Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 7
7
Kiana couldn't believe she was all wrapped up in this stinky, sticky, mess of a Fox!
Oh gods, eww... she moaned in her head, constantly on the verge of vomiting.
Seeing as Mateo's developed some... difficulties walking a straight line, she's had to help support him all the way up their garden path, and unfortunately for her, that entailed having him lean against her with his rotten breath half an inch from her face and his horribly limp arm slung over her shoulder, all sticky and just... blergh!
Oh please let them be home, please let them be home, Kiana prayed as she laboriously muled the half-dead carcass of her ex-fiancé up to the front door, not at all keen on the idea of putting him to bed like a sick pup.
She had no sooner raised her hand to knock when she heard the sound of a bolt being pulled back and the door flew open. Sarah was standing there with her hands over her mouth, looking absolutely mortified, and Kiana couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor vixen.
"Hello, Sarah," Kiana said, trying her best to sound cheerful. "Does this belong to you?"
Mateo raised his head, burped right in her ear, and said, "Hello, Mother. What's for breakfast?"
"Oh my word!" Sarah exclaimed. "Come in, come in!"
It's funny. You never realize how narrow doorways can be until you try to guide a Fox who's drunk off his ass through one. He kept pulling and tugging her this way and that just trying to keep himself from falling over, but with Sarah's help they finally managed to get him inside.
Sarah quickly shut the door behind them and yelled: "Michael! Mateo's back from his... er, 'hunting'! We could really use some help here!"
A voice spoke up from somewhere deeper inside the house. "Oh dear, how many did he bag this time?"
"Too many!" Kiana said, her knees almost buckling beneath Mateo's weight, even with Sarah now supporting him from the other side.
"My stars, is that Kiana's voice I hear? I'll be right there!"
I'm standing here, in the home of the people who would have been my parents-in-law, with their fall-down drunk son leaning against me like a one-legged hat rack. This is going to be so awkward!
Michael came jogging into the room, all smiles, but his expression wilted the moment he came close enough to catch a whiff of his son's breath.
"Oh. Oh my. Oh my deary me."
"Don't just stand there, Michael!" Sarah scolded. "Help us!"
"Right, right!" As he took Mateo off their hands, his eye caught Kiana's and he gave her an apologetic little smile. "So sorry about this," he said. "Must've been quite a bother for you, eh?"
"Oh no, not at all!" Kiana lied, just thankful to be rid of all that weight. And the smell. "I just couldn't leave him lying there by the side of the road, you know."
"Oh dear gods," Sarah said and buried her face in her hands.
Michael wasn't nearly as embarrassed as his wife. He gave Mateo a bit of a bounce and said, "Come on, boy! One foot in front of the other! You're crazy if you think I'm going to carry you the whole way! My word, you are absolutely covered in crud."
Mateo mumbled something.
"What was that? Good lord, how many did you take down?"
"Just a couple."
"A couple!? By the gods, that's even worse! My son, my own flesh and blood, is a total lightweight! Oh the shame! Oh the scandal! Oh the humiliation! Why, back in my day I could finish a whole keg all by myself! You know there was this one time -"
"Please dear," Sarah interjected, "I believe it would be best if you just took him to his room for the moment. Before he passes - before he falls asleep."
"Righto! Come on, Mat. You know the dril. Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot and where in god's name is your shoe?"
"Angie's boobs, prob'ly."
Poor Sarah sat down heavily on a little bench and buried her face between her knees. Kiana found herself genuinely worried that the woman might literally die of embarrassment.
"Oh, well," Michael cleared his throat loudly. "Not to worry, we'll just send her a note sometime."
"Okay."
"Righto. Now let's get you cleaned up. I'd suggest you take a bath, but I doubt two feet of water will be sufficient. Say, maybe I should just tie a rope around you and toss you down the well a few times, eh?"
"I won't haven inda stupid well, Fasser. I'm fiiine!"
"Sure you are." He expertly pointed Mateo down the hallway, then turned back to his wife. "Don't you worry about us, Sarah dear, I'll take care of him. You just... er... take it easy, okay? No worries. None whatsoever. Everything's hunky dory."
Sarah nodded without raising her head, and Kiana wondered if she should've just left the moment they took the drunkard off her shoulders. But how was she supposed to excuse herself in a situation like this? She couldn't just... walk out the door, could she? That would be like fleeing. Actually, no, that's _exactly_what it would be.
"Um..." she started, feeling that extreme awkwardness she'd been predicting rise up around her like a fog. "I'll just um, see myself out. I'm terribly sorry about, well, all of this. Wait! I'm not saying it's my fault Mateo's like that, it's just -"
"No, I'm the one who's sorry, dear," Sarah said. She raised her head and Kiana was relieved to see that at least she wasn't crying. It's been a very emotional couple of months for everybody, her especially, and it always seemed like somebody somewhere was always on the verge of tears. Happy tears, sad tears, tears just everywhere, and Sarah was the last person Kiana wanted to see shed any more. She was the real reason Ander was still alive. "I'm sorry you had to go to so much trouble, but thank you for bringing him home. I shudder to think what might have happened."
Kiana held her hands up. "Oh no, really, it was nothing."
"But it wasn't nothing. What if it started to (gods forbid) snow? You might've saved his life today."
"I'm sure Othello would have drag - um, invited him back inside if that had happened. He was just outside the door."
Sarah waved it off. "You did my family a huge favour, so allow me to repay you."
"Oh, that's very kind of you, but I really don't -"
"You're visiting Andrew today, aren't you?"
Kiana glanced at the door. Mother had made it all too clear that there were certain unsavoury rumours spreading around town. How would Sarah feel about that? Here was a vixen who had been betrothed to her son who was now spending every minute of her free time visiting her other, bastard son. "Yes...?"
"Oh, good! Would you mind delivering a little something for me? I was planning on sending Mateo, but... you know."
And speak of the devil, Mateo chose that exact moment to yell out: "Ow! Watch it!" to which his father replied: "Whoopsydaisies!"
This house is almost crazier than mine, Kiana thought.
"Please?" Sarah said. "I'll be sure to add a few things for you, too."
"I, erm..." Something wasn't quite right here. Or maybe the more accurate word would be 'normal'. Kiana had spent many an afternoon visiting this place while her parents were negotiating the dowry, and most of those visits entailed a long, tedious sit-down sipping tea and nibbling crumpets, talking about the weather with a middle-aged vixen who was so withdrawn she'd hardly ever look up from her teacup. But now it was as if she were talking to someone completely different. This situation was supposed to be one of the most awkward experiences in either of their lives, and yet Sarah had shrugged it off in a matter of minutes. Kiana considered herself to have some pretty thick skin, but even she was having trouble dealing with this. Sarah used to be so shy and timid, and yet now she was smiling even with her son cursing somewhere in the back garden and her husband cackling like a loon (the big splash of water that came scant seconds later fully explained that little situation). In any case, this was something that would ordinarily have sent this poor woman barricading herself in her room, but now only resulted in a bit of embarrassment.
What happened? What changed? There was only one answer, really, and Kiana suspected that same answer might apply to many other questions as well, questions she hasn't had the opportunity to ask directly until now.
She returned Sarah's smile and said: "I'd be happy to."
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