Fallen

24. David

Two days later the Nelson-Spring siblings were met with a not so sweet surprise when they arrived home from school that evening; David. 

"Well!" David cheered as he stood up from the couch, a beer can held tightly in his hand as his sweaty, greasy tousled hair flopped on his forehead as he eyed the children. "If it isn't my favorite niece and nephew." He continued, now moving towards the pair. 

Harper managed a small, fake smile, while Oscar gave David the dirty look he deserved, until David stopped right in front of Ossy. 

"My, my, you've grown!" David smirked, ruffling the boy's hair, to which he earned a side eye from Harper. "You're almost taller than me!" David added, now getting right in Oscar's face as he compared their heights. 

"Yep.." Oscar mumbled with a vehement tone. 

David seemed to get bored with the boy, so he shifted to Harper. "And look at you!" He leaned closer. "What a pretty woman you're becoming." 

"Thanks.." Harper said, glaring. 

"Aww, you lot are probably tired from school. School is hell, innit?" David mentioned after a long sip of his beer. 

"No need to be a bad influence." Nick scoffed, grabbing his brother by the shoulders and dragging him away from his children. 

David rolled his eyes, too busy with his beer to respond to his baby brother. 

"When is dad gonna be here?" Nick asked his brother with a tired expression. 

"Dunno. I reckon soon." David gave a large and slow shrug of his shoulders. 

"Kids, go shower, do whatever you need to do to get ready please." Nick said, gesturing his hand upstairs. 

The siblings tried to walk up, but they were stopped by David. 

"'Ang on, i didn't hear a 'happy birthday, Uncle David' from you two." 

"Oh." Harper chuckled awkwardly. 

"Happy birthday, Uncle David." Oscar muttered, taking his sister by the wrist and leading her upstairs. 

"He's so..weird." Harper mumbled as she went into her room. 

By the time Harper had showered, styled her hair, got dressed in a miniskirt and top, did her makeup, and got her shoes on, her grandad and aunt Ingrid were already here. 

As soon as Ingrid's slender arms could reach her niece, she wrapped them around Harper in a tight hug. "How are you?" 

"Good." Harper replied simply, not wanting to go into detail about how she could have been better. 

"Aww, that's good. I haven't seen you in forever!" 

"Yeah.." Harper breathed, still wrapped in a hug. Ingrid was very pleasant, but unfortunately along with her came her husband, David. Honestly, Harper felt bad for Ingrid, there was no way David could be a decent husband, right? 

"Cmon, time to go!" Nick's voice echoed throughout the house, and everyone started piling into the car. The car ride wasn't particularly enjoyable, with David making cruel "jokes" every two seconds. When they finally arrived at the restaurant, Harper got out as quick as she could, desperate to not be in the cramped space anymore. 

"I swear, if Uncle David said one more thing I might've snapped." Harper whispered to her brother as they entered the dining place. Oscar bobbed his head in agreement, but didn't speak. When they were getting seated, Harper tried to avoid David, but instead he picked the seat right next to her. Despite Harper's acts in trying to stay out of any conversation with her uncle, David was very persistent.