Edie immediately rushed over to him. "Cecil! Are you okay?" she asked with a concerned look on her face. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Cecil wouldn’t let go of the woman’s gown. With tears still flowing down his cheeks, he sobbed, "This woman was saying mean things about you. You need to tell Stuart."

The lady barely spoke English and couldn’t understand what Cecil was saying. She knew by the expression on his face, he was upset. She grabbed the bottom of her gown and tried to pull it away from him. This only made him hang onto it even tighter. "Listen here, you little brat! Let go of my dress," she said, her voice rising with each word. The woman suddenly becomes very anxious. She wriggled furiously out of his grasp and stepped back from him, eyes shining with anger. Then she grabbed his hand and pushed him to the floor. Edie had Cecil in her arms, and she also feels down.

Edie helped Cecil up, he looked at her dress and shouted, "Look what she did! There’s icing all over your dress."

Edie looked around, noticing a crowd of people circling around her, staring open mouthed in what she assumed was a shock. She felt her face beginning to flush with embarrassment and hoped no one noticed. "Are you hurt?" she asked, turning to look at Cecil.

Everyone looked around at one another with disapproving frowns and expressions of disgust, whispering quietly to one another. One lady sneered, rolled her eyes, and said, "I don’t recognize her. Does she even belong here?"

Edie wanted to cry, but she wouldn’t do it here in front of all these people. She wanted to leave, but the lady wouldn’t allow it. "Get out of my way, please," Edie said as her voice trembled slightly. She gasped and tried pushing her way through the crowd. "Leave me alone." Suddenly she caught a glimpse of a familiar body up ahead. "Brittany?" she called out.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" Brittany said as she pushed her way through. She clenched her fists in anger. "Who did this?" she asked Cecil.

Cecil raised his hand and pointed to the lady. "Her! She’s a bad woman." He gnashed his teeth as he went on. "She was saying terrible things about Edie. Then she pushed Edie and me."

Brittany looked at the woman angrily and said, "I apologize ahead of time for what I’m going to do. I can assure you that I’m not normally like this." She reached back her hand and slapped the woman across her face as hard as she could.

For a few seconds, it looked like she might refute Brittany. Shaking her head, she took several steps back, and tears filled her eyes. "I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you," she said.

Brittany moved closer to her, raising her hand to strike her again. "Stop! We’re okay. She didn’t hurt us," Edie said, grabbing Brittany’s wrist.

"You are now a Yates, and as part of the Yates family, we fight back. I don’t expect you to do anything, and I will do it for you. I’m going to talk to her now," Edie could hear Brittany’s voice getting angrier and angrier. Then she pulled her arm away from Edie and went towards the woman.

The people watched Brittany pass with frightened eyes, whispering among themselves. No one had dared to so much as to say a word to her. She grabbed the back of the woman’s dress, swung her around, so she was facing her and slapped her hard again in the face. "When you gossip behind people’s back, you might want to find out who you’re talking about first. Her name is Edie Yates. You need to treat her with respect. Don’t you ever say another word about her or I will show no mercy." Her eyes were fiercely cold and angry. Her face twisted into a rage. "Get out of here! You ruthless bitch," she yelled at her.

Then Brittany let go of her, and the woman fell to the ground. She looked up at the crowd with pleading eyes. "Help me!" But everyone lowered their heads, remaining silent.

Brittany went to find Edie, she took her by the hand and said, "Let’s go. Don’t bother wasting your time here. The people here are extremely obnoxious and rude."

Edie lifted her face slowly, uncertainty shining in her beautiful eyes. "But..the party isn’t over."

"Why do you care? Do you realize what’s going to happen when Stuart finds out?" Then without waiting for Edie to respond, Brittany took her hand and left.

Stuart kept his eye on Edie the whole night. He was upstairs, watching the whole thing. "Who dares to put their filthy hands on my wife? You will pay dearly for this!" he muttered furiously under his breath.

Brittany walked with Edie and Cecil, making sure they got safely in the car. "Goodnight! Take care of her little man," she said while closing the door.

Cecil reached out and squeezed Edie’s hand. He looked at her, face dirty, eyes red-rimmed. "It’s okay if you cry," he said, smiling weakly.

Edie wiped a tear from his eye. "Stop worrying about me. You helped me tonight." She smiled and hugged him close. "Do you realize how brave you were? When we get home, I’m going to make you something to eat."

Cecil was full of excitement and clapped his hands. "Really?" He looked at her curiously. "I thought you couldn’t cook?"

Edie burst into laughter. "I can’t! But we have a microwave."

As soon as they got home, Cecil waited at the table, tapping his fingers. Edie was in the kitchen bustling about trying to get his food ready. She couldn’t get the images of the events that went on tonight out of her head. "How can people be so hateful," she said. She ran her fingers across her eye, wiping a tear she could not stop from falling, hoping Cecil hadn’t seen it. She was on the verge of bursting into torrents of tears. "If I were home, I would’ve fought back." Taking a deep breath, she took the food to Cecil.

"That was yummy!" Cecil said as he took his last bite.

Edie smiled, nodding her head. "Time for a bath, then bedtime."

As Edie was tucking him in, Mr. Bates came to the door. "Mr. Yates called and said he wouldn’t be home until later this evening."

"Thank you, Mr. Bates," Edie replied. "I have no idea how long Stuart will be. Maybe I’ll sleep with you until he gets home." Cecil nodded his head, excitedly. It wasn’t long, and the two of them drifted off to sleep.

Almost instantly, she fell into a deep sleep and began to dream. Someone embraced her tight against his chest, kissing her temple. His lips gently touched her cheek. She can feel his heart beating fast, and hers is beating faster. "Stuart?" she mumbled. Her eyelashes fluttered open. "You’re home!" She threw her arms around his chest and hugged him.

Stuart looked at her with an expression of intense love and yearning. "I didn’t mean to wake you up," he said softly.

He lowered his body and picked her up. "What are you doing?" Edie asked, sounding confused.

"Cecil is sleeping. I’ve missed you and want you to sleep with me," Stuart spoke in a quick, passionate tone. To his surprise, she didn’t argue with him. She smiled and let him carry her to their bedroom. "Mr. Bates told me you came back early. Did you not enjoy yourself?" he asked as he gently put her on the bed.