Hailey Fulton (wildrover) wrote in doorslogs, @ 2012-05-13 21:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | frigga, haruko, pepper potts |
Who: Amy, Felicia and Hailey Fulton
Where: Their Apartment
When: Last Monday Evening
What: Ice Cream, Arguments and Sisterly Bonding
Rating/Warnings:Wangst. Crying women. Sugar comas.
Felicia was wary the moment she looked at her phone. 5pm on the dot. Pepper never let her out this early and that was what prompted her to check her phone. The messages she found made her frown. “You can’t talk to her like that,” she chastised under her breath as she made her way through the hotel. Pepper bristled but she didn’t say anything. That was just as well. Felicia gave her all the time she asked for and in return, she only asked for a few days here and there to take her baby sister to the doctors or to catch up on the PR work that Pepper insisted she could do remotely. With Hailey running the garage and Kieran working nearly as many hours as Pepper, Felicia only worried about Amy, but she seemed to be doing really well in Las Vegas. There shouldn’t have been much harm in giving Pepper the time she needed to work and Felicia trusted that Pepper would do what she could to ensure that Silver didn’t get banged up too badly with Stark for an Alter.
For the love of- Pepper fumed in the back of Felicia’s mind. Your sister is the reason why Silver left the garage in the first place and I know that the further along she gets, the more you’ll be needed here. So no, I’m not thrilled with your sister. The sheer amount of animosity that was rolling off Pepper didn’t make any sense to Felicia so she took a deep breath and pointedly ignored the woman. She had ice cream to get and an apology to make. Unfortunately, she couldn’t apologize by saying she had a very cranky woman that took over her for days at a time. That meant copious amounts of ice cream. By the time she got to the Red Rock Villas and their apartment, she’d purchased a half gallon each of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, rocky road, mint chocolate chip, and cookie dough, and whipped cream, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, and cherries. That should get them through whatever apologies needed making and maybe, if she was lucky, answers about Miguel. Her contacts came up surprisingly empty handed and although she had politicians in both Arizona and Florida that she could call on, she didn’t relish cashing in those favors.
“Guys?” she called, hoping they were both home. It was only a quarter to six, after all. That was a reasonable time for them to both be home. “I brought home ice cream!” That would rouse them.
The day at the garage had passed in mostly a blur. Sick of paperwork, or for that matter thinking, Hailey decided it was high time she proved herself to the staff by getting her hands dirty - so she tackled the most complex repair they had on a classic import that was worth more than the gross national product of some countries. When the owner came at 4:30, pleased with the work, she decided to call it a day and headed home for a night of eating whatever happened to sound good after a long shower.
After washing the grease and grime off of herself, she decided to curl up on the sofa with her latest baby book. She had already read a few, and she was trying very hard to somehow feel prepared to be a mother. This one was more geared to “Hip Mothers” which Hailey hoped he would be. She would be one of those attachment mothers who breastfed and cloth diapered. She was eying a space in the garage that was now a defunct office for a nursery there, so she could hire a nanny to watch her child while she worked. It would all work out, she was fairly sure of it, as long as she had some support.
She heard Felicia come in and was actually surprised. “You’re home?” she said in a surprised tone. She missed her sister, but she was still a bit upset by her tone over Miguel, and the fact she was keeping her own secret.
Amy was off in her own little corner, playing her bass with headphones on so not to disturb the baby study. She was happy about being an aunt, but even happier she wasn’t the one with a kid. There was still time to run around Vegas like the wild child she had always been and let Haruko loose on whatever world she was invited into. Laying back on a mountain of pillows stolen from around the house, Amy heard Felicia say something about ice cream and slowly took off her headphones. “You think it’s a trap?” Amy asked Haruko. “Yeah. Me, too.”
Still, she got to her feet, dropping the headphones on the floor and shuffled out to where her sisters were. “Is it someone’s birthday?” Amy asked with a stretch and yawn, walking over to Felicia to help her unpack the ice cream. “Or are you buttering up your sisters? You know how I’m easily bribed.”
