Dinner, True and False, Announcements
"So, how is your baby doing?" It's now dinner and all of us are sitting at the luxurious dinner table, Mr. Daniels insisted my mother pick out. By us I mean, Charlie, My mother, Mr. Daniels, and Me. Mrs. Daniels died when Charlie was five. That's part of the reason that I live with him.
Just fresh from her divorce my mother needed a place to live, and given she didn't have very many skills because she didn't complete high school, her only option was a housekeeper if she intended on getting a decent living. My father's sister recommended her to Mr. Daniels. That might convey the wrong image though, my aunt didn't really care about my mother, she just felt pity for her niece. That's practically the only feeling she has for me.
It couldn't have been perfect timing, Mr. Daniels was slowly receding from his role as a father do to his grieving for his wife. He needed someone to take care little Charlie, so my mother was added to his staff, along with a cook and assistant, to clean and take care of Charlie. She is paid enough so that we could move into a fairly nice neighborhood. Not as nearly as nice as the one we're in now, but still nice.
You'd have to be near a billionaire, as Mr. Daniels is now, to afford to live here. We live in a spacious ten-bedroom house. Complete with dining room, living room, kitchen, den, game room, basement, and attic. Mr. Daniels didn't see a problem with my mother living with him; do to her condition she was in at the time, so he allowed us to live with him. As time went on though, and my mother finally made enough money to have her feet firmly planted on the ground to move out, Mr. Daniels insisted on her staying. He had grown fairly fond of my mother, and he made a good argument that I was content with my home. I'd been ling there since I was four, almost five, after all.
My mom reluctantly stayed on my account. Now that I'm older, I feel guilty. It was in my government class when I finally figured out what I prevented my mom from getting. All she wanted was a place to call her own, she wanted a house. When I confronted her about it, she said she made the right choice, if she would have moved I would have been put into public school. She told me she didn't want me to have backseat learning, she wanted me in the passenger's seat right next to the driver, and that's what private school would offer me.
Of course, Mr. Daniels grew fond of me too, and he paid for all of my tuition for schools, every single cent. My mother has always been grateful and swears one day she'll pay him back. We all know this isn't true, my mom doesn't make nearly enough to pay for one of my years at my elementary private school. Mr. Daniels doesn't mine though, he just smiles and says okay.
Mr. Daniels is a very kind, giving, and loving man. I'm not saying he doesn't have his faults, he does, it's just he's an honest to goodness great man. He insisted on having my mother and I sit at the table with him and Charlie, instead of eating in the kitchen with the rest of the help. It's a blessing and a curse at times. It's a blessing when the cook gets jealous of our special treatment, and it's a curse now that I find myself having to make an announcement in front of everybody about my babies.
"I meant to tell you guys," I begin as I clear my throat. Charlie looks up from his chicken his attention is focused all on me, which makes it harder for me to say this. "Well, it's not just one baby, I'm having twins." I continue eating as if I've said the wind is blowing outside.
My mother's fork bangs against her plate as she drops it, the noise rattles in my ear making me cringe a bit. Mr. Daniels is just staring at me like I've announced I've died and come back from heaven. I can't bring myself to meet anyone's eyes, let alone bring my eyes to Charlie's face. I let my gaze slowly come up to Charlie's jaw and I see it's slightly ajar.
"Mia, honey, how long have you known?" I feel a wash of relieve sweep over me as my mother asks me the question. I feel like a coward though, I could have easily snuck a peek at Charlie's face that was straight across from mine, before turning to my mother's who's perpendicular to me.
