Who: James, Brianna, Phee, Bash & Trip (NPC) When: Evening, Sunday, June 3rd Where: Home Status: complete
While things still felt a bit strange, Brianna was adjusting to being home again quite well, in her opinion. She was attempting to behave as normal as possible, and treat her family as normal as possible. It was an eventful weekend, with Sebastian graduating and Trip being home. While the kids were busy with their friends, Brianna was grateful to have them all tonight that evening for dinner. She probably cooked more than what was necessary, but family meals were a rarity these days and it was a special occasion.
When the table was ready, Brianna called out that dinner was ready, not entirely sure where in the house everyone had gone. While she waited for her family to appear, she wandered back into the kitchen to refill her wine glass.
‘Eventful’ barely even described the weekend for Phee. Jules’s party had been absolutely insane, both in content and the amount of fun it had been. Now that she was removed from it, Phee knew that something more than teenage hormones and free-from-high-school joy had been at play there, but she still couldn’t explain what had come over everyone. She’d stolen a dress from Jules and then had sex with Greg out in the yard where anybody could’ve seen them ... if a bunch of them hadn’t been busy fooling around themselves. She’d kissed Jen! In front of people! Which was something she’d already wanted to do, but she’d just walked up and asked, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Phee was just baffled.
And pissed off at her parents. She’d gone home with Greg after the party, hardly remembering her phone existed at all, and then her dad had shown up in the wee hours of the morning, banging on the door and insisting she come home. Which wasn’t fair at all, because Sebastian hadn’t come home. Phee knew, she’d checked his room. It just was so stupid, they’d known where she was, they knew she was safe with Greg, they knew the two of them were having sex, it didn’t make any sense to her why she couldn’t spend the night with him. Especially after she’d done it a bunch while Brianna was gone. But now that mom was back, her dad seemed to think he had authority again, and it was irritating as fuck.
In any case, she was still headachey and hungover when Sunday dinner rolled around. Phee didn’t really have an appetite and she honestly didn’t want to see any of her family, but Trip was home for a rare visit, so she knew she couldn’t opt out. When Brianna called, she put her hair into a ponytail and then tied a scarf around it to hide some of the wreckage, put a bra and a fresh shirt on, and headed downstairs, looking tired and sour.
Sebastian would’ve passed dinner entirely, but he knew that wasn’t an option. Trip was home and he knew his mom had made it into a big family thing, but he was still nursing a hangover that didn’t want to quit. No amount of water or rest seemed to make it disappear, though he suspected it had something to do with the trip they’d all been on the night before. He didn’t know what it was, and he wasn’t really complaining, but there was no way they were all just drunk. No amount of weed made people lose all their inhibitions and there’d been people fucking on the lawn… and the stairs, the couch—just about everywhere.
He wasn’t sure how it had started, but everyone seemed to be in some kind of a frenzy, himself included. At least he and Theo had picked a place a bit more private to make out, if the doorless laundry room could be called private, but he was sure there’d been at least a couple of people who’d caught sight of him blowing his boyfriend. And he hadn’t cared, which was beyond bizarre. They’d retreated back to Theo’s house before taking things any farther, for which he was thankful. Theo got to see a side of him that few others did and he really had no interest in making it public.
And then there was the magic. How many people were going to realize that was magic once they were within their right minds? Bash was glad Theo was the only one he’d shared his secret with, but now that he could think straight he was back to worrying about it again. They hadn’t spoken any more about it, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want to push it. All he really wanted to do was lay around and hope tomorrow felt more normal. Instead, he joined his family at the dinner table, dressed down in a t-shirt and sweatpants, hoping this wasn’t supposed to be one of those occasions where he was supposed to clean up and look nice. Despite everything, he was glad to have his mother back, and he didn’t want to disappoint her, even when he felt like shit.
