Chapter Text
Scene I:
The camera pans to the sanctuary of the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, where the Roy family is gathered for the funeral of their patriarch. It was heavy with that solemn, expensive silence—old money grief.
After Roman's breakdown during the attempt at Eulogy for his father, his sister Shiv, who is Logan's only daughter, decided to continue instead.
On the left side of the seated guests, Logan’s current wife, Marcia Roy, and his ex-wife, Caroline Collingwood, the mother of his children, notice something that caught their eyes.
Caroline was the first one to break the silence. She whispered to Marcia,
“Goodness. Either the canapés arrived early… or Logan has scheduled one last posthumous surprise.” Today has turned out significantly more fertile than expected.
Marcia doesn’t look away from Kerry. Her lips curve just slightly. Not quite a smile.
Sally Anne, who was sitting next to Caroline, noticed the shift in the energy. She looked from Caroline to Marcia and then to Kerry. And suddenly, realization hits her.
Kerry, noticing the eyes on her, placed a protective hand over her stomach.
— Two and a half years later—
Connor
Connor knows something is amiss the minute he receives the invitation from Caroline. His former stepmother was never too keen on the fact that her new husband came with a son only 9 years her junior.
But Barbados seems nice compared to the Slovenian winter and his two new nieces, Romy and Hazel, are adorable, so it might not be all bad. Willa said she would come with him, that part is also good, he loves Willa, nights at the Slovenian embassy are lonely without her. Connor should be used to being alone by now, yet sometimes, when the nights are cold, he’s 6 years old again, eating the damn Victoria Sponge.
Kendall
After losing the vote, Kendall just wanted to disappear and never come back to NYC or his “family”. So, as usual, he called his last resort to everything, Stewy, who later on arranged a safe house in Denmark solely for Kendall. For the next 2 and a half years, he has spent his time there, grieving, reflecting, meditating, yet still not able to fully forgive for what happened to him. He's better but still wearing some scars from the past.
Shiv
Rosemary Elizabette Roy Wambsgans just turned two, and Shiv has only just felt like a human again. The first 6 months of her daughter’s life were a haze of memories she wanted to remember, and pitying looks from her mother and, worse, Tom. Despite only having come to power two and a half years ago, Tom has aged twenty. His temper is shorter now, rivalling his toddler daughter.
Shiv and Tom are still married, at least on paper. Anyone with two eyes and an understanding of social customs can see that the love died long ago. All that’s left are two ghosts that share a daughter and a home.
Roman
Two and a half years ago, when Roman was having his sad martini at the bar, he reflected on how he had come face to face with his fear of being alone. He had lost the company of his father, siblings, and girlfriend—the only one who truly saw the real him behind the cocky. Well, can you blame Charlotte for leaving him after he decided to be a sidekick of a fascist? But life is funny, and it has its own way to fuck Roman up, but this time in a good way. A year ago, they met again. Reconciled. There was a little begging on his side, but small details. Cut to today, they have a little bundle of joy, Roman’s mini-me. Chubby cheeks and a menace true to her father’s genes. Hazel Roy. From losing everything to becoming a father, feeding late at night, changing diapers, and all, Roman has never imagined this character development in his life. Safe to say he doesn’t hate it. If anything it has given him another purpose, one crude joke at a time.
—-
Scene II:-
After receiving a call from their mother, Shiv and Roman, with their new family, arrive in Barbados, unaware of what's waiting for them.
Shiv and Tom were the first ones to arrive, or as they thought, because Connor and Willa were already at the entryway with their luggage. Caroline was “generous” enough to invite Connor via email.
“Shiv?”
Connor watched his baby sister get out of the car with a toddler who had the same curious eyes and strawberry blonde hair as she did. Romy. Shiv and Tom’s daughter is tall and very cute, almost an exact copy of Shiv at that age and a bundle of energy from being cooped up in a plane all day.
“Well, if it isn't my favourite little trouble maker?” Connor said as he walked towards Shiv and Romy hand in hand.
“Are you talking about her or me?” Shiv asked, hinting a smile that shows she's genuinely happy to see her elder brother. Connor laughs to himself before kissing his baby sister on the cheek.
“Unca’ Connor!” Romy exclaimed, seeing her uncle and immediately jumped up and down like she was unwilling to be ignored.
