“Make sure we have a minute?” Danny asked while looking at John and placing a hand on his biceps, who simply nodded and left the room. She waited patiently for him to close the door behind him before she spoke again. “Despite what he said earlier, he doesn’t know what happened last night. He only heard your Mom and me talking because, when she told me about Aaron getting half of your money, she was angry and got louder.”
“But you know everything?” I asked, my voice dropping.
“Don’t be embarrassed, Tim.” she said firmly, pointing a finger at me. “What happened last night was a good thing! We’ve been waiting for something like this to happen. That’s why she and Ava are so happy today.”
That took me by surprise.
“I’m sorry ... what? How the hell was that a good thing!?”
Ignoring my incredulous tone, she sat down on the bed and patted the mattress with her hand, signaling me to sit next to her. When I did, she turned a little, so she could look at me directly.
“Tim ... every time something bad happens to you, what do you tell us?” She looked at me expectantly, but continued when she realized that I had no idea what she wanted from me. “You tell us that you’re perfectly fine! No matter how much obvious pain or distress you were in, it’s always been ‘I’m fine, I’ll manage, go on with your day’.”
“So?” I asked, not understanding how this could be of significance. After all, I
“You were obviously NOT fine!” She sounded a little angry. “You weren’t fine when you were beaten bloody, you weren’t fine when I found you in the living room, you weren’t fine when you got stabbed, and you most certainly weren’t fine after you got shot and left alone in the hospital! But you kept insisting you were fine because you knew that...” She took a moment to compose herself, knowing that this would be the first time she openly admitted what their negligence had done to me. “Best case scenario, we wouldn’t care. Worst case scenario, we would use it to hurt you again.”
She was absolutely right. I had never thought about it to that extent, not even after Mom had said something similar when she moved into my apartment, but, hearing Danny say it in such detail, I knew she was spot on. Danny, John, and Mom wouldn’t have cared. Before last Thanksgiving, they probably wouldn’t even have noticed. Aaron would’ve made fun of it, since, no matter how serious my situation was, he was all too eager to find confirmation in his belief that I was less of a man than his Golden Boy. Logan would’ve used it to hurt me more, and Ava, in her quest to please the real men in her life, would’ve done everything they demanded of her to help.
“Now, you may not have outright said that you needed their help, but you did admit that you won’t be able to keep up if you don’t catch a break soon. You would have never admitted that if you didn’t finally trust them enough to not use that knowledge against you. You finally opened up to them! For the first time in years, you honestly told them how you felt. And, granted, telling Claire that you hate her for abandoning you doesn’t sound like a good thing, but it was necessary to start the healing, and I had already warned her that this would probably happen. Without that, she had no chance to ever rebuild your relationship. That’s why your mother and sister are so ‘disturbingly happy’ today.”
“So...” I started, not entirely sure how to handle this situation. “What am I to expect next, then?”
“Support.” was all she said, in a tone like it should be obvious.
“Meaning...” I let my voice trail off.
“You’re not gonna get rid of ‘em.” she nodded with a serious expression before it lighted up and she giggled. “It’s not a bad thing, Tim. They want to prove that you can rely on them, even while they have to rely on you for other things.”
I don’t know whether she was a lot better at that therapy-thing than I gave her credit for, or if she had just accidentally hit another big doubt that had lodged itself into my thoughts, but I decided to just let it go and see where this would take us. Maybe she was right. And, if not ... I would manage.
As I got off the bed, she raised as well to give me a tight hug before letting me go. When we walked back to the others, they were already done with the last piece of furniture and happily chatting away about the best placement options for their dust catchers.
“Alright.” I said loudly to get their attention. “I think you ladies can take care of the aesthetics without my help. I’ll need a shower, and then Mom and I need to go spend some money.”
“OH!” we heard Maggie shriek in delight. “You going shopping? Can I come too?”
All of us stared at her for a second, before Granny gently smacked her over the back of her head with a disapproving look. Though, I didn’t necessarily disapprove. I thought she was just trying to lighten the mood, until Granny explained to her the reason for my need to lighten my bank account, after which Maggie quickly apologized.
