(not) Too Proud for Help [Idalia]

[Adonis Voskopoulos]

Adonis liked to think there wasn't any sort of life challenge he couldn't handle. He moved half way across the world when he was a child, and other than the difficulty making friends at first, he ended up fine. He turned out to be a meta human and had to leave his family and those friends for Hammel. Again, he persevered. He went to college, met a woman, had a child, and thought he was going to get married - and while that didn't quite work out, Adonis felt he'd done everything he can to make the best of a less than ideal situation. But when his ex-fiance was involved in a freak accident leaving her unable to care for their daughter, Adi was faced with what may be an unbeatable challenge for the first time in his life. 

He loved Maddelena. That wasn't the problem. But since he and his ex split when the girl was only months old, Adi didn't have experience in really being a father. He showed up for birthdays and Christmases and random occasions he was in town. But he never had to deal with diapers or bottles or clothing and toys. But now that Maddie was 3, and thrust into his care, Adonis was faced with all of that and more - potty training, fighting about vegetables, making sure the child (and his dog) didn't destroy his house, and a pending custody battle with Maddie's grandparents. 

Adonis felt he'd be handling everything pretty well for the couple of months he'd had Maddie. She was taken back to Albany for a little over a week when her grandparents first filed for custody under the false pretense that Adi's home was unsafe - an accusation that was investigated and proven to be untrue. Maddie was brought back to Pilot Ridge thereafter. Unfortunately, his ex's parents didn't see it fit to send Maddie's clothes and toys back to him, and Adi had to stock back up on essentials and things to entertain the three year old until the caseworker enforced some sort of requirement that they don't withhold Maddie's things.  

And beacuse of the drama, the past couple weeks had been extremely hard on Adonis, and it showed. His hair wasn't nearly as well kept as he liked to keep it. He rarely spent time ironing his pants and shirts anymore. He had even worn a button down with a gravy stain to work by accident early that week. And maybe that's why he finally reached out to Idalia... though the man was too proud to admit it. He was vague in the text he sent her inviting her over for dinner. 'Whenever you're free!' he insisted, knowing he was in no place to make any other sort of plans any time soon. 

Adi had forgotten all about the invitation, though, and was currently trying to fix a dinner of Chicken Parmesan while keeping a half naked three year old from drawing all over herself with markers. He hated cooking Italian, but it was one of the only meals Maddie would eat without a fight. And since all of her clothes were in laundry, she was currently running around in a pull-up and pink socks. 

When there was a knock at the door, if anything Adi was a little aggravated. Because, of course, Zeus ran to the front of the small house, knocking over one of Adi's potted plants in the process, and started barking wildly. And as friendly as Zeus had been to Maddie recently, his bark still scared the life out of the poor kid. The child's face scrunched up and tears started flowing as she ran to Adi, who sighed, and picked his daughter up before turning the stove off and heading to the door. "It's ok Lena," Adi cooed as he walked toward the door, pushing the little girl's black curls away from his face. He shushed Zeus when he got to the door, though there was no way to really stop the dog from being excited that they had a visitor. 

When Adi finally stepped around his large dog and opened the door his face dropped a bit. "Idalia... oh my god," he said, mentally kicking himself in the ass for forgetting. "I... I totally..." he bounced Maddie up and down in his arms still trying to calm her down. At least Zeus had stopped barking, now excitedly circling Idalia, waiting to be pet and given attention. "I can't believe I forgot," he said apologetically, not even touching on the fact that Idalia must have been extremely confused about the state of his appearance, the state of his house's appearance, and the sobbing child in his arms. 

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Idalia had had half a mind to tell Adonis to get out of here. They hadn’t spoken in years and then he drops this knowledge that he was engaged, and then oh wait he also has a child!? It was enough to make Idalia livid. But when he had called her she had heard the desperation in his voice even though he had tried to play it off. There was a part of her that was still furious, still angry that he hadn’t told her about any of this, but when she had heard the tone in his voice her heart had melted and she’d told him, sure she’d be over in a few days when her work schedule cleared up. She hadn’t expected that Adonis would come to her for help, but her anger had all melted away, that didn’t meant she wasn’t going to make him pay for it. She was Greek after all and she had learned guilting from the best.

