A @Hedgehawk @HaleyTheRandom & @SouffleGirl123 post
Featuring Miles Price, Carlisle Aston, Lilith Montgomery, Salem De Silva, Aloysius Leighton, Mary Price, Claire Montgomery and John Montgomery
Later on in the day, Carlisle had gathered all of the letters that Miles’s father had sent that Amanda had nabbed. He knew this was going to be painful. He was about to reveal what was going on in the background all these years ago. Once again the mirage of his mother was going to be lifted. Driving over to Mary’s place, Carlisle got out of his car and slid the box under his arm, walking to the door he used the doorbell, anxiously waiting.
Mary stood at the kitchen bench chopping potatoes for dinner as she hummed along to Clint Black’s
Killin’ Time as it played from the small speaker on her dining room table. She’d gotten home to find Miles was still yet to come home. She figured he was likely still with Carlisle. She knew they probably needed a debrief from earlier that day but she was thankful to have the house to herself a while. For a little while she’d allowed the worries of the day to escape her as she got lost in her own little world of cooking and country music from her younger years.
Soon she was interrupted by the ringing of her doorbell. The woman’s brow furrowed, she wasn’t expecting anyone except maybe Miles for at least another hour and Miles wouldn’t ring the doorbell. The woman carefully laid the knife in her hand next to the half cut potato and made her way to the door, stopping on the way over to turn down the speaker. She swung open the door to find Carlisle with a box in his arms. She decided to pay the box no mind as she greeted him.
"Carlisle, I thought you were with Miles. What are you doing here?”Seeing Mary answer the door, Carlisle gave off a small smile. He was happy to see her again, but it was clear from his expression that he was feeling a little uneasy.
”Nah, we finished up a while ago, a good while ago. He is currently with Lil somewhere I think. They have alot to discuss. I actually came to see you. I found something in the office I think you probably need to see.”"Is it whatever you’ve got in that there box?” she asks, pulling her hair away from her face and tying it back. She wished she could say she was clueless on what was in the box but she had some deep suspicions, ones that were nagging her enough she was sure it wouldn’t be long before it awakened her divination to tell her.
”Yeah it is. I think I need to do some explaining… and possibly some apologizing” Carlisle said as he swallowed hard. He had completely forgotten about Mary and her divination powers. But he was still going to stick to his guns and try his best. Why was he always having to cover for his mothers messes?
"Well at least come in, Carlisle, I’m not making you stand out there in the wind.” she insists, ushering the man inside. She closes the door behind him before leading him to their dining room and turning off the speaker completely.
"What did you do so wrong that you need to be apologizin’ to me?”Carlisle put the box down on the dining room table and sighed. This was it.
”It wasn’t me actually. It was my mother. She strikes again” Carlisle reached into his jacket and pulled out the first letter that he had showed Miles.
”So you remember how we said that Aloysius never actually tried to get in touch. Well it turns out he did. Alot. A real lot. And well, my mother had been intercepting them and making sure that you couldn’t see them” With a sigh he handed over to Mary the first letter that Al had written.
At his words, Mary’s jaw clenched shut. There was no denying it, her suspicions were correct, those were the letters Al was talking about. Part of Mary had thought her ex was lying, maybe part of her wanted him to be so she could keep herself justifying the hurt.
"Your ma. Nasty piece of work she is,” she muses. Mary and Amanda hadn’t ever gotten along but this? This was too much. It was one thing to insult and mock, and a complete other to upend someone’s life then take away anything that could soften the blow. As she took the letter she let it rest between her fingers a while.
"How many’s a lot?””She is. She has ruined so many people's lives. I am sorry Mary.” Carlisle rubbed his forehead and looked over to the box.
”I only read a few, but try at least one letter a month for 20-odd years. He never stopped. The last one came last week saying he was on his way to Tanner”"Ain't your fault." the woman sighs, facing the letter face down on the table. She wanted to read it alone.
"Not your job to make up for her lousy ways." the woman shot back.
”Yeah but my mother is going to go down in the history book as a tyrant. The least I can do is work hard to put the family name back together. I really want to fix things for everyone. If you ever need anything Mary, you just ask.I will make it happen” Carlisle tried to force a smile as he watched Mary place the letter on the table.
”I offered the letters to Miles first, so he could get some answers, but he thought you would want to read them first.”"Smart kid," the woman replies with a small smile.
"I wouldn't want to see what my parents wrote each other either."”I get it. I just know Al was playing on his mind. He was beating himself up. I was hoping it would help him simmer down. Anyway… I should leave you to let you carry on cooking and do what you need to do.” "Thanks, Carlisle," Mary replies, pulling the box closer to her and laying the first letter on top of the pile. It seemed she had some interesting reading to do later that night.
"I'm fixin' the dinner for tonight if you wanna stay. Miles and the Montgomerys will be around in an hour or so anyway and I could always use a spare pair of hands now Miles is off gallivantin' with his girlfriend. You're meant to be back in an hour, no use for comin' and goin' like that."Carlisle thought on it for a moment, it was true that he had pretty much become a regular at the Sunday dinners. And he had kind of invited a guest.
"So don't be mad, but I invited a guest" Carlisle said with a chuckle.
"I kinda invited Salem to join us for dinner"After retying her loose ponytail Mary resituated herself to the kitchen bench to finish preparing dinner. At Carlisle's mention of inviting another guest Mary sighs but keeps her eyes leveled on the vegetables in front of her.
"Carlisle. You can't go around invitin' people to other people's house without at least a warnin'," she gently chastised before switching to chopping carrots before her. In truth Mary was always prepared for an extra guest, it wasn't uncommon for kids from her kid's generation to end up under her roof but she always appreciated the warning.
"Is it that lil girlfriend of yours?" she then asks curiously, giving the young man a knowing smile.
That was when Carlisle dropped the bombshell.
Salem. The sharp knife fell to the cutting board with a
clang. Of all people why her? And of all places why her own home? From what Mary had heard of Salem and the conversations of the prior night Salem seemed all but pleased with Miles' and Lil's situation and more than capable of killing them in one blow. As far as Mary was concerned, Salem was a threat.
"Carlisle!" the woman snaps. She was rarely one to lose her temper at the kids but this was the second time that day.
"Now that is something you run through me first. Does John know about this? How about Miles and Lilith? I can't believe you.""I didn't think it would be much of an issue. She isn't as dangerous as people have made out." Carlisle said, holding onto the edge of the table. Clearly he had screwed up.
"She isn't a threat to anyone. She isn't going to do anything. We had a very long conversation about moving on from Mother and all this drama. She knows she is here as my guest" "You're a guest Carlisle. I know your ma didn't do much for you but I woulda thought she raised you with enough etiquette to know this is not on!" Mary sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. These family dinners seemed to be getting more unhinged by the week. It may have been selfish but just for once Mary just wanted a nice family dinner; No drawn guns, no threats of death or mind imprisonment, no yelling or screaming. Just her favourite people around a table civilly discussing their lives. That seemed to get less likely by the day.
"Well what's done is done I guess," she huffs, getting back to her vegetables.
Carlisle took a step back, feeling uncomfortable as Mary mentioned his mother.
"I am sorry. I thought it would be okay. Plus I want to prove to Salem that things are good here. If she sees you all together she will feel more bonded. Salem wants to have a relationship with the Coven. Mother had trashed it. This is part of getting it back. And I trust you all more than anyone else. "Mary couldn’t help the snicker that escaped her at Carlisle’s comment.
"John’s too quick to level a gun at someone’s head, Claire will gladly uppercut anyone who looks at her or our kids the wrong way, I carried and single handedly raised the son of her greatest enemy and Lilith’s carrying Miles children who happen to be the taboo magi/witch hybrids that shouldn’t have happened. Carlisle, I love my family, you know I do but we’re dysfunctional at best, far from an example of ‘things being good’.”"But the dysfunction Is why it is good. Because despite it, you still care and protect each other" Carlisle responded, making sure he was as far away from the kitchen and knives as he possibly could.
Mary huffs once more, transporting the vegetables on her cutting board onto a roasting tray.
"Grab a knife, you can at least trim the damn green beans after this lil stunt."
Today seemed to be one of the very few where Lilith was grateful that Miles wasn’t the sort of person to be glued to his cellphone. The sporadic ‘good morning’ texts had taken some getting used to, and Lilith was glad to find that one didn’t await her this morning.
