Chapter 42 #2
My face flushed in embarrassment, and to my surprise, Mojave took my plate, switching it out with his, and gave my mom a hard look. “She doesn’t need to watch her weight. She’s gorgeous just as she is.”
My heart hammered in my chest from the determination in his voice.
Scott never stood up for me when my mom made comments like that.
He always said she had a point and I should listen to her.
Mojave didn’t even deign to stay quiet. And the look he gave my mom said he wouldn’t allow any arguments about the matter either.
Disgruntled, she turned to my dad for backup, but he seemed to think twice about piling on when he saw the look on Mojave’s face. He shook his head at her, giving his attention to his food.
Mom’s face twitched, irritation growing, but she moved on, her attention turning to Frankie instead. “What’s wrong, dear? Is there something wrong with the food?”
Frankie, who sat between me and Mojave, hadn’t taken a single bite of her food. She just kept pushing it around with her fork, her little body shrinking a bit more when she realized my mom’s attention was on her. “No… It’s fine…”
I saw Mojave straighten, his attention on Frankie now, and he reached out to grip her shoulder, cocking his head in silent question to her uneasy response. We both knew what ‘fine’ meant. It meant that Frankie was masking her feelings to stay safe. ‘Fine’ for her very rarely actually meant fine.
“You shouldn’t play with your food,” Mom chastised. “You’ll need to eat everything on your plate before you can get up and go play.”
That made Mojave’s expression darken. “Don’t tell her that. She doesn’t have to eat if she doesn’t want to.”
Mom’s look was challenging when she raised an eyebrow at him.
“You can’t let her dictate that. That’s not good parenting.
She needs to learn not to be wasteful and be gracious for what she has.
Not that I’d expect you to know that.” She turned her steely eyed expression back to me.
“Really, Rachel, enough is enough. You’ve made too many bad choices in the past year.
You got divorced, you’re dating a biker, you’re always taking care of other people’s kids instead of having your own.
I want grandchildren at one point, and it’s looking more and more like that’s not going to happen.
When are you going to stop this childish behavior and finally–”
“That’s enough,” I interrupted, placing my fork down a little roughly on the table. “Mojave, take Frankie to the car, please. I need a minute with my parents before we go.”
Mojave didn’t argue, scooping Frankie up and walking away without a word, the front door slamming behind him. Mom looked triumphant, like he was proving her point, but I pointed a finger at her to stop her before she could start crowing.
“Don’t start. He’s protective of Frankie and you were insinuating he was a bad guardian for her. You didn’t even give him a chance before dismissing him.”
“I was just trying to help,” Mom began, playing the victim as always. “He obviously has no experience parenting if he’s just going to let the girl do whatever she wants–”
“That little girl grew up in a home where she didn’t have a voice,” I cut in with a scowl.
“Mojave gave her the space to be heard. Your ignorant comments weren’t welcome, nor were they invited.
” Blowing out a breath, I pushed to my feet, firming up my resolve.
I was done with this. I wasn’t going to stand by and let her insult Mojave after everything he’d done to care for someone who needed him. It wasn’t right.
“You’re always making comments to push your agenda.
No more. I’m done. I’ve let you diminish and dismiss me for too long, and that's partly my fault for not putting up a boundary sooner, but I’m not letting you do the same thing to Frankie.
And I’m certainly not letting you treat Mojave and Frankie like they aren’t worth my time and attention just because they aren’t who you wanted for me. ”
“Rachel, your mother was just–”
I cut my dad off with a sharp slash of my hand.
“No. You’re not allowed to excuse her for this.
She was rude and combative the minute they walked through the door and I’m not accepting that behavior anymore.
If you want a chance at having a relationship with me and whatever family I choose in the future, then you need to look at your part in all this.
For now, I’m going to take some space. Please don’t contact me until I’m ready. ”
They both made noises of protest, but I stopped listening.
I’d put up with their judgment and bulldozing for too long.
I allowed them to make me feel small, and I tolerated the behavior because they were my family.
But I wasn’t going to let that continue.
Mojave and Frankie felt more like family than those two ever did.
Mojave supported me when I was struggling, reassured me when I felt unsure, and made me feel beautiful every single day.
And Frankie… That little girl brought more light into the world than my parents ever could and she didn’t even have to try.
They were my family. And I was done letting people tell me it was wrong to feel that way.