New Father (18+)

2

"Why didn't you mention she was a vegetarian!" I heard Gabriel shout downstairs and I quickly shut my door as I grimaced. My stomach still rumbling from not eating dinner. The place we went to had nothing meatless so I just forced a smile and was glad Aunt Becky and Gabriel were too consumed in their conversation to notice my empty plate. It wasn't until Aunt Becky excused herself to the bathroom Gabriel looked over at me and discovered my food preference.

The car ride was tense because when Gabriel mentioned to Aunt Becky that I was a vegetarian she replied with,"Oh yeah, you didn't know that?" She just smiled and sat back down and sipped her wine. The dinner was ended shortly after that and I could tell Gabriel was waiting till we were in the house and I was upstairs for him to explode. "You knew she didn't eat meat so why did you bloody decide on a barbecue place?" His voice echoed against the walls of the house and I decided Gabriel had a short temper. I would have felt bad for my Aunt, but she dished back an even more fiery temper.

"Because it's my house and I was hungry for it! It's her first day here and she's already messing up our lives!" My aunt shouted back and it was silent after that and I will admit that one hurt a little bit.

"Did you really just say that?" Gabriel asked incredulously, "Her mother just died and you are claiming that 17-year-old girl is an inconvenience? Well I'm sorry Becca, but that's life, it's gonna throw you curveballs and that girl upstairs is your family. You're going to have to grow up and get over it," He explained and my eyes widened slightly at his words. He was sticking up for me. Why?

"And my sister died! You don't think it pains me to see her because it reminds me of Linda?" She hollered and then it was quiet again, "God Gabriel why are you even taking her side on this?" She said in a calmer tone, but I could practically see her throwing her hands in the air.

"Taking her side? I'm not taking anyone's side's here! I'm just showing you how immature you are being! Jesus Becca grow up-" He snapped and Aunt Becky let out a curt chuckle.

"-That's rich coming from the twenty five year old," She said and then the silence was present again and then there was the sound of the door slamming. I heard a car starting in the night air from my window and from the muffled cries heard downstairs I concluded Gabriel was the one to leave. The house was stiff now and I felt awkward as I undressed and slipped on my shorts and tank top for bed. The argument was my fault. It was all my fault that Gabriel was gone and my aunt was in tears. My aunt was right, I was an inconvenience. She was going to be stuck with me all summer and next year while I attend my last few semesters of schooling, but I could get a job and work to earn money for a place of my own. I legally could move out now, but I had no money to do so. I couldn't be homeless, I couldn't help the fact that I was put under the care of my aunt. I also couldn't help the fact that my mother was dead.

At times like this, I wished it was me that got in the car crash because now I was ruining my aunt's life.

I curled up into my bed and the breeze from the window blew in again and the cool night air wrapped around me and lulled me to sleep. It was a bitter sleep because I could still hear my aunts cries from down the hall in her room and it prevented me from drifting to sleep. It was only when she finally cried herself to sleep did I finally enter deep sleep, but of course, a loud sound from outside jolted me awake. It was a car door. I sat up in bed and my room was only lit from the moonlight shining through the white curtains on the window and I looked around.

The door downstairs closed and I heard footsteps slap against the tile of the entryway and then the footsteps carried up the stairs and I concluded it was Gabriel, home. I glanced at the clock and saw it was now almost ten and he's been gone for almost three hours. What could he have been doing for three hours?

A knock on my door made me jump slightly and I cautiously stepped down and the cold wood made me curl my toes slightly as I walked to the door. I wrapped my fingers around the doorknob and I pulled open the door. It was dark in the hallway, but when the door opened the moonlight reflected off of Gabriel's high cheekbones and he looked tired. I furrowed my eyebrows and I stepped back slightly and he thought that was me letting him in, but I was really just stepping back in confusion.I frowned as he walked over and sat down on my bed and I noticed the plastic sack in his hand that he opened and began to dig in.

"Alright, I went to the vegan-vegetarian place down in Amsterdam and I picked you up a few things," He explained and my lips parted in surprise. Did he drive all that way to get me food? Why did he care so much, he barely knew me? " I got some tofu dish thingy that the lady said was good so I if it's not-blame her," He set a styrofoam container on the nightstand and he continued digging. " I got a bunch of other stuff you could eat like some fruit and nuts and-"

"-Why?" I interrupted him and he looked up from the bag and raised an eyebrow at me,"Why do you care enough to go all the way into the city to get me food?" I said with furrowed brows as I scrunched up my face.

He dropped his hands and the sound of the bag crinkling filled the room and he too furrowed his eyebrows. I saw the emotion on his face clear as day I'd seen it a hundred times in the past month-sympathy. "You just lost your mother and I felt awful because you were not welcomed with open arms by your own aunt. You weren't even given a meal you could eat," He stated like it was obvious, but I slightly scoffed and looked down at my toes. I dug my foot into the rug on the ground and I mumbled under my breath.

"I don't need your pity," I said with a slight bite to my tone. I was fed up with pity from others. I hated it. Yes, my mother died, I know this, I don't need the sad looks and the belittling words from others. "You don't even know me," my words were rude, but they just fell from my lips without thought.

"Too bad," He said as he set the bag down on the bed and stood, "There's nothing wrong with a little compassion Eleanor," He said as he made his way to the door. I didn't look up but I heard the doorknob turn, "As for your aunt. Give her time, this is all overwhelming for everyone and we'll take it one day at a time," I stayed quiet and I could feel his stare on me as I looked down. After a moment he sighed and finally exited my room and his foots carried down the hall to my Aunt and his room. When the door of their room shut I finally looked up from the shaggy rug and around the room.

The food on the nightstand made my stomach make another noise and I hurried over to it and began to munch on the food. It was delicious and the stubborn part of me scowled because it was really nice what he did. I've learned a lot about Gabriel today.

He was a diplomatic man that wanted things to be fair. He had a short temper, but he was also a compassionate person when it came to others. I noticed he wasn't really aware of personal space because he kinda just did what he wanted not thinking anything of his actions. As we waited for our table at dinner he began a conversation with the couple next to us and he constantly touched their shoulders or their arms, it was like subconsciously he was commanding them to pay attention to him. At dinner, he talked to the waiter and joked around with him, even slapped the guy on the back as they laughed at one of his stories. He talked to everyone, I noticed my aunt didn't seem to like it because the attention wasn't on her. Gabriel seemed to notice this from time to time because every now and then he would gear the conversation towards her. He was a nice guy and I felt bad for being rude to him because he's only showed me kindness.

I felt like crap now and I was disappointed in my actions. He didn't deserve the rude comments I fed him. He was too nice and he'd already been yelled at by my aunt. I sighed and closed my food container and set it on the nightstand again. My lips sat in a pout as I climbed under the sheets of the bed. I decided to apologize in the morning because I didn't need both of my new guardians mad at me.