Dave
Emilia looked at me puzzled. "You are telling me, you don't like the fact she went over to his house without letting you know first?"
"Yes! I've been repeating this since the beginning?" I grunted.
Marshall lowered his head, and Aileen looked in my direction with a death glare.
Emilia sighed and folded her arms. "Look, I understand where you are coming from. But, she's not a 10-year-old now, is she? She's old enough to go to college. Of course, she'll make friends and go over to their house someday as well. So, what if she went to Marshall's house? There's nothing wrong with it. Cause I knew about it and allowed her to go."
"There! That's the problem! You knew, then why didn't you tell me? And I had to find out only because I saw her outside and Marshall was present as well."
"Uh….. you were at the party. So, I thought I would be disturbing you by letting you know. And Marshall was with her, so I knew she was safe. And he was also going to bring her home, so I wasn't worried." Emilia replied with an assured smile.
"Thanks for having so much faith in me," Marshall replied, scratching the back of his head.
You believe in people too much! I yelled in my mind.
"You were aware of it, but as her guardian, you should know let me know everything about her whereabouts to me as well, right?" I reasoned.
"Uh, yeah. But, it wasn't that important. So….. why are we discussing about it anyway? Aileen is back at home safe and sound. That's what we should care about the most!" Emilia insisted, turning to the two of them sitting. "So, what did the two of you do there? Anything interesting happened?"
She's ignoring my protests so well. And what interesting thing does she expect to happen between the two of them? They aren't a couple!
"We went to do grocery shopping together," Marshall replied.
"Oh…then? What did you buy?"
"Seafood, I love it a lot," he replied, smiling at Aileen. "Then after finishing the shopping we headed home and started prepping for the food. It took a lot of time before we finally got to eat and then cleaned up together and yeah, I brought her home."
"Ooh, did you two have fun cooking together?" Emilia inquired in an excited tone.
"Yeah, we had," Aileen replied, looking intently in my direction. "A lot of fun, to be exact."
Why's she looking at me like that? Is she trying to hint at something?
What kind of fun did they have while cooking together? It's not as extreme as I'm expecting right?
I mean, Marshall is not a bad guy. He won't lay a finger on her against her will, that much I know.
"You are overthinking about this too much. It's not good," Aaron replied.
Yeah, you are right.
"Good, good, young people should have fun together often," Emilia continued. "How was the food? I hope it was okay?"
"Yeah, it was amazing," Aileen replied.
"She was a great help," Marshall added, smiling at her. "I wouldn't have been able to have a seafood boil without her help."
"What? No. I only helped out a tiny bit but still messed up a little." She showed the finger where the band-aid was wrapped securely. "But, he did most of the work and the food turned out to be amazing. He's a great cook."
Look at her flaunting his skills. And she seems proud of it as well. Did she really like his cooking so much? I don't remember him cooking anything for me when I went over.
Then is his special treatment only for Aileen? It's so suspicious.
"Marshall, you gotta feed us some of your extraordinary cooking someday as well," Emilia asserted. "Aileen is complimenting you so much."
"Well, I don't have a problem. Sure, someday."
He's blending in with the family a bit too much. I don't like this at all.
"Aw, you are such a nice boy, isn't he Dave?"
"Uh…hm…yeah…. nice…" my foot. I can't seem to stand him more and more now. Stop with your compliments.
"Anyway, I've done my job. I think I should leave," Marshall said, standing up from the sofa. "It's so late, sorry for disturbing you at this late hour."
"What, you are leaving already?" Emilia asked, getting up and following after him. "Stay a little bit."
"No, another time. Today's not the day. See you, Aileen. See you too, Luna. Goodnight Alpha," he greeted me. "See you tomorrow."
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Marshall, let me escort you to the door."
"Uh, no, it's okay–"
"I'll also escort you, come," Aileen grabbed him by the arm and they walked past the living room together.
Emilia went after them and I was left sitting on my own.
I can't believe my Beta had the power to bewitch my whole family right in front of me.
But, Aileen is also to blame. How could she take his side in front of me?
Everyone is just toying with me!
I heard the sound of his car pull over after 10 minutes. Feeling frustrated, I got up and went upstairs to my room.
Closing the door behind me, I went to sit down on the bed. But still felt irritant, so I just went to take a shower after grabbing the towel from the closet.
I filled the tub with warm water climbed inside and just relaxed closing my eyes shut.
A few minutes later, a yell outside the bathroom door followed. "Are you taking a bath right now?"
"Yes!"
"Then, should I put your clothes on the bed or do you want me to bring them inside?"
"Put them on the bed. I'll go get them."
"Alright."
Ugh, I'm so tired today. I should just sleep.
I went out with the towel as I did without thinking that much. After picking up my clothes I headed towards the bathroom.
But, Emilia called behind me.
"Uh, do you have time afterward? Or are you going to sleep right away?"
I turned around to face her. "The latter if possible. But if you wanna talk, I don't mind staying awake."
"Okay then, hurry up and get dressed. I'll wait for you."
"Sure…"
What does she wanna talk about suddenly? Don't tell me it's related to Marshall. I won't listen to her if she tries to convince me about him.
I've had enough of his praises.
I came back after changing and she was sitting on the chair next to the bed.
I went to sit in front of her.
"So, what's up? You said you wanna talk. Go on."
She straightened her posture and looked me in the eyes.
"Dave, it's something related to Marshall and Aileen. And also, about the behavior that you were displaying a while ago in front of them."
As expected, it's about them!
"Keep your cool. Listen to what she has to say," Aaron coaxed.
"What about them?" I grunted, folding my arms.
"Why do you want to keep Aileen confined from the outside world? Why does she need permission to go anywhere she wants to? This is her life. She's an adult who can now make her own decisions without any interference."
"Yes, I realize that she's grown up now!" I retorted. "But, that's all the more reason we gotta keep her safe and protected from others. There are so many predators out there ready to catch on prey. And she is the perfect catch for them. That's why I want to keep her safe. Nothing else."
Her eyes softened up. She stood up and patted me on my shoulder. "I realize, the way you acted was purely out of your love and care for Aileen. You want to protect her like her guardian. And I'm very glad to see someone thinking about my daughter so much. But, all of this goes to vain if you interfere with her life in the process, right?"
"There's no rule, that a parent can't get involved with their children's lives. We have all the right to do that!"
"Yes, only if it leaves a good impact on their lives. Not a bad one," she replied, "And what you are doing will only leave a bad impact, trust me. That's why, I'm begging you. Don't act like an overprotective dad. It'll only ruin the bonding between the two of you. nothing else."
I looked at her with a frown. "Why? She'll hate me for it?"
She nodded. "Uh-huh, she will. Not right now yet, but eventually, for trespassing her boundaries. She's not a teenager anymore don't forget that. Give her some freedom in life."
"Freedom?"
What's the point of such freedom which might harm us eventually?
"Look at me! I'm her mother, yeah. I'm also worried about her safety as much as you. But, I won't confine her with my chains just because I care about her. She needs to explore life, and the real world and the people in it. Or else, she'll not be able to become a responsible adult. And will become a failure instead. Do you want that?"
I shook my head in disapproval. "No. Being a parent is so hard, isn't it? You have to force them into the outside world, knowing the danger they might have to face. While praying for them from a distance, so they will be safe and sound?"
She breaks into a smile. "Yeah, that's hard. It was never easy to begin with. And that's the bitterness of life. You give birth to them, raise them, teach them how to walk and speak. And once they are all grown up, they leave the nest, but your responsibilities towards them still exist. But, you can only watch them from a distance without interfering with their lives. Seeing them suffer and make mistakes, but can't help them directly. The struggle is real."