Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Devil With A Blue Dress On (Part Five of the Family Sagas) ❯ Part Six ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I don't own them, except for the kids!

Devil With A Blue Dress On, Part 6

Hilde sighed and started the coffee. She didn't hear any movement from the family room, where Duo was sleeping. She leaned her elbows on the counter and stared out the kitchen window. She heard movement and turned around to see Duo, standing there with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. His shirt was wrinkled and half unbuttoned. She said nothing and turned away from him again.

Duo watched her. He had seen the dark circles under her eyes and they also looked suspiciously red rimmed, like she had been crying. She was wearing a long white nightgown that went down to her ankles. It was sleeveless. He took a deep breath and went over to her. He placed his hands lightly on her shoulders. He felt her stiffen under his touch. "Babe, would you look at me?" he asked gently.

She turned around to look at him. She didn't meet his eyes though. She crossed her arms in front of her and waited.

He hesitated for a moment because she was avoiding his eyes. Her arms were crossed in front of her and reading her body language he took a step back, but his hands didn't leave her shoulders. "I'm not going to ask you if you're still mad at me, because I know you still are. All I want you to do is listen to what I have to say. Ok?"

Hilde looked at him for a moment. She nodded her head.

Duo took a deep breath. "What I said to you last night, I had absolutely no right to say. It was crude and hurtful. You didn't deserve it. And I wholeheartedly deserved the slap you landed on me. You had every right to do what you did," he said slowly, watching for any reaction from her. She gave none. "And I will admit that you were right. I was out of control. I was acting maniacal over something I had no control over. And as much as I will hate to admit it, you were right. I'm afraid of losing control of Randy. But I can't help it, she's my daughter, and no matter what, she will always be my little girl, no matter how old she is. But I also can't stop her from growing up. And I can't exactly stop her from dating guys, but I also didn't want her to end up with someone that's like what I once was. I don't want her make the mistake of loving someone that only wants her in bed. And I didn't want her to end up like you before we were married."

She raised her brows. She would admit that he was doing a hell of a job of groveling. "Is that all?" she asked.

He sighed. He got down on his knees in front of her. "I wished I could take back those words and I haven't quite forgiven myself for even saying them. But can you forgive me for being a total and complete asshole?" he asked raising his eyes to hers.

"Just an asshole?" Hilde asked staring down at him.

"All right. A complete maniacal asshole, who sure as hell doesn't deserve a woman like you. Hell, some times I ask myself why you love me so much because I don't know what I did in the first place to earn your love and trust when you could have done so much better then me. And I was not much better then Miles. I was a skirt chaser, but you still loved me," Duo said as glanced away from her. "And I will do anything to make up for what I said to earn my place back in our bed and in your good graces. Please, baby, I love you," he said as he looked back imploringly into her eyes.

She tilted her head to one side and regarded him. She knew he was sincere or else he wouldn't be down on his knees. He always threw in "I love you," for good measure. She knelt down in front of him, so her eyes were level with his. "What you said was extremely hurtful and you were lucky I didn't throw you out of the house for it. But I know how irrational you get when you lose your temper. And your apology was sincere and I believe you wholeheartedly that you're sorry. And once and only once, I will go easy and forgive you. But if you ever say something like that to me again," she said softly, leaning close, "I will throw you out of the house, got that mister."

Duo nodded emphatically. "Yes, babe."

"Oh and what I said last night still stands, until you apologize to our daughter, you will be sleeping on the couch," Hilde said as she stood.

"Whatever you say," he replied as with a slight grin on his lips, he hooked his arms behind her legs and pulled her down onto his lap. "Do I get to kiss you, or is that off limits too until I apologize to Randy?" he asked, throwing in his puppy dogface for good measure.

Hilde's lips quirked into a slight smile. "You were always a smooth talker, Duo Maxwell. But I suppose a kiss is allowed. And only a kiss," she said levelly.

"Sure, babe," Duo said as he leaned forward and kissed her lips lightly, but couldn't resist stealing another one.

She pulled away. "I said a kiss, not two," she said as she put her hands on her hips.

He grinned at her innocently. "But you're so tempting, it's hard to take just one."

Hilde sighed and rolled her eyes. "What in the world am I going to do with you?"