James was not in a great mood today either. Having to go out in the middle of the night to drag his teenage daughter from her boyfriend's place had not been enjoyable for him either and now his older son was back which should have been enjoyable but so far it wasn't. Trip had hugged Brianna when he first arrived and been perfectly pleasant for a while after that. After a long talk James now knew that he was getting more and more into environmental politics and science, that he was a vegetarian now and he didn't want to practice magic. It all seemed to be influence from his new girlfriend - though Trip would argue that a relationship lasting a year wouldn't be considered new - and James already hated the girl, despite having never met her. It had been bad enough that Trip constantly preferred to spend holidays with her and her family, now she seemed to have warped his mind too.
The mood was overall sour at the dinner table, James was radiating his disappointment and the two youngest McCarthys looked like zombies fresh out of the grave. Trip had taken a seat by Brianna's side and despite his lack of interest in magical affairs, he could feel all the elements at the table. It was weird and intense and he didn't like it, but at least Brianna's element felt the most familiar to him since they had the same one and he'd been slowly getting used to feeling his own fire constantly. "Good party?" he asked with a little grin when the irish twins joined them at the table. They looked like shit, but that quite possibly meant the party had been amazing. "My graduation party was wild," he added, maybe to remind his father that Phee or Sebastian weren't the first kids in the family to go a little nuts and that they'd turn out okay. He wasn't sure about the details here, he just knew that grouchy look on his father's face and the tense vibe in the house. Of course nobody had worried about him at the time because he was a straight guy partying with the football team but hell, they probably should have worried.
Brianna didn't mind so much that both Sebastian and Ophelia looked exhausted. If they were going to drink, they were going to have to learn to deal with the consequences of drinking too much. "If you can't go a little crazy when you graduate, when can you go a little crazy?" Brianna smiled, wishing Trip would eat some of the chicken she prepared. She had, of course, made him a vegetarian dish, but still. "You should have brought Rachel," she added, wanting to spare her other kids from having to mumble and lie about what they had been doing over at Jules Cooper's house. Honestly, Brianna sort of hated that her kids had been there at all, considering Jules Cooper was one of the people who had sent their mother to a terrifying hell dimension. But... that was not an appropriate dinner conversation. "I think it's well past time we got to meet her."
‘Wild’ and ‘crazy’ were tiny boring adjectives for what that party had been like, and Phee’s gaze ticked over to Sebastian briefly. They hadn’t really had a chance to talk about anything that had happened yet, and Phee had been mortified for a while that morning, thinking that her brother might have seen her fooling around with Greg out in the open. Or kissing Jen. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to know if he had. She definitely didn’t want to discuss it in front of the rest of their family. Besides just being pleased to see her oldest brother after a long time, she was kind of glad that Trip was there to distract their parents. Phee didn’t interject anything since Brianna changed the subject to Trip’s girlfriend, just kept picking at her food and avoiding looking at her father.
Bash shared a look with Phee, an uptick of his lips that said this was not the time to one-up Trip. He doubted any high school party their brother attended could compare to what went on last night, but he didn’t really wish to share that with his parents. Maybe they’d talk about it later, but he’d prefer to keep the details of their sex lives private, even if they’d been rather public the night before. He appreciated his mother’s attempt to steer the conversation away from the party, even if she did pick a subject that made it easy to stir the pot. “If she gets you for Christmas, we should get her for at least a week of the summer,” he said. “I’m sure she’d love Point Pleasant.”
Trip shrugged because Rachel probably would love Point Pleasant and its quaint little stores and restaurants, the beautiful ocean view and summer events. "She's busy with work, I told you about her interning job," he said and took a bite of his broccoli, choosing not to think about the darker parts of the town he grew up in and all the weirdness he was so desperately trying to distance himself from.
"It's some environmental lobbying program, right?" James asked, his tone making it plenty clear just what he thought about that."
"Yeah," Trip said and gave his father a somewhat challenging look back. "Environmental Justice. Rachel is passionate about making our country a better place for everyone, regardless of race and class. I think we could all do a little more of the same. You've done some pro-bono work yourself, right, dad?"
