Hold Me Now

Chapter 42: Stupidity

***Author's Note: This chapter deals with sensitive issues of drugs and using drugs on others. But it's not the whole chapter and underneath all of the bad, is the element of love. I write romance not horrible, disturbing stories.***

A couple of weeks passed by, and February turned into March. During those two weeks, Johnny and Ava hosted his family for dinner. Laura and Sid arrived bringing an aged bottle of wine, and a car loaded down with home goods. Ava was overwhelmed and overjoyed with all of the things. "Johnny look! It's a Le Creuset Dutch oven and stockpot," she exclaimed with glee. 

He had no idea what a Le Creuset is but responded "Great. I'm so happy for us." Then he helped Sid carry in all of the other items. Box after box was opened, unpacked, and placed just so around the kitchen. 

The dinner itself, they had catered by a BBQ restaurant. Cooking for her mother-in-law stressed Ava out. Plus having Sid judge her cooking, compared to his wife's, is too much. However, she did make a homemade salted caramel cheesecake for dessert. Johnny loves it and hopefully, her in-laws would too.

 They did. They loved the whole dinner and everything with it. For once Sid was pleasant in conversation with Johnny. Not only was he pleasant, but he was also entertaining. This was a nice change of events. However, as Johnny told her later, "One dinner does not make up for years of verbal abuse. It just doesn't." She can see his point, but then she also can see the future too. 

Their future can either go one of two ways. One is a future where their children spend time with their grandparents. And Sid, for all purposes, will be their grandfather. The other option is a future where their children do not know, and have hardly any interaction, with Sid. She'd rather the first option be their future. To foster this, she'll go out of her way to be agreeable and charming. She'll do whatever it takes to keep lines of communication open between her husband and his stepfather.

So when she said "Sid, Johnny, and I would like to thank you for the check you sent us. We also appreciate the kind words that accompanied it." She really meant it. Then she shared what Johnny did with the money. "Johnny had the idea of putting it into a savings bond, to accrue over time. We're going to give it to any children we may have." She's proud of her husband's ideas and wants his stepfather to see how smart he really is.

Her eyes could see Sid was surprised by her words. He flicked his eyes to his stepson and muttered "Who knew." Then he told her "You're welcome." 

Before the in-laws went home, Johnny and Ava gave them a tour of their house. Laura LOVED it. She emanated enthusiasm in every room. Words of happiness likewise flowed from her mouth. "Oh, Johnny this is so wonderful! I'm proud of you, my Baby. You've done well. You both have. I can only imagine what you'll do with yourself in the future." She hugged him to her, then turned and hugged her daughter-in-law. 

To Ava, she simply said, "Thank you." But that thank you held so much more than just a simple thanks. You could see it in her eyes. It was full of a mother's love for her child, knowing her baby is safe and cared for. That makes all the difference.

When they got ready to leave, they made plans to have dinner at the country club together. In the week that followed, Johnny made it a point to talk to his friends. He had been meaning to tell them about looney loopy Misty. The time arrived one day after practice. He stopped them and had a huge conversation. "Hey, guys. I need you to do something for me." They all looked at him expectantly, like he was going to say let's go buy beer, get drunk, and ride our bikes. So he continued. "Ava's lunatic cousin (and I do mean she's batshit crazy) needs to be kept away from me."