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Aiden rubs my back in an attempt to somehow comfort me.
“I could kill that asshole with my bare fucking hands,” Aiden mutters under his breath.
“Mom, are you all right?” Brielle asks quietly.
Callie starts to dish out plates of food, trying not to let what was said get the better of her, although she blinks furiously trying to remove the tears in her eyes and stop them from falling. “I’m fine. I’m used to his abuse.” She turns to me. “Jeni, I’m sorry. You don’t deserve that.”
Mike shakes his head. “Mrs. O’Connell, if I can say… you shouldn’t have to put up with that abuse from him.”
“It’s okay, Mike.”
“No. It’s not, Callie!”
“Mike!” she warns sternly, opening her eyes wide at him.
Mike shakes his head but keeps quiet, sinking back into his chair as Callie continues to serve up our meals like the consummate matriarch of the family.
I manage to calm myself somehow, God only knows how. I don’t want to let the family, but especially Aiden, know how much Niall affects me.
I mainly play with my food pushing it around my plate. My appetite is now completely lost.
“Is that what you’ve been putting up with at work?” Nana asks, watching me move the food around my plate.
I nod. “But this was worse than anything he’s ever said to me before.”
Nana shakes her head. “I’m sorry you’ve had to go through that, Jenifer darling. You know you’re not any of those things he says, don’t you?” I swallow a lump in my throat while I nod. “And you know for sure Aiden doesn’t think any of that, right?”
He kisses my head in agreement.
“Yes, I know.”
Everyone finishes their meals in an awkward silence. I can’t help but feel sorry for Callie. She shouldn’t have to put up with that shit from her husband. I don’t know why she doesn’t just leave him. But then I think back to Jason and realize it’s not always that easy. It takes a whole pile of strength to build up the courage to take that initial step to leave.
“Aiden, it’s your birthday soon,” Callie announces quietly, trying to change the subject and break the tension.
“I don’t feel like celebrating, Mom.”
“We do something every year for your birthday, and it’s your first with Jenifer. Can we at least go out for dinner?” Aiden looks at me, and I smile at him. “Let me know who you’d like to invite and where you want to go. I’ll organize it for you.”
Nana starts to collect the dishes to take to the kitchen, so I stand to help her as does Brielle.
“Brielle, how are you feeling? Are you all right?” I ask.
She tilts her head at me in confusion. “Yeah, why?”
“It can’t be easy seeing your father acting that way around your mom.”
She sighs. “I’m used to it. When you live with them, you see this kind of shit all the time. To be honest, I don’t know why she doesn’t leave him.”
“To tell you the truth, I was thinking the same thing.”
“They don’t even sleep in the same bedroom anymore. I’m fairly certain Mom hates the sight of him. She probably doesn’t leave because of me. She knows I wouldn’t want to live here alone with Father, and she also realizes he would probably fire me out of spite if I went to live with Mom. That’s what I’m guessing, anyway.”
“Girls! Niall might walk in. Be careful what you say. You don’t want him having another outburst, do you?” It feels like Nana’s telling us off.
“Sorry, Nana,” we both reply in unison.
“Don’t be sorry, girls. I completely agree with you. But talk about it when he isn’t within hearing distance.” She gestures toward the study with her eyes.