"Once I had a good income, yes. There's hardly any money in environmental justice though, is there? Good thing she has rich parents," James challenged him right back before sipping his wine. They'd had this conversation already, or one very similar, and he could easily tell he was getting under Trip's skin. Again.
"She gets a stipend," Trip said, his patience slipping a little. "But yeah, we're both very fortunate to be born into rich families. The more the reason to help others, right?"
Brianna flashed James a mild, but pointed look before she reached for her wine to take another small sip. "Environmental work is important and something she can be proud of. Money isn't everything," she said, wanting Trip to know at least one parent supported his relationship, even if Brianna was miffed that Trip kept putting off coming home to visit so he could spend time with his girlfriend. Rachel had Trip far more than his family did. "Just promise me you'll bring her to spend a week or two in Point Pleasant before the summer is over. I want to meet her." Aware that if she didn't change the subject James and Trip would end up ruining dinner, so she refocused on Ophelia and Sebastian. "So, it's officially summer break. What do you two plan to do this summer?" She was hoping they would think about getting jobs but Brianna wasn't going to push that just yet.
Phee tried not to cringe as her father and Trip sniped at each other, she just put a hand up to lean her temple on and tried to be as invisible as possible. She loved and looked up to both of her brothers, but Trip had this weird pedestal that also made everything harder for him ... as the only daughter, she related a bit, but her pedestal was different, always different. The sexism of it all was maddening sometimes, and it felt especially irritating today when she felt like shit. Phee felt Brianna’s pointed question almost like a physical thing and she glanced up. “Keep working for the Castells,” she answered. She had a job. Sort of. It was more of an internship, but Phee had no plans to quit. “Keep learning and practicing. Hang out with Greg.” Her tone turned a bit pointed.
Bash’s thoughts about what he wanted to do for the summer hadn’t extended much beyond his conversation with Logan the night before, but he didn’t think either of his parents would be impressed with him falling back on yard work, not when both his siblings had real jobs. He wanted some spending cash, and wanted time to hang out with Theo and Greg, but Theo would be working and Greg would be spending time with Phee as well, so he might as well do something productive. “I dunno,” he sighed, his head pounding too hard to come up with a good, solid answer on the first pass. “Maybe…Maybe there’s some openings at the hospital? I know I’m not certified to do anything, but I kinda want to see what it’s like.”
James was still holding out for hope that Bash would become a doctor and maybe if he worked a menial job at the hospital for long enough to see how frustrated and petty nurses tended to be, he might opt for that 'better' profession. "If that's what you really want to do, I might be able to pull some strings." He smirked. "It'd be all bedpans and changing sheets though, might as well get a job at the motel."
"You are so pessimistic, dad," Trip said with a somewhat strained laugh. "He might get some assistant work, reception, computers. There's plenty of jobs at a hospital that have nothing to do with the patients." He turned his attention to Bash and shrugged. "I think that could be a good idea if you can get it, you might end up hate hospitals and it'd suck to find out after you've chosen a profession."
Brianna had completely forgotten Ophelia was working at the Castells' shop. She understood her daughter's desire to spend the summer with Greg. To teenagers, their relationships were everything. Brianna doubted Greg would be going to college anywhere so hopefully Phee didn't blow off everything else just to hang out with her boyfriend. "He has to start somewhere," Brianna told James before her attention shifted back to Sebastian. "If I were you, I would look for something a little less restrictive for the summer. If you got a job at the hospital, your hours could be all over the place. There may be jobs down at the marina, or some of the shops on Main Street. It's your last summer before college, make sure you save time for yourself."
Bash stared at his family, his frustration plainly obvious in his expression. His father’s response confused him, as he wasn’t sure if it was meant to encourage him or discourage him, and his mother’s expectations were clearly at the opposite end of the spectrum than his father’s. Only Trip seemed to understand what he’d been aiming for, but his mother was right, there would be plenty of time for that before he had to make any life changing decisions. “I mean, in that case, I heard Joyland is hiring. And The Boathouse. And I could always just do yard work and clean people’s pools. I haven’t really figured it out.” All he really wanted to do was hang out with Theo and get a better grasp on his magic before leaving behind everyone who could possibly teach him, but he knew those weren’t the answers his parents were looking for. And Bash was finally starting to realize, he had no idea what those answers were. Maybe trying to please them wasn’t really worth it.
