Protecting The Young And Keeping It PG

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"Ey, Urie! You done over here?" Feenyx asks, walking over to the braai stand.

"Almost done," I say putting the last of the grilled meat into the basin. "I see you've taken a liking towards my niece, Nicole."

"I've never been a fan of kids since most of them are usually noisy, but she's alright," Feenyx says, rubbing her nose against Nicole's cheek as she adjusts her to her hip. "Your sister does have such an adorable kid."

I chuckle. "Nicole isn't Shay's kid. She's Eloi's."

Her eyes widen with astonishment. "Your brother's a baby daddy?!"

"Yep," I answer.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never asked and it's not a subject I enjoy talking about."

"Why? Does it hurt your ego that he has a kid before you and your sister?" she asks, earning an unamused look from me. "What? It's a genuine question. Older siblings pride themselves in being the first at everything."

"Hey, everybody!"

We all turn our gazes to the dark-haired elderly woman taking off her shades as she makes her debut on the scene. "Don't worry. I'm here. The party can start." She says.

"Hey, Aunt Leia." I greet her with a smile.

"Bitch, you are late as fuck." Ma replies, playfully glaring at her best friend.

"Hello to you, Urie. And you too, Faye." She smiles at me and then rolls her eyes at my mother's sassy remark. "And for your own information, I went hunting for wine for this cookout, you ungrateful bitch. Anyways where's my son."

"Hey, Mom," Vinny walks over and hugs her. "You're as radiant as ever."

"When have I never?" Aunt Leia smiles, flipping her hair.

"I'm sensing major Aphrodite and Eros vibes from these two," Feenyx remarks as we walk over to the table where everyone else is.

"Oh, you're here." Aunt Leia comments with a disapproving look the moment she sees Toni. "Did Urie bring you here?"

"Yes, he invited me," Toni answers politely.

"You still in your Jada Pinkett Smith phase?"

Feenyx and Sid exclaim at her biting remark towards Toni, who's trying to hide the quiet injury in her eyes through her smile.

"No. I can assure you that's not what's happening. You have my word." She tells her.

"Yeah, she's already engaged to her boyfriend," Vinny adds, earning an incredulous look from me. "What? It's true."

Aunt Leia hums unbothered, her eyes judgementally measuring Toni before turning her gaze away from her. "Anyways, let's get this party started."

♡

"So, have you and Jay decided on the destination for your honeymoon?" Aunt Leia asks.

"We haven't decided yet," Jay answers sheepishly.

"Come on, now. The wedding is only a week away?" Ma scolds.

"Ma, relax. We're not in the rush to go on the honeymoon." Shay rolls her eyes. "Besides, Jay and I already have honeymoon moments at home."

"Shay, please keep it PG, especially when Nicole is around." Dad reprimands.

"Dad, she's only three. Ain't no way she understands adult talk."

"Yes, but that's not going to stop her from repeating certain words. Like how your first words were the f word and punany because of your mother."

"Hey, that's an achievement." Ma retorts.

"That's nothing to be proud of and you shouldn't encourage it, Faye." Dad reasons. "Out of the both of us, I've always been the responsible one."

"I'm equally as responsible. I grounded Shay for a month with no TV and cell phone after she beat up some rich bimbo in her class for making fun of her and Urie back when they were in middle school. I even grounded Urie when he pranked called the creep in Shay's class who's been stalking her."

"That brat almost saw Jesus when he thought I was actually the police waiting to arrest him and send him to jail," I smirk.

"You took Shay out for McDonald's when she told you she won the fight when you asked. You bought Urie a Star Wars Death Star."

"The 'k' in Kobayashi stands for 'karma's a bitch'. Sometimes you gotta let people know what will happen if they want fuck around and find out."

"And if I may add, losing is punishment already. It would be pointless to ground my kid." Feenyx chimes.

"Thank you!" Ma exclaims enthusiastically. "Finally, someone with fucking sense."

"Language, Faye!" Dad scolds Ma before turning to Kayleigh. "I really am sorry."

"It's okay, Mr Kobayashi." She assures him with a smile.

"Anyways, what about you, Tabasco?" Aunt Leia asks, turning to Toni.

