"Dylan, you're here."
That was Dylan Romano, Daniel's twin brother and the man who has been away for his family for years. The resemblance between the brothers was striking. They were copies of each other, except for different clothes and hair styles. Both had a clean shaved face and vivid green eyes. The shade of blond was as if it was from one tube of paint. If they stood back to back, the height would be the same, even the width of every muscle in the body.
It was astonishing how similar they are.
However, his aura was different. Penny observed how he hugged his mother. Amelia was tightly holding onto her son, afraid that he was going to leave her. She buried her head into his chest as if to make sure he was real. She had wet tears forming in the corners of her eyes, not willing to have a full blown breakdown before Thanksgiving dinner.
Danny, the closest brother, eyes were wide open, with similar tears in his eyes. His arms swayed back and forth, ready to attack his brother when given the chance. He had a growing smile on his lips, just excited to see him again.
Dylan, on the other hand, had a neutral face. No emotion whatsoever crossed his face as his mother started to cry into his chest. His arms were loosely around her, as if he didn't even want to touch her. He was closed-off and not there for family.
He is here for a reason, Penny determined. He was familiar, as if she met his cold personality before, but she couldn't put his figure on it.
Amelia let go of her son and everyone else got a chance to reconnect with the long lost brother. The last time they saw him was at Tessa's birth when he went to visit the mother and father. So, it has been three years. Sofia and Ben had to reintroduce Dylan to their children. Lukas was excited for another fun uncle. Tessa was a little confused in how similar he looked to Uncle Danny. She turned her head away and hid in her mother's hair.
Lastly, Quentin had to introduce his guest: Penny and Birdie. He started off with Penny, saying that he was her wife. They politely shook hands. She was still unsure of him. Lastly, Alberta Cotta was introduced as William Marshall's previous maid, and Penny's closest person to the family. For the first time, Dylan's expression changed, from the neutral expression to a sinister look.
This will be so easy for me, he thinks to himself.
"Why don't we eat before the food get's cold," Dante shouts to the whole family and everyone crowded Dylan as they walk back to the dining room.
Throughout the dinner, he discussed what he had been doing for three years. Well, he didn't go into detail, except for the fact that he has been traveling and exploring the world. The most exploring he does on his trips is the inside of a hotel room or the body of a dead man.
Quentin was lost in the stories of his brother, describing various locations. He always looked up to the man, now more than ever. He was a free man, able to travel the world. When he traveled, the only thing he explored was the inside of a conference room.
The two didn't realize how alike they were.
Penny, on the other hand, didn't care much for the man. She focused on her food and nursing her vodka drink beside her. She soon became clumsy with her fork and knife, unable to cut some turkey or unable to scoop up some mashed potatoes. She was afraid to talk at the moment. Her speech might slur, or she might do her favorite thing when she was drunk: talking her ass off about her father. It's the reason why she never gets drunk. She got drunk twice in her life. Once with Ms. Birdie on her 21st birthday. Most of the time was spent ranting about her father Second was at her first official cast party after her first job. She sat next to a random girl who was involved and told her whole life story. Thankfully, after asking her the next day what she remembered, it was nothing. That girl got black out drunk, and the moment Penny told her life story, she blacked out.
Quentin saw her struggle to cut the last few pieces of her turkey. He wasn't going to help at first. He wanted to listen to his brother talk about what he has been up to, but the clangs of fork on plate and the shriek of knife of plate was too much for him to handle. He set aside his utensils so he could turn to his right. The rest of the family was absorbed into Dylan's story telling and didn't pay much attention to the couple. He yanked the fork and knife from his wife and started to cut up all her food.
"Thank you," she loudly whispered to him. She got closer to his ear to say, "I am pretty tipsy right now. I am a totally lightweight." She started to giggle uncontrollable. He was a little annoyed at first, but seeing her relaxed, smiling, and even laughing, he was overcome with a new emotion. His heart started to feel light and a piercing butterfly feeling in his stomach. She was still a mystery to him. They would spend a lot of time on the morning walks, but he still feels like he isn't even close to knowing her.
The sad reality is that Penny doesn't even feel like she knows herself.