"I think there's a lot of jobs at the hospital that won't require crazy hours," Trip pointed out. "He's not a doctor yet." This was probably yet another reason he didn't often come home, these family dinners were kind of unbearable with so much crap left unsaid that still somehow buzzed in the air between them.
"Nurse," James corrected him and did his best to keep a neutral expression. Bash knew very well he wasn't impressed by that life choice, he didn't need to remind him. When Trip looked a little baffled he repeated himself. "He wants to be a nurse, not a doctor."
"Wow," Trip muttered, opening his mouth to say something but clamping it shut at the last minute. He took a moment to process before he spoke again, turning his attention to his sister instead. "So you're working for the Castells, Phee? They run that tea shop, right?"
Since the spotlight wasn’t on her, Phee had more or less tuned them all out while they discussed her brother’s future plans. In Phee’s mind, being a nurse was admirable, they were the ones who did most of the real work anyway, so she didn’t know what the big deal was with judging Bash for that possible choice. She wasn’t sure it mattered much what he did in the meantime, the truly sucky part was that he would be leaving in the fall and she would suddenly be the only kid still at home. Which would probably mean more scrutiny and dumb rules to keep her from being with Greg as much as she wanted to. She was sourly mulling that over while she picked at her food when Trip addressed her. Phee looked up and blinked, then nodded a bit. “Yeah, they do ... I work in their greenhouse with the plants, and Zania teaches me magic here and there. It’s a nice arrangement, and I know like, a billion things about tea now,” she said. Her eyes ticked to her other brother, then back to Trip. “I think it’s noble as hell to be a nurse. Twice the work for half the credit? It shows dedication.”
Bash’s gaze had dropped, his eyes focusing on a spot in the middle of the dining table as if staring hard enough could bore a hole in it. He was certain the anger he was feeling was irrational, and probably juvenile, but he hoped that someday all his father’s snide comments would come back to bite him in the ass and that he was there to see it. His plans for the future had changed dramatically over the course of the year, shaped by the people around him and his own evolving ambitions. It wasn’t worth pointing out that he had reconsidered a career in medicine because he didn’t want his father to believe it was for his benefit. In fact, Bash preferred to keep that from him as long as possible, especially since it could change once more. “I want to do something that helps people,” he said, quietly tacking on to Phee’s comment. “It’s not about the recognition or the money. Like working in environmental politics—the reward is the work itself, saving lives, right?”
It was probably too much to ask to just have a decent, civil family meal while Trip was in town. Brianna wanted to guilt them into it. Remind them that she had been gone for months and couldn't they just behave and pretend for a while? Sure, no one was yelling but the tension was still there, simmering beneath the conversation. Of course, it was the children undermining James, which meant he would either blow his lid or he would grow cold and ignore it. Brianna continued to focus on her food, trying to think of a different topic of discussion that wouldn't escalate into a fight. She was generally fine with being a mediator but she simply didn't have it in her today to smooth things over if they got too crazy.
It was unlike Brianna not to say anything at all and it was Trip who picked up on it before James did. Everything else about the dinner felt normal enough, some barely avoided eye rolling, James doing that subtle frustrated thing where he didn't voice his displeasure but everyone could feel it anyway like a physical thing sprawling on the table. But mom being so quiet? "Well, we're all lucky to have the opportunities to do everything we want," he said with a smile before reaching over to touch Brianna's arm gently. "And I'm just happy mom is here to see it."
That was at least a sentiment they could all agree on and James's expression softened a touch as he looked at his wife. The fact he cared at all what his kids wanted to do after high school spoke volumes to how things were returning to normal now that Brianna was home. If Brianna hadn't returned he wasn't sure he could have mustered the strength to argue if Bash had decided to be a waste collector. "To our health and safety," he muttered as he raised his glass, glancing at his oldest with a knowing look. He'd smoothed things over for now, but James knew there were still a thousand arguments they could have later, about Trip's choices and about his complete disinterest in magic.
