Blood Is Thicker...
By
Christine
Part Two
Chapter 18
Fouchon nearly barreled Pik over has he launched his way outside toward the cottage.
"What's gotten into you?" Pik asked him.
Fouchon stopped and ran his hands through his hair and barely contained a roar, "I think I'd better have you with me for this." So Pik followed him, growing alarmed as he realized their destination.
Fouchon opened the unlocked cottage door and walked straight in, Pik at his heels. Madeleine gaped when she saw them. She stood and covered herself with a throw from the couch, embarrassed that her father had seen her in such a state of dishabille.
"What are you doing here?!"
"Expecting someone else?" He advanced at her quickly, a snarl on his face. "You little whore!" He raised his fist and swung the back of it forcefully toward her face. In an instant Pik was between the two of them and absorbed the blow with his own arm. He looked Fouchon dead in the eye as he continued to hold back the swing.
"Don't do it. Remember, she's your daughter." Pik had no idea what was going on, and apparently neither did Madeleine. He thought it wise to keep his position between the two of them should he try to strike her again.
"Papa, what is it?"
He flipped over the coffee table.
"After all I've done for you, how could you do this to me?!" Fouchon raged around the living room, knocking things over, throwing whatever he could get his hands on at whatever would make the most noise.
"Please, what is happening!" she screamed, running behind Pik and grabbing onto his shoulders, clinging to him. She peeked over at her father.
"'What is happening?!, What is happening?!'" he mocked. "Congratulations," he said with bitter sarcasm. "Your little fainting spell this morning…those tests at the hospital…Dr. Morton tells me you've gotten yourself knocked-up!" He picked an end table up over his head and threw it through the living room window with a growl.
Pik suddenly lost all his color and would have fallen over and taken Madeleine with him if he hadn't been able to lean some of their weight against the wall. He fought to focus on the present danger: Fouchon
"No," she barely croaked out.
"Oh, yes!" Fouchon answered her. "Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is going to be for me?! I just gave you your coming out party, introducing you to this society. We could've stayed here forever if I'd wanted to." He moved toward her, but Pik held a hand up to warn him off.
Fouchon continued to rave, "But you get yourself pregnant by God-knows-who. Do you know what this will do to me?! To my reputation?! Why?!" He held his palms up at his sides and shouted the last question to the sky.
He closed his eyes and calmed a bit. He reached out and grasped one of Pik's shoulders. "Pik, Pik. Come here." Pik left Madeleine and walked across the room with Fouchon. She leaned against the wall, watching them, afraid to move, afraid something would set him off again.
"Pik, it's a good thing you were here right now. I don't want to hurt her."
"Well, you nearly did. You've got to calm down." Pik had regained himself, Madeleine's pregnancy could be dealt with later. Now, however, the most important thing was to get both of them safely away from Fouchon. "This isn't the end of the world."
"Just let me handle this, Pik…Help her, help her get whatever she wants from here and bring it up to the main house." He advanced toward her again but Pik held him back.
"Did you hear me, Madeleine?" Fouchon said to her, barely keeping his rage under control. "Get your things and come to the house. You'll be staying there until further notice."
She meekly nodded, glancing back and forth from her father to Pik with frightened eyes.
Fouchon broke free from Pik's grip, grabbed the telephone off the wall Madeleine was leaning against, and ripped the cord out of the wall. She flinched from the flying plaster. "And don't try to call him." He looked to Pik, who nodded. "You're not going to see him again, whoever he is. And you had better pray I never find out, because if I do, I'll be having his guts with my coffee and croissant."
He leaned his face into hers, snarling. "I am so disappointed in you." She cringed at his words.
Pik had closed the distance between them again and pulled Fouchon's arm. "I've got it under control now."
Fouchon closed his lips tightly and nodded to Pik, then clapped his hand on Pik's shoulder in a gesture of approval before he waded his way through the debris on the floor and stalked out the door.
Pik watched him follow the path up to the main house and turned to face Madeleine.
"Is this true?" she asked him, still clinging to he wall.
"I suppose it must be. I didn't know until the same moment you did."
"But, but we always…" she stammered.
"No, love, not always. Not those first few times"
She tried to swallow, her throat dry. "I'm sorry."
He walked slowly to her and gently rested his hand on her stomach. "Maddie," he began, "we simply cannot talk about this baby right now. Your father isn't stupid, the minute he calms down, he's going to figure this out…the way you ran to me, the way I protected you, and all the other little times he's caught us alone." He looked sternly in her face.
"We have to leave…now," he said, pulling her out the door, barely giving her time to grab a pair of sneakers from the floor, and led her along the back dirt driveway. When she paused after only a few steps to slip the sneakers onto her bare feet, Pik realized she had on nothing but her thin, short nightgown. When she stood, he removed his coat and slipped it onto her. "I'm sorry," he said. "I wasn't paying attention. Your clothes are in the Jeep, you can change when we get there."
She squared her shoulders and nodded. He had said there would be no turning back, hadn't he?
Taking her hand, he led them along the wooded road.
The End of Part II
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