The Montgomery Ranch had been quiet that day. John was preoccupied with business as usual, and Claire was off being herself. Lilith wasn’t sure if they were outright ignoring the situation at hand, or simply just giving her the time that she needed to adjust. She had gone through her normal Sunday routine herself - minus a few habit breaking details. With the bits of extra free time that she had found herself with, Lilith had managed to get some much needed cleaning around the house done and knock out a shift at Huskers. The young woman wasn’t ready for everyone at work to give her all of the speeches about how she shouldn’t be there, so she had shown up and worked just as hard as she always did.
Lilith had decided to drive herself over to the Price residence, knowing that her mother and grandfather would meet her there when they were good and ready. She had spent an extra few minutes in her car after she parked, focusing on the steady rise and fall of her chest as she took a few deep breaths in the driver's seat. Climbing out of the car, Lilith closed the door behind her only to look up and see a black SUV pulling up to the curb.
Sighing as she walked across the yard, Lilith crossed her arms when she got to the steps. She already knew who was getting out of the vehicle before the Guild Leader ever walked up behind her.
”Salem,” the young Montgomery greeted her icily.
”Didn’t show up to kill anyone, did you?” ”Glad to see that you’ve inherited your mothers wit,” the older woman responded with a dry laugh.
”You can relax - I left my body bags back home in New York.” With a deep sigh, Lilith gave a few quick taps on the door before opening it.
"Come in!” Mary calls toward the door, not that she needed to, most of the Montgomerys would walk themselves in anyway. She noticed Lilith first of all, she couldn’t help but feel bad for the girl. The party had brought realisations for everyone that made a lot of their lives more complicated but Mary reckoned Lilith took the worst blow.
"How are you holding up, dear?” she asks the younger woman, wrapping her arms around her. It wasn’t until Lilith was snuggly in her arm that she noticed Salem on the doorstep over Lilith’s shoulder.
Mary gave a sigh. Part of her was hoping Salem wouldn’t actually show; that she’d thought she was far above these sort of things but she was proved wrong.
"Salem,” Mary greeted her with a nod.
"Come on in, I’ll give you the house tour when I’m finished talking to Lil here.”Carlisle watched as both Lil and Salem arrived at the same time. He avoided making eye contact with Mary. It was fairly obvious from his poor disguised body language that he had been embarrassed infront of Mary.
"Salem, So glad you could easily find the place. It's great to have you with us"The young Montgomery was already half-way through the door before Marys voice rang out. She was hoping to have a somewhat private conversation with her godmother, and the familiarity of the older womans arms wrapping around her only reinforced the idea. Lilith was sure that she could have avoided Salem long enough, but looking up and seeing that Carlisle was there was enough to make her lock away whatever thoughts she was previously having.
Taking a deep breath, she returned Marys hug.
”Just peachy,” Lilith joked.
”Any idea on when Miles will be gracing us with his presence,” she asked, taking off her jacket and hanging it by the door. While she wanted her boyfriend as far away from Salem as possible, Lilith’s goal for the day had been normality. Miles being here was part of that.
Behind her, Salem had nodded and smiled in greeting to both Carlisle and Mary while she took in her surroundings. It was rare for Salem to be in places such as this. She was used to a higher class city life and knew hardly nothing about growing up in an
actual home. Eye’s glued onto the fading crayon marks on the wall, the Guild Leader was brought out of her trance by her hosts’ voices.
”It’s a small town, Carlisle,” she began.
”I appreciate the offer, but I’m sure I’ve already burdened you more than enough Ms. Price.” Mary could feel the girl tense in her arms as she saw Carlisle. Mary sighed, allowing her to pull away and ruffling her hair.
”We can talk later if you want, ‘kay?” she whispers to the girl. As she asks about Miles the woman shrugs.
”Honestly I thought he was with you, I’m sure he’ll be here soon enough.”She then turned her attention to Salem.
”It’s not really a long tour anyway, I ‘spose. It’s not a big place so it’s not too hard to find your way around. Hope you’re not allergic to anything though, you were a bit of a surprise honestly.” Mary put everything she could into letting her words be light. Honestly her patience for undue surprises was wearing thin and she still didn’t fully trust the woman before her. All she could do is
hope the night would go smoothly regardless. It felt like false hope but it was better than nothing.
Salem would have normally made a comment about being allergic to bullshit, but she didn’t think she was close enough with anyone here to make those sorts of remarks.
”I apologize for the sudden arrival, but I figured someone else would have told you,” she replied, her eyes flicking to Carlisle for a brief moment.
Lilith had appeared disappointed at Marys response, her shoulders falling ever so slightly. Was he avoiding her? Had he already skipped town? She didn’t have time to articulate her words before the door opened once again. John walked in first, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of Salem.
Claire, on the other hand, made her feelings on the situation very well known.
”You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me,” she groaned.
Hearing John and Claire enter, Carlisle tensed further. This was getting worse. Carlisle forced a smile
"Hello Both. I thought it would be good for everyone if Salem would join us for dinner. Try to show you that there are no hard feelings"”Of course you’re the one responsible,” Claire scoffed.
"Got a problem with that Claire? I am trying to do a good thing here." Carlisle said with a small growl
”I got a really big problem with it, yeah.” retorted the blonde as she crossed her arms and took a few steps forward.
”Constantly sticking your nose in place it doesn’t belong and inviting people into their enemies homes without warning. I know your mommy never loved you, but she could have at least given you a little house training. Respectfully - Settle the fuck down before I remind you I am the one who is supposed to be actively running the Coven. I’ll show you the respect that you need in your position, but you aren’t going to start slinging around what little power you have - especially on me.” "Your coven? Your coven? Lest we forget you wrapped your truck around a signpost. I don't think it really is your coven anymore." Carlisle growled back. Crossing his arms.
"My mother is a bitch. I think we can all agree it. But I am trying to fix all of that. This is part of it. I am fed up of everyone in this family getting up my arse when I am trying to do my job. Everyone here treats me as if I am a fucking second class citizen at times" Carlsie said with a sigh followed by a huff
"Sorry Salem you had to see this. There is a bit of tension at the moment" ”Don’t apologize for my mother,” Lilith interjected angrily.
”She might not be able to take your place anymore, but there’s plenty of others who can, Carlisle. I’ve told you multiple times that I or my family do not need your help unless we ask for it. You keep saying that you want to fix things - one of them being our friendship - but you continue not to listen and try to do whatever it is you do to ‘help’ me, all while completely disregarding the fact that I could be helping you with Coven matters. You didn’t even come to me for help with the barrier. I’m not trying to be rude, but for the love of the old gods can you just stop?” "I didn't come for your help Lilith because I didn't need it. Plus we weren't really on speaking terms. You keep saying about how you don't want me to help because you haven't asked for it. Yeah. Well. Sometimes I have had to take action to prevent bad things from happening to you." Carlisle unfolded his arms. He didn't want to fight with Lil again. In reality he had missed their goofy texts. This last month and a half they had hardly communicated at all. And when they did, he was ways on the losing side of an argument.
"I had to speak to Salem that night of the ceremony. After learning want had happened. I couldn't let Salem kill either of you. You two mean far too much to me for that to happen. Plus, it was my duty as leader to protect you all. So yeah. I spoke to Salem. It was a constructive conversation. We came to an understanding. I invited her here so that we could look at moving forward. I am sorry I didn't forewarn you all. But it has been less than 24 hours. Understandably with you know, with my mother now running loose with a mentally unstable sister I didn't know I had, my mind has been a little preoccupied" Listening to Carlisle speak, Lilith was unable to hide the bubbling anger that was building up inside. Now gripping the back of one of the dining room chairs, her nostrils flared as she sighed.
”My great-grandmother made that barrier, and I am the strongest divination witch of our generation. I mean this in the most polite way possible, but it was foolish to not ask for my help, despite our personal differences. You’re going to have to learn to work with people that you don’t agree with, Car. For the very last time, I’m going to ask you to step down from your high horse. I understand your concern regarding my children. I really do. But they are my children,” she nearly spat through gritted teeth.