Truth be told, Felicia really wanted to get her hands on the warrant Hailey had gotten served earlier, but going right for the paperwork would look bad and she did genuinely want to apologize to her sister, to both of her sisters, about how much time she was spending through the door. “I said I would be,” Felicia replied carefully, doing her best to not be stung by the surprise in her little sister’s voice. She carried the bags over to the counter and began pulling out three bowls, spoons, and an ice cream scoop. To hell with dinner or eating healthy as Pepper insisted on during the day.
Amy appeared a moment later and Felicia couldn’t help but smile as she helped unpack everything. “I was aiming for apologizing, but if I need to do some buttering I think I can manage a proper dinner after this.” Felicia was almost smirking. She began to scoop out some mint chocolate chip ice cream for herself and she looked over at Hailey. “What flavor do you want?” The containers were all out on the counter now so she’d be able to see the selection.
Hailey got up from the sofa and wandered into the small kitchen, quirking an eyebrow at the ice cream spread. It was a lot of ice cream, and she was hungry. She was either starving or throwing up. There really wasn’t much in the way of middle ground. Fortunately, this was one of those times when she was starving, so it worked out for the moment. “Strawberry,” she said, glancing over the rest. “And chocolate chip cookie dough... with everything.”
She settled down in a chair at the table and then looked at her two sisters. She felt only slightly guilty over her downright gorge on ice cream. “I’m eating for two?” she said with an almost guilty look on her face. It was really the first time in a week she’d not felt the tension between Felicia and herself, and it was nice, though the rather upsetting text messages were still in the back of her mind.
Amy started working on Hailey’s ice cream for her, enjoying the act of making a sundae almost as much as eating one. “Your baby is going to grow up with the worst sweet tooth the world has ever seen.” She teased, making sure to give her sister plenty of both kinds before working on the toppings. Amy was certainly the biggest rebel of the family and was prone to all sorts of misbehaving, but she liked doing nice things for people. It was kind of her thing.
“So, Felicia.” Amy took the position of grand inquisitor. “What crimes do you want to confess?” She waved an ice cream scoop at her older sister. “And, I think if it has to do with your Alter, she should send us a nice Hallmark card. They makes ones that say Sorry I stole your sister, right?”
“Not judging. I’d mix, but we all know I’m too picky for that. Maybe I’ll have some cookie dough later,” she replied to Hailey with a smile. It was less tense than what she’d been expecting, but that was good. Pepper had been rude and Felicia was fairly certain Hailey didn’t know that she hadn’t been speaking to her exactly. She wasn’t so sure how that made her feel either, so she just focused on her ice cream as Amy filled the silence. Her bowl was ready to go after she took the chocolate sauce and drizzled some on top of the green pile in her bowl.
Amy’s question, however, made her freeze. Immediately, she wracked her brain, trying to discern if she’d mentioned it to either of them. Kieran knew, but that had been ages ago. Had he told them? Although, if they had journals, they would’ve seen her posting, even if it had been a while since she’d done the actual typing. “I don’t think so,” Felicia said after a few long moments and she felt the tension settle in. “I’m sure I could find one to write it in though,” she added, knowing full well that Pepper wasn’t going to apologize. “You guys have journals too then? And keys?” She took her bowl into the sitting area where Hailey was, opting to sit on the armchair instead of the couch.
Tucking into her ice cream, Hailey was content to just enjoy the sweet sweet bliss of the sugar rush about to come. She couldn’t drink anymore, she couldn’t smoke - but eating was still considered healthy for a pregnant woman and she was going to make the most of that. She glanced over at Amy. “If this baby has a sweet tooth, then she’ll fit right in with the rest of us.” And for that matter, the child’s father, though she didn’t want to say that, because she didn’t want an argument.
However, she was incredibly amused by Amy’s question to Felicia. She was eager to know what her sister was up to, and more importantly, who was sharing her brain. “I do,” she said in between bites of ice cream. “And apparently the universe has finally acknowledged the truth that I am indeed a goddess.” Frigga was a goddess, after all, and apparently a super hero. She was, in some ways, what Hailey wished she could become.
