Just a Kiss

Chapter 14

After spending the entire afternoon catching up with each other, Helene retired to Dawn's room, where she was staying while she was in New York. Tom, Idina, Cara, and the girls stayed downstairs to watch a movie. Idina and Cara sat together on the loveseat next to each other. Shelby sat at her mother's feet. Dawn and Tom sat on the other couch, Dawn cuddled into his side. They decided to watch "Identity Thief." Much to Idina's dismay. Because of this, she got up and grabbed two wine glasses and a bottle of white wine. She poured herself and Cara a glass before playing the movie and settling back on the couch next to her sister. Shelby leaned her head back against Idina's legs as soon as the movie started. Tom and Dawn kept murmuring to each other, giggling every so often. Idina rolled her eyes and finished her wine, setting it on the table in front of her. She began playing with Shelby's hair, not paying attention to the movie at all. Tom and Dawn continued to whisper to each other.

"I'm going to beat both of you unless you be quiet," Cara snapped after a few more minutes of them chattering. "What are you two even talking about?"

"That, my dear, is none of your concern," Tom smiled at Cara who just glared at him.

"Dawn," Cara turned her gaze to her eldest niece.

"We were talking about how you would've come up with a million different reasons to not let dad go after somebody who stole his identity," Dawn elaborated, laughing as Tom muttered "traitor" under his breath. "And we agreed that he would've gone anyway."

"Well, I hope your father doesn't up letting his identity get stolen," Idina looked at her husband while combing Shelby's hair with her fingers. "If he does, he'll be dead before he could go after whoever did it."

"Which is exactly why it will never happen," Tom affirmed. "I'm far too young and beautiful to be murdered."

"You're such a drama queen," Idina rolled her eyes in mock annoyance but her smile gave away that she was enjoying the banter. She began to rub Shelby's shoulders and glanced up at the clock in the kitchen. 10:47pm. "You girls should get to bed. Dawn, you have school tomorrow. Shelby, you have a piano lesson at seven and a vocal lesson at ten."

"Wait, Shelby isn't going to school tomorrow?" Dawn gaped at her mother and sister. "Why not?"

"Unlike you, you're sister doesn't do well in social settings," Idina explained as she got up to put her wine glass in the sink. "And before you ask, no, you're not allowed to be homeschooled, Dawn."

"We pay to put you into a school with a phenomenal acting program, we aren't pulling you out of it," Tom backed up Idina. "Besides, we all know that you wouldn't like being home schooled. Like your mother said, you excel in social settings. You wouldn't be able to do that from home."

"Fine," Dawn sighed, getting up. "I need to finish reading that dumb Shakespeare book anyway."

"Dumb? Dumb!?" Tom gasped and looked at his eldest child. "Shakespeare is not dumb, Dawn. He's the greatest writer of all time!"

"He's the only person that I've ever read that has ever written strictly in iambic pentameter," Dawn rolled her eyes, looking scarily like her mother. "Eleven syllables every line is the dumbest thing. And they're all tragedies. They're all the same."

Giving her mother and aunt each a kiss to the cheek, Dawn ruffled her sister's hair before retreating upstairs to her room. Tom was still sitting on the couch completely stunned because of what Dawn had said. Idina fixed Shelby's hair before helping her stand up from the floor. They hugged quickly before Shelby did the same as her sister, only stopping to give her father a kiss to the cheek as well. She ventured upstairs to her room.

With the children in their rooms, Idina sat next to Tom who quickly wrapped his arm around her. Her head rested on his shoulder, gently drawing random designs on his thigh with her nails. Cara sipped at her wine still, nursing it for as long as she could. Tom stuck his tongue out at her. She returned the gesture by flipping him off. Idina grabbed one of the pillows from the couch and threw it at Cara, smiling when her sister didn't react quick enough and it hit her in the face. Cara glared at her and quickly finished her wine.