It had been a rough week and she had intended to go over to Adonis’s last night but getting home from work she was exhausted and barely got enough energy to take Ike on a short walk and order a pizza. She told herself she would go over tomorrow night when she didn’t have to get up for work tomorrow. Though she did have to switch to nights, it was better to just go back to bed. It was always strange switching shifts and that was the reason why Idalia woke up at 4 in the afternoon and put on a pot of coffee. She would need to hard restart in order to get herself up and perky for the late night shifts. She hated the late night shift. It screwed up not only her sleep schedule and made her social life virtually nonexistent.

She stretched out and dressed casually in jeans and an old hoodie. She brought over some sweets that she had baked a few nights ago and left Ike behind. If Adonis was stressed out, the last thing she wanted to do was to add to his stress with a hundred pound crazy dog. She drove to Adonis’s place and knocked on the door, intent to help in whatever way she could. When Adi opened the door Idalia gave him a withering look. A withering look that quickly turned to one of shock. This was probably the most disheveled she had ever Adi. His look of shock made Ida cross her arms and level him with a severe look. She stepped into his house without asking permission. She closed the door behind her and gave Zeus a pat on the head. She shook her head at him in an indication that he should forget about it. She had never had children of her own and she had loved helping out her sisters and babysitting. She waved a hand at the crying child and made a motion to take her from Adi.

“Hi, sweetheart! You must be Maddelena!” She said as took the little girl from Adi, “What a pretty name for a pretty girl!” She cooed and rocked her back and forth. “Shh, shh,” she hushed, I’m you Auntie Ida,” she said smiling at the child who seemed curious enough about her to have calmed down a bit. “Won’t you give me a smile? Please? Awe don’t make me sad now.” Ida made a face like she was crumpling into sorrow but Maddelena’s smile finally came out and it was beautiful. Idalia gasped and glanced at Adi. “Oh, there’s my pretty girl!” She shifted the little girl in her arms and propped her up on her hip. Gently she took a hand and smoothed her hair and wiped residual tears from the girl's cheeks. She looked up at Adi. “I’ve got six nieces and nephews,” she said by way of explanation. “So, what can I do to help? It smells like you’ve already got dinner started.”

[Adonis Voskopoulos]

Adi knew full well that Idalia would be mad. He grew up in a Greek household and where wasn't any such thing as not holding a grudge. Ida would not soon forget that Adonis had kept this information from her for so long. That being said, the woman was one of the few people Adi really felt comfortable when it came to asking for help - especially with this kind of thing. He was ecstatic when she agreed to stop by, though he clearly had totally forgotten about when Idalia said she would be over.

Once Ida made her way into the house, Adi very willingly passed the little girl in his arms over to the woman. While Maddie protested at first, as Idalia calmly talked, rocked and shooshed her, it seemed that Adi's daughter was slowly calming down. Adi took this moment to pick up the potted plant that was knocked over, and scoop up most of the dirt that was now on his carpet. He made the mental note to vacuum later, and quickly repaired the plant's roots with a touch of his hand. He made his way back over to the girls just as Maddie finally seemed to start smiling.

The man laughed as Ida explained herself. "You're a miricale worked in my eyes. She would have cried for 20 more minutes if she was stuck with me." He reached over, and gently pulled Maddie's fingers away from her mouth - his gentle way of trying to get her to stop sucking on her fingers. His mom said if she keeps doing that she'll have problems with her teeth before she turns 6... just like Adi did apparently.