Meanwhile, Shiv and Willa exchanged greetings. Tom steps out of the car but does not receive the same warm welcome. Tom wasn’t even supposed to come, Shiv really only told Tom about her mother’s invitation out of due diligence; taking his daughter across the continent would not be a good look.
"Hello, Connor," Tom said, clearing his throat and already feeling the weight of the situation.
"Tom," Connor acknowledged him just enough before returning to Romy, who was telling him a story about her new toy.
Caroline stepped outside with Peter to greet them when another Range Rover pulled in.
Shiv and Connor exchanged glances because they knew it was the third one of their pack. Roman.
Charlotte was the first one to step out with Hazel in her arms. The baby was looking around curiously.
Roman followed her.
“Hello, Familia!” Roman being Roman
“Still can't believe you reproduced”, Shiv said before hugging him.
“Nice to see you too, sister, you can't forget about my biggest achievement.”
“Unca’ Roman silly”, Romy said from Connor’s arms.
“Yes, very correct. Excellent observation skills. Future CEO material, you got there, Shiv. But guess what Uncle Roman also brought gifts for his favourite niece, don't tell Sophie, I said that.” Roman says. Upon seeing the pink bag with a yellow bow, the toddler practically launches herself out of Connor’s arms, causing her uncle to rush to catch her and let her down safely. Roman smiles at Shiv while handing Romy her present, though it’s more like a smirk, which, knowing Roman, means the gift is likely closer to a possessed doll than a Barbie. Fatherhood has not softened him a bit.
“GIFTTT, FANK YOU!!” Romy gasps from excitement and just about twirls around in excitement, the pigtails in her hair swirling in the air.
“Roman, her birthday was 2 months ago.” Shiv sighs, but doesn’t dare to take away her daughter’s new gift. Shiv will be the first to admit that her daughter is spoiled, Tom wants her to have everything under the sun, and she is in no position to object.
Shiv’s heart drops when she sees the next car, her mother probably invited Kendall, but she doesn’t know if he’ll actually come. She brought Tom too, the Judas to the Roy family, or maybe she’s Judas, either way Kendall likely doesn’t want to see them. He hasn’t even seen Romy in person, though she doesn't doubt that he will have seen the family portraits Tom put out, the New Roys, well, Wambsgans, but that just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
When the car doors open, only Sophie Roy, now 17 and Iverson, now 16, step out, they are unaccompanied by their parents this time. Kendall is MIA and once the divorce went through Rava declared she was done with the Roy family, so now it’s just the two teenagers, woefully unprepared for the family they were born into. They slink out of the car together and thank the driver who is taking their bags up to the door. Rava raised them better than the rest of them. Sophie smiles when she sees Romy, now holding her new cloth doll, Romy recognizes them and shrieks “Hi! Hi! HI!” to her cousins. Her doll is thrust into her mother’s hands as the little girl goes off running towards her cousins, specifically Sophie, who has her arms out. Shiv would’ve imagined they would’ve liked cousins when they were little. Despite being 15 years older than Kendall, Connor never had kids and before the moment she held Romy for the first time, Shiv had very much not wanted to be a mother, in fact the very thought had just about sickened her. Sophie and Iverson had always been bored at events, no other kids to play with. Well briefly there had been Roman’s fiancee's daughter. But that hadn’t lasted, in fact Roman shouldn’t have been allowed to be a parent until Charlotte came along, now they have Hazel. Roman, the one they least expected to be a parent, is now somehow doing it. Romy practically jumps into Sophie’s legs. “Hi ‘phie!” and drags her cousin by the hand towards the rest of the Roys.
Sophie hugs her aunt, uncles, Willa, and Charlotte, though hindered by the new baby in her arms. She does not look at Tom, even as he smiles at her. Iverson lingers behind. Willa is the first to actually address the teenagers beyond the simple hellos and ‘how are you’s, though it’s not much better, “So how’s school?”
“Good?” Sophie says and Iverson nods.
“Have you thought about college?” Shiv adds.
“Yeah, um NYU in the fall. History.” Connor perks up, and they all cringe as he prepares another one of his monologues about something no one cares about.
Then Tom speaks, much to Kendall’s kids' chagrin, to Iverson. “What about you, kid?” His tone is overly saccharine.
Sophie speaks for her brother; she's been doing this for his entire life, “He’s in the ninth grade.”
“I’m in the ninth grade.” Iverson affirms. It’s clear none of the Roys know how to talk to teenagers.
“Um, how’s your Dad? Is he coming?” Connor asks.