Amy took to making her own ice cream. A mix of all the flavors in tiny little portions with mostly rocky road and whipped cream on top. “And, the universe recognized to stick me with another cool bass player from space.” She grinned, taking a swipe at the whipped cream with her finger before licking it off. “She doesn’t have any friends there, though. It’s kinda sad.” Amy took a couple bites of her ice cream. “But, you know, even with someone in my head, I still have time to sit around the house with my sisters and teach bass guitar down at the music store.” That was a less than subtle jab at Felicia. She didn’t know who was in her head, but whoever it was seemed to be taking up a lot of her time. Amy did not like it.
Felicia rolled her eyes playfully when Hailey said she had a goddess. “Uh huh. I’m sure that’s exactly it,” she replied dryly. It seemed they were going around giving bits of information out about who was in their heads. Amy’s comment earned her an arched eyebrow and a stern look but Felicia could only maintain it for a moment. She had a point after all. “I know I don’t spend a lot of time at home, and I am sorry about that. She has a full-time job through the door that she can’t just leave. That’s why I asked you to come run the garage for me,” she said, inclining her head toward Hailey.
“She knows you’re pregnant too, so she’s trying to get as much in as possible now,” Felicia tried to explain. “She has people on the other side that need her, and I know you guys need me,” she added, halting that particular argument. “It’s just complicated. The per-” She stopped, unwilling to give away Silver or Tony. “She can’t just leave. I didn’t realize how much time I was spending through the door though.” That was the truth of the matter. Pepper took days straight occasionally and, once, she’d taken a whole week. The longer she stayed in control, the less likely it was that Felicia would be able to stop her from going back through the door after the 24 hour mark.
Hailey’s eyes closed and she took a deep breath. She didn’t want to fight with her sisters, but it was coming, she could feel it. She knew that eventually she wouldn’t be able to hold back the anger she felt at Felicia over the nasty text messages and always being gone.
“It’s all excuses, Felicia,” Hailey finally said softly. “She can’t force you to stay, and I am starting to think she’s abusing your good nature.” She didn’t want to come right out and say it, but Pepper was borderline kidnapping her sister. “And she’s made you mean. I told you I wasn’t ready to talk about Miguel yet.” She reached up and wiped her eyes. She was tired of crying, but it kept happening. “Fuck, I miss him,” she muttered under her breath, covering her eyes.
Amy gave a puzzled look to both of them. “Miguel? Is that the baby daddy? I wasn’t planning on asking...” She didn’t care who the dad was, the only thing that mattered was the new addition to the family. Another long, awkward pause as ice cream dripped from her spoon back into the crowded bowl. “Okay, what the hell happened between you two?” She slammed the spoon down with a voice like she was judge Judy and this was her fucking court.
Felicia frowned, knowing exactly what Hailey was doing. How many times had she done that as a kid? She bristled when Hailey said that Pepper was abusing her. Maybe she was taking advantage, but she did give Felicia time if she asked for it. “No, she can’t. She gives me the days I need, like now when I needed to talk to my sisters, and tomorrow so that I can go to the doctors with you.” Her features softened slightly when Hailey mentioned talking about Miguel. “I’m sorry about that. My phone, it works through the door. You’re not always talking to me, exactly.” She couldn’t tell if that made it better or worse. “I know you don’t want to talk about him but, quite frankly, I’m worried. I don’t like it, Hailey, and I’m trying to give you the space you need to cope with this new situation but...”
