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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 0:03:54 GMT -5
Roland pressed his lips together tightly. He was really not at all happy about having to do this. This was Cyrus's mess, and it had been handled poorly from the very beginning. He had missed most of the drama, having been out of town when Lina first announced that she was pregnant, and hadn't come back until Mara was about three months old, only to leave again a month later for another 5 months. And he was dismayed to learn that the situation was not yet resolved, to the point where he had to step in.
"I met with Lina today," he said, his eyes locking with his mother's. "We had a long chat, and I visited with the baby, then I had to walk her home, to make sure she got there safely."
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Post by Cara Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 1:12:33 GMT -5
Cara's frown deepend considerable. "Oh, wonderful," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she sat back against the plush sofa that she and her husband were sitting on.
"So it isn't enough for her to ruin one son's life, that now she's working on you as well? Making you late for meetings... was she the reason your last mission went poorly?" The last question had just occured to her, and she swore by Merlin that she would kill the girl herself if that were the case.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 9:32:24 GMT -5
Roland nearly laughed at his mother's overdramatic idea that Lina was trying to ruin his life. He certainly didn't see the conspiracy that she did. Furthermore, the idea that he would ever give anyone enough power over him to ruin his life was preposterous.
But the mention of his last mission quickly dampened any humor he might have seen in the situation. His posture became stiff, and he clenched his jaw tightly. "My mission has nothing to do with this," he said, his tone dark. "I was not successful because I hesitated to put a child in harm's way. The Death Eaters I was tracking, however, did not share my hesitation."
He took a breath and quickly changed the subject. "I'm not here to talk about me. I'm here to talk to you about Cyrus. I had really thought that this situation would have been resolved by now, and instead I come back to find out our family is falling apart."
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Post by Cara Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 14:03:25 GMT -5
Cara bristled, though inwardly she was kind of proud of the reason his mission had failed.
"Our family is not falling apart, and I'm not the one to be harrassing about this situation, as you call it. Cyrus is welcome back in this family any time. I love him dearly, and I just wish that he, and you, would understand that we want what's best for him."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 15:07:43 GMT -5
"I want what's best for him, too," Roland said.
He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Mum... I don't understand this impasse. I really don't. Cyrus won't marry Lina without your blessing. You won't give it, you won't even see the baby, and so he refuses to see you. One side has to give. I'm just asking you to reconsider. I seem to recall you were perfectly fine with Lina before she announced she was pregnant."
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Post by Cara Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 15:16:31 GMT -5
Cara was silent for a moment, careful not to call the girl a slag, not in front of Roland anyway, and she got her immidiate responses in check before she answered him.
"I liked the girl before she went and got pregnant... it's not good for Cyrus now. He had a whole life and a career ahead of him that... well, I worry that he'll give it up for her. He's too young. And frankly, the fact that he hasn't gone and married her yet tells me that he has his doubts too."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 15:34:46 GMT -5
"He has his doubts... but not about her," Roland said. "About marriage in general, I think, and about family. Don't you see? He thinks you don't believe in him and it's making him doubt himself. I shouldn't even be here speaking for him, he should do it for himself. But he won't."
He sighed and looked at her. He felt strange making such an emotional plea, but he didn't think that anything else would work. "I wish you'd at least agree to see the baby. Just go see her. She 's your first grandchild... and she's amazing. It will probably be a while before you have another one, and you're going to regret missing this time with her."
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Post by Cara Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 15:40:26 GMT -5
Cara loved her children deeply, all of them. Her problem now was with Lina, not with Cyrus, and she had a bigger problem with that baby.
"I refuse to acknowledge that baby as his, or ours, until he decides what he's doing with Lina. If he marries her, I won't be happy, but I'll accept that it is what he wants. If he leaves her, well, so much the better. Besides, has anyone even considered that there's a huge possibility the baby isn't even his? She went to a different school in a different country... how do we know he's the real father? I don't want to see Cyrus waste his life and his potential because some summer fling of his messed around and decided to pin it on him. And don't look at me like that. You know it's a possibility."
Cara could be stubborn in situations, even the wrong ones.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 15:51:37 GMT -5
"She has his nose," Roland said. "And his smile."
It bothered him that she was being so stubborn about this; but he could be stubborn, too. He felt like he was now smack in the middle of something that was not supposed to be his problem. Lina had asked for his help, and he couldn't refuse her.
"If you could see her, Mum, you'd know."
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Post by Cara Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 16:02:06 GMT -5
Cara frowned. She couldn't argue that. Granted, people saw what the wanted to. If they wanted to see similarities between the baby and Cyrus, they would.
She finally just shook her head. "When Cyrus isn't so hesitant about wanting them in his life, then I'll reconsider. There's no use getting attached to a child that won't be around for long." She was truly convinced that the fact Cyrus still hadn't married her was a sign that he had his doubts. He didn't love her enough.
"But I'll tell you what... Cyrus can bring the baby over any time he likes." Which clearly meant Lina was not invited.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 16:11:47 GMT -5
It was a start.
He was wise enough to know he wasn't going to be able to push any further. She ahd given a little, and now it was time for Cyrus to give a little. Now he was going to have to convince Cyrus to marry Lina without their parents present.
He decided to try one last thing before he let the subject drop.
"If he were to marry her without you being there, how would you feel about that? Knowing that you missed seeing your son get married?"