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Randy sat on the edge of her bed. Her eyes felt itchy and raw from crying and her palms and her lips were sore. She glanced down at her hands. Chris had come in her room earlier this morning and had carefully cleaned and wrapped her hands in bandages. She had cried against him, just like she had cried against Jonathon when he came into her room sometime later. She had rarely let her brothers see her cry. With her, it was a pride thing. She would even try to hide her tears from her parents, but they seemed to understand. Her father did. She was blessed/cursed with the same stubborn pride as he was. But last night. Last night was something that she never wanted to remember. "Miles. Poor Miles. What am I going to do without him? Why did I fall for him? Dad would have approved of his cousins Damien and Vaughn. Why not him? Hell, he would even approve of Donavon, and he's Miles's younger brother." There was a knock at her door. "Come in," she said hoarsely. Her voice almost gone from endless crying.

"Hey, little devil," David, said as he came in. He looked at his baby sister. Her silky hair was in a wild tangle and her face was all puffy. Her eyes were bloodshot and dark circles marred her smooth pale skin. He glanced down at her hands, wrapped in white. That had only happened once before, when she broke her leg playing basketball. She had kept her pain inside, and it had manifested by her digging her nails into her palms. He sat down beside her, putting his arm around her and pulling her close, so her cheek was pressed against his chest. "You feeling any better?" he asked gently.

She glanced up at him. "A little," she replied faintly as she pressed her cheek against the comforting warmth of her brother's tee shirt. She closed her eyes again. "Today's Sunday, isn't it?"

"Yup, which means Church. And a tie for me," he replied, grimacing at the thought of a tie. "You should stay home. Mom will understand. I'm sure," he said his jaw tightening, "dad will understand too."

Randy could hear the tone of anger in her brother's voice when he mentioned her father. All three of her brothers were almost as protective of her as their dad was. But when someone hurt her in any way, they would make sure there would be hell to pay. And now, it was directed at their dad. "No. I'll go to Church. I'm ok to go," she said, her pride coming to the surface.

"Are you sure?" David asked, hearing the slight edge to her voice. "Because it will be ok if you don't."

"I'm sure. I'm going," she answered, her jaw set and determination flared in her cobalt eyes.

"Can't stop you from anything, can we?" Chris drawled with a slight grin as he poked his head in the door.

"Not usually," Randy replied, flashing him a wavering smile.

"Nah, too much like the rest of us," Jonathon said as he pushed Chris into the room. "Too mule headed."

"How you feeling, brat?" Chris asked as he knelt down in front of her.

"Fine as one can be," she replied as she tugged on his braid playfully.

"That's a girl," Jonathon chuckled as he rumpled her hair and sat down next to her.

"How about something to eat? Are you hungry?" Chris asked as he searched her eyes.

Randy shook her head. "No, not really."

"You should eat something," Chris countered, noting the set of her jaw.

"I'm not really hungry, Chris," she replied again, narrowing her eyes the tiniest bit.

Chris sighed. "I won't take no for an answer. You'll eat something even if I have to sit here and make you."

Jonathon and David chuckled at that. Randy shot him a dirty look.

"Now that's a girl," Chris laughed as he saw the fire come back into her eyes. He stood. "So you want to eat downstairs?"

She shook her head. "No, I just…I don't want to look at dad yet," she sighed as she twisted a ring around her index finger on her left hand.

"Understandable," Jonathon quipped as he rubbed her shoulder. He knew she hadn't been the only one crying last night. When he had left her room, he had heard his mother crying too. He had stood outside her door, unsure of what to do. Usually when his dad and his mom fought, and she would get all upset, it was best to leave her alone. But last night had been a little different. The words that she had snapped back at his dad, the ones that he had said to her, rang in his ears. And she had punished his dad by kicking him out of the bedroom. But he was sure that his dad would be on his hands and knees groveling as soon as his temper came back down. "Come on, the rest of us have to eat breakfast and get ready to go to Church," he said as he stood. "And wear a tie," he said, making a face.

Randy quirked a smile at her brother. "You make it sound so evil," she said with a slight smirk.

