Sienna could see the spark of confrontation in her mother-in-law’s eyes and she did not intend to put it out. She also had zero plans of engaging the woman in a conversation of any kind.
But alas, her mother-in-law pounced!
"Sienna." Lady Cadelaria called the na with grit, as if she was chewing sand. There was no sweetness or niceness to it.
"Oh no," Sienna muttered, "I know that tone."
Lady Cadelaria’s eyes glead like polished amber. "Sienna," she repeated the na, rolling it over her tongue as if it were a sour fruit. "We must talk about how you are being a failure as a mother."
Sienna stiffened. "Excuse ?"
"Ali is my granddaughter and I love her, possibly even more than you. But, you spent years playing the role of the absentee mother. Now, you are back and only dote on that clingy little girl." She pointed a claw-tipped finger towards the flower bed where five-year-old was burying petals in the soil, humming to herself. "I have never seen you carrying Eli. Ali walks around like she owns your body. anwhile, my grandson goes neglected. Do you even realize that he is a prince of fox blood? How can you treat him like a stray pup?"
Sienna’s jaw dropped. "Neglected? I gave him lemonade yesterday."
Soone laughed.
"And you think one glass of lemonade makes you a good mother?" Lady Cadelaria retorted.
"Well, it makes better than a grandmother that has spoiled him rotten." She replied.
Elias stepped between the won. "Mother, Sienna, perhaps we should___"
"Shut up!" both won barked in perfect unison. He wilted back into his chair, ears drooping slightly.
Sienna folded her arms. "Listen, Lady Drama. I moved all the way from your estate to escape your constant bullying and ddling in my life. That last person I want on my property is you. Do not forget that I can just as easily take Eli away from you like I did Ali. Maybe, he will even learn to be a good person away from you."
Lady Cadelaria gasped theatrically, clutching her new pearls. "You are ungrateful! I raised that boy when you couldn’t. I raised him to be strong, commanding and regal. Now you want to take him and teach him to cling to your skirts like Ali!"
Sienna’s voice rose. "Strong? He’s rude! He talks to as if I am his servant. And you--yes, you--bow to all his tantrums, crown him like the king of the universe and let him order everyone around as if they are chess pieces in his hands! I bla you, Elias and myself even for what he is now. But mostly you."
Elias tried again, "If I may--"
"Shut up!" they chorused again, louder this ti.
Sienna pressed on, voice shaking with fury. "I want my son to change. To learn respect. The stop acting like a miniature tyrant. Yesterday, he spoke to with so politeness. Today, you are back and you are feeding his ego like its a starving beast so he is back to his old ways."
Lady Cadelaria’s eyes narrowed. "You dare accuse ?"
"Yes!" Sienna shouted. "I dare. I moved away from you, to this far place so that and my children could find a place to breathe. To give them a chance to grow up without your claws in their fur. And yet, here you are, barging in, accusing of favoritism!"
From the garden, little Ali called out, clutching her squeaky plush. "Mama, I cleaned up all the blossoms."
Sienna softened instantly. "Yes, sweetheart. Thank you very much for doing a wonderful job." It didn’t matter that there were more petals on the ground than when she started, what mattered was how much effort she had put in and her desire to help.
Eli, anwhile, showed up on the shoulders of a guard. "Grandma," he yelled, "I want to eat roasted ribs. Now. Tell mama to make them."
Sienna’s eyes bulged. "See? Exhibit A!"
Elias raised his voice, "Elijah, what did I tell you about being polite to your mother?"
Eli looked at Lady Cadelaria, tears brimming in his eyes. As expected, whenever the older woman was around, she rushed to his defense. She swept Eli into her arms. "My precious prince! Of course you shall have ribs."
Sienna threw her hands up. "Spoiled! Spoiled to the bone. And I am not cooking him any ribs unless I take them from your chest Cadelaria." She jutted her finger at her mother-in-law. "Put him down. Right now. This very second. Before, I hit you both with my pan."
"Woah!" Elias tried to jump between them one last ti. "Ladies, perhaps..."
"Shut up!" They roared, shaking the heavens.
Sienna advanced, finger wagging. "Cadelaria, I am the mother here. Not you. If you want to be a proper mother to Eli you have to respect my decisions and how I choose to raise him. If you cannot respect that, then kindly match your regal tail back to your estate and and leave to my peace."
She grabbed Eli by the waist and pulled.
Lady Cadelaria fought back, holding on to the boy with all her might.
"Are you both insane?" Elias bellowed.
Out of the blue, Mrs. Miller ca running with a pan, and she almost hit Lady Cadelaria over the head. Elias leaped and caught it just before it ca down with a deliberately vengeful force.
Lady Cadelaria gasped. Sienna took advantage of the mont of weakness to extract Eli from her.
At last, Sienna stood tall, chest heaving. "This property is mine. The children are mine. I will not let you train this boy to be a little monster."
Lady Cadelaria’s teeth sharpened as she hissed, looking between Sienna and Mrs. Miller. "You are both insane. Now I can see why you are an unfit mother Sienna, it is because you were raised by one."
"Yeah well, at least my daughter has emotions unlike your robot son." Mrs. Miller shouted back.
"Oh snap!" Shalin squealed.
Soone laughed and howled. It was Geo.
Elias didn’t even respond, he had been called worse for his temperant. And unlike what most people thought, it was not his parents that trained him to be like this, it was a personal choice.
The colder he was, the more others did not bother him. The more they feared and respected him. And he liked it like that. That persona had been well maintained until Sienna’s changes to her personality. Now, it was chaos everywhere.
Still heaving, Sienna raised her voice, "Eli, Ali, co and say goodbye to grandma. You will not be seeing her for one month."
The gasps in the computed could be heard even in the bee hive!
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