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Post by Cara Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 16:15:42 GMT -5
"He won't marry her," Cara said, raising her eyebrows. She was absolutely confident of the fact. "If he wants to marry her so badly, why hasn't he even asked her yet?" And she knew he hadn't asked. She had her ways, and th few times she had been unfortunate enough to see Lina somewhere, her left hand remained bare.
"So he doen't want to marry her without our consent, okay, fine, for argument's sake. What's stopping him from proposing? He obviously doesn't want to marry her."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 16:38:15 GMT -5
Roland let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know," he said. "I don't understand what's going on in his head, quite frankly. I think he's being a prat, if you ask me." Actually, he thought they were all being stupid. His father was sitting there mute and his mother was digging her heels in, and Cyrus couldn't be arsed to stick up for the mother of his child.
Above all things, Roland despised inefficiency, and to him, that's what this situation was. If it had been him, he would have cleared everything up right from the beginning. He couldn't understand why Cyrus was just sitting around wringing his hands. He needed to take responsibility.
"Mum, I don't want to fight with you anymore, OK? This isn't my fight. But I don't like seeing our family ripped apart like this. And I really think you're going to regret missing this time with Mara. Unless Cyrus has another, or Jamie does something he shouldn't, it might be a long time before you get another grandchild."
He'd said it before, but he wanted to drive that point home with her. This was a baby, not a burden. It was a magical thing, and she was missing it.
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Post by Cara Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 16:44:27 GMT -5
"I already told you, Cyrus is more than welcome to bring her over. I will give him that."
She didn't want to. She wanted nothing to do with that baby, even if she knew Roland was right. But if it would make Cyrus happy, and maybe heal what had been torn between them, that was fine. But the girl was not welcome in her home, and she would make that clear if she ever had the nerve to show up.
"Right, Mathieu?" She asked, turning irritated, raised eyebrows on her husband.
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Post by Mathieu Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 16:53:10 GMT -5
Mathieu was quiet during the entire conversation, because he differed in opinion from his wife. It wasn't that he was particularly thrilled with Lina, but he definitely wanted Cyrus to own up to his responsibility and marry the girl. Their child was illegitimate, and that was a slap against the family name. He was of the opinion that Cyrus was not delaying marrying the girl because of them or because of doubts about the girl, but because of a fear of responsibility. In fact, he half-suspected that Cyrus was fooling around on Lina.
"Yes, he can bring the child here," he said. "But I would like to see that he is willing to make some kind of commitment, to the girl or to the baby. He's always been an irresponsible, lazy boy... not like you, Roland. He could never own up to his mistakes, and it troubles me."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 17:15:36 GMT -5
"If I get him to come here and meet with you, please just hear him out. Listen to him... tell him how you feel. He thinks you're both shutting him out and it's holding him back. He's starting his first mission soon, and it's not going to be an easy one. I think it would help a lot if he knew you were on his side."
Roland sighed again. "I think that's all I wanted to say about that... for now. I don't like having to play peacemaker, but this is taking its toll on Jamie and Ama. I saw them both the other day, and I'm worried about them. Especially Jamie. He's become so quiet and sullen."
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Post by Cara Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 21:03:04 GMT -5
Cara shook her head, liking this conversation even less all of a sudden. "It's not your job to parent them, Roland. I understand that you're worried about them... but you know, you're right. This isn't your fight, so please stop fighting it."
Roland had grown up far too quickly, and she actually felt like he was overstepping his bounds.
"Come, let's have dinner and talk of other things."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 4, 2008 21:53:22 GMT -5
Roland realized he'd gone too far, so he nodded quietly. "I'm sorry, Mum... It's just that I've been gone so long... I feel like I've lost touch."
He'd never really been a child, or rather, hadn't acted like one. Consequently, he hadn't been treated like one and sometimes forgot that he was still a son. Sometimes he took on too much responsibility out of his need to protect the family. Although he was in many ways very independent--he never really seemed to need them--the truth was, he needed to feel needed. He kept a lot inside, but wouldn't allow that same behavior in others. He felt it was his burden to bear.
Quietly, he got up from the couch and followed his mother to the table, instinctively knowing what was likely to come next. He'd spent the whole time before dinner talking to them about everyone else in the family... but now, during dinner, would come the part of the evening when his parents tried to find out what was going on with him.
This was the part he'd dreaded.
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Post by Cara Ferrera on Dec 5, 2008 6:38:49 GMT -5
Cara lead her husband and her son to the dining room, quietly seething under the surface. She didn't even truly know about what, except that she didn't like the fact that Roland seemed to be admonishing her for how Jamie and Amandine were handling Cyrus. It really wasn't his place to step in an act as a parent. Honestly, Cyrus aside, she and Mathieu were doing a fine job with their children.
"I feel like you've lost touch too," Cara replied, almost dangerously. "So let's forget about Cyrus for a while and talk about you."
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Dec 5, 2008 9:26:07 GMT -5
Roland groaned inwardly. He knew it was coming; it always did when he spent any time alone with his parents. Of course, it mostly came from his mother. His father wasn't the sort of touchy-feely man who liked talking about feelings. It was something he had in common with his father.
But you couldn't expect a mother to not be curious about her son's personal life, especially when the son kept that part of himself so tightly closed off. And seeing as how he had just finished butting in where even he knew he didn't belong, he supposed it was only fair that she would want to do the same to him.
But, Merlin, this conversations never went well. "There's really not much to talk about with me, Mum," he said evasively.
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