Well that was a nice deflection, wasn’t it? Maybe Trip would find his calling outside of environmental law and get into being a diplomat instead. Or a hostage negotiator, that was more how it felt at their dinner table sometimes. Phee murmured something agreeable to her father’s toast and picked up her water glass to take a sip. Health and safety felt like a joke in this town sometimes, but at least they’d gotten Brianna back. She was grateful for that, no matter how aggravated she currently was at her parents. Things had gradually been getting better since her mom’s return, and she wouldn’t trade it. Their dumb rules just felt chafing and ridiculous at times.
Bash resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but only for his mother’s sake. He was thrilled to have her back and didn’t want her doubt that for an instant. But he wanted to point out how little Trip had seemed to care when she was missing, how he’d stayed away when their family was falling to pieces. How their father had pretty much abandoned them, caring nothing about their ‘health and safety’ then. Their dad might consider himself the head of the household, but their mother was clearly the glue that held them all together. Without her, it would just be him and Phee, fending for themselves with the financial help of their father. “And to mom,” he muttered as he lifted his glass. Her return was something to drink to, even if it was just water.
As sweet as it was, Brianna was still uncomfortable with the sentiment. She was happy and relieved to be back, obviously, but she certainly didn't want to be the focal point of her family trying to diffuse a growing argument. Especially when it felt a bit disingenuous. It was like every possible thing she wanted to ask her children about would be off limits. Bash was sullen, Phee was defensive about Greg and Trip and James seemed to be capable of doing nothing more than pushing each other's buttons. "I'm happy to be back as well," Brianna said, setting her fork down to reach for her wine. "Being where I was, for as long as I was, put a lot of things into perspective. Including how silly some of these arguments are. Do whatever makes you happy," she told Bash simply before her gaze shifted to Phee. "Enjoy your boyfriend for as long as you can because you're young and you don't have to deal with responsibilities yet. Just please don't get pregnant because I honestly don't think I can handle being a grandmother right now. And if you don't want to practice magic," she told Trip. "Don't. But you can't deny its inside of you and if you keep pretending otherwise, you're going to end up getting burned. Pun intended, of course." She raised her glass to her family before taking a long drink from it.
There was a stunned silence at the table for a long moment as none of the McCarthy kids was used to their mother speaking so openly and neither was James who watched her with a curious and mildly perturbed look before he drank his toast and gave her a little smile that - coming from James - could have meant anything.
Trip was the one looking uncomfortable now, shaking his head as he set his glass down. "Yeah well, if I could surgically remove it, I would," he muttered. "I remember when you didn't want anything to do with it either." He was trying to not sound bitter about that part and failing so he glanced at his siblings. "You guys got lucky with yours at least, water and earth, right? A little easier to ignore."
"So you'd just ignore your gift," James muttered with a huff and a shake of his head because he would never be able to understand that. They had a powerful ability, all of them, it seemed so stupid to throw it away. He could understand why Brianna had for so long, her family had lied to her but whatever curse had been in place was now broken and they were all free to grow as witches. It was a beautiful thing and it was a shame Trip couldn't see it.
"Easy for you to say," Trip said, obviously holding back on some frustration. "You didn't almost set your girlfriend on fire. I mean, aside from a damn fireplace, how do you utilize that kind of thing safely? It's stupid and it's dangerous so I may not ignore that it's there but I don't want anything to do with it."
Phee’s eyes widened a bit as she stared at her mother during that brief silence, feeling her cheeks flare red at the mention of getting pregnant in front of her father and both her brothers. She was already taking precautions and Brianna knew that, why did it need to be even referenced at the dinner table with their male immediate family? One of whom happened to be Greg’s best friend? She simultaneously wanted to slide under the table to disappear, and demand to know if that meant she could start spending the night at Greg’s again. But luckily James and Trip made it all about him and magic, so she had a moment to collect herself. “You’re less likely to set her on fire if you know what you’re doing and how to control it,” she pointed out to Trip. “And ours are not easy to ignore when Bash is flooding the house and I’m uncontrollably growing flowers everywhere. But that only happened like, once. You should at least learn a little.”
