The Black Succession

36

Monty

"Welcome home!" Everyone shouted as I walked in to the lounge room.

"Oh!" I smiled at all my guests. It was just family, but it meant a lot to me.

My sister Rebecca gave me a hug. "Oliver has been filling us in." She said as I hugged her back.

"Why didn't you tell us, sweetheart?" My mother, Claire, asked.

I froze. Oh God. Does everyone know? "You all know?" I whispered.

"No. None of the grand kids do." Mum answered, which was a relief. I don't need the children to know. All the do know was there was a cyst and now it's gone.

I got checked out big time before I was released from the hospital and everything is clean.

I turned to see Hayden and Mel talking with Oliver and Bailey while Delilah was off with her cousins.

It was a small and intimate affair and I'm glad it was done.

I saw Cody in the corner of the room talking to his grandfather when he suddenly answered his phone, a frown on his face.

He looked around, I could see he was stressed and it had me wondering where Laurel was.

"Mum." Cody came up to me. "I'll be back." He said as he pulled me to the side.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Where is Laurel?"

"I'm going to get her now." Was all he said to me before leaving.

"Where is he off to now?" Rebecca smiled, but I was frowning. Worried, actually. I haven't seen Laurel since she visited me on the hospital and I didn't mind, I know she has her own personal problems, but that's what was concerning me.

Cody didn't leave any hint to where he was going and I couldn't shake something bad was going to happen.

"Are you alright?" I heard someone say as I looked at them and smiled.

"Yes. Right, so where were we?"

****

The feeling of not hearing from Cody had me anxious. I haven't even seen Andy.

It's been twelve hours since Cody ran out off here.

I stared in to my coffee, absently stirring the spoon with the liquid.

"Monty?"

I blinked, looking up at Oliver. "I'm sorry."

"You're worried." Oliver said to me. "It will be okay."

I gave him a weak smile as I went back to my coffee. "Yeah." I sighed. "What were you saying?"

"That you don't have to retire any more."

Oliver's words came to me, making me frown. No, I don't. I turned back to Oliver and smiled. "I want to."

"Why?"

I groaned as I pursed my lips and shook my head. "I want to still be alive and on the sidelines, teaching Cody the ropes instead of ten or twenty or how many years later, dead, and him struggling."

Oliver frowned.

"Besides, you should retire soon too." I smiled at him as I wrapped my arms around his waist. "When Delilah has finished school, thy have all moved out, just you and me." I hinted to him. "We could.... Relax or travel?"

Oliver thought it over in his head. "That's not for another four years."

"Yes. I said soon. Not now. Or we could just be permanent babysitters?" I grinned. It was a slightly touchy topic, getting Oliver to picture his kids as parents.

I watched the colour drain from his face as I grinned. "Cody will be going on twenty seven, Hayden will be hitting twenty three, Mel will be twenty two and Delle,"

"Will be eighteen." Delilah said as she came in to the kitchen. "Why, what's happening then?" She asked as she went to the fridge.

"Nothing!" Oliver snapped out, glaring at me. "No." I let him go, smiling as I went to my coffee.

"Have you heard from your brother?" I asked Delle.

"The annoying one is upstairs and the absent one is, guess what? Absent."

"Alright Delilah. Cody is entitled to have his own life as well." Oliver scolded her as Delle frowned and walked away.

"Hey," I called out to Oliver, making him turn to me. "I was just thinking about the future. Don't be a downer." I teased at him. "It's the first time in months that I can positively plan something for the future."

Oliver sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry." He wrapped me in his arms and I accepted it.

"I've been thinking a lot about the whole situation about Cody." I said in a soft manner in case there were ears nearby. "I haven't heard anything else from those two. Maybe that's all they wanted, to try and destroy us. What we have."

"Why?"

I shrugged, leaving my head against his body. "I don't know. They looked mighty pleased with themselves when they left."

The silence in the room was interrupted at a phone rang. I let Oliver take it out off his pocket, eyebrows raised as he answered.

I watched as I saw my husband open his mouth to speak when he suddenly closed it and frowned.

As the seconds ticked by, Oliver closed his eyes and turned away, walking away from me. I was intrigued.

"Yeah." He hung up and turned back to me as he yelled out a single word. "Kids!"

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"I'll tell you on the way."

The stampede of three teenagers came towards us and all three had different looks, but same attitude.

"What?" Hayden groaned at us.

"You two." Oliver pointed to the oldest two. "You're in charge of Delle."

"I was just about to go out!" Mel protested.

"Take her with." Oliver snapped at them before turning to me. "Get your bag."

Frowning, I went to where I dumped it yesterday and picked it up, following Oliver out the door.

"What's happening?" I asked as I took quick steps to the car.

"I'm dropping you off at the hospital."

Alarm bells rang in my head. "Oh god. Why?"

"There has been an incident that requires you to fill in the gaps."

I frowned at Oliver. Why is he being so cryptic? We drove to the hospital, it was painstakingly long. Oliver assured me it was Cody in the bed there or Laurel. But he wouldn't say who.

"Where are you going?" I asked as I got out.

"To have a father to son chat."