Loved and Alive

Chapter 22

I glance over and frown.

"What?" Robert looks away from his food.

"That looks better than what I got." I say with a frown.

"Split?" He suggests.

I smile, reaching over with my fork.

"What is that!?" My mom exclaims

I look around. "What?"

"What are you wearing?"

My eyes widen for a second as I look at Robert. He nods slightly.

"Um, well I hoped to get to dessert, but um, the reason I - we came to visit...Robert and I are engaged." I say, holding up my left hand.

"No." My dad shakes his head.

"No, we are."

"Not without my permission, which wasn't asked for. This boy can't marry my daughter without my permission."

"Way to make her sound like an object." Robert scoffs.

I open my mouth as Robert sets a hand on my forearm.

"I don't know if you're aware, sir, but your daughter is twenty-four. She doesn't need your permission for anything." He says.

I look at him.

"Look, I love your daughter, with all my heart. But I won't listen to anyone talk about her like you have all night."

"Rob," I say softly.

"How dare you? I am her father, that warrants a certain respect, especially from the schmuck who wants to marry my baby girl!" My dad exclaims.

"So what? You're her father, but you don't act like it. The last time she saw you, she cried for hours, barely had a voice because she was screaming to know what she did wrong. But you, neither of you, know about what we have been through in the past four years. But hey! You're the father, so you have all the power still." Robert says.

I stare at the table, my eyes burning with unshed tears.

"You think you're what she needs? My daughter is bound for greatness, relationships are a distraction from those goals." My dad says.

"Well, since we've been together she doesn't need antidepressants anymore."

"What? Since when have taken those?" My mom looks at me.

"I'd been on them since I was nineteen, I never told you." I say softly.

"Why?"

"Because! You never believed I was depressed! Or had anxiety attacks, or panic attacks, or any issues! You never believed me!" I look at her, my vision blurred.

"Irrelevant now. You should be ashamed for this display. Inviting us to dinner, only to spring some ill-conceived engagement when we thought you were here to apologize." My dad changes the topic.

Robert stands up, his chair scrapping loudly across the floor as he looks at me, my bottom lip trembling.

"What? Am I hurting your feelings? This is crazy!" My dad exclaims.

I stand, pulling my sweater around me as I turn.

"Can I just -?" Robert stops, his hands on his hips. "You are an absolute jackass. Your daughter is amazing, smart, beautiful, and talented. Stop being a piece of shit -"

"Wow, what a keeper this one is!" My dad laughs humorlessly.

I take a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry Robert blew up on you, but I don't think I would be able to stop if I get started on how miserable you made me growing up." I say. "Look, I know you have rules, but I'm not a little girl anymore. I love Robert, and I will marry him."

"And we'd love to have you be there, just don't bring him." Robert looks at my mom, then at my dad.

"You both finish up here, that should cover the meal." I say, reaching into my purse, pulling out a few crumpled twenties, tossing them on the table.

"You just gonna leave?"

I reach over, taking Robert's hand.

"Don't you dare walk away from me! You will listen to me, I'm your father!"

Robert slips his hand from mine, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

A few tears slip down my cheeks as we walk back to the rental car.

"Are you ok-"

"Can we go home?" I ask softly.

"Yeah, yeah of course. I'll change the flight time. We'll be home tonight." Robert says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So I've decided that I'm just gonna keep updating this like normal, while I would love to put up the forgotten chapters, it'd just take too much time from working on current stories that I really need to get on here.

That's all folks!

Xoxo