Both of the teenagers look at each other and shrug, “We haven’t heard.” Sophie whispers.
Until now, Peter and Caroline have stayed on the porch, Peter looks at them plainly but Caroline’s look is deeper like she’s trying to calculate something, observing her children like they are animals in a zoo. Waiting for the last one to show up. She only attacks when it becomes clear that he won’t be showing up any time soon. She steps off the porch and smiles widely, “Hello all of you!” Her children visibly flinch.
She greets Roman first, in case in his 40 years of life she hasn’t made it entirely clear that her second-born son is her favourite. She kisses both his cheeks, which he eagerly accepts.
She then looks at the baby in Charlotte’s arms, “Well, and who do we have here?”
“Your newly added granddaughter who doesn't recognize you, but it's okay..not that she’ll in coming years,” Roman said, taking Hazel from Charlotte’s hands as if he's tryna shield her from his mother’s vibes.
“Right…and good to see you, Charlotte, you’ve kept yourself remarkably unchanged. One almost forgets you’ve had a child at all.” Caroline said before moving on to Shiv.
Charlotte looked at Roman and mouthed, “I’ll kill your mother.”
Roman smiled, “Not yet, honey.”
Shiv lets her mother hug her, though it is stiff from both women.
“And Tom! Well it’s certainly a surprise to see you!” Caroline laughs dryly.
Shiv rolls her eyes at her mother, “He’s my husband, Mom.” But they haven’t really been married for 3 years, even now they don’t often come within 3 feet of each other.
“Is he now?” Caroline raises her eyebrows, “Well then, how is this little darling?” Everyone looks down at Romy who presses her face into her mother’s leg. “Such a nice age to be, no?”
“Like you would know.” Shiv scoffs.
“Would you like to give your Granny a hug?” Caroline smiles down and reaches for Romy who instead looks up at her own mother and begs to be picked up. Shiv does and Caroline looks incensed at being snubbed. “Well, her manners clearly need some work.”
“Whatever, Mom.” Shiv rolls her eyes, but sways Romy back and forth, “Go see your other grandchildren, would you?”
Caroline brushes her daughter off and moves to kiss both Sophie and Iverson, “You two have grown so much! It’s frankly astonishing!”
Shiv sighs, “Mom, Sophie is 17, would you let go of the ‘I’m too young to be a grandmother’ act?” She does not greet Connor, and only gives Willa a cursory glance. Peter is the only one to shake Tom’s hand, greeting the other man warmly, Tom returns his greeting and lets him ramble about whatever new business venture he has gotten himself into.
Caroline frowns slightly at the sight of all of them minus Kendall. “Right, well come in, come in everyone!”
They make it as far as Caroline’s entryway before they hear another car door slam from outside, and through the door they can see Kendall, shoulders hunched and sunglasses shielding his eyes, walking up to the door, “You’re late, Kenny!” Roman calls after him.
“Uh– traffic.”
“That’s what you’re going with?” He stands and gives his brother a one- armed hug, careful of the baby in his arms, “Wow great to see you not dead”
Kendall looks at his younger brother and then the baby in his arms “whose kid is that?”
He makes a show of scanning the room, Connor is probably far too old to have kids and Shiv’s is the exact copy of her which leaves… Roman, a little proudly, “mine. Custom-made. Limited edition. Factory shut for production.”
“You knocked someone up?”Kendall asked, unable to believe it. I mean, it's Roman, after all—the least likely person to be a father.
“Yeah, something like that,” Charlotte chimed in.
“Hey, it was teamwork,” Roman objected, rocking Hazel in his arms
“No, it wasn't. You had a shitty pull-out game.” Charlotte said calmly.
Kendall looks at Shiv, probably the first time today, “You knew about this?”
“I did.” She nods, she’s still a little nervous to talk to him.
Then Roman, “Side effect of not fucking off to God knows where and sending proof of life once and a while.”
Kendall looked at Hazel and then at Romy, who was in her mother’s lap, screaming bitey at her father’s face (she got her mother’s sass), and sighs “A lot has changed.”
“Connor, do you have a secret baby to surprise Ken-doll here with?” Roman points at him.
“Nope not yet only presidential campaigns for now” Connor replies, Willa groans into her drink.