”Mine and Miles. It is our duty to protect, nurture, and guide them through life. Not yours. You want to be the cool uncle? Fine. But don’t go around pretending to be a diplomat because your hero complex is working overdrive. Again - I mean this in the most respectful way possible. I don’t wish to argue with you. My blood pressure is already high enough.” "I know it is yours and Miles children. I had this exact same conversation with Miles earlier today. I am not trying to get involved. But inadvertently you and Miles have created children that could spark a war. So of course I had to get involved. It would have been wrong for me if I didn't sort it out. You and Miles are safe now and that is all that matters" Carlisle let out a long drawn out frustrated huff. Everyone always seemed to get on his back about helping. He only got involved because of the political implications. He couldn't care less about the children individually, that was Miles and Lils problem.
"I am so sorry you are being witness to this Salem." Carlisle said as he looked across at her.
"Sadly politics and disagreements between people is common at the moment. But I am sure you understand, I bet you get this back home too" ”I am not your responsibility, Carlisle Aston!” Lilith shouted.
”Your conversation could have gone a completely different way. You could have gotten us all killed. Did you even stop to think of that?”Salem had stood by quietly watching the scene unfold, mildly entertained as she watched the younger generation bicker back and forth.
”I, uh… I don’t, actually. No offense, Aston, but I listen to my co-council,” she murmured after Liliths shouting.
Carlisle sighed
"I was prepared for that Lilith. I was prepared for it to go south. If I had to fight that night I would have. And not to sound rude. You became my responsibility when you ended up creating children than could destroy the delicate balance that we have been trying to maintain." Carlisle then slapped the edge of his seat.
" I am starting to see why mother ruled things like a tyrant and did everything behind people's backs. There is no pleasing some people. I am trying Lilith. Trying to do good things and keep everyone safe. And I did it. I fucking did it. Rather than spending your time chastising me for what could have been, focus on the positives. I have had your back for years. Quietly listening, helping out and doing what I can to make sure your life was as peaceful as it could be given your circumstances. And the fact you still don't trust me to act in your best interests. It hurts."”You were meddling in my life way before my pregnancy, and don’t you dare sit here and put me down for having kids, Carlisle! Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now? I didn’t know that Miles was a magi, and neither did he. I didn’t even know I was pregnant until the Ceremony for cryin' out loud, and you want to act like I’m just out here creating super freaks for the goddamned hell of it?! Here you are telling me to look at the positives while actively becoming and thinking like your mother, even going so far as to validate her actions. I am so sorry that I couldn’t give you what you wanted, and that I’m not carryin’ your kids. Because that’s what this is all about right? You’ve been blamin’ being in love with me on your mothers magic, and while that might have played into it, you literally just admitted to low-key stalking me in a roundabout way for years Carlisle.” Angry tears now began to pool in her eyes. This was far from how Lilith wanted the night to go.
”I really want my friend back Car, I do. I really, really do. But I don’t know how we can go back to the way things were when all you want to do is treat me like I’m a problem when it seems like you’re the one creatin’ problems for me. And I swear on all that I hold dear, if you insinuate that me, my family, or my children are a problem in any way again, I’ll break your fuckin’ jaw,” she glared at him.
”What do you want me to do, Carlisle? Have an abortion?” "I am not saying you are the problem. I know that you didn't know about Miles being a Magi. And I am not trying to say this is your fault. Life happens. But I had to get involved at that point. Could I have handled it better by speaking to you and Miles first? Yeah. I could have. But in all honesty… I panicked. I got told that my friends were in danger and went into reaction mode." Hearing Lilith compare him and his mother in the same sentence stung Carlisle a little. His body language shifted, his shoulders slumped as he looked depressed.
" I only helped you while we were friends. Nothing stalking or like that. It was little things. Like finding books in the library about the voices. Slipping money into your bag when you wanted to get a takeout but never had it on you. Cause god you wouldn't accept it from me any other way." Carlisle lowered his hands so they were dropped to his sides.
"Maybe I am not cut out for any of this. Maybe the easier thing to do is just stand aside and move away. I seem to cause more issues and like you said. The coven leadership is more of a Montgomery thing" Pinching the bridge of her nose, Lilith closed her eyes for a moment and let out a deep sigh before looking back at Carlisle.
”And there’s that weird guilt tripping thing you do,” she mumbled.
”You know what, Car? Thank you,” the brunette spat.
”If what you want is the praise that your mother could never give you, than I’ll shut the fuck up and praise you. Just stop messin’ up my family functions.” ”Can we eat now,” John intervened.
”I think that’d be a good idea, seein’ as that’s what we came here to do,” Claire replied, still glaring at the back of Carlisle’s head. Seeing how upset and tense Lilith was caused Claire to have some anger and aggression herself. With a simple spell, she quietly willed Carlisle to remain silent. He could still speak - he just wouldn’t be audible.
"Well, I suppose we can" Carlisle spoke. Only to realise that sounds weren't coming out of his mouth. He tried to sigh. Nothing. Looking around he tried to focus on what was causing the spell. But it was weird. He couldn't focus. No matter how hard he tried to lock in on the source of the magic, Carlisle failed every time. He couldn't counterspell it as he could not find the source. Defeated, Carlisle slumped into the chair, looking puzzled and confused.
At that rate Mary was back in the kitchen holding her head in her hands. She knew things would fall apart but she’d been hoping for a bit of a break before it all did. So much for that nice family dinner she craved. And Miles
still wasn’t here. Nor were her parents. As John brought up eating Mary nodded furiously.
"Please,” she calls out in response.
As if on cue Miles entered the house, his grandparents in tow. After his chat with Carlisle the man needed some time to just be alone to think and he found himself at the ranch’s river hangout spot. The last couple of days had been overwhelming, and honestly he hadn’t processed any of it until then. By the time he returned to the Montgomerys, Lilith had already left so instead he picked up his own memaw and pawpaw to make the trip for more than nothing.
"Good evening! Sorry we’re-” he was stopped in his tracks at the scene before him. Carlisle was defeatedly slumped in a chair, Lilith looked furious as she glared down at him, his mother looked frustrated and off to the side was a very amused Salem. For a while Miles appeared stunned at the scene before him, a wide eyed look on his face, fear overtook him a moment. Had Carlisle turned them in? Was Salem here to take them away? Or take the life of his children? That fear and stunned silence quickly turned to rage. He could soon feel his face becoming hot.
"The hell’s she doing here?!” the man snaps, looking the older woman up and down. Miles thought he was done with picking fights for today but Salem being right there seemed to complicate that. He found his place at his girlfriend’s side, standing between her and Salem and glaring at the magi.
Watching Carlisle's confused reaction to the silent words falling from his mouth, Lilith snapped out of her rage for a moment to see Miles walking through the door with his grandparents. She could feel the rage and panic rolling off of the young man as soon as his eyes had fallen upon Salem, so much so that it made her own shoulders tense. As Miles approached, Lilith reached out to grab his hand, interlocking her fingers through his.
Claire was the one to answer his question.
”Your friend there thinks it’s okay to go around intervening and bargaining with people's lives. So naturally he invited the enemy.” ”What on earth did I ever do to you, Claire?” ”Plenty, and you know it.” As Lilith wove her fingers in between Miles he gives her hand a comforting squeeze. Well, comforting may be a loose term considering the man himself was wracked with worry and he knew Lilith would smell that on him no matter how stoic he tried to appear. With Claire’s answer he turns his eyes to Carlisle and gave a disapproving tilt of the head.
"C’mon, man. Didn’t we talk about this like 2 hours ago?” he asks, frustration lining each of his words. He then leveled his eyes at Lil’s. They seemed to silently ask her a simple question;
Are we in danger? She always had a knack for these things more than him.
Carlisle went to respond to Miles, but once again as he spoke no words were actually audible. He waved his hands in both frustration and annoyance as he sat back down on the chair and folded his arms.
Lilith was the one to break her and Miles shared gaze, gently squeezing his hand three times in quick succession. It was a code they had had since their childhood days; Once for yes, twice for no, and three times for maybe or I don’t know. The young woman seemed to sigh once more as her gaze fell back upon a frustrated Carlisle.
”We also just had a long conversation about everything again,” she mused.
”Upon learning about our situation, Carlisle found it in his right last night to go and find Salem to make sure she wasn’t going to harm us or whatever. He wants praise for it. I feel as if he’s overstepped again. You know. The usual.” Stepping closer to the group, Salem cleared her throat.