Felicia glanced at her youngest sister and smiled faintly. “We were arguing, about the baby’s father,” she explained, glancing down at her ice cream. “I don’t like it. I had warning bells going off in my head the whole time you were talking about him Hailey, and I’ve been trying to get information about him. I must’ve called in a dozen favors to try and get a sense of whatever it is you’re not telling me,” she added, her eyes narrowing slightly at the last part. It had taken her years to cultivate certain favors and she was slowly losing her most valuable ones to find information on this man that her sister had. Felicia turned to Amy to fill her in. “He’s cuban. He started an import-export business in Miami. He was married and had children with that previous marriage. When he and Hailey moved out to Arizona, the house and car were in her name, not his. And apparently, he was shot because someone else was embezzling?” She ticked off each fact, her voice betraying her suspicion very easily.
“Well, number one, why do I have to tell you everything, Felicia? You hide so much from me.” She sighed and closed her eyes. She wasn’t even sure where to start with this. But she also knew Felicia would dig and dig until she found out what she wanted. So it was easier to tell her at least this.
“So remember when I graduated from the automotive training institute? The one Mom hated, but I learned how to fix high end cars? No one wanted to hire me, because I am female. I literally applied all over the US. After about six months, Miguel hired me to come work on his personal fleet of cars. He is a collector. He provided me with a nice apartment over the garage, and a car - it was the best job.” She looked a bit wistful, because really, her life had been good then. It had been good until he died. “Miguel ran a large import-export business, mostly from South America. Hand painted pottery, high end wood products.” She glanced over at her sister. “I will admit, some of it was illegal, and I helped with some of that. For instance, he did some human smuggling from Cuba. The Coast Guard will turn refugees away. But once they get here, they can get a green card. So we came up with creative ways to hide people in legitimate shipments.” And things, but that wasn’t important. She never saw them. She really didn’t know enough about it to say anything. Besides, Felicia would freak out. “We fell in love, and we went to Phoenix. He bought us a house, put it in my name so his wife couldn’t touch it. Same with our cars. He was going to wait until his daughter went to college and then divorce her. We were going to get married.” She wiped a few tears that were falling down her face with her hands. “He wasn’t a bad man, Felicia. But he’s gone. I think his wife had him killed since Marcella was graduating in June. I can’t fight them, I won’t see anything, so I am just raising this baby as a Fulton, even though I just know if he were alive, he would love it and help me.”
Amy put her hand on her hip like a little kid who clearly knew way more about life than the big adults. “That’s what I always said. Who cares who the dad is! No one is going to track down his kid if he’s already dead. I bet they don’t even know she’s pregnant. We raise it as our own and make up some awesome fantasy about who Miguel was. Maybe a bullfighter. They have those in Cuba, right?” She looked down at her ice cream that was already starting to melt and began stuffing her face to make up for it.
Felicia’s displeasure only grew as Hailey tried to explain. She wanted to yell and shake her sister for her stupidity. All of the various tidbits, about South America and high end pottery, were filed away to add to her file on this Miguel character. By the time Hailey explained that she was the mistress, Felicia didn’t have it in her to be surprised. Her sister made horrendous choices and now it was up to her to pick up the pieces. That meant she couldn’t yell or even tell Hailey exactly what she thought. She saw no reason to disguise her disappointment in her younger sister, but she still offered tissues when she began to cry. After this, she was going to need to go for a walk to clear her head, lest she take it out on Hailey and cause the girl to do something stupider than usual.
“He chose his life, Hailey, and you chose to involve yourself in it. These are the consequences of the choices you made, good or bad. We’ll support you, because we’re family and we love you, but from here on out, you are not to involve yourself in any illegal activity. I also think it’s best that you never mention Miguel’s name outside of these walls.” It was harsh, but Felicia wanted to be absolutely certain that Hailey wouldn’t screw up this second chance she got. She was lucky she wasn’t dead if she thought the wife was behind the murder. Another lie, she thought to herself.
Hailey was mad. She was furious. How dare Felicia try to tell her what to do! She wasn’t her mother. Her anger just turned into more and more tears, until she was practically sobbing. She wanted to yell at her sister, but every time she tried to speak it came out in choked sobs. It was like Felicia didn’t even care that she loved him, or that she was absolutely broken hearted. Her choices hadn’t been the best, but it was killing her that he was dead. Part of her wished she was dead herself, rather than have to face this. Maybe having this child was a huge mistake. Maybe she should just take her money and move off somewhere else. She could go to South America, there would be work there for her. Anything but hearing this, while her soul already ached for her dead lover.