Bash was quiet after his mother's interjection, pretty much on board with everything she had to say for once. He didn't really like to think about his sister having sex, so he could have done without that bit, but if his mother was going to discuss anyone's sex life at the dinner table, he'd rather Phee than himself. He rolled his eyes as Trip brought the subject back around to magic, something Bash thought he clearly knew less about than anyone else at the table, and listened to the back and forth as his stomach knotted up uncomfortably. Phee was referring to the outpouring of magic that he'd triggered in helping Reagan and Caius last fall, something that was completely his fault and not likely to happen again, though if Trip didn't know that, Bash wasn't going to bring it up. Her point was still valid. "She's right," he said as calmly as possible. "Our powers can be tied to our emotions. And they're all equally dangerous if out of control. You might set someone on fire. I could... freeze them to death. That's a bit extreme, but a little bit of practice might prevent an accident."
Brianna did want Trip to learn about his gift, if only to learn how to control it. But she really didn't want to listen to Trip and James snipe at each other over it while they were trying to enjoy dinner. Even if everyone was just pretending, she would have preferred insignificant conversation with some semblance of joy that they were all together again as a family. Who knew when it would happen again. "Can we just not talk about magic anymore?" Brianna asked, looking pointedly at James. "This is something that can be discussed later. We're having dinner as a family... I would prefer we not argue."
It was probably a good thing that Brianna spoke up because Trip looked like he was ready to bite someone's head off and the mood had definitely soured. James was fine with arguing, he could do so for hours but he was trying to be more sensitive to Brianna's moods these days. She'd been through a literal hell, the least he could do was make home a nice place to be. "No arguments here," he said with an easy smile. "Just some difference of opinion." About major things, but that went without saying and he was trying to let it simmer down instead of stoking the fire. That required a new topic however and with this family every topic imaginable seemed to set someone off, whether it was education, relationships, magic or even family holidays. Trip was weird about bringing Rachel which put a sour twist on nearly every topic James could think of that might otherwise be alright to talk about and while he didn't mind prodding his kids with things that made them uncomfortable, Brianna had explicitly requested they behave better than that. "It's been a hard winter," he muttered. "But things are looking up with summer here. I think we could do with a good vacation."
James saying ‘no arguments’ made Phee want to scoff, but she held it back. He was such a lawyer sometimes. Brianna was right, it was dumb to sit here and snip at each other -- even though she and Bash were just giving their brother some friendly advice. Trip didn’t look like he agreed, but he could be a big ass baby sometimes. It was easy to forget that when he was gone so much. The idea of a family vacation wasn’t appealing at all at the moment, but she wasn’t about to say so when they were trying to relax. So Phee just went back to eating and tried to ignore the vague queasiness that had been plaguing her all day. The party had been incredible ... but damn, she was paying for it today.
For a moment Bash thought that the only thing their family could discuss without controversy was the weather, but a vacation could be nice. Potentially. "I could get on board with going to the beach," he said, thinking of some place warm, maybe even tropical. Granted, it would be a family vacation, which meant it wasn't going to be perfect no matter where they went, but he'd take the sun and the sand over a sight-seeing vacation anyday. He didn't know what his father had in mind though, and it was hard to muster much enthusiasm when his head was still throbbing. Next time his father offered a magic lesson, Bash would have to try and talk him into some kind of hangover cure.
James knew exactly what he meant. They had a beach in Point Pleasant but it tended to be cold or crowded and nowhere near as nice as many other places. It didn't help that evil lurked in those waters so he always felt reluctant to spend much time too close to the waves. The docks were nice, but the beach felt too close. "A beach vacation," he agreed. "Remember Maui?" He gave Brianna a knowing smile and the memories of vacations with their kids when they were small made him wonder if it was time to do something like that again. They'd been through hell lately, a nice resort would do them all some good.