”I understand why everyone is on edge that I’m here, but I don’t mean anyone any harm. Unless it’s Aloysius. I can’t make any promises to anyone on that front - and even then I’m not really threatening to kill him.” "So why are you here, Salem?” Miles asks curiously, remaining weary of the woman.
"Despite Carlisle inviting you. I’m no empath but I’m sure you’re getting some benefit out of being here.””Not really,” the older woman responded with a shrug of her shoulders.
”My flight doesn’t leave until tomorrow, and it was either this, or have dinner at the diner, so I figured why not? But I can always leave, Miles. This is your house and if I’m not welcome all you have to do is say the official word. I stopped intentionally offending people ages ago.” Miles first turns to his mother, looking to her for answers. The woman gives a shrug in return. At this stage she had already accepted this whole scenario, she was beyond caring where Salem went for dinner. The last thing that did for Miles was help him make a choice. With a sigh Miles turns back to Salem.
"Lilith? What do you think?” he asks her, his eyes remaining trained on the only other magi in the room.
Lilith was fully expecting Miles to fly off the handle and tell Salem to get out. Instead, she was now shoulder with the decision. She wasn’t angry at Miles for looking to her for help, but she was still most definitely upset with Carlisle for creating the situation in the first place.
”I think that it was rude to invite her without telling anyone,” she began, looking at Carlisle before turning her attention to Salem.
”But I think it would be even more so for us to kick you out after airing our dirty laundry in front of you. I’m sure you’ll understand if my nerves are a little wound tight right now, so I’d like to extend the courtesy of letting you know that if you make one wrong move, I’ll banish you straight to hell. Literally.” ”Noted,” Salem replied, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
Carlisle tried to wave his hands around to get people's attention, trying to mime that he was sorry. Seeing that it didn't seem to be working he slumped back into his chair. He had been embarrassed infront of Salem and it was going to take him ages to try and get that respect back.
Miles nodded his head at Lilith’s decision, squeezing her hand once more.
"Now that’s settled, can we eat? I’m starving.” he groans making his way to the table. He pours himself a glass of whiskey before looking back at Lilith. He then tenses slightly before sheepishly pushing the glass toward Claire’s usual seat. The pair hadn’t quite talked about where they stood on Miles drinking around Lilith, the last thing he needed was a lecture from her. Miles was kinda over fighting for the day.
On the other side of the room Mary walks herself next to Claire before gently saying
"You should probably give the kid his words back, I reckon the longer you hold onto them the more he’ll have to yell about.””Food sounds great” John quipped.
Claire happily picked up the glass that was being slid her way, wrapping her free arm around Mary as her friend approached. The blonde rolled her eyes, knowing that Mary was right.
”Mouthy little thing, ain’t he,” Claire remarked as she undid the spell with a wave of her hand.
Seeing how Miles reluctantly slid the glass across the table, Lilith picked up the bottle and began to pour two glasses herself before sliding them over silently to both Miles and her grandfather before sitting down.
Mary gave a little chuckle at her friend's comment before taking the bottle from Lil and pouring a glass each for herself and her parents.
"Salem?" she offers, holding the almost empty bottle toward the woman, good thing there were always a couple spare handy.
Miles couldn't help the small smile that tugged on the corner of his mouth. He holds the glass up toward her with a nod of gratitude before taking a sip.
Carlisle finally was able to actually speak. Except he didn't. He just quietly sat at the seat and looked around at everyone. He knew that opening his mouth would just cause more trouble. Instead he spent the time trying to work out everyone's body language and how they were getting along.
”Don’t mind if I do,” the Guild Leader responded, reaching for the bottle.
”No reason to let the rest of it go to waste.” Walking around the table, Salem quickly found herself a safe enough spot wedge between John and Lilith.
”So what do you all usually do at these things? Besides eat, of course. I can’t say I’ve ever been part of something like this.” "Hope Lilith doesn’t stain the floors red with someone else’s blood again,” Mary mutters under her breath, swirling the liquor in the glass before taking a sip. Placing the glass back on the table she travels back to the kitchen and pulls the brisket out of the oven, placing the tray on the table alongside the rest of the food before sitting down again.
As Salem finds her seat next to Lilith, Miles seems to tense slightly, struggling to draw his eyes away from the two women. He remains silent for a while, watching Salem’s every move like a hawk, lest she had a sneaky way to attack. He’d be lying if he’d said the woman did unnerve him. She may have stated she wasn’t going to try anything but how trustworthy was she really? Not to mention Miles felt this weird pull from his stomach around her. Honestly he’d felt that pull many times before with Ty but Salem’s seemed harsher, like birds beating against his insides over butterflies.
Carlisle looked around at Miles seeing how tense he looked and how he was always looking at Salem
"Look, Everything is going to be fine Miles. If Salem tries anything I will counterspell her, and Lilith and yourself can attack me as much as you like" Carlisle said with a nervous chuckle, looking at everyone.
Carlisle’s words didn’t really put the man at any ease. Miles gave a gruff grunt in response before muttering,
"My family, my issue Carlisle,” to his friend under his breath. He remains silent for a moment as people around the table start serving themselves before finally peeling his eyes off of the magi woman. He still shot her a glance every few moments, he wasn’t letting her get away with any tricks. Between glances he turned his attention to John, perhaps he had one more fight to start depending on how the man would react.
Miles clears his throat.
"So- uh John- and Lilith. I was thinking I should move into the ranch at some point. Y’know- to help Lilith out with everything.” He attempted to keep his gaze on the man, even though he couldn’t shake the nervous feeling rising within him. Montgomerys were an intimidating bunch but by far John Montgomery was the most intimidating of them all.
Lilith couldn’t help as a small smirk formed upon her face as she heard Mary’s comment. Her mood was quickly soured by Carlisle's now un-muted words, and quickly changed to shock when she heard what Miles had to say. The young woman found herself wishing for a drink of whiskey, but forced down her tea instead.
John had been eating and drinking silently as he listened to the small conversations around him. His small talk with Marys father was cut short when Miles addressed him. Silence fell over the table while the old man collected his thoughts.
”Carlton moved out this morning,” he stated.
”You can move your things in there whenever you like.” ”Seriously,” Lil piped up, clearly surprised.
”Ain’t no sense in arguing about it,” John replied, shrugging his shoulders and taking a sip of his drink.
”Figured this would come up at some point, and if I try an’ fight it - well. I got you, Mary, Miles and your mother to argue with now, kid. An old mans heart can only take so much.” Miles was clearly taken aback at the older man's response. He was honestly expecting to have a couple of months of back and forth with the old man before he'd finally surrender to it not being a bad idea. In fact he'd expected to already receive a lecture about responsibility or something from John by now. Perhaps he had worse waiting for him at the Ranch or perhaps John and him would be okay after all.
"Well- I guess I'll look at moving my stuff soon," he muses before turning to his mother. He hadn't talked to her about this but the little comforting smile on his face told him she knew this was coming. As their eyes met she gave him a small nod.
Carlisle watched as John agreed right away to Miles' idea. His mouth almost opened in shock. He then furrowed his brow in somewhat annoyance. He was getting his ass lectured to by every single person in existence, but Miles was suddenly getting his own way? It was petty of Carlisle and he knew it was. He wasn't going to say anything, but it still grated him.
Truth to be told, John Montgomery knew his time on Earth was coming to a close. It wasn’t something that he dwelled on to heavily, or reminded everyone of - but it had been in the back of his mind more and more as of late. Miles wasn’t his first choice to move it, but Claire and Lilith were going to need all the help they could get once John was dead. There was no need to turn it down when it was being offered so easily.
”Don’t think you got off scott free though, kid,” he joked before taking another bite of brisket.
”You’re one of the most able bodies I got now.” A few seats over, Lilith was trying to keep her composure. Her own emotions had been going up, down, left and right for the last twenty minutes - and so had those of everyone around her. Small ripples of shock and awe ran through the room, but the only remaining point of tension seemed to be coming from –
”Carlisle,” she questioned.
”Has my family upset you again?” Carlisle swallowed hard. He forgot that Lilith could sense emotions. He did his best to try and suppress his emotions so that Lilith couldn't sense them.
"No no. Everything is peachy and fine ha ha. Let's just eat ya?"Laying down her fork and knife on either side of the plate, Lilith's brow furrowed.