"They are," Chris said, shaking his head. He glanced back her hands. When he had come in that morning, she had been sprawled across the bed, with her hands outstretched over the floor. They had dried blood on them for she hadn't bothered to take care of them. So he had cleaned them and wrapped them for her. And he had gently dabbed her lips with a cloth, to clean the bite mark on her lower lip. Then he had held her and she had cried in dry racking sobs, unable to produce anymore tears. He had stayed until she fell asleep again. He had heard his mother crying too, but he had left it alone. He felt a sharp stab of anger for what his dad had said to her. "Come on, let's go eat," he said to his brothers. He pressed a kiss on top of Randy's hair. "I'll bring something up for you, all right," he said as he opened the door.

"Right," Randy said as she watched her brother's leave the room. She curled up on her side once the door was closed. She let the last few tears that she had hid from her brothers fall. "Oh Miles."

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The three boys went down the backstairs to the kitchen. They could see their dad and their mom, sitting on the floor. Their dad was holding her tight, his face against her neck.

"Morning, mom," Chris said as he opened the pantry. He cast a narrowed look at his dad and smiled for his mom.

"Morning dear," Hilde said as she struggled to get out of Duo's tight grasp. She had seen the glare her son had passed towards his father. All her son's had always been partial to her, especially when her and Duo would fight. Which wasn't very often, but they always took her side in any case. "What do you want for breakfast?" she asked as she wiped her hands on her nightgown.

"That's all right, mom, we can find something for ourselves to eat this morning," said Jonathon as ha snagged the last bagel away from David.

"Are you sure?" Hilde asked as she glanced over at him.

"We're sure," David replied as he glared at Jonathon for taking the last bagel. He pulled out a box of cereal instead.

Duo could see the looks his sons were passing his way. They were upset with him. He stood and leaned against the counter. He noticed the absence of Randy. "Where's your sister?" he asked softly. He raised his eyes to look at them.

Jonathon, Chris, and David glanced at each other before Chris spoke. "She's upstairs. She didn't want to come down yet," he replied archly as he raised a brow at his father.

"I see," Duo said as he crossed his arms.

"She doesn't have to come to Church today," Hilde said as she bustled around the kitchen, fixing breakfast for her and Duo.

"She said she was coming," David replied as he sat down at the table. "Randy said she would be ok to do so."

Duo had to let a slight smile cross his lips. His daughter had backbone. She never let anything get in her way. So prideful. So much spirit and determination just like Hilde. He glanced over at his wife. She was making bacon and eggs for herself and him. Breakfast was relatively quiet for once. He kept on glancing over at Randy's empty chair. His boys kept on sending him looks. And Hilde was silent as she ate, looking at the other half of the paper. "I know the three of you are mad at me," he stated as he leaned back in his chair.

The other three men at the table stopped their eating and glanced at their dad.

"I know what you heard what I said to your mother too. And I did apologize," Duo said as he looked into the faces of each of his sons.

"More like groveled," Hilde said cheekily as she looked over the top of the paper.

"All right, groveled. And I'm very sorry for upsetting her and your sister last night. So you can stop sending me those looks like you want to throw me out to the sharks," Duo said with a wry grin.

Chris, Jonathon, and David looked at each other and back at him. "We'll think about it," Chris said as he pushed away from the table. He put his cereal bowl in the dishwasher. He went to the pantry and pulled out the cereal that Randy preferred. He quickly made the breakfast and set it on a tray.

"Is that for Randy?" Hilde asked as she watched him.

"Yeah. I'm making her eat it against her will too," Chris replied with a grin. He went up the stairs.

Duo looked after him. "She didn't eat anything last night or yesterday afternoon did she?"

"No, that's why it's good that Chris is making her eat," Hilde said as she folded the paper and set it down. "All right, you two get ready for Church. And I don't want to see either of you missing a tie, got that?" she asked as she looked at her sons.

"We know," David and Jonathon replied a little sullenly as they cleaned up after themselves and headed back upstairs.

"And that means you too, mister," Hilde said as she leveled a look at Duo.

"I know, I know," Duo sighed. "Damn tie. I'd do anything to make you happy," he muttered as he gazed back at her.

"That's good to hear," Hilde said sweetly as she got up out of her chair. She pressed a kiss on his cheek. "Now, hurry up, I don't want you hogging the shower," she said as she pushed him lightly with her hands.

"Yeah, yeah," Duo said as he got up and handed her his plate. He watched as she leaned over and put the plates in the dishwasher and not being able to resist, landed a playful swat on her backside before he went whistling up the stairs, grinning ear to ear as his wife sent him an indignant expression.