Penny kept talking after he was finished cutting her foos. His attention was no longer focused on his brother. How could it when he had a basically drunk Penelope in front of him, gripping onto his attention. "You know, I had an audition and I-I got the job. Just found out, but like, I don't deserve the job. I'm a failure and I don't deserve anything. At least, that is what my father would tell me," she gasps and covers her mouth. "I didn't mean to say that! This is why I never get drunk." Ironically, she turns towards her drink and finishes it off.
Normally, he would laugh at her action, saying something that she didn't mean too and comedically cover her mouth to prevent herself from saying more. However, context is everything.
She got a job in New York theater, why isn't she excited?
Her father would say those things to her?
He decided to address the first part, "Why aren't you more excited for the job?"
"Ugh! You sound like Danny. I don't know why, but I'm just not. I got the lead in a new Off-Broadway production. Like that is top notch shit! But a woodpecker is just in my brain, pecking and pecking and pecking. The voice sounds a lot like my father," she leans in closer. "I'm glad that he is dead! I don't miss him at all!"
Quentin's eyes widen. This situation feels a lot bigger than himself. It sounds like her father was at least verbally and emotionally abusive. He says a little prayer to the universe that she wasn't physically abused either.
Sadly, the universe had other things planned.
They both stay quiet, not really paying attention to anything around them but there thoughts. Penny was past the point of scolding herself for confessing her deepest secrets. She was just living in the moment with her brain not attached to her mouth. Quentin couldn't stop thinking about his wife. He ran through scenarios over and over, thinking of all the ways why she would hate her father so much. He starts to feel even more guilty in how he treated her in the beginning. It sounds like she left one hell and he just created another one. How could he do that to her? How could she even forgive him?
Aubrey, Ben, Amelia, and Dante started going around collecting plates and close to empty pots and pans to start cleaning up and packing away leftovers. After that, it was going to be dessert and then just whatever they wanted. Sometimes they would watch a movie together, or play a big family game. But, Quentin wasn't in the mood for that. He wanted to take Penny away from his family, away from there listening ears, and protect her from her past. He wants to shower her with compliments and tell her every reason why she deserves the world.
He will find away. He always gets what he wants.
Quentin enters some uninteresting small talk with his other brothers and sister at the table, while Penny excuses herself to the kitchen to help Birdie with the cupcakes they made. He was very excited for that. He loved cupcakes and frosting. He wasn't sure how Penny was going to help. He looks behind him, towards the kitchen and see her making herself another drink. He wanted to go in to stop her, but he was engaged with his family and it would be rude to leave.
Fuck it, he says in his mind, abruptly leaving the table to go question her. "Hey Penny..."
She doesn't look at him and continues to focus on her drink, well rather not pay attention to how much vodka she is putting into her drink. At this point, she would be better just drinking straight shots. "Yeah?"
"Don't you think you've had enough to drink?" At this point, almost everyone around and in the kitchen was paying attention to the couple.
"No, I don't think so," she was ready to take a big sip from her glass, but Quentin pulled it away. "I haven't forgotten yet. I'm drinking tell I forget."
He calmly ask, "Forget what?"
"You know, my life," she saunters away from the kitchen, back to the dining room table, all while gulping down her drink.
Of course, Doctor Aubrey came next to him and asked, "Is she okay?"
"I don't think so," he say. He pulls her away to an empty living room away from everyone else. "She is pretty drunk. She told me things her father would say to her, like how she was a failure and she kept saying how she doesn't deserve anything and how she doesn't miss her father. That isn't good, I can't stop thinking about what happened." He was pacing back and forth in the room while she sat down on a single chair.
"First of all," Aubrey advises. "You need to calm down. Second of all, it is none of our business until she makes it our business. These things she is telling you, she would never tell sober and we have to respect that. We will have to see what she remembers the next day. If she asks you what you heard, tell her the truth and tell her that you are there to support her. If she doesn't tell you anything, you don't say anything. Got it?"
He lays down on the couch, closing his eyes and taking three deep, calming breathes. "Okay."
"Good, now let's eat some cupcakes! Thank god there is something other than pumpkin pie this year. Why doesn't Mom understand that no one like pumpkin pie?"
He sits up and gets off the couch to walk side by side with his sister back to the kitchen, "I know right? Let's see who eats it this year."