”Please don’t lie to me right now.” Carlisle sighed. He had been trying really hard to not air his pettiness given the hostilities of everything going on around him. With a deeper sigh he looked down
"I don't want to start more trouble, so I am just staying quiet. It's not worth another argument over something petty. Please just leave me be" His attitude had switched to a submissive one. Just someone who wanted to back off and be left alone.
"Fine," the young woman responded with a frustrated huff.
"Don't be so loud with your emotions then."Miles gave a meek chuckle at John's reply as he turns back to his whiskey. Miles tried to pretend he wasn't listening to the conversation between Lil and Carlisle. Why did he have this gut feeling whatever Carlisle was feeling had to do with him? If Miles was being honest, he knew his and Carlisle's friendship had an odd dynamic and Carlisle’s feelings about him changed in the blink of an eye. That man harboured so much jealousy sometimes. Miles would be lying if he said he was never jealous of Carlisle either. He kept his eyes on his food, taking a bite of brisket.
Mary's eyes had been bouncing around the table at each of the conversations around her while she wordlessly ate her dinner. Lilith was starting to ramp up, Mary was glad Carlisle had found the right words to avoid Mary having to clean blood from her dining room floor. Before things could pick up again she decided to push the conversation.
"Salem," she calls to the other side of the table,
"How's New York this time of year?"”Hm?” the woman replied, caught up in the conversations happening around her.
”Oh!” Processing Marys question as she sat down her glass, Salem took a moment to think. How did someone describe New York?
”Well, these next few weeks are sort of the calm before the storm. It’s always busy up that way with tourists and everything, but the holidays are the worst. There’ll be the Thanksgiving parade, then the Christmas light ceremony. Shortly after that is the New Years celebrations. It’s very pretty, but as a local - it drives me nearly insane. What about Tanner? I’m sure a little town like this has to have some sort of annual festivities.” "Seems like it ain’t too much different to what festivities we got here, just a hell of a lot bigger, hm?" Mary replies, sipping at her whiskey once again.
"The county fair starts next week, so there's something." A small teasing smile forms on her lips as she tacks on,
"Milo and Lil used to go on dates to the fair when they were teens, it was all very cute." She nudged Claire in the side as she talked.
"Mum," Miles complains at her added comment, his eyes fixating on her. He seemed to have an idea of what was coming next and he wasn't looking forward to it.
"Y'know," Mary continues jovially, prodding Claire once more.
"The first time he and Lil went by themselves he was adamant to wear a tie, was scared she was gonna look a whole lot more formal than he did or somethin'. Probably woulda worn a whole suit if I let him. We spent the whole afternoon tryna figure out how to tie that thing. Do you remember that, Miles?" At this point Miles had found a special interest in his dinner plate and had one of his hands massaging the side of his temple. All he managed out was a simple affirmative
"Mm."Lilith found herself pushing the food from one side of her plate to the other, careful not to look at anyone. The heat rising to her face, she couldn’t help but smirk as she added her own thoughts to the conversation.
”And to think he made me feel underdressed,” she laughed.
”Here I was in jeans and a t-shirt as always, and Miles was sweating in a suit jacket.” Laughing along, Claire returned Marys nudge with one of her own.
”Remember that time - I think they were like twelve - where we honestly had to pretend like they weren’t sneakin’ in and out each other's windows?” Chuckles continued to erupt from Mary as Lilith and Claire chimed in. As for Miles, his face has turned a brighter shade of pink with every line. Part of him was glad to see his ma laugh, like
truly laugh, for the first time in a long time but he wasn't so chuffed that it was at his expense.
"You could hear Lil comin' from a mile away. I reckon Miles' was no better!" Mary adds on.
"Ma, please stop, I'm begging you," Miles complains, sure that he was as red as a tomato by now.
"Oh, they're sweet memories, Hurricane," Mary says sweetly.
"I remember when you were really little, you used to put your little teddy bear, your favourite book and a handful of toy cars into your little suitcase and tell me you were going to LiLi's house. You were so sure you could make it to North Carolina all on your own."As Mary continued to share her stories, Claire's eyes lit up further.
”How about that time they actually ran away together and tried to survive in the woods that one week? I’ll never forget how filthy they were walking back through the door, little heads hanging low in defeat.” Still laughing, the woman reached across the table to pour herself and Mary another drink.
”Running away honestly doesn’t sound like such a bad idea right now,” Lil did her best to joke and keep the mood light.
”You’re starting to make me terrified for Celeste’s teenage years,” Salem added, trying to get in on the fun. Her eyes flicked from Mary to Miles.
”Hurricane? That’s a family nickname, I suppose?” ”Absolutely nothing sounds better right now,” Miles mutters to Lilith at her comment on running away.
At Salem’s first comment Mary gives a light chuckle.
"Oh, look forward to that. Your tyke already seems like a lil firecracker, those teen years are gonna be wild.” That was when Salem asked about Miles’ nickname. Why couldn’t Mary help but feel like that question was more loaded than it should have been? She shook it off, assuming her concern may just be in overdrive.
"Miles was lil whirlwind when he was little. The best way to find him was following the destruction in the house. Toys would be flyin’, things pulled off shelves, the family dog wound up. It was like havin’ a lil hurricane in the house.” Mary explains, taking a sip of her freshly filled glass.
Carlisle said quietly and eat his own brisket not really saying or getting involved. Mostly just listening to the stories of Lil and Miles Childhood. It was a painful thing to listen to. Mostly because his own childhood was a completely different experience. Meeting Miles was the high point, but he forgot that Miles also knew Lil, and that they were close, even at that point. He played around with his fork on his plate. He wanted to tell his own story from his childhood, but he couldn't think of one that wasn't depressing or showed how much of a bitch Amanda was.
-
Outside the house sitting in his SUV, Aloysius Leighton was reading one more letter that Mary had written. He had spent the entire afternoon reading every single Letter from Mary, and it had been something of an experience. A rollercoaster of emotions. Aloysius had cried at least several times during the readings. He had come here to try and make some of it right.
Leaving his vehicle he pulled out a bouquet of blue lilies he had managed to get a hold of at short notice. He wasn't quite sure if it was the right color for Mary. He began walking upto the door.
Carlisle in his seat, had a view of the walkway to the door from his window. Looking up and seeing a figure walking up, he only just clocked on who it was. He didn't want to alarm anyone, but he sat up straight, sending emotional distress signals out to try and get Lils attention.
Then the knock came.
As a knock came at the door Mary’s brow furrowed, she wasn’t expecting another visitor at this time. She looked over and exchanged glances with Miles, a silent conversation taking place as to who was to answer the door. After a few looks she shook her head before getting up from her seat and trekking to the door. She pulls it open to see a familiar figure in front of her.
"Jo-Al, what are you doing here?” she asks, trying to ignore the bouquet in his hand.
Al didn't exactly know how to hand over a bouquet of flowers. He never really mastered that art. He pushed them forwards towards her for her to accept.
"I got you these. I remember you like Lilies, but I can't remember which color you preferred. So I went with Blue. For calming and soothing y'know" Aloysius smiled, feeling like he was making a little progress
"I spent the afternoon reading your letters. It was an experience. I guess I have some things I need to say""Uh- thanks?” Mary replies awkwardly, taking the flowers that were pushed toward her. She wasn’t all too certain what to say, or how to respond. As Aloysius finished what he had to say Mary gave a deep sigh.
"Look, Al this isn’t the best-” she stops herself as curiosity won over.
"You’re not just gonna stand here and justify why my feelin’s were wrong, are you?” she asks ominously.
" What!? No! Actually the opposite really." Aloysius gave off a soft smile as he looked at her, it was clear from his right eye that he had been shedding some tears.
"Look, your feelings are valid. Extremely valid given the circumstances. Yes, life dealt me a scrappy hand, and others were responsible for what happened. But in all of this I never really sat down to take stock of my own involvement in this. I have always blamed others. Look. I am sorry Mary. I am sorry for all the pain I caused, all the shit I dropped on you. I didn't want to do it. But rather than stay and fight, I curled up like a coward, and I got what I deserved. I can't fix the past. I can't change what happened, but I can at least try and make the future better." Claire was thankful for the playful and overall casual vibe that the conversation had taken. She had tensed slightly hearing the knock upon the door. Everyone who was invited or normally welcome at these things were already here - that was unless Carlisle had decided to invite another unwanted visitor. The woman continued to eat and drink in silence as her best friend moved to open the door, the conversation never dwindling. As everyone around her continued to act as normal, Claire couldn’t help but notice the voices coming from the entryway, nor how long Mary had been away from the table. Getting up and walking over to the doorway herself, Claires face fell as she spotted Aloysius.
