Chapter 15 #2
They finally had a big blowout that covered everything—sleep, rooms, Justin, the kids, life—in a family meeting that Sabrina ran with an iron hand, while Lizzie tried to match her.
The basis of it, Sabrina realized later, was fear, with a dash of jealousy thrown in.
Their concerns were mostly childish. Was she going to adopt the three children, and why were they there?
Why was she fostering children at all? The concerns about Xavier were similar.
Who was he? What was he? Was she dating him or in love with him, or both?
Did he live with her when they weren’t around?
Was he after money? Had she done a criminal check on him, and was she going to marry him?
Was he married or not? Was she going to buy the chateau?
Was she planning to stay in France, and if so, for how long, and when was she coming home?
Sabrina made a list of their questions, and answered them one by one, starting with the last one.
“In the first place, not one of you is living in L.A. You’re all over the map now.
None of you intend to move back to L.A. ever, so what difference does it make where I am, or when I go back to L.A.
?” In essence they wanted her in a box on a shelf in order to satisfy their childish insecurity.
They didn’t want to be with her or live near her, but they wanted her at a familiar address, not on the loose somewhere, having fun.
Fun didn’t need to be part of her life, that was their job.
Her job was to be where she always had been and not to move from that spot, or do something unpredictable that they couldn’t control.
Their message was very clear. And a man in her life was a sign of extreme danger to them, and unpredictability on her part.
The underlying deeply buried fear with some of their other complaints boiled down to “Who do you love more? Them or us?” It applied to Xavier as well as the three foster children.
In fact, none of the Thompson children had been displaced or replaced, which was their real concern.
And Xavier was the biggest threat of all, so they were nasty to him, hoping to chase him away.
Their encouraging her to get an apartment in France was a fraud.
They envisioned her going there twice a year, if that, for a break, and staying for two to five days.
They did not expect her to rent a chateau and get comfortable.
Comfort was not part of the plan, unless it was their comfort instead of hers.
It was like talking to a bunch of five-year-olds.
Justin was the least strident voice in the group.
He expressed concern about Xavier, but he had liked him initially and thought he was probably okay.
He wasn’t as upset as his sisters, but he was about to have a wife and was expecting a baby, and wasn’t as close to their mother as the girls were.
It was really all about jealousy, and adults behaving like children.
Sabrina was annoyed more than anything about their comments.
They assumed no brain on her part, no judgment, no freedom, and no right to have a life.
If she followed all the parameters they wanted to set for her, she would have a miserable life.
And they were working hard to achieve that now.
“Bottom line, guys, I don’t have all the answers you want, or even any.
I would like to make life better for the three foster children, and it’s in my means to do so.
I don’t intend to adopt them. It’s not my plan.
Could it happen? I don’t think so, but life is strange and who knows what twists or turns could occur, but I have no plan to adopt them.
Xavier? He’s been lovely to me. I like him.
I like him a lot, and yes, he’s married and getting a divorce, but not for me.
He has a lovely chateau he rents to me. Will I date him?
Probably. Will I marry him? I don’t know.
Will I remarry anyone? I have no idea. Is he after money?
No. Will I stay in France? I don’t know that either.
Will I go back to Malibu? I don’t know. Do I want to now?
I don’t. Will I continue to rent the chateau?
I have no idea. I don’t have a lot of the answers.
Losing a husband is hard, and I hope it never happens to you.
Having grown children who don’t live in the same city is damn hard too.
I’m not asking you to come home to entertain me, so don’t ask me to go home when I have nothing to do there but it makes you more comfortable.
That’s not fair. I’ll let you know if anything changes.
I’m feeling my way along, and that includes Xavier.
And if it weren’t him, the same questions would be coming up about someone else.
I’m sorry if my fostering plan upsets you, but for God’s sake, at least try to be adult about it.
These are kids who have suffered terrible trauma, and if I want to help them for a few months with a better life, that’s entirely my business. I hope I’ve covered all your questions.
“I’m sorry if all of this upsets you while I try to figure out my life.
If it’s too hard for you to deal with right now, go home to wherever you came from and we’ll try to work it out another time.
But please stop being rude to innocent children and punishing them, and being rude to my friends because they like me and I like them.
They want to be nice to you, too, and they like you, God knows why, because I wouldn’t like you if you treated me the way you do them.
I expected you to be better than this. Thank you. ”
There was silence in the room after she said it, and to her credit, Lizzie was the first to apologize, and Coco was next. Justin was more hesitant, as the self-appointed head of the family.
“We just want to be sure you’re with the right guy, Mom,” he tried to justify his behavior and theirs.
“Really? Well, given the mess you’ve made of your life recently, you’re the last person who should be making that judgment.
The only thing you’ve done right is find Arabella, who is lovely.
But you got her pregnant while you don’t have a job, you can’t support yourself, her, or the baby.
You depend on my generosity and her father’s.
You didn’t get married, but you got pregnant, like any sloppy fifteen-year-old in the back seat of a car.
And you’re getting married when she’s eight months pregnant.
You’re about to have a baby you can’t even remotely support, so as far as good judgment goes, I’m not begging or even welcoming your advice.
And deciding who ‘the right guy’ is for me is entirely my business and not yours.
I guess that does it,” she said, annoyed with all three of them.
She left the room and went to check on the children.
There was silence in the room for a long time, as they looked at each other.
“She’s right,” Lizzie said quietly. “Her having an independent life makes us feel insecure, but it really is her business. Xavier seems like a nice guy, and the truth is those children make her happy, and she probably won’t adopt them.
And Xavier makes her happy too,” she said fairly.
Their mother had woken her up from her juvenile haze.
At that exact moment Xavier was asking Sabrina over the phone if he should still come to dinner after their blowout.
“You can if you want to,” she said. “But I don’t know why you’d want to. They’re behaving like spoiled thirteen-year-olds. And they’re not, they’re ten and twelve years older.”
“I’d like to come because I like them and I’d like to get to know them. It’s normal that they’re worried about me. They don’t know me. They have no idea who I am or if I’m going to steal their mother from them. I’d like to, but there are too many of them,” he said with a smile.
“I’m sorry they’ve been such jerks,” she said apologetically. “I’m disappointed in them.”
“Try not to be, they’re only human. We’ll try again,” he said graciously. “I’m coming to dinner.”
When she got off the phone with Xavier, Lizzie and Coco were playing with the children in the garden, and the children were laughing and having fun and so were her daughters.
Justin was a little more miffed by what she had said.
Arabella was having a rest and he was with her, complaining about his mother and how rude she had been to them, and Arabella was listening, while dozing intermittently. She slept a lot these days.
Lizzie said something important to her mother that afternoon. It had taken her years to admit it.
“You and Dad were so close and so in love that I felt shut out sometimes, and scared you didn’t love me as much. And I worry sometimes now that it will happen with someone else, like Xavier.”
It was a wake-up call to her mother and took her by surprise. Coco overheard Lizzie say it and sheepishly confessed that she felt that way too.
It brought tears to Sabrina’s eyes and she put her arms around both her daughters and hugged them tight.
“I could never love anyone, any man, more than I do you. I loved your father but it’s different. I love you, my children, more than anyone on earth.” The three of them had cried and both girls looked immensely relieved. They needed to hear it from her.
—
Dinner was much better that night. Lizzie was genuinely nice to the children, Coco always had been, and they were much more civil to Xavier.
Sabrina’s speech got them on the right track for the rest of the week.
And by the time Arabella’s family came on Thursday, everyone was getting along famously.