Adi sighed when Idalia asked how she could help. Honestly he wished he knew the answer to that question, but there seemed to be so much going on, so many factors, that he didn't even know where to start. "Honestly, just having you here to help keep an eye on her is more than I could ask," Adi stated, rubbing the back of his neck. "These have easily been the craziest two months of my life." He gestured for Idalia to follow him into the house so he could get cooking again. His open floor plan allowed for him to be in the kitchen and guests to be in the living room and still be able to see each other and talk. It also allowed the man to keep an eye out for Maddie when he was cooking. "I'm sorry it's such a mess..." Adi stated, stepping over some pots and pans he'd put on the floor in front of the TV for Lena to bang on and keep herself occupied. The few toys she still had at her father's house were scattered across the room as well, along with dozens of sheets of printer paper with various amounts of scribbles.

He walked over to the stove to turn the sauce back on, and went into the fridge to grab another chicken breast to put in the over. "You're going to call me a heretic when you hear what's for dinner," Adi stated. At least he had some baklava in the fridge for later too.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Any idea that Ida might have had about getting back at Adonis came away from his mind as soon as she laid eyes on him and his daughter. He was a man who was thrust unexpectedly into parenthood and he was trying. She couldn’t be mad at Adonis. Not right now, at least. She’d be angry with him later, she decided. Smile largely at Maddelena and was more than happy to distract her as Adi got his life more or less in order for the moment. She wasn’t at all fazed by the child’s crying. She was little and it wasn’t unreasonable for the girl to be upset. A lot had happened recently and coming to Vermont probably was not exactly how Adi or Maddelena’s mother had planned for it to happen. But it had happened. She wasn’t aware of the fighting that Adonis was doing with his daughter’s grandparents, if she did, they would have one angry Meteorologist on their hands.

“Ah! There’s my pretty girl,” she said rocking and dancing with the little. She shook her head at Adonis. “Don’t you forget it,” she said giving him a wink. Her heart warmed as Adonis reached out to his child. It was the little gesture that meant so much. Adi was going to be a good father. Idalia could see it. He was just a little overwhelmed at the moment. She reached out and touched his shoulder. “You’re doing fine.” It was scary, Ida might be ready for a child but not everyone was. She felt like she was going too slow in life, and now seeing her best friend with his child made her want her own child that much more. Well, she had Ike to care for in the meantime and he definitely kept her busy.

“I believe it,” Idalia said adjusting Maddelena on her hip so she could follow him into the kitchen. She was more than happy to be given child looking after duty. She would leave all of the cooking to Adonis. She bounced slightly to keep the child occupied and hearing the giggle come from the girl, she made her movements more dramatic and ended up giggling herself. “Oh please, don’t even worry about it,” she said, knowing that that would do little to comfort him. If he was anything like her, having company over when he hadn’t been able to clean everything four times over was probably mortifying for him. “Something certainly smells good, doesn’t it, Maddelena?” She looked back up at Adonis, “I always knew you were a heretic, what else is new?” She teased with a bright smile on her face. “Let’s go hang out and leave Daddy to the hard job, eh?” She stepped past Adonis.

She started humming and grabbed one of Maddelena’s hands and started dancing. The little girl squealed with delight as Ida spun around and swayed back and forth dramatically. She felt like the King learning to dance in the King and I. The little girl seemed to enjoy it and so Ida kept on. The dog started whining excitedly at the two of them and Ida looked down at him. “Shhh,” she urged, as it seemed that Maddelena was not a fan of the dog’s barking. The dog was going to have to learn that he was no longer the first priority. “How is… I’m sorry I’ve forgotten her name,” Ida said turning back to Adonis. She really hoped that the girl’s mother recovered soon, it was a hard thing to not have a mother, but it was equally hard not to have a father. Maybe this was good for Adonis, it was forcing him to take more of a fatherly role. He was going to be a good father, she could see it.