Placing herself beside Mary, Claire quickly took in the scene before her. Grabbing the flowers, the woman shoved them back at Aloysius’s chest.
”Food’s gone. Whiskeys gone. You oughta be gone too.” Seeing Claire, Aloysius own face dropped. This just got alot more complicated. With a soft sigh he simply pushed the flowers forward, aiming back towards Mary and away from Claire.
"Look, just let me speak to Mary in peace please. I am trying to get something important out of the way. I am not here to cause trouble or to make Mary's life any harder" Back at the dining table, Carlisle was watching as Claire got up off her seat. This was going to blow up again. With a soft sigh, He looked over at both Lil and Miles
"Turns out Aloysius has decided to show up. It has nothing to do with me" ”Your presence makes things hard enough,” Claire snapped back.
”I’m not sure how good your people skills are, but if someone kept freezing up and breaking down around me - I’d probably stop approachin’ ‘em. Now I suggest you turn around and head back from which way you came, because what’s waitin’ for you on the other side of this door is a lot worse than me, bud.” Mary was somewhat frozen, looking between Al and the flowers back in his hands. She wasn’t sure what to do but eventually succumbed to taking them, accepting flowers didn’t mean sudden forgiveness after all. She was taken aback about the fact Aloysius had apologised rather than just continued to justify himself. At Claire's final statement the woman gave a sigh. Honestly she was curious about what he had to say but in the middle of a family dinner? Probably not the most ideal time.
"She does have a point, I’m not sure you’d survive my dinin’ room. But look, if you’re willing to try-” she turns to Claire,
"It sure would entertain you.”" I just want to talk to you Mary and get things off my chest. Reading those letters made me realise a few home truths. If that means enduring Claire here trying to rip me apart then so be it. Put me infront of the jury and let me state me case" Aloysius almost pleaded with Mary.
Mary glances at Claire for a moment to gauge her reaction before replying to Al.
"You gotta understand, Al. This'll be the toughest jury you've ever faced. Every single person who closely watched me suffer at your loss is in that room.""Which is why I have to do it. I deserve to be put under pressure a bit. Plus, they are going to want to flog me anyway, might as well get it over with"Defeated, Claire shrugged her shoulders.
”Entertainin’ is a nice way of putin’ it. I make no apologies for Lilith in advance.” Mary gave a deep sigh before stepping out of the doorway so Al could move past her.
"As long as someone else is cleaning the blood off the damn floor," she mutters as he enters.
"It will be fine, I am not going to start anything. I just want to prove some stuff to you" Aloysius said with a soft smile. He walks through the hallway into the dining room. It was then his eyes met Salem. His body froze in place as his fight or flight instinct kicked in. He took a deep breath.
"Salem! What are you doing here!?"Salem was far from a divination witch, but she couldn’t help but feel the dark metaphorical cloud that had entered the room as soon as Mary opened the door. She had joined in on some of the smaller conversations around her, and had even managed to make Marys mother laugh in the process. As a familiar dark haired figure graced their presence, silence fell over the room. John looked confused - but ready to shoot - as always, Miles and Lil looked as if they were ready to fight, and the rest of the crowd just seemed completely bewildered. Knocking back what little bit of whiskey was left in her glass, Salem looked up to lock eyes with Al.
”Well, I was invited of course. Not sure you can say the same.” "Why would they invite you?" Aloysius's body was tense and frozen in place. No matter how much he wanted to step back. Salem always had this ability to ground Aloysius where he was. He was confused by how she could be here and Miles not be in danger.
Shrugging her shoulders, Salem responded with the only thing she could think of.
”Because they find my company appealing, I suppose.” Aloysius wanted to say something else, but he knew it would just end up with starting shit with Salem. Aloysius was here to apologise properly to Mary and try to move on. He needed to just power on through. Salem was going to make this near neigh impossible, but he would try his best.
"I just came here to speak to Mary. I suspected that Miles would be here, I didn't expect it to be a full blown dinner. Now I see what Mary meant the room would be the toughest jury. Practically filled with people who hate my guts"As Aloysius walked in the room, time seemed to almost freeze. Suddenly it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop despite Aloysius and Salem’s exchanged words. Miles was almost ready for the conversation to turn back to embarrassing stories from his youth. All the while a hot anger took over him. He took a quick glance at Lil, knowing the rage that swirled inside of him would consume her also, he hoped she wouldn't try anything despite it. He then turns his attention to his father, not that he'd use that title to the man's face.
”What the hell do you want from us?! You talked to her this morning, you don't need to again. Now leave me and my mother and our family alone so we can be at peace!"Aloysius raised his left left hand and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Surprisingly Miles, there is alot to say after the past 25 years, plus, I had some stuff to read courtesy of your mother that has given me a new perspective on things" Removing his hand he looked over at Miles
"Miles, I am sorry for abandoning you and leaving you to grow up with just your mother. It was a terrible thing for me to do. The worst thing a person can do. And I know you are going to be a far better father than I ever could have been to you"Lilith was torn away from joking with her grandfather when a man she didn’t know entered the room. Silence and tension filled the air, quickly followed by the rage of Salem and Miles. Gripping onto her steak knife, Lilith watched as the stranger exchanged words with the people around her. It didn’t take very much for her to put two and two together.
”Aloysius Leighton,” she began, playing with the feeling of the mans name on her tongue.
”The displeasure is all ours.” If looks could kill, Al’s heart would have stopped the second Lilith locked eyes with his. Seeing Miles so upset only fueled Lilith’s natural rage even more. She had seen Miles in fights, or even in drunken rages - but very rarely did he ever
actually raise his voice around her. Aloysius being here was clearly already crossing some sort of line.
”Don’t go around tryin’ to slap bandaids on bullet wounds. If you have things to say to Mary, then I suggest you go ahead and get it out of the way behind closed doors. But don’t expect anyone to forgive you, or for you to be able to walk in here and play father to Miles.” At Al's apology, Miles scoffs.
”I don’t think I've heard a more piss poor, half-assed attempt at an apology in my life! What gives you the right to come into my home and talk to me like that?" Miles yells, standing in his place. As Lilith says her piece Miles nods along, throwing another glance at her. He couldn’t slow that rage flowing through him but he could at least stop Lilith from attacking Al if she tried something. In any other time he wouldn’t bat an eyelid at her attacking his father, in fact he'd be entertained by it, but he was extra cautious considering the state she was in.
Aloysius was able to roll with the punches, he could take whatever Lil or Claire threw at him. But you didn't need an empath's ability to tell that Miles' response hurt Aloysius. For the first time since his teen years, Aloysius had dropped the persona of superiority around him and revealed his more true self. He couldn't expect Miles to open his arms and invite him for a hug, but to at the very least he could have acknowledged what Aloysius was trying to do. Shuffling his feet, he looked down a little bit. It was a mistake to come here.
"I should leave really. I didn't think there would be so many people around" Aloysius said with a defeated sigh. Everything he had hoped for the evening was now in shatters.
”Oh, boo hoo,” Miles mocks, folding his arms.
”How rude of me to not want to fall into my sperm donor’s arms because he decided to show up for once in my 25 years of life.” Miles snaps back at the man’s sad expression.
”What’d you think would happen? You’d read some letters, talk to ma once and suddenly I’d want to be your son?”Mary sighed as she placed the flowers on the kitchen countertop, making a mental note to put them in water later. Even if she wasn’t the biggest fan of their giver she had to admit they were lovely. She’d always loved lilies. As Aloysius and her son talked Mary opted to stay quiet , not caring to intervene at this moment.
"No I didn't expect that. But… Look… I am coming here in good faith. I am not asking for full forgiveness or for us to have some kind of close relationship. I just wanted for you to understand the complications around my life. Both of you" He said as he looked at both Mary and Miles
"And at the same time explain how I fucked up and ruined everything"”I mean, that second part is pretty obvious. You left. You left ma alone, you left me alone. You left and never looked back. I don’t know what more explaining you’ve got.” Miles’ voice had quietened but that rage settled in his eyes, a fire still churning within them.
