Chapter 130. FIONA

Chapter 130. FIONA
I gazed proudly at my dishes on the dining table. I’d made Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Tikka Massala, Stuffed Salmon, and an Apricot Spinach Salad. For dessert, I made Key Lime Pie. It was sitting nicely in the fridge. It would be perfect served cold.
I was lucky because the giant fridge had everything I needed. Roberto still maintained his old tradition of shopping for several ingredients at once, even though Joshuan hadn’t been home for weeks.
“Mommy, where’s Daddy?”
“He’s on his way home.”
I put my hands on my hips as I watched Melissa lick the popsicle.
“Where did you get that? You can't eat popsicles before dinner.”
“Sorry, Mrs. Craig. I gave her the popsicle because Melissa kept whining.”
I sighed softly at Mia's guilty face. She was terrified. I remembered Erick's story about Joshua yelling at her. It made all my anger evaporate into thin air. I couldn't bring myself to scold her.
“It's okay. Next time, just ignore her whining. Sometimes Melissa uses it as a weapon to get what she wants.”
I turned to Melissa, who was busy licking a popsicle.
“And you little miss, Mommy won't read you a story tonight if you don't finish your dinner. You're also not allowed to eat key lime pie.”
Well, her face turned sullen at my threat. Melissa usually wouldn't finish her meal if she'd had cake or something sweet before dinner. And she'd be even more cranky because I'd definitely force her to finish her food. That would be incredibly annoying for both me and her.
“Why is it so tense here?”
“Daddy's home!”
Mellisa ran to her father to escape my wrath. She jumped up and down in front of Joshua, who was staring at me with a frown.
“Mellisa ate a popsicle before dinner.”
“And?”
“She won’t finish her dinner if she’s already had a popsicle.”
“Really, honey?”
Joshua picked Mellisa up and kissed her cheek.
“I’ll finish my dinner. I promise.”
“Did you hear that? She promised she’d finish her dinner. Why are you scolding her?”
I snorted.
“We’ll see. I’ve been her mother for three years. I know her well.”
“You mean I don’t know anything about her, huh?”
“I didn’t say that. I just wanted to say I know Mellisa well. She’s promised me before, and she still didn’t finish her meal.”
“Let’s give her another chance. This time will be different.”
“I don’t believe it. She can be a picky eater like you sometimes.”
“And now you’re blaming me for making her a picky eater?”
“I don’t blame you. How many times do I have to tell you, huh?”
“This house finally had its first domestic dispute.”
“Shut up, Erick!”
Joshua and I said it at the same time.
Erick looked at us both innocently. He then took Melissa from Joshua's arms.
"You'd better be with Uncle Erick. Your parents are being sensitive."
"Are they mad at me?"
"No, honey. They're being childish."
"Where are you going, Rick?" I stopped him as he was about to take Melissa away.
"I'm taking her to the golf course. You guys can continue your argument."
"We're going to have dinner in memory of Grandpa and Rose," Joshua told him.
"You and Melissa go to the dining room. I'll call Roberto and Mia."
"Gosh, you two are such a weird couple. You two fight over such nonsense, and suddenly you come together to scold me? You two fucking—"
"Bad mouth."
Erick was shocked when Melissa suddenly smacked him on the lips. He stared at her with his mouth agape.
"Why did you slap my lips? I even tried to save you from your fierce parents."
Erick touched his lips dramatically.
“Uncle Rick just said something bad.”
Joshua patted his shoulder contemptuously.
“You deserve it. You shouldn’t mess with toddlers. They’re sharp.”
“Her slap fucking hurt.”
“Bad mouth!”
“Ow! You slap me again.”
“You said something bad. Right, Mommy?”
“Yup. Uncle Erick said something bad.”
“You three really are a terrible family.”
Erick put Melissa down in her chair. He sulked and took the seat furthest from us at the dining table.
I called Mia and Roberto into the dining room. Mia looked shy as she joined us at the dining table for the first time. I could tell she was afraid of Joshua.
I couldn’t blame her. Joshua certainly had a scary face and aura. Joshua was lucky that his daughter wasn’t afraid of him at all.
“You can sit next to Erick,” I told Mia, but Roberto told her to sit next to him.
“She’d rather sit next to me.”
Erick and Joshua had no idea what was happening. I tried to act as normal as possible and took the seat next to Joshua. I determined to tell Joshua when we were alone. I didn’t want Erick to be upset if he found out the reason behind Roberto’s tension.
