Breaking Bones

Chapter 13: Home and Back Again

Dinner stayed relatively calm since most everyone opted to remain silent in the interest of the night going smoother than it had started. Jo did most of the talking, excitedly telling everyone at the table about school, her friends, and her upcoming summer camp once the school year ended. 

"Summer camp sounds like fun Jo. What type of stuff will you get to do?" 

"It's an art camp. I wanted to go to space camp, but mama won't let me. She says space exploration is overrated and pointless." The young girl's honest confession unknowingly shifted the tension in the room yet again. Anatalia immediately knew trouble was coming as Leonard harshly dropped his fork to his plate and cleared his throat before speaking. 

"Jenny. She wants to go to space camp. You should let her go to space camp." 

"I don't want my daughter turning out like her father. Jo is an excellent artist, and she enjoys art, don't you Jo?" 

"It's alright. I mean it's cute as a hobby, but I'll never make a career out of it." Ana snorted back into her drink as she was taking a sip, Joanna's words catching her completely off guard. Leonard patted her back gently in an effort to look helpful but was really trying to mask his amusement just as hard. Only after finally collecting herself did Ana attempt to speak again. 

"So then what do you want to do Jo?" 

"I want to be a Starfleet ambassador. Negotiating with aliens sounds like a fun job." Anatalia spared a quick glance at Jenny from the corner of her eye, and she could tell that the woman was fuming. Clearly her efforts to keep Joanna separate from Leonard were futile.

"That's enough Jo. Finish your dinner. We need to leave soon." 

"But mama, what about dessert? Granny's baking a pie!" 

"Jenny, seriously? You've been here two hours. You said we'd have the night with Jo." 

"Well, I've had quite enough of your presence for the night, so we'll be leaving early. Be grateful we showed up at all."

"That's enough!" Having slammed her fists down on the table, Talia stood from her seat and directed all of her attention and rage to Jenny. 

"How can you possibly be so cruel?! You have the audacity to cheat on your husband, with his best friend, take everything in the divorce, become engaged to said best friend, and still somehow you have the nerve to play the victim. Like you're the one who should be uncomfortable here. You think Leonard likes looking at his ex-wife and former best friend together with his daughter? The daughter you never allow him to see and hardly let him talk to even from thousands of miles away. And on top of it all, you would deprive your daughter of doing things she actually likes just because she takes after Leonard more than you? You should be so lucky she'd take after Leonard instead of you because at least now we know she won't turn out to be a heartless, selfish bitch!" 

The silence that followed was unlike any Talia had experienced before. Jenny was stunned into silence as she merely stared back at Talia in shock, for once having no snarking remark in return. Martha's face held a proud smirk on her lips as she silently continued to eat from her plate. Joanna's jaw would have dropped into her food had it been possible, but she too looked happier than sad or frightened. But Talia, couldn't bring herself to look at Leonard, already too ashamed of her outburst to look him in the eyes. Before anyone had a chance to say anything, Talia moved away from the table and ran up the stairs to hers and Leonard's bedroom, unable to help slamming the door as she entered the room. 

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Talia was alone in the room for what felt like hours. The tears had started to flow shortly after she arrived upstairs, the terror of how Leonard might react to her outburst festering in her mind. Never in her life had Anatalia felt so embarrassed or ashamed of herself. Here she had promised Leonard she would keep her cool around Jenny and make the most of their time with Joanna, and instead she had done the exact opposite within just a couple of hours. She couldn't possibly imagine anything about the experience turning out well for her now. Finally, the door to the bedroom slowly opened and Leonard peeked his head around the corner, unsure of the state Ana would be in as he entered. When he found her simply sitting on the bed and looking back at him, he walked the rest of the way in, closing the door gently behind him.