"Well Salem being here actually helps in that regard. She actively had a part to play in all this, and she hates me, so she won't cover for me. So she can verify what I say is true or not" It was risky trusting Salem to be honest. He knew she could do so much damage here by simply lying or making stuff up. But as long as Aloysius was truthful and didn't take the biscuit with it, hopefully she would cooperate.
"I can tell you everything from the beginning, if you are all willing to listen" He was mostly looking for Miles and Mary's approval. But he wouldn't say no to everyone else listening.
”What is it about this town that brings out the stupid in everyone,” Salem interjected, rolling her eyes.
”Accepting responsibility does not mean coming in here and shoving the blame on me. I may have ripped you out of Tanner, but Amanda was the one to give the signal and you are the one who chose to lie about your identity. If you want to play the poor pitiful princess locked away by the evil dragon card then leave me out of it. I was personally hoping your plane would crash on the way here.” Mary sighed, resituating herself at her seat and the table and taking a sip of her whiskey.
"This woulda been a whole lot easier if you didn’t lie to me,” she muses under her breath.
"But go on- say what you gotta say.”Miles remained silent, opting to not take his seat but he did grip the back of Lilith’s chair for support. He grips so tight his knuckles turn white. He gives no indication on whether or not he was open to listening but he doesn’t seem to prepare to attack.
Hearing Salem's words caused Aloysius to have mixed feelings. She was at least backing him up on the fact Amanda sold him out. So he was hoping that would at least help convince Mary.
"Please, do continue eating. I don't want your food to go cold. I can explain while you eat, or wait until you have all finished" He was trying to smile, but it was obvious that nerves got to him.
Seeing that no one had moved a bit, Aloysius decided to start
"So yeah. I fought a war. I started it. Attacked the Guild and killed Salem's Father. My mother had convinced me that I was capable of doing anything. She used my feelings regarding mine and Salem's break up to convince me that the Guild needed change." Aloysius would grab onto the top of an empty seat, taking a second to think through his words.
" Suffice to say, the revolution was a bust. I lost. Nearly lost my own life. I fled New York in an attempt to save my own skin and avoid the wrath of Salem once more." "Half a year later, I ended up here in Tanner. It was such a nice little town. I met Mary and settled down. Knowing that if I used my real name, I used an Alias, Jonathan Park. My old alias back in guild operations. In retrospect, not the best disguise. Still. I was building a new life. Mary was such a great influence on me. The problem was. The more I saw how amazing she was, the more scared I was that she would reject me if she found out the truth. So I kept putting it off." Aloysius swallowed hard for a moment before carrying on
" That's on me. Nobody else. I fucked up. I should have come clean sooner. I am really sorry Mary. Though I gave you a false name, everything else was still me. I know I can't ask for forgiveness. But I hope you can still see the person you fell in love with behind this new name" There was a hint of both nervousness and fear in his tone. He desperately wanted her approval.
Claire had been listening to Mary and Aloysius's conversation, her eyes bouncing back and forth between the two of them. Taking another drink of whiskey, Claire nearly choked as the last of Al's words filled the air. Lighting a cigarette, the blonde shook her head.
"I call bullshit." Mary listened to Al but her eyes were unable to meet his figure. Instead they would solace in everything else in the room. The swirling liquid in her whiskey glass, Lilith’s plate, the tablecloth. Anything that was not that man. At his last line Mary pursed her lips. After 25 years Mary had completely forgotten what made her fall in love with the man she knew as Johnathon Park. She may have forgotten him all together had he not left her with the heartache and a son. Before she could respond, Claire beat her to it.
As Claire drawled her unbelieving line Miles folded his arms, the first movement he had made since Aloysius started speaking.
”Me too,” he responds instantly.
"I am telling the truth! Why would I lie? I sent letters to Mary every single month… If I wasn't the same person, why would I bother even coming back?" With a sigh he watched Miles and Mary. Clearly Mary wasn't even able to look at him.
"Look, my life was great here in Tanner. Then Amanda found out my true identity. At first she tried to blackmail me into being in a relationship with her. She wanted me to have a child with her. She knew the kind of power it would create. And she craved it herself. Something about securing her legacy. I said no. I had just discovered that Mary was Pregnant. I was over the moon. I took it as a sign that things were about to change in my life for the better. Sadly Amanda had other plans. After discovering Mary was Pregnant, Amanda told Salem where I was hiding. I was forced to surrender and go back to New York. I didn't tell Salem about Mary or the fact she was pregnant. I didn't want to risk Salem going after her. Perhaps if I actually stood my ground and was honest with both Mary and Salem, none of this would have happened. Maybe Salem wouldn't have gone after Mary, maybe I would have been able to live a quiet life in exile. I am just sorry for lying. To both of you I guess. For telling two separate lies."Mary found herself still unable to face the man but a quick check-in with her own divination was enough to know he wasn’t lying. That was- was comforting the right word? Not really. But it at least gave her a peace of mind. She looked over at the magi leader sitting across from her.
"For no reason ‘cept pure curiosity, what would you’ve done to me or my son if you knew?” she asks the other woman.
Salem had grown bored of the conversation around her, choosing to answer a few missed texts on her phone. Business back home never stopped no matter how much she wished it would. For now it was a much needed distraction from Aloysius. Truthfully, Salem should have killed him years ago - but toying with his emotions and always having someone to do your bidding proved to be just a little too much fun. Looking up from her screen, Salem shrugged her shoulders.
”The same thing I said last night - either get to you early enough to convince you to abort the child, or offer you and it both safety within our ranks back in New York. Knowing what I do now, Miles being born was inevitable. You’d have never been a family - not one with Aloysius included anyway. The problem was never with the Leighton line continuing, otherwise I would have found ways to sterilize Lola. Despite the harm that Aloysius had already done to his family name… well, Mary, you’d have been a Queen - second to myself of course. Miles would have grown up with the proper training, and perhaps with more of a feeling that he fit in. If you didn’t want to move to New York, then I could have set you up with connections in Atlanta or anywhere else you wanted to go. I may be a lot of horrible things, but a child killer isn’t one of them.” Asking her divination for guidance, Mary was indeed alerted that Salem was telling the truth. With a sigh Mary turned back to Al, bringing herself to look at him. She could recognise that this was a complex situation, and that her emotional ties to the whole thing made it even more complicated. She was a biased judge. Everyone in that room was a biased judge. Her dad, particularly, seemed unimpressed. "This is ridiculous," he grumbles under his breath.
Miles was mad, more so than before. Hands seemed unsure what to do, swapping between their folded position and gripping on to his and Lilith's chairs.
”So you're telling me- not only did you lie to ma, which is something that caused the issue that you could control, but we could have actually been okay?" In all honesty, Miles scarcely wanted for a more privileged life, it came in fleeting moments of missed events and the few times his mother couldn't hide the exhaustion from her eyes, but it didn’t seem to help soften the blow.
”All you've done is come here and tell us this is all your fault, which is something we all know."Hearing Salem's response, Aloysius's heart sank. He had convinced himself that he had done the right thing. He did what he did to protect Mary and his unborn child. Hearing that they would have been fine regardless only made it worse. What really hurt him was the fact that no matter what he had done, he would have never been allowed near Mary. Salem had controlled his life for so long. He had lost so much time because of her decisions. Listening to Miles, Aloysius just raised his hand to signal him to calm down and shut up.
"I didn't know what was going to happen. I came here originally to tell Mary that I understand now what she went through. And that I am truly sorry to the bottom of my heart that I cussed so much pain by being in her life. I have made so many bad decisions in my life. Choices that haunt me every single day. And thanks to Salem, even 25 years later, I can't find peace. I have repented for all the bad things I did. I served my time. Why can't anyone just let me have one small thing for once?" Aloysius's Voice raised as he got close to the end of his sentence, clearly agitated
"Why does EVERYTHING I touch turn to shit? I just want one thing in my life to go right. Is that too much to ask? I sent letters for twenty five years because I knew that I wanted to make things right. Why can't I make them right?" It was clear that Aloysius was getting emotional. Tears formed at the edges of his eyes, as he felt them burn slightly.