Joshua started dinner because everyone was hungry. The tension eased slowly with Melissa's cheerfulness. Roberto loved it and asked her to call him Grandpa. She happily did it. She loved being the center of attention. She was very clingy to Roberto. She shook her head when I tried to feed her. She asked Roberto to do it.
"Look at your daughter, Josh. She ignores me and prefers to be with Roberto."
"Isn't that great? You can rest while Roberto feeds her."
"Mellisa always does that after I scold her. She used to do it with Scott and Lea, too."
"She's my daughter. She's good at winning people over."
I snorted.
As I was eating stuffed salmon, I felt Joshua's palm creeping up my thigh. I turned to him, but he was focused on Melissa. I removed his palm from my thigh and went back to eating. A moment later, Joshua's palm returned to my thigh. This time, he rubbed it up and down, teasingly. I nearly choked as his palm slid up to my crotch.
“Josh,” I hissed through pursed lips.
I looked at him and shook my head slowly. Luckily, everyone was focused on Melissa. No one was paying attention to Joshua and me.
“Hands on the table.”
“I’ve finished my food. Thank you. It was delicious.”
His hand kept returning to my thigh and squeezing. I glared at him and slapped his hand away as it fidgeted under the table.
“I’ll get dessert then.”
Before I could leave for the kitchen, Joshua grabbed my wrist. I raised an eyebrow at him.
“What’s wrong, Josh? You’re being very strange tonight.”
“I have something important to discuss with you after dinner.”
“Okay.”
I wondered throughout dinner what important thing Joshua would tell me. He seemed so mysterious. He stopped bothering me with his naughty hands after I returned to distribute the key lime pies to everyone. Joshua focused on his key lime pie while watching the very chatty Melissa.
I glanced at Erick, just to distract myself from the important thing Joshua would discuss after dinner. Erick had become quiet throughout dinner. He had been quiet ever since Roberto forbade Mia from sitting next to him. Erick lazily put the chicken Tikka Massala into his mouth, like he was about to put in a spoonful of nails.
I owed him an apology for making him feel like that. While he might not have known what was going on, I'm sure Erick could sense it. He was a sensitive man beneath his nonchalance. He might have fooled everyone with his cheerfulness, but he couldn't fool me.
"You want more chicken, Rick?"
"No, thanks. I'm full. Your cooking is incredibly delicious."
"Have some dessert then."
"Like I said, I'm full. And I'm tired too. I'm going back to my apartment now. I haven't been home in over a month. I need to clean out my apartment. Especially my fridge. I must have a big bag of stale food in the fridge."
"Ewh, that's disgusting. Why don't you stay here tonight and come back tomorrow morning? You can call the apartment cleaners tonight. You'll be much fresher after a night's sleep here."
“She’s right. You can sleep in the guest room,” Joshua said.
“No, I don’t like letting strangers into my apartment.”
I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
That was bullshit. I couldn’t believe he never brought his dates to his apartment.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I shrugged softly.
“I appreciate your kindness, but I really have to get back to my apartment. See you tomorrow.”
Erick looked at Mia and gave her a quick smile.
Melissa noticed Erick was leaving. She waved her arms for him to hug her.
“Uncle Rick, hug me.”
“Oh, you little missy stole everyone’s attention tonight.”
Erick hugged her and kissed her cheek.
“You’re so adorable. It would be great if you had a little sister to liven up this house.”
I coughed at Erick’s words. That damn man could say that when he was heartbroken.
“What’s wrong with you, Fiona? Isn’t my idea a good one?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“Why? Joshua wouldn’t mind having another child, right, Josh?”
I held my breath, waiting for Joshua's answer. He seemed indifferent to Erick's chatter, but I couldn't tell what was really on his mind.
"That's up to Fiona. She's the one who's going to have the baby, not me. I won't force her if she doesn't want to."
"Then let's ask Melissa. Do you want a sibling?"
"Yes. A little brother and a little sister."
My head suddenly felt dizzy as I listened to the chatter in the dining room about babies. They spoke as if it were easy and simple. They had no idea how terrified I was of facing the uncertainty of my future. Joshua and I had no status. I'd even planned to sleep in Melissa's room tonight.
I hoped Joshua wouldn't use his cunning to trick me into sleeping in his room.