It was clear to Amy the second her sister started crying that there wasn’t really much she could do. She didn’t like Felicia walking in like she had all the answers and felt like Hailey’s nerve on this Miguel guy was clearly still pretty fresh. She walked around the counter to give Hailey a hug and then grabbed her keys and wallet. “You guys figure this out.” Amy sounded disappointed with them, slipping on her shoes before walking out the door.
Felicia’s frustration dissipated slightly when Hailey started sobbing. It hadn’t been her intention to make her sister cry and she set her ice cream aside as Amy started to move. She didn’t blame her youngest sister for leaving. It wasn’t the best conversation to be in the middle of, so she muttered a soft “See you later,” to Amy. She’d have to make this up to her soon but for now she needed to focus on Hailey and this situation. There was a box of tissues on the side table next to her and she picked it up, moving to sit next to Hailey while still giving her a little bit of space.
“I’m sorry Hailey, I really am. I just...I don’t...” Felicia stopped herself from saying that she didn’t understand how her sister could love someone so shady sounding. Hailey had always had it a little rougher than the rest of them. It really shouldn’t have surprised her that something like this happened. She was just glad it hadn’t gotten her sister killed as well. “I don’t want you getting hurt any more than you already have. I’m worried for you, for the baby. I just want you safe, sweetheart.”
It took a few moments for Hailey to get control of herself, and her emotions. It was tough. Yes, there were questionable choices made, but she had made them. And while she knew that Felicia couldn’t understand it, she loved Miguel fiercely. He had understood her in a way that no one else did. He had given her a chance when no one else would, and he had loved her like no one else had ever loved her before. She knew to a degree she was foolish and naive to believe that it would have all worked out, but it was one of the few things she had going for her - clinging to the idea that if he had lived, she wouldn’t feel so alone. Since he was gone, she would have to keep on for him, because she loved him, and he would want her to raise their child to be strong.
Sighing, she rubbed her eyes with the tissue and then took another to blow her nose. “I’m sorry, Felicia,” she finally said softly. “But I made my choices, and I had a good life. He loved me. You might not get it, and I understand, but it was a life I loved with a man I loved. I know there was danger involved. I’m broken from all of that. New phone, new address - new life.” She really didn’t feel she was in any real danger anymore, not that she really was back then. “And I don’t regret helping get people out of Cuba. That was a good thing.”
Part of why Felicia was so worried was because she had experience with some of this stuff. Politicians had secrets just as bad as...Cuban import and export businessmen. These things had a way of finding the light of day and there wasn’t anyone else to take care of her little sisters. It was important to keep her family safe and now the baby was part of the family and he or she was a hell of a lot more vulnerable than the rest of them. It took a few minutes for Hailey to quiet her tears and Felicia awkwardly tried to comfort her while simultaneously giving her space.
“I know, sweetie. I’m sorry he wont be able to meet his little one, but I know you’re going to be a good mom. We’ll be okay, alright? I promise, and I’ll try and talk to...my other one about leaving things on this side of the door to me, okay? You don’t need any more stress.” Neither did Pepper, but Felicia wasn’t about to say that. It wasn’t important at that particular moment. Felicia reached out to draw her sister into a hug if she’d let her.
The mention of the other side brought Hailey’s attention back to her sister. She let her sister hug her while her mind started going into overdrive. They had other problems, like Felicia’s friend who had the cops crawling all over the garage. If Hailey wanted to stay under the radar, and she did, then they needed to make sure that the cops weren’t regular visitors to the garage. Plus her sister was full of secrets now, and she had a feeling that those secrets could be just as dangerous.
