Family Ties [Sequel to She Belongs To Me]

Common Ground

Emily:

The rest of the evening passed at a miserably slow rate as Cora and I were forced to lie in bed with Vincent all night long.  He made sure to keep his arms wrapped around us and we had to endure over two hours of him singing us lullabies and telling us how happy we were going to be with him.  I waited and waited for him to fall asleep, but by the time his eyes finally closed the sun was already peering between the curtains. 

Cora was sleeping soundly as he climbed out of bed and kissed her on the cheek. He smiled and mouthed the words 'good morning' to me before going into the kitchen to prepare one of his ridiculously lavish breakfasts. I wanted to wake Cora up so we could talk about the day ahead of her, but I decided that it would be best to let her rest a little while longer.  So, I wearily crawled out of the bed and made my way into the kitchen.

Vincent was standing behind the stove already mixing some pancake batter together and when he saw me a big smile swept over his face.  "I'm so glad you decided to join me, love."  He said, pouring the batter into a cast iron skillet.  "I was hoping we would have a chance to talk before Cora awakened."

"What is there to talk about?   You already know how I feel about this trip you're taking with Cora."

Vincent's jaw clenched and he picked up a plastic spatula, flipping the first pancake with the grace of a lobotomized swan.  "You are not going to ruin this day for us, Emily.  Cora and I need to spend some alone time together so that we can bond."

"I'm not trying to ruin your day."  I said, taking a cautious step towards him to make sure he remained calm. "I just wish you would allow me to go with you so that Cora will feel more comfortable."

"You don't think she would feel comfortable with me?"

"That's not what I was saying. I just thought-"

Vincent slammed the spatula on the counter and glared at me. "Cora and I are spending the day together, whether you like it or not, and I don't want to hear another word about it."

"Alright, geez..." I muttered, backing away from him and sitting down at the table with a frown.  Vincent was clearly not going to let me to go into town with them and pressing the matter further would only anger him more. 

So, we sat in uncomfortable silence until he finished cooking our breakfast.  I rolled my eyes as he set us each a place at the table with a sickening grin on his face.  He made sure every mundane detail was perfect before pulling off the blue apron that was tied around his waist.

"I'm going to check on Stella before we eat, so would you mind waking up Cora?"  He asked.

I stood from my chair and placed my hands on my hips.  "What about Hope?  She needs to eat, too."

"Fine."  He muttered, "Just make sure you shut the attic door after you let her out.  I'm pretty sure there's a rat up there and I don't want it joining us for breakfast."

He walked away before I could argue with him and I shook my head. Vincent was becoming more insufferable by the day and I wasn't sure I could take much more of his arrogance. At this point all I could do was hope and pray that Cora would be able to slip away from him while they were in town and get some help from a reliable stranger. She was a smart girl and I knew that if the opportunity presented itself she would take it in a heartbeat.