[Adonis Voskopoulos]

Adi wanted to tell Ida the full story. Unfortunately, with both their busy schedules it just hadn't happened yet. He hadn't even been able to tidy up the house before his friends visit which was slightly mortifying. Adonis's mother was probably at home having a heart attack, even though she didn't know anything about this. She could probably sense it. Nevertheless, Adonis was happy Idalia was taken with Maddie, and Maddie with the women as well. He's just try and push the chaotic nature of his home out of the way.

He checked on his chicken, closing the oven again when he decided it needed a few more minutes to cook. He turned to see Idalia dramatically dancing with his daughter and smiled warmly. When Zues started whining, though, his smile turned into a face more stern. "Zues!" Adi called, causing the bullmastiff's head to whip around and look at his master. "éla edó!" Adi commanded, in greek, causing the dog to trot over to Adonis, leaving Idalia and Maddie alone. "Kalo paidi" Adi praised, gesturing for Zues to lay down by the man's feet for now.

Zues was a big dog, he intimidated a lot of people, including little Maddelena. But he was very well trained, and only wanted to love and for others to love him back. Adi simply hadn't figured out the balance between having a dog and a daughter, but he hoped he figured it out. Adi looked up from the dog when Idalia asked him a question about his ex. "Vivian," Adi reminded Idalia. "She's as good as someone can be after having a brain injury," Adi explained.

Vivian had been in an accident during a bike race - a hobby she'd participated in since her childhood. A crash between racers caused her to swerve off the road and down a tree - covered hill. Even with her helmet on, the woman suffered traumatic brain injuries and was in a coma for a few weeks. "The doctors aren't sure she'll ever be herself again, though. She needs to re-learn to walk and talk and... basically she needs to re-learn everything," Adi explained. The woman would recover, that wasn't a question. The question was how far would she recover. Would she ever be the way she was before her accident. Would she ever be able to take care of herself again, let alone her daughter?

"Mommas got a booboo," Maddie confirmed, picking up on the fact that they were talking about her mom. Unfortunately for Adonis, this was a regular conversation with the three year old, and it usually led to some tears over the fact that she couldn't go home to her mom. At least not yet. They would visit, certainly, but the way things were now Maddie's future whereabouts were very much up in the air.

"Yup," Adi agreed. "A bad booboo." A beeping went off behind a pair of slatted wood doors, indicating that the laundry was done. "Come on Mads, let's go put some clothes on," Adi suggested to his still mostly naked daughter, stepping forward to take his daughter from Idalia's arms, and opening the closet, plopping the toddler on top of the washing machine as he reached into the dryer to get a shirt. The little girl whined as he pulled a light blue dress over her head, but she cooperated once her head was free again. "We need to get you some more clothes, don't we?" Adi asked the little girl, who nodded as her father put her down. She ran off into the living room to play with her toys as soon as her feet hit the ground. "Meínete" Adi commanded Zues before he chased after the girl.

"I don't know how her mother did this," Adi admitted with a small chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. "I feel like I've aged twenty years in the past few weeks."

[Idalia Tsavaris]

They had been friends for so long, it had hurt that he hadn’t told her about all of this from the get go. But he was one of her best friends, that meant that no matter how much he had pissed her off, she would still be there for him. She glanced at Adi as he called his dog. She gave him a thankful smile. Hopefully, over time Maddelina would begin to realize that Zeus wasn’t a danger and wasn’t scary. He was big, but he was like Ike, a big cuddle bug. She rocked the little girl and got her smiling again. This girl was too sweet, Ida didn’t want to give her back. Oh dear, Ida realized, her motherly desires were coming out. She silently cursed the fact that she hadn’t found that special someone yet with who she wanted spend her life and have children. Her mother was right, her biological clock was running out.