"It's Toni, ma'am."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," She rolls her eyes and waves her hand dismissively. "You're engaged. How's that going for ya?"

"It's great. My fiancé and I are still planning our wedding."

My jaw twitches as I fix my gaze on the half-finished food on my plate, ignoring the looks of my parents, my siblings and my friends.

"I see? So where is he? Why couldn't he come with you?" Aunt Leia asks.

"He's away on a business trip. He runs a company that specialises in gaming and software engineering, so he's mostly away for business trips."

"Does he know you're here?"

"She's allowed to go wherever she wants to go, Aunt Leia," I chime into the conversation with a tight smile. "Besides, I invited her to come here – not him."

"And I'm not disputing that, but at the end of the day she's another man's woman and it's not going to look good on her that she's out here with another man and her fiancé knows nothing about it," she reasons. "It's honestly a shock to me that the poor guy hasn't already found out about your little Jada and August Alsina's relationship."

"It's honestly a shock that she's still rotating between her now fiancé and Urie," Shay adds.

"No shade. No tea. Just facts." Feenyx chimes in.

"Can we not talk about her like she's not here, please?" I say. I know that I expected this kind of thing to happen, but that doesn't mean that I like it either.

"Anyways," Shay rolls her eyes. "Feenyx's you're not from around here, right?"

"Yeah, I'm half Greek and half Italian but I spent most of my life in Greece," Feenyx answers.

"Oh, a Greek girl," Shay comments impressed. "No wonder Urie's friends with you. My brother's always been a huge nerd for Greek history and mythology so much he hated Hercules, Clash of the Titans and the Percy Jackson series because 'they ruined Hades' for him."

"Hey! Hades is one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented Gods in Greek mythology." I retort. "This whole notion that he's one of the bad guys just because he's the King of the Underworld is a whole lot of bullcrap and I will not stand for it."

Shay looks at Feenyx with a look that says, 'See what I mean.' "Anyways, what do you do for work?"

"I co-teach Greek History with Urie," Feenyx answers. "Before that, I used to work as a secretary at a company that runs a dating app back in Greece. Despite getting paid fabulously I got bored with it and decided to quit and move here to look for better job opportunities. I went to a career guidance convention, got lost because I have the worst sense of direction and bumped into dear ol' Urie here, right?" She bumps her shoulder against mine.

"Mhm." I nod vigorously with my mouth full. That's the best solution I have to keep myself from being clumsy with my words and make it obvious that everything Feenyx is telling my family is a lie.

"Urie, please swallow your food." Toni scolds me.

"Sorry," I reply after swallowing.

"Anyways, I told him my situation and he told me that he was looking for a co-teacher to help him with the kids. And since your girl knows a lot about Greek History and Mythology, I was like, 'I'd be happy to lend you a hand' and we became besties instantly."

"No, we didn't. You couldn't even pronounce my name properly." I retort.

"U-R-I-E is pronounced Yuri and I will die on this hill. Besides, I ended up pronouncing it properly, you big baby."

"I am not a big baby."

"Yes, you are. You're a messy eater, I technically cook for you and clean after you for the most part because you're too lazy to even put rice in the rice cooker and put your own underwear in the washing machine and I have to use an air horn to wake your ass up to get ready for work."

"I'm surprised I haven't gone deaf because of that."

"Sounds like you two live together." Eloi comments.

"We do actually."

I choke and snort the wine out of my nose halfway through drinking it, not at all expecting Feenyx to outright admit that she's living with me. Feenyx quickly reacts and pats my back as I cough and wheeze liquid out of my lungs.

"I didn't have anywhere to live when I first moved to Hellenic City, so he offered me a place to stay until I find my own place instead of wasting money living in a hotel." She explains before anyone can ask. "I agreed under the condition that I'll pay half the rent."

Once I recover from my coughing fit, Feenyx grabs one of the napkins and presses it against my nose. "Blow." She instructs.

I do as I'm told.

"Better?" she asks, wiping my nose.

"Yeah," I clear my throat. "Thanks."

"I remember when I used to wipe his face whenever he makes a mess when he eats." My mother says, smiling nostalgically.

