Nathan pushed the door open, only to be greeted by the somber faces of his two children. He paused, struggling to find the right words, "Lucy, your mom's had a rough day. Keep her company, will ya?"
Lucinda took in her father's soaked appearance and the scene inside the room, where her mother sat on the floor sobbing. She quickly said, "Dad, I got this."
The siblings stepped aside to let their father pass.
"Dad, you should go change into some dry clothes. Don't catch a cold."
After entering the room to comfort her mother, Lucinda didn't forget to shoot her brother and husband a look, silently asking them to take care of their father.
The door clicked shut behind them.
Lucinda approached her mother.
She crouched down, picking up the box of tissues that her dad must have left by her side.
Before meeting her biological father, she only had her brother's word to go by, and to her, her dad was nothing but a deadbeat.
As she got to know Nathan, she realized he wasn't the villain she'd imagined. He had made choices he thought would protect his family.
Between letting his family suffer or face danger, he had chosen the former.
"Mom."
Lucinda handed a tissue to her mother.
But when Janice didn't take it, Lucinda just wrapped her arms around her, letting her lean on her shoulder.
stem Janice's tears; they fell
just held her, letting her
Finally, Janice's sobs subsided.
wipe her mother's tears, but Janice insisted on doing it
bucket
"Mom."
was for him
very hard
cut off her daughter's attempted defense before she could
softly, "Mom, I wasn't going to defend Dad. I was just wondering about the floor. Why
away more tears
be such a scoundrel, a
hurt, but he lay
death, scared
and then had the
of
thought about dousing him with a bucket of water to stop
over himself and even asked how many it would take. Lucy, can you believe him? He's treating me
dad sure seemed to have a knack
Nathan's antics
don't you get
Janice nodded.
patches until the floor was dry, then returned the bucket to
and makeup, and looked every inch the composed lady
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