to the grocery store, Dave returned home to prepare a scrumptious Sunday dinner: pot roast, garlic mashed potatoes and a variety of roasted vegetables, all covered in his homemade gravy. He hoped the animosity from Friday night’s dinner had been washed away with the seemingly neverending rain that persisted since.
Dave’s headache dwindled to a small twinge as he finished his preparations. By the time dusk had fallen, he was feeling much more relaxed. The enjoyment of cooking a meal allowed him to rationalize all of the small, though illogical, hiccups that seemed to mark the last few days. Dave had to consider that he was blowing things out of proportion, that he might very well be overworked and that some small part of his brain was beginning to fray around the edges. He was worn down. Maybe Robb was right—he and Georgie should try to get away, even if it was for just a few days. He would mention the possibility of it to her tonight. He had more than enough vacation days saved up at work. It might be the perfect time.
Dave’s improved mood was short-lived. He entered the dining room twenty minutes later to find his family unusually subdued. Dave felt a jolt of guilt, seeing as he was the one responsible for bringing them all together. But Dave was capable. He could right this. Mustering all of the mental patience he possessed, he went about serving dinner as if absolutely nothing was wrong. Slowly but surely, he was able to pull them each from their cocoons of loathing. The food helped. No one in his family ever wanted to talk if they were hungry.
Soon conversation began to flow normally and Dave felt proud, but a little drained. Maybe he always felt this way, he just never stopped to consider what it might mean. By giving away his energy, their moods improved while his continued to fall.
“So guess what everyone?” Samantha interrupted, practically jumping out of her chair.
Dave raised his eyebrows. Surely she wasn’t about to spill her secret boyfriend news to the whole family.
“What is it, darling?” Georgette asked with interest.
“I passed my permit test! I start Driver’s Ed this week!”
Georgette screamed with glee, causing June to cover her ears and scowl.
August’s eyes were glued to Georgie’s breasts as she jumped up and down in her seat, kissing her daughter.
“We’re so proud of you!! So exciting!” Georgette beamed.
“When I get my license, I’m going to take Dave’s car,” Samantha informed them, sneaking a glance down the table at him.
“You are?” Dave questioned.
She smirked. “Yep.”
“I also happen to have some exciting news,” June added, making a show of dramatically rubbing her ears.
Harmony huffed in irritation, probably from already hearing this news on the short drive over.
“The church is hosting a new members party next Sunday, a week from today to be exact. And I was hoping, praying even, that the entire family would agree to attend.”
“Will there be alcohol?” Sam questioned.
June stiffened, repressing the need to reproach, “What do you think, Samantha?”
“Blood of Christ and all that?” Samantha trilled with rising excitement at the expectation of an argument. But before June could reply, Dave cut across them.
“Georgie works every Sunday, and Sam—“
“Is old enough to make her own decisions,” his stepdaughter snapped back.
“Yes,” Dave agreed, “What Harmony wants to do is up to her—“
“I have therapy,” Harmony interjected with a tone of finality.
“You always have Him. You just chose to ignore Him when He’s right there in front of you,” June lectured back.
Harmony slammed her fork and knife against the table, “Church is not therapy!”
“It is for those of us who believe,” June patronized.
“Mother, please. Can we not do this right now?” Dave clipped out.
“Really. Can you just let her be?”
The table went silent. Dave rarely got heated with his mother, but the expression of pain on his sister’s face was greatly upsetting.
“Now,” Georgie continued, as if nothing transpired, “You were saying, Harmony, you’re attending therapy on Sundays?”
“Well, my in-person appointments are Saturdays but on Sundays we do a call. I always feel the most vulnerable after a session so she likes to check in on me.”
“Your therapist sounds like she’s on top of things.”
“She’s such a great listener. I never feel judged by her,” she tossed an insolent glare towards her parents. “She’s teaching me a new method to control panic attacks.”
“Is it working?” Dave asked, knowing how exhausting her fits could be. But even after last night’s episode, Harmony recovered much quicker than the norm. She usually became catatonic after a panic attack, the effects sometimes lingered for days. That didn’t seem to be the case this evening.
“They don’t last for as long now, they aren’t as...intense,” she smiled at Dave, thanking him with his eyes for sitting up with her half the night.
Georgie reached over and grabbed Dave’s hand, caressing it lovingly. She knew Dave spent endless hours of his life attempting to put his sister back together. Perhaps she was finally helping herself. “That’s wonderful news, darling. Truly.”
“And you, Georgie,” August suddenly piped up, still fixating his somewhat lecherous stare on her breasts. “What’s happening in your world?”
His wife was used to his father and knew how to play him like a fiddle. In the beginning Dave had been mortified at his father’s behavior towards his wife. But Georgie took it all in stride. In recent years she even encouraged it. When Dave questioned her motives, she explained that it seemed to be one of the only ways she could enrage June. And Georgie believed that a little rage was good for the psyche. To remain in a constant state of passive-aggressive oppression was unacceptable in her eyes.
“I actually have a bit of news myself!” Georgie replied with a wink at August. Dave chanced a glance at his mother who was clenching and unclenching her fists rather violently.
Dave turned his full attention to his glorious wife. Anytime she spoke, the whole room lit up.
“I have officially committed to my first ever tennis lesson!”
Samantha shrieked with joy, just as her mother had done for her. The two were once again hugging and kissing each other. Dave smiled—they were two peas in a crazy pod.
“I knew you could do it, Mom!”
“Thanks, honey,” Georgie was breathless with excitement. “To be honest, I was about to give the whole thing up, I just couldn’t seem to pluck up the courage.”
Harmony leaned forward, listening eagerly for a solution to such a dilemma. “How did you do it?”
Georgie smiled mysteriously. “I got a little push from a friendly stranger.”
This did not surprise Dave in the slightest. His wife made friends with just about everyone. If someone was within a five-foot radius of her, it was most likely she would know their entire backstory within the first 15 minutes of conversation. People loved to open up to her, she was compassionate and empathetic. It was one of the things that made Dave so proud to be with her.
“Ew mom, stop talking to random creeps,” Sam frowned at her mother as if she were a small child in need of teaching a basic lesson to. “Some rapist will abduct you one of these days and we will never see you again. Right, Dave? I mean you aren’t going to go save her, are you?”
“I would go to the ends of the Earth for your mother, Sam.”
Georgette bestowed him with a generously extended kiss as his mother humph-ed in disapproval and Sam made a face.
“Gross.”
For once the two were in agreement.