Nodding her head, Ida made an effort to make it stick in her mind, though she was sure she would forget it again before long. Vivian, it should be easier, it was the name of her youngest sister. It should be easy, but it also gave her a strange sense that he was talking about her sister so she had to sweep that away before it got too weird. Idalia winced sympathetically. “I’m sorry, Adi.” He was doing well, all things considered. It was a horrible situation, not only because Vivian was hurt, but because Adonis was thrust into a fatherhood that he wasn’t expecting and not to mention the stress of having to balance all those things at once. “I hope Hammel is allowing you a lot of time off, can you petition for parental leave? Or sabbatical?” She wasn’t sure if sabbatical was a thing that grade school teachers could do.

Idalia frowned a little bit, in her opinion taking risks like doing dangerous sports when there were children that were relying on them seemed like flirting with something bad happening. But then again if she had a baby and was offered a chance to go tornado chasing again, she would do it. But then, she didn’t really see that as the same thing. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind as she realized Adonis was still speaking. Her brows came together with worry and sympathy. “That poor girl. I’m sure she’ll recover though. Good as new.” She looked at the little girl and a surge of sadness swept through her, how much of this did she understand? She was an intelligent little girl, that was certainly clear, after all she was Adi’s daughter. She only hoped that Maddelina didn’t grow up to have his big head. She smiled to herself at the thought.

Ida nodded. She didn’t know what to say. Luckily Adi stepped in. She handed Maddelina over and watched, a smile growing on her face. Adonis might feel like he was losing his mind but he was doing well. He was going to be fine. It was sweet watching them interact, the love that Adi had for his daughter was very nearly palpable. Idalia dodged as the little girl when running off. She laughed and walked over to Adonis. “You know she looks like you,” she said casually turning to stand next to Adonis and look after his daughter.

She smiled and nudged him with her elbow. “You know I was thinking you’re looking very much like a Papou,” she teased. She turned and gave him an encouraging smile, “You’re a great father, Adonis. C’mon, sit down and let me take care of things in the kitchen for a while.” She gestured to his table and picked up the spoon to stir the sauce. “It’s hard being a single parent, no matter how it may seem.” She looked into the living room where Maddelina had started playing with some of her toys. “I’ll just drop it that if you ever need a baby sitter…” She pointed a finger at herself, “She’s very sweet.”

[Adonis Voskopoulos]

"We'll see," Adi noted, not so positive that Viv would ever be 'good as new'. He was hopeful, sure, but kept reminding himself to be realistic and remember that he may very well become a permanent caretaker for Maddie. Or she may be taken back away from him. He wasn't sure how he felt about either of those options just yet, but tried to remember that he had very little control over what was happening.

Just as the sadness washed over Ida, Adi felt the same whenever Maddelena asked where her mom was. He couldn't just lie to the girl. She was three now, and quite bright for her age. She deserved the truth, even if it was watered down. He tried to keep things optimistic for her, at least. He would do everything possible to do right by her. He smiled after his daughter, but rolled his eyes when Idalia suggested her was starting to look like a Papou. "Great, looking like an old man already, and I'm only 30 for a few months," he joked, though he definitely believed the statement to an extent. After all, before Maddie was around, the man's biggest concern was getting old. He dreaded his 30th birthday.

He nodded, agreeing his daughter was sweet. She was. She was also a terror sometimes, but he loved her to death. "I'll have to take you up on that sometime," Adi noted, knowing already the woman would be thrilled to watch his daughter. He walked over to the over to check on the chicken, deciding to give it a few more moments. "She'd love it too. The poor thing gets so bored, sometimes. I haven't managed to get any more of her clothes or toys here yet," the man explained.

He lowered his voice. Even though Maddie was young she was impressionable. He accidentally taught her a couple curse words since she'd been there. Luckily they were Greek, but it was still a bit of a problem. He didn't want what he was about to say influence anything the little girl felt about her own family. He went over to the fridge and pulled out the Greek salad he had made before and started, "Her grandparents hate me. They don't want me taking care of her, so they won't send me any of her things. They've called child services on me twice!" He was frustrated, and didn't know what to do about it. He hoped that Ida would have some sort of advice for him.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

((Sorry this is so late!))