"Cus the one small thing you're askin' for ain't that small. Not for us," Mary replies softly. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she found a sudden interest in the tablecloth once more. The corners of her eyes stung as she forced herself to hold back tears herself. Every single fiber of her being wanted to breakdown in shutters and shakes. This was too much. A reminder of some of the worst moments in her life, the worst hurt she faced and not only did he have reasons but he was breaking down over them himself. As much as she couldn't just get over the situation, it hurt how much pain was in the man's voice. It made the natural comforter in her to go and tend to him but she remained seated.
"You ain't gettin' any sympathy from me," Claire chimed in, taking another drag off her cigarette.
"Seconded," Salem quipped.
"Same here," Lilith responded, clearly having no sympathy for the man. If she had it her way, she would have banished him to another dimension the second he walked through the door.
"I concur," huffed John.
Aloysius closed his eyes, taking a moment to breathe deeply.
”I do everything I can to not be a bad person, and people still judge me as one. I see. Next you will be telling me Ty will hate to see me” Aloysius huffed in frustration, before once again calming himself.
”I know that I did bad things, and I can't say sorry enough. Mary has made me realize how much pain I caused, and the last thing I wanted to do was cause Mary pain. If those letters had arrived, maybe things would have been different.” His eyes dropped towards Carlisle, a look of fire in his eyes.
”It was your mothers fault. All of this. We could have had a peaceful life here if she hadn’t blabbed”Carlisle stared back at Aloysius, completely at a loss of what to say at the seething man. He shrugged his shoulders slightly as he went back to eating a small piece of brisket.
Borderline exhausted and fighting back her frustrations, Lilith sighed.
"Look, man. You said your piece, we said ours - what do we have to do to get you out of here?"Carlisle watched as Aloysius' eyes were locked on his.
”Your family ruined it all, and you think you can still be in charge…” Before he could finish his sentence, Aloysius disappeared. With a small groan, Carlisle rubbed his forehead.
”He was getting on my nerves. Plus I am not my mother, and won’t stand being compared to her.”Taking a deep breath, Lilith looked around the table, not quite sure of what to say. She had managed to keep from hitting Aloysius, which was a win - but over all this night felt like another loss. She was ready to go home. The young woman reached over her shoulder to place her hand on top of Miles's. She shrugged her shoulders, speaking the first thing that came to mind.
"Speaking of headaches, maybe I should have gave him one." Her tone was thoughtful and exhausted. As silence began to fill the room again, Lilith began to sip on her tea.
As Al disappears Mary gives an exhausted sigh, resting her head on her best friend's shoulder. The scent of tobacco surrounding her, both comfortingly familiar and unpleasantly foul all at once. Mary had given up stopping her friend smoking in her house since she returned to the land of the living, it bothered her less now the kids were adults.
"I'm so over this." she mutters, keeping her voice low enough only Claire could hear.
"I'm so exhausted, Claire. All the time. Always"Now as silence fell the emotional high was starting to drain from Miles. He couldn't help but notice that it left him shaking a bit.
”You and me both," he replies to Lilith, rubbing the side of her hand with his thumb. Miles harboured more rage within him than he'd ever admit. In true Price fashion it was so naturally suppressed but he'd always been cautious with it around Lil, knowing she was so sensitive to those strong emotions.
”Sorry." he says meekly, glancing back at her.
Blowing out the last puff of smoke, Claire put out the cigarette on the sole of her boot before tossing it in the ashtray on the table. Mary had never been a smoker, but had always kept an ashtray around just for Claire. All these years later, and it was still in the same spot. As Mary put her head on Claires shoulder, the blonde began to play with her best friend's hair. Empathy was a rare trait - even for the Montgoemerys’ - but it didn’t take a genius to see how tired Mary was. She gently kissed the top of the older woman's head.
”I know baby,” the blonde whispered back.
”I know. Maybe you should think about moving into the ranch too.” Claire could almost feel the tension in Mary's shoulders, even somewhat imagining the hardened expression on her face as she fought for her last will to fight.
”I know you’ll fight me on it, and you don’t ever even have to give me an answer - but the offer still stands.” On the other side of the table, Lilith looked up at Miles. Eyes soft, her brows knit together in confusion.
”What for?” At Claire's invitation Mary sighed. The Montgomerys had done too much for her, especially in the past 25 years. Even moreso than that she had built too much in this house, she was more attached to it than she'd care to admit.
"I can't ask y'all to do any more for me." she says softly. In this moment of vulnerability the exhaustion seeps through her voice. She was so used to going breakneck speed bouncing between her jobs and commitments that in those brief moments of quiet she was intensely reminded of the impact her lifestyle had had on her aging body.
"I worked so hard for, well, this. All of it. It'll feel… I don't know. I just can't."At Lilith's question Miles blinked once. Then twice. He'd honestly expected Lilith to be more riled up from the aftermath.
”I dunno. All of that? I got pretty mad. I just thought- nevermind," he mumbles. He finds himself unable to meet his girlfriend's eyes for a moment. He wasn't quite sure what he was feeling. Shame? Fear? Discomfort? Whatever it was, he wasn't a fan.
”I ain’t asking you to sell your house, babe. Just think about it, yeah?” Claire knew full well that her efforts were futile, but she wanted to make sure Mary knew she was being serious. No one wanted Mary to sell her house or give up her life - but at the same time, Claire knew how hard having an empty house was going to be on her friend. She continued to play with the woman's hair, another sigh escaping.
Lilith watched Miles' confused expression. Had she said the wrong thing? Was he upset with himself? She really didn’t know. The young Montgomery shook her head.
”It’s fine Miles. I’m a big girl. I can handle myself. We’ve both got a lot going on, emotions are high. Nothing to apologize for.” Staring at her empty plate, the young woman wished that she had something other than her own foot to shove in her mouth.
Mary knew Claire only had good intentions in asking but it seemed a big ask. Mary was unsure which would be harder if she chose to go, letting go of such an important place to her or knowing that she was becoming another burden for her old friends to carry. Eventually she straightens herself up, shooting Claire a thin-lipped smile.
"Y’don’t need to worry about me, Claire. I’ve done this before, Miles was in Olympia for college and work for a good 4 or 5 years. I’ve done the whole empty nester thing. I’ll be fine.” she says, taking another sip of whiskey.
”Yeah. Yeah we do,” Miles muses in response to Lilith’s mentioning about them having a lot going on.
”The whole high emotion empath thing- that’s not bad for the babies, is it?”Carlisle laid down his fork as he finished eating. His face going a similar pale colour to the ceremony. Looking around he saw that everyone was comforting each other. It had been emotional, that was for sure. Carlisle himself felt very confused as to what to do next.
"For the record, I am sorry for inviting Salem without announcing it. Things had been busy today and I thought it wasn't a big a deal. When in reality it was a major thing. I thought I was doing right by trying to show Salem's peaceful intentions. And I was wrong to assume that you would all be okay with it"Claire shrugged her shoulders as she placed her elbows on the edge of the table to prop herself up. She might not have been able to convince Mary to move it, but she’d make sure she could be there for her friend - even if she had to do so in traditionally sneaky fashion.
Lilith shot Carlisle a stern look from across the table before answering Miles.
”I’m not sure. I know that being super stressed and things like that can cause complications. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if they come out with two heads and webbed feet.” At Lilith’s response Miles felt an empty chuckle escape his lips before gently kissing the top of his girlfriend’s head. Honestly, the weekend had just left the man confused and drained. He was going to be a father, his mum and him fought and his dad had thought now was as good a time as any to try and wiggle back into Mary Price’s good graces. He then sighs, placing his forehead gently on Lilith’s scalp where his lips had just touched. He completely missed Carlisle’s rehearsed words.
Mary had not.
"Guess y’learnt your lesson now, ‘ey kid?” she asks, rubbing her eyes in such a way to seem she was tired rather than soaking up the few tears that were starting to collect in their corners.
" If I ever turn out like Aloysius, shoot me" Carlisle replied, before quickly backtracking
"Actually, don't shoot me. Cause too many of you own guns" Carlisle said with a nervous chuckle
"I will let him out later when I get home"”Plenty of other things to get shot over,” John chuckled.
”Can we go watch the Packers game now? Kinda tired of feeling like I’m a co-star in a soap opera over here.” "C’mon,” Mary sighs, standing up in her spot. Dinner may have been a bust but she could usually count on John being relatively easy to impress.
"I’ll fix the TV up for you.” 