Scene III-
Marcia’s eyes scan the room. Everyone has taken their places, hitting their marks like it’s some fucked up pantomime. On one side, Willa sits with Roman and Charlotte, they had a baby apparently, she lays on her mother’s lap with her little fist in her mouth, the picture of the kind of contentment only infants can possess. Connor looms behind them. In the middle, Romy, Shiv’s daughter, has made herself comfortable across Sophie’s lap, looking at the doll her uncle got her and babbling a song to it. Iverson stays close to his older sister, as Shiv watches her daughter like a hawk. Tom and Kendall have taken seats in two armchairs, side by side. The only thing separating them is a small end table. The two men don’t even so much as glance at each other. The Roys have always reminded Marcia of some Renaissance painting, one art students look at for hours, where the subjects are all gathered around someone, like he’s God or the sun, but Logan’s dead now, and now there’s only a hole in the canvas where he once stood.
And in turn, everyone in the room, at least everyone older than 3, looks back at her with varying degrees of shock and annoyance. Marcia is not good at this, when they’d do this when Logan was alive, she had had the control of the room, she knew the siblings were forced to at least pretend to listen to her. Now she’s at their mercy, and the Roys are an entirely fearsome group.
Caroline stands beside her, handing Marcia a drink that smells fruity and utterly inappropriate for the situation her children are about to find themselves in. “I understand this might be a bit of a fright, us all together like this.” Shiv scoffs and Kendall looks like he might bolt.
Roman looks away from Marcia and Caroline to his siblings— a subtle, silent notion of disbelief and a poorly timed joke about their closeness on his lips.
Caroline doesn’t pay any mind to her favourite son, “But I’m glad we’ve all managed to get together.”
“It really is something quite important.” Marcia adds.
This piques Connor's attention: “Is everyone alright?”
“If you’re dying, this really could've been an email.” Shiv rolls her eyes at her mother, “Save everyone the plane ride down here.”
“I truly am sorry to disappoint, Siobhan.” Caroline pauses, “Well there’s no use in beating around the bush. It’s about your father.” All four of the siblings scowl, but continue to listen.
“What is it now?” Kendall says, he’s been dead for almost 3 years and the siblings are still learning new shit about him.
“It seems like before he died, he was in the process of pursuing new ventures.” Marcia says, with a quite noticeable tone of annoyance. “With Kerry.” Marcia states and Caroline’s jaw tightens.
“Mom, what the fuck are you saying?” Shiv is the one to say it out loud but it’s clear her brothers echo her sentiments. “Can you cut the bullshit?”
Caroline hesitates, thinks something over in her head- she has always enjoyed a good show. “Kerry?” She turns her head towards the doorway, “You can come out now.” Everyone in the room is silent, even the babies, the air feels thicker now as the fog of family secrets threatens to suffocate them all. The white door is missing quite a few chips, as someone opens it slowly, whispers can be heard on the other side. The siblings all brace, even if everyone is expecting Kerry. Though the figure that walks through is almost entirely different. Facing the room is a little boy with a Spiderman tee shirt and warm brown eyes. He can’t be older than Romy and is clutching a teddy bear close to his chest. He should not strike as much fear into the hearts of the Roy siblings as he does. But this child looks entirely too similar to him. Kerry appears behind the boy and puts her hands on his shoulders. Logan’s old assistant looks scared but determined.
Kendall is the one to finally break the silence and release the vacuum that threatens the family, “Mom? Kerry? What is this?”
Kerry’s voice is shaky and uncertain when she finally talks, “This is my son.” It’s clear that the pieces are falling into place in the minds of the siblings, but Kerry continues, “My son, Logan. He’s your father’s– he's your–” There are no real correct words for this situation.
Shiv gasps for air, “Well, no, no, that’s not— he can’t be Dad’s. That’s not possible.”
Roman is next to speak, “Could he still get it up, or was it more of a popsicle stick and some tape situation?”
Caroline scolds her son, though no one really listens, “ Darling, please don’t be crude, in front of the children.” The babies look completely unbothered, Hazel is snoozing in her mother’s arms, Romy is babbling to herself while lying on the floor, scribbling with crayons on a paper someone gave her that is perilously close to Caroline’s white carpet, and Logan seems attached to his mother’s leg in the face of the strangers that are supposed to be his family. Sophie and Iverson, however, seem mortified and disgusted at the thought of their deceased grandfather’s penis.
Sophie mutters loudly, trying to make sense of the situation, “So Grandpa had a baby? With you?”
“Yes.” Kerry nods.
