Part of the Family

Chapter 15: Olivia's Slip Up

The killings were over but the curfew was still up. The police were still finding whoever or whatever killed those innocent people. The trio didn't report it. It would've been too hard to explain to the authorities. Olivia was stressed out due to her job and planning for the Christmas Eve charity ball.

"Shit", I forgot to buy gifts. She mumbled to herself. This added more stress. She needed to relax quickly before she exploded. She made an aggressive you turn and headed to a bar. As she arrived her hands began to shake; whispers rang through her ears.

"Damn", she mumbled again. Olivia grabbed her "eye drop" and poured a couple in each eye. Her eyes dilated. Olivia's hands were back to normal and the whispers were gone. Her body relaxed. You could say she was high. Olivia got out of the car and entered the bar. Not even 30 minutes in the bar and a man was already staring at Olivia. She knew what he wanted and she did as well. He approached her. They exchanged flirtatious remarks. Olivia gulped down the rest of her whiskey and guided the man to her car. Not even a second the man attacked her neck with rough kisses. She moaned while her eyes were half-lidded. Her problems were temporarily away until they finished. The man wanted Olivia's phone number. She rolled her eyes at him and kicked him out of her car. She didn't drink enough at the bar so she went home to her expensive alcohol. One glass was surely going to make her forget her problems and stress. Before she could relax and have a glass of her strong whiskey Olivia checked in all three of her children. They were all in a deep slumber or so she thought. Roman was having trouble sleeping due to past traumatic events. All he could think about was the way Peter looked when he died. His face ripped off exposing his facial bones and how bloody it was. That shit scarred him. He was thankful that his friend had lived but he will always remember the way his face looked when his face was mauled. Downstairs at the fireplace, Olivia was having her fourth glass. She was staring at the fire and how it would make the wood pop and crackle. The sound soothed her. After her glass, she had her fifth then sixth. At this point, she was super drunk. Olivia decided it was time for bed. She swayed a little but tried to walk straight. She checked up on her kids one last time. The door creaked a little making Roman annoyed.

"My sweet Roman", she whispered. He could smell the whiskey on her breath. He knew she had been drinking. "If only you knew...I've hidden many things from you but this- this particular secret could ruin the family. Our family. Catalina-" she stopped herself before spilling any more. "I love you Roman", she kissed his forehead and left the room. His eyes shot open. What is she hiding, thought Roman. And what does Catalina have to do with it? He wanted answers- he needed answers. Now this was keeping him up. The sun rose and Roman didn't remember when he slept. It was early in the morning. Roman decided to look for hi mom in the kitchen luckily she was there having black coffee.

"Roman you're up early darling."

"Couldn't sleep well", he responded as he poured cereal on his bowl. He wanted to talk to her about last night but she might suspect that he heard her.

"Last night was a stressful blur. Stressful because of the Christmas charity and blur because- between me and you, you're mother drank a little too much." She gave him a small chuckle. Olivia was having those "nice" days. She was unpredictable with her children. One minute she's nice and the next she's cold as ice.

"I hope you're ok now", Roman pretended to be concerned.

"Yes I am darling but sadly I do not remember much." He was relieved to hear that. Part of him wanted to believe she was lying and just talking gibberish but the other half believed her words last night. One of them was louder than the other. I'll just call off work and begin to prepare for the charity ball that's coming in two days. You and your sister have to buy your outfit for the event or I can call a tailor for you.

"We can go shopping today."

"Excellent. I'll be heading off then." She got up and kissed his cheek. He slightly stiffened but thankfully his mom didn't noticed. Once she left the house he ran to Olivia's room to hopefully find something. I hope she's lying, he thought. He searched everywhere in her room; so far nothing. He was about to leave when he remembered about the closet. He had a feeling the truth was behind that door. He inhaled and exhaled before opening it. Roman carefully searched in his mom's big closet. He thought he found nothing after searching for a while until he noticed a shoebox that looked like it didn't belong with the other shoeboxes. It was light green and the top cover was pastel blue. He carefully took it out. He opened it and saw the adoption papers from both of her real adopted family and Olivia's. Roman had all these mixture of emotions. A tear fell from his eye. He was relieved that she wasn't his sister and that he could actually love her without hiding it but apart of him felt bad for her and sadden that she was never his blood. This secret can destroy the family. Olivia lied about many things but this particular lie hurt him.

"So she was fucking telling the truth", he mumbled to himself. He didn't know if he should tell her or not. He finally decided it was best not to tell her. He put away the shoebox exactly where he found it and rushed to Catalina's room. He caught her walking out of her bathroom. He kissed her so passionately. Catalina noticed his sad expression.

"Are you ok Roman?" She caressed his cheek to comfort him.

"Uh yeah I am." In that moment Roman was falling in love with Catalina.