Chapter 184 - Emotional Outburst
Inside the Parlor, the family of three sat on the same couch.
Yvonne remained on her father's lap while Raylene sat next to the Master of the house in silence.
It had been a few minutes since they had arrived at this place but none of them had spoken a single word.
The little girl sat on her father's lap as she watched three young maids enter the room with trays in their hands.
Once they had placed the trays on the table and left, only then did Rutherford speak up.
"Here Vonna." He called out and picked up the warm and damp cloths that the maid had brought in.
'Hmmm… They give importance to hygiene.' She was satisfied with what she saw and raised her hands in her father's direction.
While Rutherford wiped her hands clean with the damp cloth, he gestured to his wife to do the same.
'These are like wet wipes from my world.' She surmised and was pleased with the little effort they were making to keep themselves clean even without directly using water.
As they had come here instead of washing themselves in their bedrooms, the old maid, Mrs. Jacinth had asked one of the maids to prepare these damp clothes that her Young Miss often used.
Yvonne was ignorant of the fact that it was her nanny who had learned this trick after watching her do it several times.
Therefore, she had high praise for Rutherford in her heart which should have belonged to the maid.
After making sure that his daughter's palms were clean as she had spent the entire day outside, Rutherford handed her the cookies that he had asked their chef to prepare for when his wife and child returned.
He had even asked the chef to bake a cake which his wife preferred to eat over cookies but now he was worried as she had not even given the cake a second glance.
'She would have pounced on the cake if it was some other day so why is she so silent today?' He wondered and was apprehensive whether her anger for him was greater than what he had thought it to be.
Yvonne had an inkling of what the cause of her mother's sullen mood was but she was too lost in her thoughts about what would happen next that she had tossed this matter out of her mind.
She absentmindedly munched on the cookies as she waited for the right time to speak to her father about the conversation she had with Baron MacIntyre.
"Is something wrong, Ray?" Rutherford inquired while lifting his hand and caressing his wife's cheek.
Raylene's guilt had kept her silent all along and this simple gesture of his made that dam which had been holding the raging waters of guilt to break into smithereens.
With the floodgates opened, she could not stop her tears from gushing out as she leaned into his palm.
The shock that Rutherford felt when his wife began weeping bitterly onto his palm made his heart clench in pain.
'W-what just happened?' The little girl was equally startled when she noticed this sudden change in her mother's demeanor.
The cookie that she had just bit into dropped to her lap as her mouth was left wide open after witnessing the big fat tears that were leaking from her mother's eyes.
Neither she nor Rutherford cared for this unladylike behavior of hers as they were focused on the woman who would not stop crying.
Yvonne tossed the cookie back on the plate and brushed away the crumbs which had fallen on her dress.
She was quick to do damage control as she stood on her father's lap, not bothering that she had almost stepped on an overly precious and delicate part of his body.
Rutherford felt fear for the first time due to his daughter when he noticed that she was about to step on his member in her haste.
'Thank you, almighty lord Asmodeus!' He prayed when she stumbled and placed her feet a couple of inches away from the valuable and fragile part of his body.
Yvonne had no idea that she had just threatened the manhood of her father as she climbed onto her mother's lap.
"Don't cry, Mama!" She ordered while hugging the weeping woman's neck.
She pressed her face into her mother's neck and patted her back like one would do to console a weeping child.
The fear in Rutherford's heart had now been replaced by joy when he saw how his child was trying to comfort his wife.
He took this opportunity to hug them both alike and brought them close to his chest.
"Shhh… It's alright."
"You are safe now."
"Stop crying, Ray."
"Tell me what is wrong."
His consistent whispers were heard in Raylene's ears which made her stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.
'You do realize that I am stuck between the two of you!' Yvonne sneered in her heart when she was being squeezed in the tight hug that they had trapped her in.
All she wanted to do was comfort her mother with a hug which was a rare and difficult thing for her to do.
However, the parents had pounced onto her and had hugged her as though she was a stuffed toy made for them to hold whenever they pleased.
Though she was feeling hot and annoyed with this close contact, she decided to bear her irritation for a few more seconds.
"Mama, Vonny will cry if you do not stop crying." She threatened when she heard Raylene's sniffles all over again.
The threat had succeeded as the last thing Raylene ever wanted to see was that pretty and adorable child of hers to cry bitter tears.
"Mama won't cry!" She clamored and wiped her tears in haste.
Yvonne's face was hidden in her mother's neck and thanks to this, her smirk was also concealed from their eyes.
Rutherford felt betrayed when he heard his wife's swift words and scoffed at her in his mind.
'I speak so many words and she does not listen to a single thing I say but Vonna speaks and her words are the law for Ray?' He shook his head at his wife who was being too partial in her love which was evident for everyone to see.
After a few seconds, Yvonne took a sigh of relief when she felt the tight hug relaxing as the big man moved away from them.
He sat still and waited for his wife to regain her composure before he could ask anything further.
Raylene shot an awkward and sheepish glance at her husband who had held a handkerchief for her to wipe her tears.
Grasping this chance, Yvonne hopped off her mother's lap and scurried over to the other side of the couch.
'The farther the better!' She decided as this was the lesson she had learned for the kind gesture she had made just earlier.
Raylene and Rutherford glanced at her and let her be as they had important matters to discuss among themselves.
"Now can you tell me why you had cried?" He questioned as he caressed her dry cheek.
Raylene took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes as she revealed the cause of her emotional outburst.
"I lost Vonny in the store." She muttered as tears began welling up in her eyes.