Inferno

~97~ Had Enough

Ellie's POV

Taylor's dad died last month. It's been hard. Taylor and Rick were never crazy close, but they had a good relationship. When we found out his cancer was stage 4, and he had weeks to live, we put him in a hospice facility. That was detrimental to Taylor. He wanted his dad here. I was completely fine with it, we just didn't have a room for him. I told him that we could have Savannah stay with the girls.

He didn't want the kids watching his dad die. The night we left him in hospice, Taylor sobbed. Gut-wrenching sobs. He cried so hard that he had to pull the car over.

Taylor visited him almost every day. He declined fast. After the first week, we knew he didn't have much longer.

Taylor and I, and Lilah and Alex, were with him when he died. He passed peacefully, with both of his kids holding his hands. The moment he took his last few breaths, Taylor silently grabbed Lilah's hand too.

The day of the funeral, Taylor was a grouch. He was snapping at all of us. Luke got the brunt of it. That kid of mine just took it. He didn't say a word. Once when Taylor was griping at him about his tie being crooked, Luke just silently gave him a hug.

Taylor immediately relaxed and hugged him back, letting some tears fall.

My dad even came for the funeral. Justin didn't, but he sent a card. In the card, he wrote that the only reason he wasn't there was out of respect. He didn't think it was appropriate for him to come and bring drama to the situation. I appreciated that.

The night after the funeral, Taylor didn't say a word. He just silently stared at the fire in the fireplace and held my hand.

It's been a month, and Taylor is still a grouch. He's always snapping at all of us. The kids try and find activities to do after school, so they don't have to be home when he is.

Today has been a particularly bad day. He's been taking his anger out on me today. It's ok, I can handle it. I'm just glad it's not one of the kids for once.

"Ellie, I'm sick of this shit. Why can't you cook anything decent anymore?" He snaps when he sees that I'm making chicken enchiladas. I've been working on this dish for over two hours.

"What are you wanting me to make?" I ask, frustrated. We've all been understanding. I'm about out of understanding, though.

"Something else. I don't want this" he says as he takes the entire pan of food and dumps it down the disposal.

"Taylor! It had ten minutes left. I've been cooking that for hours" I yell.

"Well, I didn't want it" he barks.

"I don't care. You're not the only one in this house" I snap.

"Make something else, Ellie" he says, glaring at me.

"Nope" I say, throwing the oven mitt at him.

"What's going on?" Liam asks as he comes into the room.

"What happened to dinner?" Liam asks, confused.

"Taylor decided he didn't want it and he dumped the whole thing out" I say, fighting tears.

"Are you serious? Why would you do that?" Liam asks.

I'm surprised. Liam is really good about minding his own business and staying out of things. I guess he's about had it too.

"Don't come at me like that. This is between me and her" Taylor snaps.

"Not anymore it's not. She's been cooking that for hours. You want to be an ass, fine. Take it out on me. You've been snapping at her all day and I'm sick of it. Lay off of her, now" Liam says, yelling. He never talks to Taylor that way.