Chapter 12
Nic
I really wanted to run after Candy, but I was also stuck there between her parents. Captain Kain handed me a drink, an amber liquid. It looked like some sort of expensive brandy.
"Bottoms up," he said before drinking it in one long gulp. Not wanting to disappoint him, I did the same and then cringed at the burn down my throat. "Thatta boy," he said, patting me on the back.
"So, you're dating our Candy. I must admit that shocks me," Mrs. Kain said, placing a plate of hors d'oeuvres on the coffee table.
"Why's that?" I asked.
"Well, you're rather handsome, dear. I just didn't think a man like you would be interested in our Candace. To be honest, I just assumed she'd die an old spinster."
My blood began to boil, listening to how this woman talked about my Candy.
"Candy is beautiful; any man would be lucky to have her. I feel very fortunate," I said, enunciating every word to make sure that the old bat understood every single one. I was trying to stay calm, even though I wanted to overturn the coffee table.
"She would be if she lost a little weight."
"Mary, stop," Captain Kain said, leaning forward.
"Oh, Brian, you know it's true," she said to him before turning back to me. "We tried all the diets when she was younger. Makeup lessons, etiquette classes. I had really hoped the other girls would rub off on her, but it never did."
"Why do you always talk as if something is wrong with me?" Candy said as she entered the room. "There is nothing wrong with me. Just because I'm not what you hoped for, it doesn't mean I'm less than. It's not my problem that you never loved me."
I got up and walked to her, putting my arm around her for support.
"Of course I love you. What a horrible thing to say," Mrs. Kain said, burying her head in her hand and letting out a scratch of a sob.
"This isn't about you, Mother. Not every damn thing is about you," Candy said heatedly before turning to me. "I think we should go."
"There is no need for that," Captain Kain said, getting up and walking over to his wife. "Mary, I think you need to apologize to Candy and her friend."
"I should apologize," Mrs. Kain said, raising her head and glaring at her husband.
"Oh, come off it, Mary. I’ve loved you since I was sixteen years old and saw you across the lake sitting there with that giant blue sun hat. I know all your faults and still love you, but I've also seen you put unwarranted and unwanted pressure on Candace. Our daughter is beautiful, inside and out. She is funny, creative, smart, and generous, but you've been so wrapped up in what you think a woman should be that you can't see what an amazing woman she is." Captain Kain bent down on one knee so he could look directly into his wife's eyes. "She's you, my love; she is you if you were able to be without being forced to perform for everyone else. Tell her what you tell me in private. Let her know the truth."
"What truth?" Candace asked.
"Oh, Candy," Mrs. Kain said, getting up and walking over to us. She reached out and took both of Candy's hands in hers. “I'm so sorry. I grew up with a mother who wanted—no, needed—everything to be perfect. Not even her own notion of perfection but what the world around her deemed it to be. I hated her for all the pressure she put on me. I'm sorry, honey. I'm so sorry. Do you think you can ever forgive me?"
"You're my mother. Of course I can forgive you. It just all really hurts. I always wished you would tell me I was beautiful or any compliment at all. It was just criticism after judgment.”
“Baby,” Mrs. Kain said, reaching out and tucking a strand of Candy’s hair behind her ear. “I’m so sorry. I should have broken all the cycles my mother set for me, but it looks like I just repeated them. If you allow me to, I’d like to fix it now?”
“I’d like that.”
“Me too, sweetheart,” she said, wrapping her arms around Candy. “Me too.”
Chapter 13
Candy
“Dinner was great, Mom, as usual,” I said as I washed the last dish and put it on the rack.
“You know you didn’t have to do the dishes. We’ve got a dishwasher for that,” my mom said, smiling at me. Since we’d had it out in the living room, we felt a little off. She was being nice, complimenting me, such a vast difference from how she usually treated me. It would take getting used to, but new years were for new beginnings.
“It’s okay. I find it relaxing, actually. Where did Dad and Nic run off to?”
“To your father’s office for a bourbon, I think.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Doesn’t what bother me, dear?” she asked while sipping her after-dinner coffee.
“How Dad goes into his office after every meal and leaves you to clean the mess,” I clarified, glancing at my mother. I loved my father. He was a wonderful man. But I hated how my parents lived in this odd 1950s situation.
“No, dear, it doesn’t. I know it’s not for everyone, but I’m happy. I just wish I hadn’t pushed this life on you,” she said, smiling sadly at me. “But I guess it’s never too late to learn a lesson.”
“No, it’s not,” I said as I walked over to her and kissed her cheek. “I’m a little tired. I’m going to head up to my room.”
“All right, sweetheart. Have a good night.”
“Thanks, Mom. You too.”
After a few hours, there was a knock on the door. I didn’t get out of bed until I heard Nic’s voice on the other side.
“Can I come in?”
“Yes, you can come in,” I said, opening the door. “Others I’m not too sure about.” I smiled and walked straight into his open arms.
“That was a little intense.”
“You sure you want to marry me?”
“Yes. I’m marrying you, not your mother. But I’ve got to admit after meeting that woman, I think your father is a saint.”
“He isn’t perfect either, but they are perfect for each other,” I said, dropping into my bed and bringing Nic with me.
“No one who helped produce you could ever be awful.”
“They’re just so damn backward.”
Nic was silent, his gaze roaming the teen heartthrobs on my walls.
“I’m so not your type,” Nic said.
I groaned as he walked over to a Romeo and Juliet poster and attended to recreate Leo’s pose of looking into the distance intensely.
“I forgot about this nightmare,” I said, waving my hands in the air.
“No, it’s kind of cute. What’s your favorite DiCaprio movie,” he asked.
“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.”
“Interesting choice,” he said, sitting quickly on the bed and making it bounce. “Damn, this thing wouldn’t be too great for quiet sex,” he added with a smile. “On a bright note, I talked to your dad. I asked for your hand in marriage and all that.”