Contract War

Chapter 7

"Everything that Johnny needs is in his bag, and no foul language around him, please." I told Derek as I crossed my arms on my chest and leaned against his door frame, watching him do some last minute packing.

He stopped packing for a moment and looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. "Foul language?"

"We had an incident yesterday, something about you talking to Danny on the phone about boobs?"

Derek's mouth gapped open. "Oh,"

"Uhuh?" I said with a challenging eyebrow arched in his direction.

"Well-...I- " he gulped.

"No foul language when he's around, got it?"

"Yes ma'am."

I left his bedroom with a satisfied smirk on my lips and went downstairs to the living room where Johnny was playing with Daniel. Derek followed behind me with his bag in his hand.

"Go say goodbye to Tu." Danny whispered to him.

He wrapped his tiny arms around my legs and gave me an adorable dimpled smile.

"Bye Tu,"

"Be good, okay little guy?" I answered as I patted his head.

"Time to go," Derek's voice echoed throughout the room, making Johnny grab his bag and bolt to the front door in excitement.

"Bye Tu," Danny said and gave me a hug.

"Have fun guys,"

Derek walked up to me and held my hand.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine Derek, you guys should go or else you're going to be late."

He softly rubbed his thumb over my knuckles in a comforting way and nodded, picking up his bag from the floor.

"Bye!" I shouted after them as they closed the door behind them.

I went to the kitchen and made myself a cup of hot chocolate to calm my nerves. I looked at the time on the kitchen clock, 10:37am. Derek, Daniel and Johnny had gone off on a secret bachelor adventure and I would see them tomorrow at the wedding.

I sat on the window seat in the library -my official favourite place to sit in the whole mansion- with my cup of coco in one hand and a novel in the other. I sighed to myself and stared out the window. Tuesday...24 hours before the wedding. If mom was here she would be yelling at me in french, telling me to put on the sluttiest outfit in my wardrobe and go out into the world before I get tied down by some man and papa would just be sitting, not even thinking about interfering because he knew he could never win...but then again, I wouldn't be getting married tomorrow -well, at least not to Derek-  if they were both still alive.

I felt my eyes begin to water.

*Flashback
2 years and 3 months earlier

"Tu? Are you there?" Joe said in a shaky voice, sending me straight into panic mode.

I sat up in bed next to Philip. "Joe? Are you okay?"

"Tu- " he took a breath so deep I heard it through the phone. "Mom and dad-"

"What happened?"

He started to sob.

"Joe? You're freaking me out, tell me what happened."

He managed to calm down a little. "I got a call from the police, a house in the countryside exploded last week...they found remains of bodies, forensics ran some tests...It's mom and dad, Tu. They're gone," he started to sob again.