Yes Ma'am

Family Drama

Alice

"Hello Mary Alice, it's your mother. It's been so long since we last saw you, so me and your father and sister have all decided to come pay you a visit. We'll be there soon. Hope you're as excited to see us as we are you. See you then!"

My heart pounds as I listen to the voicemail over and over. I feel sick, terrified even. But I can't help but be confused.

"Jazz, I don't know what to do..." I say after I play him the message.

"Well, first thing is how did they get your number. Second is how do they know where we live?"

"I don't know..." My breathing becomes heavy and I feel the start of a panic attack coming on. "Jasper, I'm so scared."

My husband pulls me as close to him as possible and runs my back. I feel him sigh as he buries his face into my hair. "I'm scared too, Alice."

"For who?"

"You mostly. And Thea."

"Oh god. What are we going to do about Thea? Jazz, my birth father and step mother put me in an asylum to keep me from testifying in my birth mother's murder trial. What will they do to me now? To you? To Thea? To all of this?"

"I'm not sure, darlin'. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

I nod and bury my face in his chest, not bothering to apologize for the tears that were staining his shirt or for the wrinkles forming from me clutching onto it.

——————-

They arrive a few days later, dressed in their Sunday finest and it takes everything in me to not shrink back or anything when I answer the door.

"Hello." I say softly.

"Mary Alice." The three people on the front porch all say in various tones, ranging from curt to extremely forced happiness.

"Come in." I gesture for all of them to come inside and they do so.

"It's so... farm-y." My "little sister" Cynthia wrinkles her nose.

"Yes, quite." My "step mother", Anna-Marie agrees. "What do you think Edgar?" She asks the man standing next to her.

"Quite low status, don't you think?" My "father" answers in the same curt tone from earlier and I can't think of how to respond.

Footsteps echo on the staircase and I breathe a quiet sigh of relief when I see Jasper smile at me.

"Hello," Cynthia greets. "and you are?"

His jaw clenches, accentuating the scars there and he forces another smile. "Jasper Whitlock-Hale, Alice's husband. She's told me so much about you."

The three of them can't help but notice all of his visible scars and they subconsciously take a step back.

"All good things, I hope." Anna-Marie's shrill voice replies when she recovers.

"All good things." He says, in a faux-pleasant tone.

"Where are you from, Jasper?" Edgar asks.

"Houston."

"You're from the south too? What made you move here?"

"Parents wanted a change of scenery." Jazz's tone is clipped and I grimace. The reason the Whitlock-Hale family moved here was because of a horrible accident involving Rose. Luckily Jasper found her and rushed her to the hospital just in time.

Small footsteps echo down the stairs and me and Jazz share a panicked glance.

"And who's this?" Cynthia's shrill voice, like Anna-Marie's, asks.

Jasper moves in front of our five year old protectively.

"My name is Grace." Thea says as she clings to her father's leg. "And you are?"

"I'm your grandfather, young one." Edgar says in a slightly terrifying tone.

Thea's hold on Jasper tightens. "I already have two grandfathers, sir, and you're not one of them."

Me and Jazz look at each other, startled but proud, and I hold back a smile when he sneakily high-fives our little girl.

The three other adults in the room glare at her and Jazz is quick to run her upstairs, most likely to keep her out of harm's way.

I plaster on a fake smile and turn around. "Let me show you to the guest rooms."

——————

Their week long visit involves attempts in manipulation, extortion, and other things that put all of us residents of Acres of Hope Ranch on edge.

Jazz had our daughter sleep in our room that whole week, and kept an eagle eye on the door from the middle of the bed until I forced him to sleep.

Finally, after me working up the nerve to yell at them to stay out of my life for the rest of ever, they leave in a flurry of fury.

I sigh in relief when their expensive rented car disappears and head upstairs, where Jasper and Thea are waiting for me.

"I'm proud of you, love. You were so brave."

"Yeah, Mommy, you were the bravest."

"I didn't feel brave." I admit.

"We were all scared." Jazz picks up Thea as he stands, then pulls the both of us into a protective hug. "You of all of us were most definitely the bravest."

"Daddy," Thea whispers sleepily. "I wanna be like Mommy when I grow up."

"Good choice, kiddo." Jazz replies softly. "Your mother is the best."

I tear up happily. "You sappy, overprotective fool, I love you."

"I love you too, Alice."

"Hold me for a while?"

"After we put Thea down for a nap, then yes ma'am, I'd be happy to."

I pull him into a long-waited, much needed kiss. "I love you, Jazz." I say again.

"Love you too, darlin'."