The Perfect Family

Deception

Vincent:

The dinner table was set at six o'clock sharp, and the three of us sat there in silence, staring at each other over our plates of chicken breasts and sweet potatoes.  Stella cleared her throat for the third time in the last couple of minutes before chugging her full glass of wine; while Matilda chewed on the straw that was sticking out of her glass of tea.

This was one of the most awkward moments I have ever had the misfortune of enduring.  Why were we all so afraid of breaking this terrible silence? 

I thought for sure that Matilda would be prattling on about her day at school, or how happy she was that I was finally allowed to join them for dinner; but she was picking up on the tension between her parents.

I picked up my silverware and cut into the chicken breast, sticking it into my mouth with a forced smile on my face.  "This is really delicious, Stella." 

"Thanks."  She poured herself another large glass of wine and mashed her fork into the sweet potatoes, stirring them around as she turned her gaze away from me. What the hell was her problem?

Matilda must have been wondering the same thing, because she finally spoke up. "Mom, are you okay?"

Stella set her fork down and looked at her with the same forced smile I had on my face.  "Yes, I'm fine." 

"How come you aren't talking to Daddy?"

"Because-" She closed her eyes and pushed her plate away.  "I was waiting for him to speak first."

Matilda turned to me.  "What do you want to talk about, Daddy?"

I shrugged my shoulders.  "Why don't you tell us about your day at school?"

"You really wanna know?"

"Of course."

"Okay!  Let me show you what happened to me at recess."  She picked up her shirt, exposing a large bruise on her stomach.  "My boyfriend punched me!"

"What!?"  Stella exclaimed.

"Your boyfriend!?"  I growled. 

Matilda laughed and covered her stomach.  "You don't have to be mad at him.  We were playing."

"Boys are not supposed to hit girls." I said, folding my arms in front of my chest. "That's wrong."

This was my first piece of advice to her as a father, and I wanted to make sure it was good. No child of mine was going to be beat up by some brain dead little boy.

Stella nearly choked on her wine. "That's pretty rich coming from you, Vincent."

My arms fell back to my side and I had to bite the insides of my cheek to keep from saying something regrettable to her. She was obviously still mad at me for slapping her around a few times, but the stupid bitch deserved it.

She constantly disobeyed me and tried to get in the way of my relationship with Cora and Emily. I had to teach her to be submissive to me.

"That was a long time ago." I muttered, stabbing my fork into the chicken breast.  "I apologized."

Matilda's eyes narrowed.  "What are you guys talking about?"

Stella forced another smile and placed her hand on Matilda's shoulder.  "Nothing, baby." She looked back at me and shook her head, silently telling me to drop the subject of domestic abuse.