Ida gave Adi a sharp look as Maddelena rushed away to play. Well, way to keep a positive attitude, around a child who needed a positive attitude right now. He could be realistic, but Maddelena was afraid of what would happen to her mother, it wouldn’t do to get her hopes up, but it was no better to be pessimistic. Wouldn’t it be better to tell Maddelena the truth, that they had to keep their prayers up and hope, nothing would destroy Maddelena more than to get her thinking that her mother was never going to get better. Idalia loved her father, but there was always a truly special bond between a mother and daughter. Idalia didn’t know what she’d do if she lost her mother.

“It makes you look… distinguished,” she teased, “God old man indeed!” She and he both knew that she was older and had hit that milestone a few months ago, not that she’d admit it under torture. As far as she and everyone else was concerned she was going to be twenty nine forever. She sobered a little bit and sighed looking off at the young girl. “Did you ever think we’d be here? Both… uh, one of us,” she looked pointedly at Adonis, “reaching 30 and we’re still single. And you with a daughter.” Thinking back to what she thought life was going to be like back in high school was difficult. It was hard to think about how she imagined her life back then. She’d had plans and her perpetual single nature was something she had not imagined.

Idalia’s face broke out into a bright smile. “I can’t wait! I’ll have to figure out something to do about Ike. Oh, he’d never hurt her,” she added quickly, “But if she’s frightened of Zeus it might not be a great idea to have him around.” She and Adonis had both gotten on the large dog train. Zeus was large and Ike was a Great Dane. “What?” Idalia asked her brow creasing with sudden concern. “What do you mean?” Certainly, Maddelena’s mother had bought her clothing and toys. Why hadn’t Adonis been able to get them? She felt herself preparing to give him the tongue lashing of a lifetime. He couldn’t be so busy that he couldn’t take a day to drive and get her stuff. But something in his expression stopped her and she stepped closer so they could speak more privately without worrying Maddelena.

Ida’s mouth dropped open in shock and she shook her head unable to fathom such a thing. “What? Adonis, that’s insane!” She exclaimed and quickly toned down her voice. Idalia felt rage boiling in her. To save Maddelena the earful she switched to Greek and swore colorfully implying where and how her grandparents could go. “Of all of the heartless things! Hurting an innocent child because they don’t want you!?” She continued in Greek. “No, Adi this is not okay. Selfish, mean, heartless!” She gestured the moutza away from Adi, indicating her anger at those who opposed him. “I tell you Adi, I will not stand for this and neither should you.” She scoffed, “There has to be something you can do, they’re not thinking about what’s best for her! I wish I could give them a piece of my mind!” She fumed and put her hands on her hips, she was not the tallest or biggest woman but she was an angry Greek and that was more than enough to make her scary.

[Adonis Voskopoulos]

Adonis chuckled slightly as Idalia went off about what preparations she'd have to make to watch Maddie. Adi wasn't surprised how quickly his old friend had taken to his daughter, but her level of excitement about it was something else. "I sure hope she gets used to Zues..." Adi noted, still not sure how to address that problem - praying that as Maddie is around the dog more and gets bigger, she'll understand he's just a big teddy bear. "Sometimes just as I think it's getting better between them, he barks at a car in the middle of the night and she runs into my bedroom crying," Adonis shared with a small chuckle. It was funny in a way, but he hoped it resolved itself sooner rather than later.

Adi made several gestures to try and stop Idalia from going off, but each one was met with futility. He raised his hands defensively as she continued, gesturing and cursing in greek. It wasn't anything that he hadn't thought about saying or doing, of course, but it was odd for the man to see it coming from someone else, and he instinctively tried to make little attempts at calming Idalia. The man continued in Greek, figuring it best to have this conversation with little to no chance of Maddie understanding. "They think they are doing what's best for her, thats the thing," Adi sighed, as he put on and oven mit and took the chicken out of the overn, setting the pan on the stove to cool.

