Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 157

Theo POV

Dad wanted to talk to me, and when he called me to follow him down the hall, you can guarantee it was not for a friendly, 'How are you?' Chat. He filled me in with the Syndicate and their movement. It had been a while since that crook left his hometown, always having his lackeys do the jobs for him. He wanted to see whatever job he had completed. Jacko was concerned about his real reason for the visit, and anyone who had dealings against him was being warned of him being on the move. I was not so worried about myself. I was a young lad when he was here last, but Dad and Bob were both involved in running him out of town with his tail between his legs. Dad was worried because Peter was being trained to take over, which meant that Bret was most likely seen as a sort of son. If he knew that we were involved in his death, that man would not like that at all. Which means Bethany is in danger again. That poor woman can't seem to catch a break. I am going to have to tell her about this latest piece of news, and if she does not know who this person is, I will have to fill her in. Dad agreed. I should take her out for dinner and tell her away from the house, while he will tell Kitty once we are gone.

The last thing I needed was to walk into the kitchen and feel Mum causing Bethany grief. I understand both sides, but I have to back my soon-to-be wife. Mum is just going to have to suck it up, or I am sure Bethany will spit the dummy and leave; if that happens, it is going to be hard to fix the gap that it would make.

Bethany was glad to get out of the house, and the look on her face when I started to converse in Italian was funny; we had talked about many things, but this showed there was still a lot to learn about each other. I have known these people all my life, and it is a family-owned restaurant. This lady's mother and father ran it before her. They taught me to speak Italian, and I was a dishwasher there during high school. I did not need the money; it was more to learn people's skills, and learning about life was only sometimes easy for some. I loved working there. They were good teachers. You would think I would have cooking skills, having worked in a restaurant, but I could not get it right; I liked to eat it more than cook it. 'Can we have a mix please. I asked as we took a seat at the back of the restaurant where most of the special patrons got to sit.

'Sure, I will also bring a big plate of our special dish. My boy, he made it. You are his first customer to try it! She proudly walked away to place our order and serve us at the counter. She had some trainees.

The food came out, and we gorged ourselves. I knew I was going to ask for a container to take some home. We sat enjoying a drink, and Bethany appeared to have calmed down. She laughed along with the staff as they teased her for being with me. We received extra attention because we were getting married, and the owners were so excited that their boy was finally getting married. Their boy was me, and they treated me like one of the family. That included a clip around the ear when I was being stupid. 'Bethany, I need to talk. She nodded, turning to give me her full attention. I reflected on what I knew about the syndicate and what was happening. We were getting extra security. It was hard telling her all this, but I felt she should know that if she found out some other way, I would be in the dog house, and being new to all of this, I did not wish to be on her wrong side. I want to protect her and give her love. But holding back that protective side and letting her be herself was hard. She took what I had to say well and appeared not to be that surprised by the news.

'What about our home situation? I am not going to fight your mother over the kitchen. I will eat out for every meal until she gets the picture, or you can get a portable cooker, and we can cook our meals up here. I am not going to back down on this one. I cannot fight a woman in her own home, but I will not let her think we are staying so she can be our maid!

'Dad is dealing with that. I am sure by the time we get home, Mother will be a changed woman. She should be used to having women in the kitchen with three daughters. I do not know what has got into Mother these days. Could all these babies overwhelm her at the same time?

'Can we look at renting somewhere until the house is built? I feel bad now that we are out of the penthouse before our home is ready!' Bethany looked sad, and I understood that it was all to do with my mother and her weird behavior of late.

We headed home with three containers of leftovers and a large dessert to share when we reached home. There was no way we could cope with eating dessert after that huge meal. My pants were bursting at the seams. I dare not bend over, with fear of ripping them. Mum and Dad were in the lounge watching sports news. It is the only channel we have on lately. We are all avoiding watching the other channels, as none of us wish to see new headlines for fear of what they might be. We hope there will be good news regarding the heart recipient and her progress, but we cannot risk it being something else that would upset the ladies.

'We have leftovers and sweets. Would you like some, Mother?' I lifted the bag from the restaurant that I knew Mum loved to go to and knew it was a no-brainer.

'That would be lovely!' When Mum went to get up to take the bags from me, Dad placed his hand on her arm to stop her, and after a moment of hesitation, she sat back down. This was going to be hard for her, but if we were going to be staying there, she needed to see us as a family here to help and not as guests. She needs to run around to serve us. With us all having left the nest, she had gotten into the habit of running around after us when we visited, and I had not even noticed it till now. I was a bad son and did not see what was happening. It was time to improve on that.

Together, Bethany and I made the drinks and brought out plates and forks for dessert. Mother made a fuss over the food, and I could tell she enjoyed being the one to be served. I hoped we would do that more often, like we did as kids. We make a roster so that Bethany and I have the kitchen and cook the meal that day and mother and father the next. That sounded like a good idea in my head, but can I word it right that will not get either woman's dander up?

A replay of a game we had missed was on the TV, and though Mum was not too impressed at our choice, she was outvoted and sat with us through it all. She even laughed at Dad shouting at the screen a few times, which had the rest of us laughing along with her. It was a much better night than I had expected, and I could see that Dad had talked to her about having us live here and for her to relax and let us be part of the family, not a guest. He might have thrown around the subject of the baby and might only get to see it sometimes. If Bethany was uncomfortable visiting, she should pull her head in and go with the flow. I could envisage Dad pulling that one on her and bringing her back to the reality that all the ladies feel that way, and she would end up with fewer visits, even with us living so close to her.