serve pancakes."
"Oh, okay then. I'll have those." I couldn't tell whether Blossom was ignoring the sarcasm, or if she just wasn't even listening to what the waitress was saying. In any case, the woman blinked a couple times in confusion, but eventually jotted something down on her pad and wandered off.
"Anyway," my dad chimed in, trying fervently to pick up the thread of the conversation once again, "we wanted to congratulate the two of you on getting married-"
"Marriage?" Blossom suddenly spoke up. "Are we getting married?"
We all looked at Blossom. She peered back at us, eyes wide but innocent. "Not us, dear," my father finally said, patting her on the shoulder. She smiled, nodded, and resumed her coloring again.
"-we wanted to congratulate you on getting married," my dad resumed, "but we're a little concerned about the finances."
Alex and I glanced at each other. "What about the finances?" I asked. "Isn't Mom paying for things?" As Sally had told me, my mom had been the one writing all of the checks for the wedding reservations.
My father looked nonplussed for an instant, but his face suddenly tightened in anger. "That witch!" he cursed, slamming his hand down sharply on the table and making the rest of us jump.
As we stared, my dad forced himself to take a deep breath, trying to remain calm. Even Blossom was staring at him by this point, not sure how to react. "Look, now that your mother and I are getting divorced, we decided that it would be best to split the bank accounts," my father said, his teeth gritted. "Apparently, even though I took your mother off of my account, she's somehow still got access - and she's been using my money to pay for everything for your wedding!"
I thought back to all of the checks that Sally had been juggling; paying for the venue and reservations, ordering the invitations, flowers, food, centerpieces, music, and more. Now that I added up the numbers, I finally began to realize just how expensive this wedding total would be. "So do we need to cancel things?" I asked, feeling a pit open up in the bottom of my stomach.
For an instant longer, my dad's face remained angry and hard, but then his features softened as he gazed at me. "No, darling, of course not," he said, reaching out with one hand and patting my shoulder, his touch surprisingly tender. "But as you're moving forward with your wedding plans, I would greatly appreciate it if you could keep an eye on the budget. I really don't have a ton to spare, but I'll do my best."
Before we could say any more, the waitress arrived, dropping our plates of food in front of us. Interestingly, Blossom had managed to get her stack of pancakes, and she dug in with gusto. For a little while, conversation was replaced by the sounds of consumption, as we all dug into our meals.
"So," I finally said, setting down my fork and knife on the remains of my breakfast, "this is Blossom. The, um, infamous Blossom." Staring at the woman across the table, I still wasn't quite sure how to feel about her. On one hand, she had inserted herself as the wedge into my parents' marriage, leading to the divorce, and was now sleeping with my father. I knew that I should hate her. Yet despite all of that, I also knew that my parents' marriage had been on the rocks for a long time, now, and that they most likely would have fallen apart sooner or later, even without Blossom's presence.
Sitting across from the woman, I couldn't quite tell whether the woman was all there. She seemed attractive enough, with her slim figure, even buried beneath the ragged, tie-dyed clothes she was wearing, and her long hair was alluring even in its bird's nest state, but she still seemed curiously childlike, innocent.
"Yes, it is," my father agreed. Neither of us really wanted to address the elephant in the room - I knew that my father had been sleeping with her before the divorce, and I was certain that he knew that I knew.
Blossom, on the other hand, didn't seem to be aware of any of
"Oh, okay then. I'll have those." I couldn't tell whether Blossom was ignoring the sarcasm, or if she just wasn't even listening to what the waitress was saying. In any case, the woman blinked a couple times in confusion, but eventually jotted something down on her pad and wandered off.
"Anyway," my dad chimed in, trying fervently to pick up the thread of the conversation once again, "we wanted to congratulate the two of you on getting married-"
"Marriage?" Blossom suddenly spoke up. "Are we getting married?"
We all looked at Blossom. She peered back at us, eyes wide but innocent. "Not us, dear," my father finally said, patting her on the shoulder. She smiled, nodded, and resumed her coloring again.
"-we wanted to congratulate you on getting married," my dad resumed, "but we're a little concerned about the finances."
Alex and I glanced at each other. "What about the finances?" I asked. "Isn't Mom paying for things?" As Sally had told me, my mom had been the one writing all of the checks for the wedding reservations.
My father looked nonplussed for an instant, but his face suddenly tightened in anger. "That witch!" he cursed, slamming his hand down sharply on the table and making the rest of us jump.
As we stared, my dad forced himself to take a deep breath, trying to remain calm. Even Blossom was staring at him by this point, not sure how to react. "Look, now that your mother and I are getting divorced, we decided that it would be best to split the bank accounts," my father said, his teeth gritted. "Apparently, even though I took your mother off of my account, she's somehow still got access - and she's been using my money to pay for everything for your wedding!"
I thought back to all of the checks that Sally had been juggling; paying for the venue and reservations, ordering the invitations, flowers, food, centerpieces, music, and more. Now that I added up the numbers, I finally began to realize just how expensive this wedding total would be. "So do we need to cancel things?" I asked, feeling a pit open up in the bottom of my stomach.
For an instant longer, my dad's face remained angry and hard, but then his features softened as he gazed at me. "No, darling, of course not," he said, reaching out with one hand and patting my shoulder, his touch surprisingly tender. "But as you're moving forward with your wedding plans, I would greatly appreciate it if you could keep an eye on the budget. I really don't have a ton to spare, but I'll do my best."
Before we could say any more, the waitress arrived, dropping our plates of food in front of us. Interestingly, Blossom had managed to get her stack of pancakes, and she dug in with gusto. For a little while, conversation was replaced by the sounds of consumption, as we all dug into our meals.
"So," I finally said, setting down my fork and knife on the remains of my breakfast, "this is Blossom. The, um, infamous Blossom." Staring at the woman across the table, I still wasn't quite sure how to feel about her. On one hand, she had inserted herself as the wedge into my parents' marriage, leading to the divorce, and was now sleeping with my father. I knew that I should hate her. Yet despite all of that, I also knew that my parents' marriage had been on the rocks for a long time, now, and that they most likely would have fallen apart sooner or later, even without Blossom's presence.
Sitting across from the woman, I couldn't quite tell whether the woman was all there. She seemed attractive enough, with her slim figure, even buried beneath the ragged, tie-dyed clothes she was wearing, and her long hair was alluring even in its bird's nest state, but she still seemed curiously childlike, innocent.
"Yes, it is," my father agreed. Neither of us really wanted to address the elephant in the room - I knew that my father had been sleeping with her before the divorce, and I was certain that he knew that I knew.
Blossom, on the other hand, didn't seem to be aware of any of
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