stop throwing Charlie in her face."

"What do you mean she's sick?" Sarcasm dripped off of Stephanie's voice, leading Deb to know she didn't understand.

Deb turned her daughter down the hall and walked her to the door. She stopped and peered down the hall to make sure Serena couldn't hear before continuing.

"Your Mama has a brain tumor, Steph, " Debra sighed, "when she got diagnosed Olivia was struggling with the loss of Elliot and Regina, she was spiraling and your mother didn't want to add to her plate."

"She's had a tumor for two years and you didn't bother to tell us?! Why is she not getting it removed?"

"It's in her frontal lobe, Steph, it's inoperable."

"So she's dying?" Steph questioned, tears welling in her eyes.

"Essentially yes, she could go at any time, she was only given a year and it's been nearly two."

Stephanie felt the pressure rise in her chest, she felt all of her emotions begin to run wild. Tears slipped freely down her cheeks and Debra pulled her daughter into a tight hug. 

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner, but she made me promise to make sure our family wasn't in between a rock and a hard place when I told you guys, but things just kept piling on, there is no good time to tell children their Mama is dying."