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.
they fell harder,
her,
Finally, Janice's sobs subsided.
bed. She tried to wipe her mother's tears, but
floor, the bucket nearby, and guessed what
"Mom."
it was for him or if he really betrayed me. I've endured too much for too long, and
it very
off her daughter's attempted
said softly, "Mom, I wasn't going to defend Dad. I was just wondering about the floor. Why is it
wiped away
be such a
but he lay on the
death, scared
and then had the
of
wouldn't budge, lying there. In frustration, I thought about dousing him with a
of water over himself and even asked how many it would take. Lucy, can you believe him? He's treating me like
picturing the scene. Her dad sure seemed to have a knack
ranting about Nathan's antics until she finally
"Mom, why don't you get changed? I'll clean up
Janice nodded.
on the wet patches until the floor was dry, then
time she finished, Janice had changed, fixed her hair and makeup, and looked every inch the composed lady of the house again, a stark contrast to the woman who had been crying uncontrollably
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