"That's basically what I do." Feenyx chuckles. "Do you know that your son knows the lyrics and choreography to Singles Ladies by Beyoncé and Bad Boy by Red Velvet in his Lego Star Wars Boxers?"

Everyone bursts into laughter except for Toni, who's been silent for the greater part of the conversation and me, who's flushing with embarrassment.

"I can't believe you still do that at your age, bro-bro," Eloi says between giggles.

"What? Beyoncé and Red Velvet are queens and their music slaps." I retort.

"Beyoncé is overrated." Feenyx comments.

I gasp dramatically, clutching my chest. "Blasphemy!"

"Urie, can you please behave while we're having dinner? You're an adult. Not a child." Toni says, frustration lingering in her eyes.

"Oh... I'm sorry." I say, shrinking back like a turtle retreating into its shell.

"Jeez, Toni. Lighten up! We're not at a fancy restaurant for rich people." Shay playfully bumps her shoulder against Toni's.

"Of course, you would say that since you were never taught how to behave appropriately."

The table goes silent, and the air becomes tense the moment those words left Toni's mouth.

"Uh-uh. I know you ain't talking to me with that tone." Shay slams her spoon on the table.

"Shay, sweetie. Let's not cause a scene." Jay puts his hand on my sister's shoulder hoping she would calm down.

"Toni, I think that was rather an insensitive thing to say," Sid speaks up.

"I'm just being honest. Shay is vulgar and violent; Eloi couldn't even wait until he graduated college and get a job to settle down and have a child with his girlfriend and Urie can't even act his age and it's no wonder why most women can't even take him seriously. It really makes me wonder how and why they even got away with such uncultured behaviour."

There's a loud bang against the table. Everyone turns to my mother, who has her mouth behind her interlaced hands. Despite how firm and steady her posture is, you can tell that my mother's shaking with anger and she's trying to keep herself from flipping the table – literally.

"Oooh, she darn did it this time." Aunt Leia comments while Vinny eagerly drinks his wine. I swallow nervously.

"Toni," My mother speaks calmly. "You want to be a mother in the future, right?"

"Yes, I actually want to have at least five kids," she answers with a smile.

"Alright," Ma nods her head slowly. "Let me tell you one thing about motherhood. Having kids, let alone giving birth and raising them, is not easy. Each mother has her own way of raising their children. I nearly had a stillbirth when I had Shay, Urie had to be put in an incubator immediately after my C-Section because he was born prematurely and I was at risk of being infertile after I had him, but by God's grace, I had Eloi.

"Every mother has her way of raising her kids. Some go about it the right way. Some go about it the wrong way. And I, as a human being, will admit that my methods have been questionable and not the best and I can accept criticism. And yes, my kids haven't always been the most well-behaved, but one thing I will not tolerate and stand for is someone calling my kids uncultured in my presence".

Toni's smile fades the moment she is met with my mother's sharp and malicious glare.

"I wasn't trying to be rude and disrespectful –"

"Sweetie, I know what rude and disrespectful is and it's definitely what you should erbody at this table." Aunt Leia cuts in.

"But I – "

"Silence!"

Toni flinches like an injured puppy at the venom spewing in my mother's sharp tone.

"I'll let this slide because you're a guest here and out of respect for my son because he cares about you. But if you speak ill of my children and spit on my family, I will not hesitate to beat you on sight and not even my love for my son will save you from me." She says coolly. "And one thing you should know about mothers is that we protect our young."

"You tell her, bestie!" Aunt Leia cheers.

Ma relaxes her venomous glare and turns her gaze from Toni to her plate. "I want her out of my house by the time dinner ends."

"Ma – " I say.

"She can stay at the motel not far from here for the time being. I'll be more than happy to sponsor her to stay there until you fly back home."

"But that's rather too harsh – "

"This is not up for discussion." Her sharp glare silences me. "This house does not accommodate disrespectful peasants. Are we clear?"

Knowing that my efforts are futile, I relent with a sigh and don't say a word.

The table falls into silence.

"So, tell me about the famous cast iron pan that has been passed down in your family. Urie's told me so much about it," Feenyx breaks the silence.

My mother smiles. "Help yourself to some seconds. It's going to be one heck of a story."

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