Some difference of opinion always meant an argument. But Brianna was willing to let it go in order to have a civil meal. She just knew that this visit would send Trip back to Rachel and reluctant to come home again for any extended period of time. As much as her magic was a part of her now, Brianna still couldn't help but think it caused more trouble than it was worth. But they were all trying now so she gave James a small smile, nodding. "I remember Maui. It's been a while since she went anywhere with palm trees. I think that might be good for all of us. Trip could bring Rachel." And no, she wasn't bringing up the girlfriend to cause more tension, but if Trip was serious about this woman, Brianna wanted to meet her and make sure she was good enough for Brianna's oldest son.
Phee just barely remembered Maui, as she’d been the youngest of the three, but palm trees and white sand beaches did sound nice. Her teenage sense of injustice went off when her mother mentioned inviting Trip’s girlfriend, though, and her head lifted. She glanced at Bash, then at her parents, one eyebrow arching high. “What about Greg and Theo?” she asked, her tone a bit challenging, like she already assumed they would shoot it down. Because she did. “Are our boyfriends invited too?” It wouldn’t be fair at all for Trip to get to bring his dumb girlfriend while she and Sebastian just had to tag along like a couple of kids. It didn’t occur to her to ask in a nicer way, since she was hungover and grouchy and already on the defensive.
While Bash had been thinking it, he wouldn't have asked it, certain that the answer was a resounding 'no'. His expression mirrored Phee's, brow raised, eyes a bit wider in question even while he expected to be shot down. It wasn't fair, but their parents had never been great at equality in his mind, and while it was Phee who was often at the short end of the stick on this one, he couldn't see his dad being on board with Theo joining them. Bash knew it was a lot easier for his dad to ignore that he was gay when he never had to see him with his boyfriend. That would be hard to do in a hotel room, or even a suite, where they'd all be in close proximity to each other. It would probably be a nightmare, now that he thought about it, but that didn't stop him from wanting the option.
James gave Brianna a look that said 'look what you've started', even as he smiled faintly. Did he want to bring a hoard of teenagers with him to Maui? No. At this point he was tempted to tell them he was taking Brianna to Maui and the rest of them could stay home but the can of worms was open so he shrugged and sipped his wine. It was also tempting to tell them any relationship under twenty didn't count but he'd promised there'd be no arguments and excluding the boyfriends of his two younger kids would definitely make at least Phee argue.
"Can Greg afford a trip to Maui?" Brianna asked Phee as she took a bite of her food. "If so, sure." She wasn't paying for Phee and Bash's boyfriends to go to Hawaii with them. Honestly, why did her children have to be so argumentative about everything. Like James, Brianna was suddenly picturing a tropical getaway for just her and her husband. Leave the kids here to have parties and wreck the house with their significant others. Maybe they could plan something else, just the two of them. It had been awhile since they had even gone out of town together.
Phee wasn’t really sure of the answer to that question -- or if Greg would even want to go on a family vacation with them -- but they lived in Overlook, so she had to assume it wouldn’t be a huge financial burden for Greg’s mom. She had expected a flat No, so her first instinct was to be defensive, like was Brianna implying that Greg was poor or something? But then the ‘if so, sure’ sank in and Phee blinked, feeling some wary surprise. She glanced at Sebastian, thinking that Theo could probably afford it too, so maybe they were all going to Maui this summer. Huh. “Oh, well ... I dunno, I’ll ask,” she said, still caught off guard a bit. After a beat, Phee tacked a “thanks,” on there and forked up another bite of food.
Bash would have been fine with his parents taking a vacation without them, just as long as he was free to take one without them. He thought they might all be happier that way, away from each other. A week of this, even in Hawaii, even with boyfriends and girlfriends, sounded dreadful. But he also recognized that his mother was trying to be fair, even if he hadn’t gotten the impression that she was going to ask Rachel to pay for anything. “Are you serious?” he asked with a little frown, eyes moving between his mom and dad. “Cause…Like… I don’t want to pose the question and get shot down later.” It also felt like a big thing to him, asking Theo to vacation with him and his family when he’d never even come over for dinner.
