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oh norman {drabble #73}
The pop of a champagne was heard behind her, Della was standing in the middle of the bar, they had decked it out to a sea of red and white and pictures of Norman. Della was launching her pet brand, Oh Norman, something she had started planning before Norm died but after he died it became his namesake. The dog was her soul dog, she adopted him from an LA shelter and his name then was Storm because he was tied outside in a thunderstorm outside the shelter, he became Norman because when Della met him he felt like an old soul, she had him through some of the hardest years in her life, he was there when she came home from filming Katie, she had him when she found out about the twins, he was there through it all. Fourteen years of her life and his.
“Del!” The glass appeared over her shoulder, “You get to have one glass, you can’t be hungover tomorrow.” That mother tone, Della wanted to roll her eyes but then that had always been Poppy James
.
“You aren’t my mother; my mother is over there.” Della took the second to find Ash Valentine and she pointed. “Talking to your former husband.” Oz Quinn was laughing at something, he must have felt them looking at him, he turned and caught them looking and he turned away.
“I really wish you would forget that it was a dumb idea, we both knew that.” Della waited, Poppy was shaking her head, “But I got the triplets, who by the way want to see Uncle Nick and Aunt B very soon.”
Della laughed, she absolutely loved her goddaughters, since 2021, she had watched Poppy become the mom of five, a mother-in-law and a grandmother, she had also watched her, and Oz go from in love to hate. That was f***ing awkward given how he was her father’s best friend. Asher Valentine was her father, that was news she was still coming to terms with. Then Ash was her mom, that was something she needed to wrap her head around.
Spend thirty something years thinking Evelyn Drews was your mother, it will give everyone trust issues. Not that she didn’t trust Ash and Asher, they had been her safe place growing up, they were who she ran too when Eveyln got rough with her. She was glad she had them but all the years she thought her mother hated her to find out her parents were right there; it was going to take time. The only thing she didn’t need to take time with was Evelyn’s sudden death. It looked like an arm robbery gone wrong. The world mourned the former actress, Della and most of the people in this room did not.
“Aunt B” Parker walked into the room, holding his daughter, “Your office is going to look like a tornado touched down, I’ll stop in tomorrow and fix it.” He leaned in and kissed his mother’s cheek and then hers, “I swear it won’t stain.” Poppy smirked, “The threesome are all asleep, Zep is with Uncle Lee and Uncle Nick took the twins home, Vi is doing homework.”
“Look at that Del, he went from sixteen to adult.” Poppy said as she took her granddaughter from her oldest, “When the hell did that happen?”
“When you let him get married…. When he had se…” Parker slapped a hand over her mouth, as Della started to laugh. He had been married over a year now, and Presley was growing like a weed and a year younger than her aunts Elisabeth James, Asher Delten. and Eleanore Alexandera. The picture of all four of them at Parker and Abby’s wedding was one of Della’s favorite pictures Vivian Rose had taken.
“For the love of everything please don’t finish that sentence.” Abby said as she popped up over her other shoulder.
“Who had sex? Am I going to be a grandpa again?” Asher said as he stopped next to Parker, “Please tell me you are going to marry that boy this time. Ash! We have a wedding to pay for, finally!” He called over his shoulder to his wife who was hanging balloons still.
“They are already married; you need to just start calling him your son in law.” Oz slipped his arm over her shoulder, Parker’s hand still over her mouth stopped her from protesting her status of married or not. Oz took the glass from her hand and downed it. As he passed her a bottle of whiskey, “Here take a shot form the bottle and do not shoot me that look. You and I know what happened in Nashville, gets told by the daughter to the rest of us.”
Della pulled Parker’s hand away from her mouth and twisted off the top from the bottle in her hand. The amber liquor burned as she took a drink. These were her people, well some of them but no matter where she went, they were never going to let it go. She would never tell them if she was actually married to Nick Martin or not, that was their business.
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