Vo. 6, Chapter X — Whispers and Witnesses

As I joined Violet on the couch, I thought that there was nothing better than that after filling my stomach with our family all gathered. She sat around the middle of the couch while I splayed myself over its length, belly down, hips on her lap. She used my rear as a cushion for her arms while I contentedly kicked my feet in the air. I had a pair of my fluffy socks on, one of the many she had given me, the weather having gotten cool enough that I could now put them on without hearing comments about it. These were white and had pink kitty pawprints on the soles, making them one of my favourites.

After a short giggle from observing me, followed by a long sigh, she spoke first.

“I wonder if, for once, we’ll be able to actually relax over the weekend…”

I moved one of my feet so that my toe poked her cheek before telling her not to jynx it with that kind of talk.

It was a warranted question, however, seeing that it was only a few more days until the start of November, and we really hadn’t had a proper restful weekend since the start of the school year in October. It was always something, you know? Some chores that had piled up, a school project that needed our attention, that really nasty period Violet had… the list could go on. It has been a very eventful month, that’s for sure.

“Time goes by, but you two never change, do you?” my Dad asked, sitting on a chair close to us, with Oliver jumping on his lap as soon as possible.

“Lies!” I laughed, a result of Violet tickling my foot as payback for having her face poked by it. “Lies and defamations!”

“I feel like we really haven’t been acting like this all that often lately,” Violet said, sounding like she was thinking long and hard about it. “We still play with each other, but it feels like that, when we can, we just sit cuddled together and enjoy some peace and quiet.”

“The fact that our teachers have become tyrannical with the amount of homework they give us certainly doesn’t help,” I grumbled. “I even thought about telling them that, if Violet and I divorce, it will be their fault.”

“Oy, don’t make those kinds of jokes,” Violet grumbled back, gently tapping my rear like a drum.

I let out a small laugh as I hoisted myself up to kiss my sulking wife on the cheek. She returned it once she softened up under my smile by cupping my face so our lips were hidden from sight as she kissed me back. I then curled myself up to her, feet twirling on her lap and burying my face in the crook of her neck, kneading her clothes while having a giggling fit from the unexpected, sweet kiss in front of my Dad, Violet adorably blushing and hugging me as her boldness waned.

My father joked that we really haven’t changed one bit after all, likely making Violet’s face burn even hotter.

Once I calmed down, I looked at how my sister was doing. Violet and I cooked, so Stan was in charge of the dishes, and Sophie immediately jumped in, saying she’d help.

Hehe! My sister sure looks happy.

She and Stan were calmly talking, him doing the washing, and she doing the drying and setting the dishes on the rack. He had his usual carefree smile, although it was a bit tired from the long hours of work, while she regarded him with a warm, charmed smile that likely was exactly how I looked when around Violet.

I then turned to look at Dad to talk to him a bit, but stopped from speaking as I saw the way he was looking at the sight I had just been enjoying.

He noticed…

Which wasn’t surprising at all. As I said, Sophie was making that love-struck face that looked just like mine around my wifey. No, even if he hadn’t seen that kind of expression on my face before, he’d still notice. It was way too obvious.

“Dad?” I called. “Everything ok?”

His expression snapped to one of someone having just been awoken from a trance. Where previously had been apprehension and worry, there was now a different kind of worry, as if he was a bit afraid of having been too obvious about it.

“Sorry, I got distracted thinking about work,” he told me, scratching the stubble that had grown since this morning.

“Gee!” I told him, puffing out my cheeks. “You work way too much! Take some holidays, old man!”

He laughed that he’d take some if he could as he shifted himself in the chair, Oliver shooting at him an annoyed look since that woke him up just as he was about to fall into a deep sleep.

Sis and Papa Stan soon joined in, Stan sitting on his usual chair while Sophie sat by Violet on the opposite side I was. I watched Violet blush slightly as Sophie combed a stray strand of hair behind Violet’s ear while thanking us for the food and asking her specifically how she’s been doing lately. It never failed to amuse me how Violet got when Sophie acted sisterly towards her, and at this point, I’m fully convinced Sophie does it on purpose too.

Between talking and joking around with each other, sometimes pausing just to watch Oliver sleeping and hearing his snoring, time went by super-fast, enough that my Dad and sis stayed a bit past their planned time.

There had also been a few glances of my Dad directed towards Sophie when her eyes lingered on Stan for a bit too long, and of course, plenty of longing stares coming from my sister towards Stan. It’d be sweet, were it not for the slight tension on my Dad’s shoulders. Sis would sometimes realise it, either that she was staring too much, or that Dad had his eyes on her, and she’d play cool, but it was getting harder and harder for her to have any semblance of plausible deniability if asked why it was she stared at Papa Stan like that.

“Before I go, could we have a talk?” my Dad asked Papa Stan as he got up and passed me Oliver, my sister leaning in to rub his sleepy head.

“In private, or…?” Stan asked, noticing the strange tone in my Dad’s voice.

My father clarified that it was in private that he wanted to talk, so the two went upstairs, leaving us girls alone with the cat, me holding him and the other two rubbing him all over, us all cooing and drooling over the purring machine. I had a strong suspicion of what it was Dad wanted to talk about, and the way they looked when they got back told me I was probably right.

My dad looked still apprehensive, his eyes lingering on Sophie, making her ask him what was wrong. He said it was nothing with a smile and a hand on her shoulder. That was a bit strange because he didn’t really have a habit of touching us due to how Mum would always scold him for “pampering us too much.”

Then, there was the way Stan was also looking at Sophie as they bid each other farewell. It felt like he was apologising to her behind his smile.

After sis and Dad left, Papa Stan gave us his goodnights and went back upstairs.

“What the hell?” Violet mumbled as she leaned closer to my ear. “Abby, do you have any idea what might be going on?”

I gave her a nod and pinched her shirt between two fingers. I pulled her along into our bedroom. Once there, I settled Oliver to sleep in his bed, covering him with his paw-print cream blankie, and sat by Violet. Behind the closed door, I told her my observations of the night.

“That was bound to happen sooner or later, I guess,” she sighed. “So, what do you think will happen next?”

“Dunno,” I told her with a shrug. “Our Dads seem to still be on good terms, so it’s not like my Dad is mad with yours or anything, so… maybe Papa Stan will try to put some distance between him and Sophie?”

Violet hummed as she swayed side to side, rubbing her knees together.

“I don’t think he’d do that, though,” her voice dragged. “I don’t know, it feels like that’d be… erm, too ‘cold’ for him to do.”

“True,” I agreed. “Like you, he’s a real softie when it comes to the people he cares about.”

“Is it really the moment to make jokes?” she chuckled.

Whether it was or not, there really wasn’t much else we could realistically do besides waiting and seeing what came next. That, and get ready, as Sophie might need more support than ever before.