How coincidental.

Catherine shook her head. "I was reading, I wasn't paying attention," she said.

Alexiel overheard the conversation and just cried harder. Catherine really tried too hard sometimes.

She really wanted to leave this place, but she couldn't. She had no where else to go, and she wasn't going to go to the streets. Even if she could survive there, it wasn't going to happen until worse came to worse.

All her life she had taken abuse. Just a little bit more wouldn't do any harm... right?

So that was what had been different about her. Catherine nodded slowly, looking back at the closed bedroom door. The girl was just too young to understand this kind of thing. Looking back to Jira with a quizzical expression, she asked, "Why would she get upset over that?"

Alexiel wasn't all that surprised that Catherine didn't understand. She was seven; how could she? She just continued crying, not going to calm herself anytime soon. She hated crying; it made her so absolutely feel weak and helpless.

Why do you put up with this... she thought to herself.

Catherine frowned. "But I want to understand now," she said. "Are you sure I have to wait until I'm older?"

Ha, it didn't surprise her AT ALL that he didn't care. If he cared he wouldn't have said anything in the beginning. Men were such pigs.

The smell of smoke made Alexiel look up. That idiot was smoking, wasn't he? She wiped furiously at her eyes and at her nose, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She felt worthless and absolutely hated herself right now, but if it was for the good of the children, she would.

Standing up and stomping out of the room, she stared at Jira, eyes flaming with absolute rage. "What did I tell you about smoking," she demanded, really ticked off.

Catherine quickly ran into the bedroom, getting frightened.

Alexiel narrowed her eyes dangerously. As soon as this was over, she was going to either try to somehow lose a few pounds or just sulk around again. "Just stop smoking, and don't let me see it again. The last thing anyone in this household needs is for YOUR lungs to go out or for their own to stop working."