“Who is your other half?” She wasn’t quite sure how to phrase it, but that sounded good enough. “And what is the deal with the guy who was living upstairs, and why are the cops after him?” She pulled back and looked at her sister. “I told you my secrets, and now you need to tell me yours. Because otherwise, we are going to end up with big problems. I need to stay under the radar for a bit. Which means I need to know what is going on... so I can avoid trouble.”
Pepper and Silver were two very off-limits topics of conversation but given the way Hailey was talking, Felicia didn’t think she’d be able to get away with saying nothing at all. “Silver was a friend of Mr. Wallace’s. He stayed occasionally at the garage before Mr Wallace died and I honored the arrangement when I took over. As for why the police are after him, I’m not sure. I don’t think they’ll come back to the garage though if they didn’t find anything in the first place.” She was reasonably sure of that, for the most part.
“He’s moved out of the garage though. He started looking for a place as soon as I told him you were coming to take over things for me. Whatever it is that he’s involved in, I’m not aware of it and neither are you.” She had to stop herself from pointing out that they wouldn’t need to worry about this if Hailey hadn’t been involved in illegal activities. She also didn’t bother to add that she didn’t think she’d gotten all of the secrets. “There’s nothing illicit going on at the garage. The books are all above board and I’ve nothing to hide there. Neither does Silver, so you don’t have anything to worry about on my end.”
Her sister was still trying to hide things from her, and that worried her. She understood how Felicia felt, but at the same time, this person, whomever it was, had a huge control on Felicia and her life, and Hailey wasn’t sure how they were going to manage it all. So, she decided to just let it all drop. There were more important things to discuss, and she was too tired to keep fighting with Felicia.
She picked at her bowl of ice cream, which had started to melt, instead. “So,” she said in an abrupt change of topic, “Maybe we can turn that spare office at the garage into a nursery of sorts? I want the baby close, even if he or she is with a nanny, because the books say I should breastfeed for at least a year.” She glanced at her sister. “And well, any kid of mine is going to love cars, might as well start them early.”
It seemed she was getting away without talking about Pepper and that suited the other woman just fine. She also managed to keep just about everything else to do with Silver a secret and that was a good thing too because he was a far more secretive sort than Pepper. Talking about something other than the two of them was a huge relief and Felicia picked up her ice cream again as well.
“Sure,” she agreed easily. “I had set aside money for Silver to redecorate it as he saw fit but he chose not to use it. You’re welcome to it for the nursery. After you have the baby, we can look at a nanny if you really want one. I still have a few contacts that can handle a thorough background check. I’ll certainly be around more once the baby comes, too.” She enjoyed a few bites of ice cream between sentences, hoping to not let it melt too much more.
She smiled at her sister and nodded. It would hopefully turn out okay. It would help it she weren’t so confused. “I will be glad to have you here,” she said sincerely. She came back hoping to reconnect with her family, and they were just as scattered as ever.
“I’m trying,” she said softly. “I had no idea there was so much to know. I mean, every book also says something different. It’s like they want you to feel slightly insane as a parent.” It was easier to talk about how insecure she felt as a mother, once again, than the tension between her sister that she wished would just somehow go away. Maybe she could simply ignore it and it would. That would be far simpler than confronting it. She was very good at avoiding hard things.
“Don’t put too much stock in those books. Mom didn’t read a single one as far as I know and she raised seven. I think between the three of us, we’ll figure it out,” Felicia reassured Hailey. She didn’t have any desire to be a mother but she imagined once her little niece or nephew was born that she’d have some sort of idea of what to do. “We should probably ask the doctor tomorrow about a Lamaze class or something.” Falling into these kinds of conversations was far easier than talking about Pepper or Silver or Miguel.
Hailey finished her ice cream and got up, starting to put the cartons in the freezer. She put her own bowl in the dishwasher, along with Amy’s. She was trying to be more responsible. After all, she couldn’t have a dirty house with a baby around. She sighed and started out the windows. Her life was changing quickly. She wasn’t sure how it would continue to change, but she knew that things weren’t going to be easy. As long as she had her family, however, things would turn out okay. They had to.