"They haven't liked me since they met me. They don't like my tattoos or the way I dress or the fact that I'm... metahuman" he said the last word in English, not even positive that it had a Greek translation. "And as if that weren't enough, I broke things off with their daughter only a few months after Maddie was born, then moved three hours away. And no matter how many times Viv tells them it was a mutual decision, they assume the worst of me," Adi explained his almost-in-laws point of view. He weirdly understood their point of view. He wasn't exactly the picture-perfect son-in-law to be. He proposed to Vivian after he found out she was pregnant, and there's no way to convince her parents it wasn't a 'shotgun' wedding. He did love Vivian. He would have proposed to her anyway, though it probably would have ended the same.

Adi walked over to the fridge, and opened it to produce the salad he had prepared earlier, as well as a pitcher of water. He set them on the table, and went into a cabinet to get plates, and a drawer for silverware. "I have bought her a few things in the meantime, but I don't have enough to replace everything. At least not in one go." He put the chicken on a serving plate, and added that to the table, then called into the livingroom for Maddelena.

"Maddelena! Dinner is ready." The little girl came running into the kitchen, excited that her favorite food had been prepared tonight. Adonis lifted her up and into a booster seat on one of the chairs - another investment he'd made once he figured no such item would be being sent to him, and pushed her in, placing her pink plastic plate and fork in front of her. "It'll be fine," Adonis said, back in English again. He wasn't sure if he believed what he was saying, but he kept saying it.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Idalia smiled over her shoulder at Adi. “She’ll get over it, right now she’s little and he’s big, just give it time, let her play with him and train him to be calm around her.” She maybe was beign a little optimistic considering his description, but if she could train her Ike to sit in her office with her and only wander when she was wandering, then surely he could tame Zues to be quite around Maddie. It was yet another challenge that Adonis had thrust upon him. If she wasn’t still annoyed with him she might be able to feel pity for him and his recent struggles. At least until she heard the truth of it all. Her anger melted away like ice adjacent to a candle. Well her anger at him at least, her anger at Maddelena’s grandparents flared like the candle catching on dry paper.

He should know better. She ignored his efforts, she was on her rails and like a train, nothing was going to stop her. It was a good thing her power was not in the physical realm or else she might have blasted a hole in his wall. “Screw that! They’re hurting her! By keeping her away from her father,” she raged like a chimera, “So what? They need to get past it they’re the ones being asses. Screw them! They hate you because you have tattoos? Are metahuman? Bah!” She wanted to spit at them, tear them apart for accusing her Adonis of something so horrible. She forced a relative calm with a great woosh of air from her lips. “Don’t you dare defend them.” She hissed an unspoken threat more terrifying than anything she could verbalize.

Serving plates were retrieved and Ida helped, much to the dismay of whoever crafted the plates, she was sure as she placed them with force on the table that would make her mother wince. “If you need help, just let me know, Adi,” she said switching back to English, “Rebecca is a lawyer.” Idalia reminded him none so subtly. The implications were real and if he wished it, she would call her sister up this very instant. They’d all dealt with Rio’s death their own way. Isolade by vanishing, Idalia by throwing herself into work, and Rebecca for changing her specialization to law. She looked at the little girl sitting there innocently, smiling in her dress and nearly growled. How could they deny the girl her father?

Adonis called Maddelena for dinner and Idalia gave him a sharp look, this is not over. Her expression changed, schooled in the way someone on television was trained to. She smiled and patted the girl on the head as she rushed to the table. “Thank you for dinner, Adonis,” Idalia said touching his shoulder lightly as she moved to take a seat. “Thank you father for dinner, Maddelena,” Idalia suggested softly as the girl started to dig in. It didn’t matter that she was in her thirties now, she always thanked her parents for cooking dinner when she went home. She smiled at Maddelena, “I don’t know if your Dad’s told you, but I work at a television station, I could take you there, would you like that?” She said, adding, “I know where they keep the goodies.”