Blood Bride

Chapter 17 (1st Draft) 3368

Before anyone could greet Meadow or respond in any kind of positive way to her, Niko, in his extreme distress over his wife, yelled, "What the hell is this all about Meadow? What have you done?"

His unprovoked outburst, elicited an angry cry from Noora, who threw another framed picture at him and caught him in the arm. He was surprised at the violence and accuracy of her throw, and grunted with pain as the corner of the frame caught his bare flesh and tore it. Blood pooled at the wound and then dripped down his arm within seconds of the glass in the frame shattering when it hit the floor. The boys were stunned, but none as much as Niko, who had never seen his wife in such a rage.

"Let her speak her peace Niko, or so help me God, I will walk out on you this very minute," Noora declared in a stone cold voice. 

"Now, now," Meadow scold her mother. "Don't go overboard," she joked sarcastically. "I mean, this is how he talks to me every time I see him. If you are going to leave him, it should be over something shocking." Here, she paused for effect before saying, "Like a secret son."

Noora never said anything more. What was there to say? She'd embraced Niko's first born but at the expense of pushing Meadow away. Why hadn't she thought about the cost of lying to her Darling girl? Why was she so eager to please Niko in everything? Noora's eyes filled with tears. She felt helpless as she looked at her precious child, who now gazed at her with visceral disdain.

Meadow was disgusted with her mother's sudden fit of indignation. She didn't need the woman to defend her. What she needed was someone to be honest with her. She needed someone to explain how Eddie came into the family and why they thought it was necessary to keep her in the dark. Next, what she needed was someone to acknowledge that they had betrayed her and to offer a sincere apology. But, even faced with the trashed house and the destroyed family portrait, no one had taken the initiative to come clean with her. It was maddening.

Not the least bit interested in dragging this conversation out too long, Meadow decided to just get to the crux of things. "So, as you may or may not know I found out today that we have a new family member." Here she paused to lift her hand and indicated Eddie. "Of course, he's only new to me. You've all known him for nearly four years, as I understand it from a pile of pictures I found."

Seeing the pictures partly organized on the table, she leaned over and picked up a handful of them. She waved them in the air saying, "Apparently, I was never going to get the truth from any of you."

To show her disgust, she carelessly tossed the evidence of their happy family gatherings without her across the room toward their father. Most of them fell within a couple feet of the table.  No one said a thing. They just watched the photos flutter to the cluttered floor.

"Consequently, I came here this afternoon to ask Dad about his first child."

Here she paused to look at her father. He was half looking at her and half looking at Noora, who stood shaking and crying. His face was strained with a mixture of resentment and bewilderment. Meadow, raised her eyebrows at him and puckered her lips as if to say 'too bad for you'  before she continued on.