I took a deep breath before stepping into the living room, where my parents were watching the TV. Their eyes fell onto me as I cleared my throat slightly, just loud enough to get them to turn around.

"You're back," my father said, a kind smile on his face, "How was dinner with Lily?"

Ignoring my heart beating loudly in my ears, I tried to be confident. "I... wasn't with Lily."

"Oh?" My father said, while my mother just gave me a strange look.

Based on her expression, she was already unhappy, and I supposed she had a good reason to be. I had lied. My mother hated lies.

Neither of them said anything and instead just waited expectantly for me to explain.

"I was with Klaus," I said, "And yes, dinner was nice thank you."

My mother scoffed. "I should've known. So, what, is he your boyfriend or something now?"

"Yes actually." I was surprised at how confidently my voice sounded, but I was glad for it. On the inside I was panicking and I was relieved that it didn't seem like it was showing for a change.

My father looked shocked, but he often did, whereas my mother just looked me in the eye and said: "Okay."

"Okay?" I repeated.

I had been ready for a fight; a verbal battle where I had to try and convince her that this wasn't a diabolical idea. Hell, I was even ready for her to tell me to pack a bag and get out again. But now, despite her stony expression, she was saying, "Okay."

I felt a mere droplet of relief before my mother continued.

"I knew that family would poison you sooner or later," she said coldly, "Don't come crying to me when you realise you need the antidote."

At that, she got up and stormed past me. I made eye contact with my dad, who gave me a tight smile.

"I'm sure she doesn't mean it," he said reassuringly.

Have you even met this woman?! I thought to myself.

Other times, I would've let her go when we'd disagreed about things. It was always so much easier to just ignore each other until the incident became meaningless and could be swept under the rug. I would always have to compromise since it was her house and she was in charge, but not today. This meant too much to me. Klaus meant too much to me.

I turned on my heel and went after her. Weirdly, she was outside, on the back porch, just staring into nothing.

"What's your problem with the Baudelaires?" I demanded, "You act like they're murderers."

"They might as well be," she replied coolly.

"What have they even done wrong?"

My mother laughed to herself. "Oh, nothing. The Baudelaires could never do anything wrong. Everything they do is perfect. The perfect Baudelaires."

Despite her being turned away from me, I noticed that she was upset. Her usual bite was nonexistent and she kept picking at her cardigan sleeve. Usually her comments would sound patronising and angry, but tonight something was different.

"What happened?" I said quietly, "What did they do to make you hate them so much?"

My mother turned around and I saw that the tears had already started to fall. She pulled her cardigan tighter around her and then sat on one of the chairs we had outside. I wordlessly took the one next to her and waited patiently for her to speak.

"That Beatrice Baudelaire," she began before sighing. "She took everything from me. We were friends once, back when we were at school."

My eyes widened upon hearing that. Given how deep her hatred was for that family, I found it hard to believe that her and Mrs Baudelaire had started out as friends. Nevertheless, I kept my astonishment to myself and let her continue.

"She had everything she wanted. But that wasn't enough. She had to take everything I wanted as well." My mother shook her head, a scowl making its way onto her face. "She would buy the clothes I wanted before I could, anything I signed up for she would sign up as well. I remember I wanted to be Head Girl, but of course she ran against me and won. Then Bertrand came along," she sighed sorrowfully. "Beatrice was beautiful, she could've had anyone she wanted. But of course, she has to take him from me."

I frowned. "So you and Bertrand..."

"We dated," My mother said simply, "We were still dating when Beatrice decided she wanted him. And of course he couldn't resist her. Who could resist Beatrice Baudelaire? They married not even a year later and moved onto this street; the same street I had spoken about wanting to live on for years. Your great grandparents lived on this street and I always spoke about how it would be a lovely place to raise a family. But when your father and I finally saved enough to buy this house, the Baudelaires were already here, down the road."

My mother wiped her eyes, despite the tears having dried up already on their own.

"You do love Dad though, right?" I said quietly as she gazed off into the night.

"Of course," she said quickly, panic flashing across her features, "and I love you and your brothers. This family is everything to me. Which is why I vowed to never let Beatrice Baudelaire take anything from me ever again, including you."

I gave her a weird look. "She can't take me, Mum. I highly doubt she's going to break in at night and kidnap me." I tried to make it sound lighthearted but my mother still had a solemn look on her face.

"What happens if you and Klaus marry?" She said out of the blue.

I felt myself flush slightly. "Isn't that jumping the gun a bit? I mean this was only our first proper date."

"What happens if you marry him?" She repeated.

I stayed silent, unsure what she wanted me to say. After a moment had passed, she turned her head towards me, eyes filled with fresh tears.

"If you marry, you become a Baudelaire," she said finally. "And Beatrice steals the one thing I vowed she could never have."

I reached over and pulled her into a hug. She shook as she cried and I rubbed her back as to try and console her.

"I'll always be your daughter," I said softly, "Always. And I'll always be a Quagmire, whether I have that second name or not."

"I know," she cried, "I've been so stupid. I'm so sorry Isadora."

"It's okay, Mum. I just wish you'd told me all of this sooner."

She pulled away from me, eyes red as she wiped them forcefully. "I need a glass of wine," she sighed.

I followed her into the kitchen, noticing that my father had already gone up to bed, probably deterred by the drama. My mother poured herself a glass of red before looking over at me, a gentle smile covering up her sad expression.

"You really like him, don't you?"

I nodded. "He's really kind, and smart. I think if you got to know him you would like him."

My mother took a long drink of wine, finishing the glass in one go. "Okay," she said, "I'll give him a chance. For you."

We shared another hug before we both decided we should get to bed. I had learnt a lot this evening, and I felt like it had finally broken down that wall between my mother and I. I felt like I finally understood why she felt the way she did about the Baudelaires. A lot of what she said had seemed kind of childish, considering the majority were things that had happened back in school, but I understood where she was coming from. I had no idea what seeing me with Klaus had done to her, but now I felt like there was a least a slither of method to her madness. And at least now she was starting to see how crazy her past actions had been and apologised.

Now, I just had the job of showing her what an amazing person Klaus was, but that was a job for another day.

In the meantime, I got myself ready for bed and almost fell asleep the second my head touched the pillow. It had been one hell of an evening, and I had to make sure I was well rested ready for tomorrow at the wedding. I smiled into the darkness and then shut my eyes tight. Tomorrow would be a new day, and I couldn't wait to see the Baudelaires again.

A/N:

I'm so so so sorry for the unofficial hiatus! It wasn't something that was planned but it was definitely something I needed. I feel like life got so busy for those few weeks and so I needed my evenings to relax instead of thinking of plot points and stuff.

I hope this chapter wasn't too bad. I feel like I'm completely out of the loop when it comes to writing now. Oh and sorry it's a whole chapter of talking but I feel like we needed this for the story to continue nicely.

Next chapter will be at the wedding, which I'm super excited to write about. It should be up next week!

Thank you so much for reading and for all the support, even though I haven't posted in like a month. You guys are so nice and I appreciate every single one of you that takes the time to read my stories.

Anyway, before I get too soppy, I'll end this super long note here and say see you next time! ❤