Chapter 41 Joelle #2
She opens the door. “Mom.” She gasps.
I turn around and see standing behind her are Pierre and Felix, both looking like scolded children with Issy and Harper behind them.
“Mom?” I stand up. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" She sweeps into the apartment, her eyes landing on Emmett and the black eye.
"Mon Dieu, look at you." She looks heartbroken as she rushes in, with the others following her.
"I'm fine, Mrs. St. Pierre …" Emmett starts to say as he lies on the couch.
"You are not fine. My son punched you." She looks at Pierre. "You punched him? While his arm was in a sling?” She shakes her head.
“Mom …” he tries to argue.
"Sit. All of you. Now." She points at the couch. We all remember that tone, she is not happy. Pierre and Felix exchange glances, but they sit.
She looks at me, her expression softens.
"You, too, ma chérie. Sit." I sit beside Emmett and link our fingers together.
Mom notices, her eyes flicker to our joined hands, but she says nothing.
"Now." She stands before all of us like a general addressing troops.
"We are going to have a conversation. A civil one, without punching. " She glares at Pierre.
"I was defending our sister’s honor.”
“This isn’t the eighteen hundreds,” Issy tsks.
"I do not care what he was doing. You do not punch people unless it’s on the ice. I taught you that. Especially not people with injuries. What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't." Pierre explains.
"Clearly." She turns to me. "And you. You have been seeing Emmett? For how long?"
"A few months."
"Why did you not tell me?" she asks.
“I don’t know. I thought that maybe you would take the boys’ side.”
She shakes her head. “I love you. I would have supported you.”
Tears well in my eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize, I just wish you had come to me.”
I nod as I try to wipe my tears away.
She takes a seat in the armchair. "Joelle. Pierre. Felix. Collette. We are family, or we are supposed to be, and families don’t act like this.”
No one says anything.
"Now." Mom folds her hands. "Someone explain to me what is going on. From the beginning."
I take a breath and tell her everything. Mom listens without interruption, and when the boys try to interrupt, she glares at them. When I finish, she's quiet for a long moment.
"You love him?" she asks.
"Yes."
She looks at Emmett. "And you love her?"
"Yes, ma'am."
She nods, then looks over at Pierre and Felix. “He loves your sister.”
“So, he lied to us. He’s our captain. We’re supposed to trust him.”
“Then I’ll step down as captain,” Emmett says.
The room falls silent.
“Excuse me?” Pierre asks.
“You’re right. I’m the captain. I set the boundaries for the team, and this was a clear one, do not mess with a teammate’s sister, and I crossed that boundary. I understand the team has lost trust in me, and I can’t very well continue being captain.”
“Emmett …”
He shakes his head. “I pass the captaincy onto you, Pierre, as alternate, and Felix, you will pick up alternate.”
“No, that’s not right. They don’t get to be rewarded,” I argue.
My brothers are silent.
“In good faith, I cannot continue, and for the welfare of the team, I think it’s best.”
“No.” I shake my head.
“It’s going to be okay,” he reassures me. “If it means we can be together, then I’m fine with it.”
I burst into tears. This is not fair.
“I don’t deserve the captaincy either,” Pierre says. I look at my brother through tear-soaked lashes. “I crossed a line, too. I punched out a teammate.”
“You nearly killed your teammate,” I yell at him.
“I know, Jo, I know. I’ve never been so angry before. I blacked out. That’s not an excuse, okay. But of all the people to fuck me over like that, I never expected it to be you,” he says to Emmett.
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“This isn’t about him. You don’t owe him an apology, he owes you one,” I say, defending my man.
“We both owe you an apology,” Felix says.
“We do.” Pierre sighs. “I’m sorry, Cap, for punching you.”
“That’s a good start.” I huff.
“I’m sorry, too. We took things too far this morning. We were being overprotective of our sister when she didn’t want us to be,” Felix adds.
“Exactly, I’m a functioning adult,” I grumble.
“Jo, we are sorry to you, too. How we have handled this situation was way out of line,” Felix tells me. I raise a brow and glare at Pierre.
“I’m sorry, too. I love you. And that love kind of got clouded by my anger, and I lost it there for a moment.”
“I accept it, but I’m not ready to forget about what you did today. You scared me. What you did was so out of line, you could have killed him. Not only would you have destroyed my life, but you would have destroyed your own, especially after just getting engaged.”
Tears fill Pierre’s eyes. “I am so sorry. You’re right. What I did this morning was reckless. I’m ashamed of how I reacted. I’m sorry.”
I can hear the sincerity in his voice, and I soften only slightly.
“I forgive you. Both of you,” Emmett says.
“Can you give us time to get used to this?” Felix says, waving his hand at us.
“Build a bridge, Felix. They are together and probably will be for a long time. They love each other,” Harper tells him.
“I’m sorry that this has overshadowed your engagement,” I say to Issy.
“It’s all good. It’s not like it’s the first time Pierre has had controversy about weddings,” Issy jokes.
The joke is enough to break the tension between us as we all burst out laughing. It’s going to take me a while to get over what happened today, as I am still in my feels, but I appreciate that the hostility has been defused.
“I think Emmett and Jo should kiss, rub their love in your faces,” Collette teases.
“Yes.” Issy and Harper clap, while my brothers groan.
“You wanna?” I smirk at Emmett.
“Fuck it. I love you.” He grins as he pulls me to him and kisses the ever-loving shit out of me, much to the groans of my brothers and the squeals of my girls.
“I love you, Trouble.”
“I love you, Captain.” I pause. “You’re still captain, aren’t you?”
“To be determined.” He chuckles.