42

Kade’s POV
Emilie, Mom, Dad, and I sat at the dining room table with a pot of chicken parmesan sitting in front of us as steam rises from it. Mom and Dad sat on one side of the table while Emilie and I sat on the other as we started to scoop the pasta and chicken onto our plates along with a piece of garlic bread.
Dad kept glancing up at me as he was eating and I just had to ignore that I noticed him keep looking at me because I didn’t want to have to deal with whatever he was going to say. He cleared his throat and I had to clear my mind of any anger as he started to talk. So, Kade, how’re you doing ?
I gripped my napkin in my hand that was sitting on my lap before looking up at him with the best smile that I could muster up. Perfectly fine, Dad, it’s not like I just broke up with my boyfriend or anything.
Other people will come and go, you just have to let it go, he tells me.
My mom shakes her head. No, I don’t think he should just let Joseph go. He’s a good guy and he was excellent to Kade, I think whatever’s going on can be fixed and he should move forward with that plan.
I agree, Emilie said as she texted under the table since phones weren’t allowed at dinner. I looked up at my dad to notice how his face looked shocked and kinda paler than it was a few minutes prior. He looks at his wife who continues eating as she doesn’t realize how her husband’s feeling.
Alexis, you don’t see any problem with the boy ? Dad asks.
Mom looks up with a confused look with a shrug of her shoulders. No, I see no problem. Kade was happy with him and from what we saw, he was good to our boy. Anyways, it’s not our decision, it’s his.
I set my fork down as I stare at my dad with a smug look to throw it in his face that Mom was on my side. When he notices the look I’m giving him, he narrows his eyes on me. The deal, he mouthes to me and I shake my head, telling him that there was no deal anymore.
Kade, don’t, he warns me, making Emilie and Mom look up at us as I stare at him and he gives me an angry look. Mom sets her hand on her husband’s shoulder, getting his attention.
What’s going on ?
Dad shakes his head. Don’t worry about it.
That strikes a nerve and I scoff, getting everyone’s attention back to me as I give my dad an angry look because I wasn’t going to just let this get past my mom without her knowing anymore because she deserved to be in the know about what’s going on with her children. Dad notices the look I’m giving him and he shakes his head to tell me not to bring it up. I look over at Mom, who’s already giving me a confused look. Mom, there’s something you should know.
Dad stands up, slamming his hands on the table, making all the plates rattle and startle Emilie back against her chair. Kade, let’s not do this right now.
I shake my head, standing up to be at the same height as him. Emilie reaches out to press her hand to my arm to silently tell me to calm down as she probably saw my hands shaking against the table. I stare at my dad before looking back down at Mom, who now looks even more confused. Dad’s making me make a decision.
Dad picked his hands up again before slamming them down on the table again, startling everyone and I take a step back, realizing how bad this could turn out. Mom immediately stands up to place her arms on Dad’s shoulders to push him back away from the table as he stares at me with an extremely mad look, but I remind myself that this is the only way to make everyone happy, except for my Dad, who basically brought this on himself.
Mom turns to look at me. What decision ?
He told me that I had to choose between Joey or this family, I tell her, setting my hand on Emilie’s shoulder as she gasps, looking over at our father.
Dad takes a step forward before he’s pushed back by Mom who looks up at him with a confused look. Why the hell would you make him do that ?
Lexi, we cannot have our son dating a predator, he warns her in a low voice.
Emilie looks up at me, standing up to be at the same level as everyone else. She moves closer to me, probably nervous that Dad was going to do something else. What’s he talking about ?
I think for a few minutes because Emilie still has no idea that Joey’s a werewolf or that werewolves even exist in this world. I’ll tell you later, I promise.
Mom scoffs. Brody, just because Joey is what he is doesn’t mean he’s going to hurt our son. It just means that he’s going to be a better protector than anyone that could ever possibly come into his life. I know you want to be our son’s whole world, but we can’t be. We need to let him go and let him be happy.
Dad shakes his head. I’m not allowing him to be in that relationship.
I take a step forward, leaning my hands on the table again. You don’t need to allow me to do anything. I’m 18, I can make my own decisions.
You live under my goddamn roof ! You’ll listen to me, Dad yells at me, taking a step forward to point a menacing finger at me that almost makes me coward back, but I know that I need to stand my ground right now as Mom looks between the two of us to figure out what to do.
Kade, what did he say to you ? Mom asks.
I sigh, wrapping an arm around Emilie to support her at what she’s about to hear. He told me that if I chose Joey, I would have to move out and Dad and I would never have a relationship. But if I chose the family, I wasn’t allowed to see Joey and Dad and I could work on bettering our relationship.
Mom turns towards her husband as she crosses her arms to give him a death glare. Brody, your son chose this family, right ? Well, have you noticed how distant he’s been with you since then ? By making him choose, you’ll never have a relationship with him because you will be the one ultimately hurting him in the end.
I look down at Emilie to see tears in her eyes before she looks up at Dad. How could you ? Why would you want to tear this family apart ?
Dad shakes his head, his expression softens when he sees how much he’s affecting his daughter. Em, no, I wasn’t trying to tear us apart. I was trying to protect us.
Mom sighs, running her hands over her face. We don’t need protecting. Joey would never hurt us, I promise you. He’s one of the sweetest guys Kade could ever bring home, so just hold onto that because it’s true.
Dad, Joey’s the man that I love and I want to be with. I respect your opinion, but you should get to know him before you make these assumptions because if you knew him, you would see how funny and how sweet he is, I promise you, I tell him.
Emilie nods. He’s the sweetest, Dad. He always asks about my art and is interested in getting to know all of us, even you. He wants to know his boyfriend’s dad, so you need to do that before you do something big like this. We can be a family, but you just have to be open-minded, okay ?