Chapter 236: The Dinner II

We were heading back home in Santa Monica.

"So you told Claire about her mom (that she was going there, to her house)?" I turned to my mother.

She gave a nod.

"At this very moment she’s probably already opening a bottle of wine..." I muttered.

---

Two hours later, I was resting my head on Scarlett’s lap and my feet stretched over Paige’s.

Mom walked in carrying a few glasses and a wine bottle.

"What are you all up to?" she inquired.

"Watching the first episode of Desperate Housewives," Scarlett responded.

"I’m working," I murmured, keeping my eyes shut while enjoying Lettie’s gentle caress.

When I finally opened them, I noticed everyone staring at me.

"What? Why are you all looking at me like that?" 

"Because whenever you say that, it feels like you’re just being a lazy bum and using it as an excuse," Mom remarked flatly.

I gasped. Before I could reply, someone else arrived—Claire (probably sneaking away so she wouldn’t have to keep DeDe company)

"We’re watching Desperate Housewives, the new NBC series," Paige mentioned to her.

Yep, we made a deal with them for this series 

"I’m healing..." I whispered, closing my eyes again as Scarlett ran her fingers through my hair, "...from the trauma your mother gave me."

Claire let out a snort. "Welcome to the team."

I shifted position and joined them, watching the television as well.

"Wow, one of the characters looks like Aunt Liz," I observed. "Where is she, Mom?"

"Somewhere in Europe with her billionaire gay husband," Judith answered.

Claire, Paige, and Scarlett exchanged puzzled looks.

I went on, "My aunt married a gay man last year. It’s more of a business deal. His father is homophobic, so to avoid being disinherited, he tied the knot with my aunt."

So, we didn’t bother attending the wedding (especially since if the patriarch had made any derogatory comment about my mother, I would have retaliated. 

Mom thought it was better not to go at all. Aunt Liz didn’t care either).

"Basically, the father’s a bigot, and both his son and my aunt are just waiting for him to die so they can inherit the money. Another great American family," I remarked sarcastically at the end.

And almost as if to ease the awkward atmosphere, Loki and White appeared.

"Come here, my good boy," I called, and Loki lazily came over to me. I picked him up and hugged him. White went straight to my mom

"Where is Garfield anyway?" I wondered about our cat.

Paige looked at me in disbelief. "He’s been living in my dorm almost since the beginning."

"Ohh, no wonder I basically never see him around here. That fat lazy cat," I remarked.

I’ve always been more of a dog person.

"Don’t talk bad about him," Paige scolded. "And his name is Mr. Lancelot, not Garfield."

"Mr. Lancelot?? What are you? A gifted 7-year-old girl?"

Paige scratched and tickled my feet, making me squirm and fall off the couch

"Now it’s war!" I declared and attacked Paige.

"Some things don’t change from one family to another," Claire remarked to Judith, who nodded, not too bothered.

---

Later that night, we arrived at my grandma’s house—Judith, Scarlett, Paige, and I.

"Hi Gramma, we brought Romanée-Conti," I announced, holding up the bottles (they were from standard vintages, nothing absurdly expensive).

"Hi darling," Gramma greeted me warmly, and the others offered their hellos too.

Everyone stepped inside, while I lingered at the entrance with her.

"What a big mess you made," she chuckled, clearly referring to the Grammys.

"Hey, it wasn’t just me. It was a complete revolt," I countered. "And the ones making the loudest noise are the hip hop fans."

My fans and the pop crowd were more about protests or venting online (or what little internet we had now—nothing compared to the impact it would gain years later). The hip hop fans, though, were escalating.

"I had an acquaintance on that list," Gramma noted. "He doesn’t seem so pompous anymore," she added with disdain—it didn’t sound like a fond connection.

"There are already rumors of resignations and withdrawals. The Grammys look doomed to collapse," I continued.

Redstone was furious with everything, but he wasn’t foolish enough to strike at everyone—especially since one of Viacom’s key profit sources was MTV. It would’ve been suicide to go against their biggest audience drivers.

In the end, it was far easier to cast the Grammy dinosaurs as scapegoats and join the wave against them.

I went to sit with Paige and Scarlett.

"Wow, Gramma really made the house even more luxurious," I commented, admiring how it looked after the renovations.

"It’s nowhere near as big as yours," Paige noted, "but it gives an even greater sense of luxury."

Shortly after, Charlie and Alan showed up, and right behind them came the Dunphy family: Phil, Claire, Haley, Alex, Luke, and one more addition—Dylan.

We all greeted each other.

"Hi Jake," Haley welcomed me, "this is Dylan, my boyfriend," she introduced the tall guy beside her. "Dylan, you already know Jake, you were at his party," she reminded him.

"Hi man, I loved your party, and you sing amazingly," Dylan greeted me with obvious excitement.

"Thanks, dude," I answered, a bit surprised, not expecting that kind of reaction.

"Already came prepared to sing?" I teased, noticing he was carrying a guitar case on his back.

"I came straight from practice," he explained, probably not realizing I was only joking.

I just nodded and went back to the couch with everyone, now with Alex joining in, already chatting with Paige.