"Morning." I helped her down the stairs and we settled in the kitchen. It was still a mess from our dinner, and I started to clean up.
"Do you want to fill me in on what happened?" Maria asked as I moved around the room.
I sighed and put the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. "It was a mess."
"Tell me about it, sweetheart."
"I don't think Dad and I are talking," I started. "He disapproves of Luc and I said some things I shouldn't have."
Maria gave my hand a weak squeeze as I joined her at the table. "Give yourselves time to calm down and then sit and talk. I'm sure he just worries about you."
"He wouldn't even discuss it with me."
"It probably took him by surprise."
It definitely wasn't the way I had planned to tell Dad. Maybe I would try and talk to him in the new year. It would give us both plenty of time to calm down and perhaps Dad would have processed the news by then.
"And Stefan?" Maria asked me. She had been sitting there when Stefan and Luc had started to blow up at each other but had not been there for the aftermath.
"I..." I hesitated. Last night was not pretty. All my logic had left and watching Luc beat Stefan hadn’t sparked the usual panic I felt. Instead, I had let Luc do what he felt was necessary and watched until Dante had pulled me away.
"Mia, you can be honest with me."
"I was so mad at him for telling my Dad about Luc and the stabbing. We had a fight, he kissed me and I hit him."
Maria closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them before she asked, "Luc?"
"He saw and I'm not sure what happened, but he didn't look great afterwards and Stefan..."
"Won't be living here anymore," Luc finished the sentence as he entered the room. His hands still looked red and raw from the fight.
"Where's your brother?" Maria asked her eldest.
"Hospital, I imagine," Luc replied, looking like he couldn’t care less. "Dante took him there last night." He leaned down and kissed me before taking a seat at the table. "I don't regret it, Mom. He crossed a line last night and he's lucky it wasn't worse."
Maria sighed. "I understand, Lucas. He shouldn't have done that to Mia. I just hope this will be the end of it now."
We spent much of the morning talking before the time came to take Maria back to the hospital. Once she was settled in her bed, I leaned over and hugged her.
"Thank you so much for having me over," Maria said.
"I'm sorry it didn't go as planned," I apologized to her, still feeling guilty over the fight.
Maria dismissed the apology with a shake of her head.
"We'll drop by again soon, Mom," Luc told her and kissed her cheek. As he turned away, I went to follow but Maria took my hand.
"Thank you, Mia," Maria said as I looked over her shoulder. "For making him so happy."
I felt my insides warm. "I'm only returning what he does for me." I gave her another hug before leaving the room.
"One more stop," Luc said, looking up from his phone. I knew where we were headed but felt uncomfortable all the same.
"Do you think this is a good idea?"
"I'm not going to do anything," Luc assured me.
I didn't believe him. We walked into another room where Stefan lay in bed looking so awful that I gasped when I saw him. He turned his head towards us and scowled. Stefan's face was shades of purple and blue with the occasional scab. I looked up at Luc, but he was focused on his brother.
