Becoming Mrs. Bryant

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

Nick

April 11, 2023

I was around Orlando often these days, because of all that's been going on. Maddie plays it off like she's cool about Matt's passing, but I can tell she's struggling tremendously. She's barely ate, and literally only will when somebody from our group is around. I mean, it's wholesome that she finds comfort in us, but sad that this whole thing is going down the way it is. I wish I could do something.

I decided to stop by my parents house, though I didn't tell them I was, because why not? I'm their only child, and I feel that me being away at college has probably taken a toll on them in one way or another. Plus, I miss a time where I was babied and catered to.

"I'm home!" I said with excitement, as I still had the house key on my keychain.

"Hi" my mom blandly said as she made her way downstairs, not even seeming excited to see me.

"Oh?" I replied.

"And you think this shit is a fucking joke!" My dad yelled, coming down shortly after.

"Oh," he said, noticing me, "hi Nick." I gave him a small, very awkward wave.

"I never said it was a joke!" my mother yelled at my dad, "I said you were the goddamn joke!"

My eyes darted back and forth as my mom stood down the hall, and my dad stood in front of me. I didn't dare to come inside, because I feared that any sudden move would trigger attention my way.

"You're really gonna do this when our son is here?" my father asked, still facing my mom but pointing his arm back at me. "How fucking classy Elizabeth."

"You wanna talk about classy?" My mom asked my dad, "you're cussing up a storm and using your adult child as bait! Nick is grown, he clearly sees two parents arguing and is clearly not phased by it."

"Oh," my dad said rather dramatically, "did Nicholas tell you he was unfazed?" I winced at the mention of my full first name. I had always hated being called by  it, though I don't really know why. I don't have any traumatic memories tied to it or something.

"You know what?" I said, "I can just come back another time. I should've told you guys that I was on the way, that's my fault." My mom shook her head.

"Don't let your dad scare you into leaving," she insisted, causing my father to fold his arms. "You're the one that keeps digging him deeper and deeper into the situation!" he shouted, "stop!"

My mom mimicked my dad's body language. "And you're the one that mentioned him from the start!" she hissed, "so how about you stop."

"I'm leaving!" I said in a loud tone, but my mom spoke yet again as I turned to face the outside.

"Don't," she insisted, "you came all this way to see us. Tallahassee is 3 hours away."

"It's okay!" I assured my mother as I turned back to face her. "I'm actually here for Maddie. I'm sure you heard what happened by now." My mom nodded.

"Tell her she has my sympathy, and give her the biggest hug you possibly can."

"What happened with Maddie?" my father asked, "is she okay? Is the baby okay?" I nodded.

"Matt was killed in combat," I informed my father, "I'm not sure if you knew that he was in the army, but yeah. Sad situation."

My dad looked shocked. "I knew he was in the army," he stated. "What I didn't know, was that he died. And I find it awfully weird that your mother knew but didn't let me know."

My mom rolled her eyes, "you have spent the last however many days yelling at me!" she let out in frustration. "I'm sorry that you made it incredibly hard to find the perfect moment to let you know that your niece-in-law's boyfriend died."

My dad has always felt like an outsider when it came to mom's side of the family. My father, a dark-skinned man, already felt uncomfortable as is being around all white people. My mom is white, my aunt is obviously white, my aunt married a white man, they had a white daughter, and that white daughter, Maddie, was dating a white dude. Me being light-skinned, I was probably the barrier between my father and my mother's people. However, even I had more similar features to my mom than I did my dad.

"Right." My dad's voice brought me back to reality.

"You know what?" I voiced, "I'm leaving, like for real. And I don't wanna hear any blaming or begging of me to stay. I'll be in Orlando for a little bit so I'll circle back when I can. You two clearly have a lot to talk about." Before anybody could say anything, I walked out and shut the door.

I've seen my parents argue before, because duh, they're humans, but it was never like this. It was always in a normal level voice and my dad would apologize after a few minutes of back and forth banter. But hearing my mom say it's been a few days, and seeing my dad light the hell up, I realize that whatever this is, is real serious.

"How was the visit with your parents?" Jason asked, as I came back to the hotel suite that Aubrey and Nova rented out. Everybody was there, including "the littles," Hailey and Zach. I shrugged.

"Well you came back awfully fast," May voiced, "did something happen?"

"They were fighting" I said, "I don't know what about though, so don't ask." May nodded.

"Are you okay?" she asked, and I sighed.

"Is anybody okay right now?" I questioned, chuckling. "I mean, look at the way our lives have unfolded since last year when Aubrey's grandfather died. Since then it's been mess after mess."

"Yeah," Aubrey agreed, "though some of those messes were self-inflicted." I crossed my arms.

"I'm trying to fix this," I said in a low tone, staring at Aubrey. "Okay, I'll go to therapy like you asked. Just, please forgive me Aubrey." Lewis and Jason made a corny "awe" sound.

"Forgive him! Forgive him!" the two boys started chanting, with Zach eventually chiming in.

"Just like Nova, forgiving you will take a while," Aubrey said, "but I'm not mad anymore. If that's any consolation for you. I just need time." I smiled.