"Men," Hilde said with exasperation as she cleaned up the rest of breakfast and went upstairs to get ready.

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Randy sighed as she placed the tray back on her bedside table. She hadn't needed Chris to make her eat. She made herself eat. And now she carefully brushed out the knots in her midnight hair until it hung in a smooth cascade down to the middle of her back. She observed her reflection in her bathroom mirror. Her face was pale beneath her light tan and she had almost used an entire tube of concealer to hide the dark circles under her eyes. She fingered the gold cross around her neck as she turned and looked at herself in the full-length mirror on the back of the door. She sighed, wincing a little since she had scraped off any scabs off her lips. She covered the bruise marks with lipstick. She picked up her small handbag and left her room, taking her tray with her and putting it back in the kitchen. She leaned against the deck doors in the family room and silently stared out of the windows.

Duo came back downstairs first. He walked through the kitchen and stopped when he saw Randy sitting in the family room. He watched her silently, her slim form draped in an all black dress that went down to her ankles. Her hair was left hanging down her back. She almost looked like death itself when she turned around. He watched as her eyes darkened for a moment and her bandaged hands clench and then forcibly relax. He didn't say anything, just watched her as she gave him her back again, her hair swinging with her.

She closed her eyes as she turned around again to look out. She glanced down at her hands, trying to keep them from forming into fists. She could still feel her dad's presence in the room. She took a deep breath and put her palms flat on the smooth glass. She could hear the sounds of her brothers coming down the stairs and her mother, calling them to make sure they had their ties. She smiled ruefully.

Chris walked towards the family room and stopped, only to have Jonathon and David plow into his back. "Why don't you two watch where you're going?" he hissed over his shoulder.

"Then don't stop in the middle of the room, baka!" Jonathon hissed back as he straightened his blue green tie.

"Why did you stop?" David asked as he moved from behind Chris. He saw his dad leaning against the wall, watching Randy look out the deck windows, her hands flat on the glass. "Oh."

Duo heard his sons behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at them, is your mom ready?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm ready," Hilde, replied as she came down the steps wearing a simple silk sheath of royal blue. The strand of pearls that Duo had given her for her eighteenth birthday was around her neck. Her heeled sandals clicked on the kitchen floor as she went over to Duo. "Are you ready?" She saw him nod. She saw Randy standing with her back to them. "Are you ready to go, darling?" she asked gently.

"Yes mom," Randy said softly as she turned and walked past them. Her dress parted the middle to her knees. Every time she took a step, one could see her slender legs. Her sandals crisscrossed around her ankles and made whispering sounds as they walked across the kitchen tile.

The boys cast a look at their dad before following her out to the garage.

Hilde looked after her daughter. She was worried. Her daughter had looked absolutely miserable. She had noted the bandages on her hands, obviously covering the wounds that were incurred last night. She felt Duo slip his hand into hers and squeeze reassuringly. She glanced up at him.

"Don't worry, babe, our little devil won't break down in front of us. She's way too strong," Duo said as he looked into Hilde's worried features. He took his keys off the hook next to the door and they followed the kids out to the Suburban in the garage.

Randy waited as her dad unlocked the doors before she slid into the back seat. Her eyes lowered to her lap. She rose her eyes to the front seat where her dad was helping her mom in. "Miles probably sat there last night, knowing that my dad's wrath would come crashing down on his head." She didn't realize her hands had balled into fists again until she felt someone's hands gently prying her hands apart. She looked up into Chris's eyes and saw him shake his head. "I know," she whispered as she felt him slide his hand into hers, so she wouldn't fist it.

Chris looked at his sister. She was silent since she had come downstairs. He felt eyes on him and saw that their dad was looking at him in the review mirror with his brow raised with concern. He softened his expression a little towards his dad and shook his head slightly.

Duo nodded as he pulled out of the garage. He could see Randy staring out the window. His heart ached for her because she was like this because it was him who hurt her so badly.

Randy could feel her dad's eyes on her. She lowered her eyes to her lap again; noticing how some blood had soaked through the gauze. She frowned a little. She looked up and saw her dad's eyes on her as he drove to the Church. Her eyes skittered away and returned to the peaceful scenery outside the window as they drove into the small city for Church. "Miles, please be ok."

Author's Note: Here's the next part, so what did you think? Next part will be from the Bartons home that same morning. So stay tuned for more coming soon!