The Quirky Tale of April Hale (Quirky Series #1)

2.32: dinner with the hales

M E R E D I T H

(In case you forget, she's April's mother)

There were, of course, times when Meredith thought that her daughter April had hit the jackpot.

She brought home a guy once, when she was in high school. Not your usual pimply, hunched teenage boy that Meredith so often see strolling around the neighborhood, hoping for easy points with April. No. April's boyfriend was handsome, and tall, and well-mannered.

And he happened to be the son of the grumpy couple next door.

Pro and con list?

Pro and con list.

Con:

- Gregory Black, aka Ryder's father, has a bad temper, ergo, Ryder is very likely to have similar temperament.

- Meredith had known most of Ryder Black's exploits and endeavors, most of them egging on the bad sides.

- Meredith once saw Ryder Black smuggled a WOMAN into his house, late at night.

- Would it be awkward if she eavesdrop her daughter's boyfriend's family fights? It was better than most things on TV.

Okay, no.

- Here's the ultra con: Meredith would need to stop listening to the Black Family's Fights if her daughter got together with Ryder. A huge loss.

...

Pro:

+ Ryder Black's face and manners have hidden superpowers. They can change people's mind in an instant.

Yep. The moment Meredith saw Ryder Black standing in the open door, his face vulnerable, his lips couldn't stop opening and closing, and most importantly, his eyes lit up when he saw April, Meredith knew she would love this kid.

Until That Thing happened, and April was ruined.

Meredith knew when she discovered April's condition, that she would have to watch her daughter go through the motions of life with extra efforts. What people thought was normal would be abnormally hard for her, and what should have been a breeze would be something like a hurricane for April.

And break up was hard for everyone, no matter how high they scored in emotional eloquence.

That was four years ago, and right now Meredith almost couldn't believe her ears when she heard her son giving news about April: 'Mom, they got back together.'

Meredith reacted by gasping quietly at first. And then, because a quiet gasp didn't capture even half of her discontentment, she gasped one more time, and another, until her husband caught on and tapped her repeatedly on the shoulder.

(She liked it when her husband did that. It made her feel appreciated and a little big fragile. Something she hadn't been ever since she bore twins.)

Once she was overfilled with affection, Meredith started scheming. It was what she did best. She was, after all, still a 16 year old queen bee at heart.

She would invite April and the Satan, yes, yes she would.

She would present the Satan bad food and bad drinks. She would ask precocious questions. She would make him uncomfortable. She would make his life a living hell! SHE WOULD MAKE HIM WISH HE HADN'T BEEN BORN!!! SHE WOULD-

Meredith took a deep breath.

Phew. Anger is soo bad for her skin.

But the plans had been set in motions. At least, in her head. Meredith took up the phone and then called her daughter. Once, it went to the voicemall. Twice. Thrice. Meredith sighed, and called one more time.