Proserpina
When she came awake to the familiar feeling of nausea, she swung her legs to the floor and made it to the bathroom just as the sickness hit her. After she had finished retching violently, she leant against the wall, panting.
Morning sickness, she thought bitterly. She was getting too old for this she told herself and glanced in the mirror. The face that gazed back at her was pale, deathly white and only the dark bruises under her eyes added any colour to her face. Splashing water on her tired eyes, she reflected on her conversation with Brian.
He had suggested that she take a few days off and fly to Bhutan. Stepping under the shower, she thought about it as the warm jets of water pounded her body. Why not? she asked herself.
But in her heart of hearts, she knew she would not run away. She was the one who held the family together, her children needed her.
Yes, perhaps in a few months, she could decide. But right now, she had to stay and fight. She would meet Lucien’s ‘son’ and the wh*re he had once regarded as his favourite.
She straightened her shoulders and stepped out, ready to take on the world.
*
When Ria entered the kitchen after spending a more or less sleepless night, talking to her twin who had been chain smoking , she was pleasantly surprised to see her mother in the kitchen, organising breakfast. She sniffed appreciatively. Texas French Toast Dipped in Delicious Cinnamon Egg Batter?
It was undoubtedly her favourite meal.
Impulsively, she rushed to where her mother was standing and threw her arms around her. Proserpina turned and enfolded her daughter in her arms, a feeling of love and protectiveness surging through her.
My children do not need to be torn asunder, she thought fiercely. I will not let go, I shall be strong. In her heart she thanked Brian. His wisdom and calming words had made her aware of what she needed to do. There was plenty of time to take a decision about the future.
Proserpina smiled as Beatrice waddled across, demanding ,
“So its’ gonna be the usual, huh? Two Eggs, Two Sausage Links and Two Bacon Strips for each person, eh?’
She fondly hugged the old woman, who looked at her face suspiciously, noticing the drawn expression, the tell-tale signs of a sleepless night.
Proserpina shook her head and whispered softly,
“I shall be fine, don’t worry, Bea.’
*
When Lucien sat down for breakfast, the atmosphere around the table was subdued. The triplets were silent, a difference from the clamour and cacophony around the table that happened every day. They ate their delicious meal but he was aware that they avoided his eyes, only replying in monosyllables to his queries.
While Louis ignored his father outright, Dom kept looking resentfully at the Mafia Don when he thought his father was not watching, while Tara’s large grey-blue eyes settled mournfully on him when he looked up. Reproachfully, he thought. The girl was talented and had shown her ability to play the piano like a person born with magic at her fingertips.
He had often heard her practice on the baby grand Proserpina had convinced him to get Tara.
Now he looked away, unable to meet the sorrowful gaze.
*
Piers walked in unshaven and grim-looking, followed by Ria who looked at her father hesitantly, a small, uncertain smile playing around her full mouth. She walked to him and placing her arms around him, she kissed his cheek, whispering,
“Pappa.’
Claude sauntered in, looking his rough self, his crew cut sticking out in spikes, if that was possible and Paddy loped in behind him, silent as ever, his eyes on the ground.
The food was as always, superb. His wife was back in the kitchen, supervising. He could hear her, speaking softly as he moved about. But she had not come in to acknowledge his presence. In fact, she had remained in the kitchen from the time he entered, he thought bitterly.
How different from the scene at the table a few years ago, when they would laugh and sit around, the children ribbing each other good-naturedly while he basked in the joy of having his children and his wife with him, safe and sound!
*
Lucien
*The family had a way of protecting her, he thought fondly because she was too good, too kind and too sensitive. So somehow, the children conspired to keep her ignorant of any major unpleasantness that was happening around them.
Her friends, Grace, Danielle and of course, Jeannie, had also made sure of that. Melissa Lord was also a close friend of hers now and the little blonde had a way of glossing over unpleasant things to avoid troubling Proserpina. Another protective terrier thought Lucien.
He watched her, narrow-eyed. True, she had gone through too much already, Piers had said once, impassioned as he insisted on hiding the fact that Claude was leaving a string of broken hearts in his wake as he bedded one woman after another, though he was just in his early teens.
Piers had been furious when someone had suggested that Proserpina should speak to Claude. That was the first time the eldest Delano, lean and muscular as he was, compared to the burly Claude, had come close to hitting his brother.
“No way!’ he had shouted, “Mumma has suffered a lot, too much for any one person. I will be damned if anyone tries to make her upset.’ And he had glared at everyone in the room, including his own father.
The sudden rage had scared everyone. No one dared to cross Piers.
*
The Present Day
Now the memory of that evening made him enraged; things would never be the same again. And he, yes HE, Lucien Delano was to blame for this unholy mess. but he would not back down.
“Woman!’ he bellowed and the heads of his children turned in unison to look at him, hostile and simmering with rage. Piers glared, Claude scowled and Ria reached out to hold his hand.
A while later Proserpina appeared. She looked weary and drawn but she met his gaze blankly, proudly drawing herself up to her full height. Lucien felt an unbidden rush of admiration as he looked at the full mouth, the large chocolate brown eyes rimmed with dark circles.
His eyes on her small, tight face, he said in a harsh voice,
“I shall be coming in the evening with Cole and I expect all of you to welcome him …’
Piers made a loud derisive noise and flinging down his napkin, he thrust his chair away violently, causing it to fall down.
‘Your BAS*ARD, you mean!’ he shouted, contempt in his tones.
Lucien’s fists clenched and he knew he was going to hit the younger man as he stood up and made to step forward. Proserpina moved swiftly, barring his way. She met his eyes, a cold, hard look on her lovely face, challenging him.
Without turning to look at Piers, she said quietly, commandingly, her brown gaze, molten with anger, fixed on Lucien,
‘Piers. Leave the room. NOW!’
The young man stood for a while, glaring at his father, his face a hate-filled mask. Lucien saw his fists clenching as he struggled to control his anger.
Then, he turned and stormed out. Claude shot his father a look of loathing and anger and followed him, his powerful shoulders hunched. Paddy stood up too and slunk out to the room. Ria looked stricken. Proserpina turned to him.
“Thank you for ruining their breakfast, Lucien Delano, ‘ she said in a weary whisper.
And then, taking a deep breath, still barring his way as he stood, breathing heavily, his jaw set in anger, she went on,
“My children are well brought up,’ she said it in a low voice, ringing with scorn and fury,
‘YOU of all people, do not need to try and teach them manners, Lucien.’
And with that, she turned and swept off into the kitchen.
*
His three youngest children continued to sit heads bent but the boys, Dom and Louis, looked up, at the door through which their brothers had exited.
Ria sat, her head bowed, saying nothing but he could see the tears running down her cheeks as she wept silently.
Lucien moved and strode out of the room. Minutes later, his car was roaring down the drive, followed by the cavalcade that inevitably tailed him…
*
Life as he had known it, had altered irrevocably.
*