James held back on his thought that Greg's parents could afford a trip to Maui but that likely meant Greg did too, that kid was spoiled senseless in ways he'd tried so hard not to do with his own kids. They still had rules and boundaries, it was just getting a little harder to maintain them with all the chaos that had swept through their lives of late. "Well, this could be a perfect holiday," he muttered. "If Rachel had ever even come to dinner. She might feel weird going somewhere with a family she's never met." And of course this innocuous topic had turned sour, just like that. "But hey," he murmured. "Young people are adventurous, right? It's not like we'll be spending all our time together. You can go off and do your own thing."
Trip just shrugged and while he did smile, he didn't look all that happy about the idea. "Maybe that is something we can look into next summer," he said. "We're kinda swamped this year, you know?"
"With the lobbying," James interjected and Trip nodded.
"With the lobbying."
Finally fed up with the inability of her family to just act like family, Brianna dropped her fork onto her plate with a clang. "All right," she said. "I know what a chore it's been for you to be here," she told Trip as she pushed her chair back from the table, her gaze shifting to Phee and Bash. "And what a chore it is for you two to be here when you're both very clearly hungover. I don't think I ask for too much but clearly I need to rethink that." Brianna set her napkin down on the table and stood. "I'm going to go take a hot bath. Do whatever you want to do, just leave me alone for awhile."
The sudden loud noise made Phee jump a bit, and she was a little taken aback by her mother’s sharp words -- at least the ones aimed at herself and Sebastian. They hadn’t been doing anything, it was James and Trip who couldn’t stop snarking at each other. She had even said ‘thanks’! Phee didn’t honestly know what Brianna wanted out of them, what the ‘too much’ was that she was asking for, when she hadn’t specifically asked for anything that Phee could remember. They were indeed hungover, but they’d showed up anyway, and Bash had just graduated, so of course there had been a party. It wasn’t like the McCarthys were ordinarily some chipper sunshine family anyway. But if her mom needed to have a little hissy fit, then whatever. Maybe she needed a solitary bath to calm down. Phee didn’t say anything, just returned her attention to her food, leaving it to the men in the family to defuse, if they were even going to bother.
“What the fuck?” Bash muttered quietly, watching as his mother stormed off. The shock at seeing a grown woman throw a temper tantrum quickly dissolved into anger and frustration at her accusations and behavior—he’d been trying, dammit, and did she really blame him for partying after graduation? Hadn’t she just acknowledged that it was normal to go a little crazy after graduation not ten minutes ago? Apparently, being there wasn’t good enough. She wanted a show, for them to them to put on a smile and pretend this wasn’t torture. Even without a hungover, Bash doubted it would have been much better. Trip and his father would have continued to bicker, the two of them too alike in their worst qualities, and he and Phee would have quietly tried not to make things worse. It felt like an impossible situation, but at least it was over for now, though the sooner he could get out from under his parent’s roof, the better. It made him better understand why Trip almost never came home.
With some women, James might have wondered if 'leave me alone' was code for 'please come after me' but it was Brianna so he let her go. Even if she had meant it in that way, he really didn't feel like trying to placate her, knowing he'd only make it worse somehow. They were both big tempered and they usually knew to leave the other alone when said temper erupted.
Trip was torn on actually following her, angry mom was a great deal easier to deal with than this oppressive dinner, but she'd been pretty clear that she wanted to be left alone so he just fidgeted a little, looked at the rest of the family members and then sheepishly went back to eating his food.
The rest of the dinner was quiet and James was fine with that, he'd made an honest attempt at bringing up a nice topic to talk about but it seemed there was too much tension in the family for anything to stay nice. He didn't say as much yet, but he'd already decided there wasn't going to be a family vacation. If anything, he'd take Brianna to Maui and the kids could stay home, throw parties and be reckless teenagers.