“Can you prove it?” Shiv says as Tom shifts uncomfortably in his seat. Kerry’s kid, Logan, apparently has been given a bag of wooden alphabet blocks to play with as Romy looks on from where she sits. The little girl looks at her mother one more time before pushing herself up from the floor and toddling over to where the other toddler sits and silently taking a seat next to Logan. They play quietly next to the cacophony of the adults.
“He made arrangements for us.” Kerry states, though not without her voice wavering, “And for him too.”
“He knew about this?” Connor is trying very hard to keep his voice steady, but even he feels the tension.
Kerry nods, “I told him the minute I found out.” Tom scoffs slightly and Shiv shoots daggers with her eyes. “He really was very happy.”
Roman chortles, “Well, at least we know that was fucking bullshit. Dad? Happy? I mean, Mom, was Dad fucking happy when you told him about us?”
“He was…” Caroline pauses, it’s clear that he wasn’t overjoyed, “content.”
Kerry continues, “It was a new beginning for him.” This does seem to strike a chord with the siblings and with Caroline and Marcia who look at each other and clench their jaws in tandem. Tom has taken out his phone and begun typing rapidly to someone. In the corner, the toddlers babble to each other, Logan seems to be happy building up a small tower and letting Romy giggle and push it to the ground.
“This isn’t happening.” Shiv says, shaking her head, “What do you want from us?”
“I want what he’s owed, as a child of Logan Roy, he’s entitled to the same inheritance as all of you.” It’s clear by how fast Kerry says the whole sentence in one breath.
“How much will it take?” Kendall scowls. “Tom here will write you a check.” Tom shifts uncomfortably and doesn’t look up from his phone.
“It’s not about that, I want recognition too, this can’t just go away.”
Shiv scowls and then looks at her mother, “Was this your idea?”
Caroline glares right back, “Would you have done any differently?”
“Ugh, don’t do that,” Shiv grumbles. “Just don’t.”
Kerry doesn’t help her own case: “I did love him, and he loved us.” Kerry looks as if she might cry.
Roman makes a face, “Don’t do that, it’s unnerving.”
Then Kendall, “And a lie, he didn’t love any of us.” This seems to strike a chord with the rest of his siblings and his ex-wives.
“Alright, Kerry.” Shiv’s voice goes devastatingly professional, “Can we have some time to discuss this? Get our minds around it?”
“Um, yeah.” It takes a beat before she realizes that she is being forced to leave. “Yeah, yeah.” She stands and makes her way over to her son. “Logan says bye to Romy.”
She picks him up by the hand, and the little boy waves to Romy, who pouts, but waves back, “Bye, bye Logan!” Romy gets up and goes back to where she left her doll in the middle of the action. Sophie is still texting on her phone as Iverson looks over her shoulder, chiming in with things to add every so often, they are probably texting Rava, who despite being decidedly over the Roys and all their drama, cannot help but look in at the car crash that is her former family-in-law.
Once they are sure that Kerry is far enough away from earshot, Shiv turns to her mother, “Fuck I mean Mom, you didn’t think you tell us, before you know like 15 minutes ago?” Shiv throws her hands up.
“When I found out, you were otherwise occupied,” Caroline claims.
“Oh yeah, we could’ve done Lamaze together.”
Then Caroline, “To the day I think.”
“I’m sorry?” Shiv says.
Romy taps her mother’s thigh trying to get her attention, “Mama, Mama!” Shiv catches her little hand and tries to stop her.
“One sec, Ro’.” Shiv says softly, still staring at her own mother. “What do you mean to the day?”
Romy does not take that for an answer and steps over to Tom, who is now incredibly engrossed in his phone, typing with a fervent passion. “Dada, Dada, Beach.” She’s ignored.
But the sound of her pleas are ignored as Caroline continues, “It was the 15th if memory serves. They were both born on April the 15th.”
Shiv seems offended by the idea that this random toddler might share a birthday with her daughter. In the background, Romy continues her pleas towards her father, “I wanna beach! Beach, Dada.”
Her little hand comes down onto Tom’s wrist, accidentally of course, poorly timed on a pressure point, Tom hand releases and his phone clatters to the ground- a text half typed. Without missing a beat, Tom exclaims, “Goddamnit Rosemary!” It’s not quite a shout, but it’s louder than the tone of the room.
And then everything stops for a moment- this is a memory playing out in real time. They have been here, in a different time, place and person, but they’ve been here. Romy is deadly still, in front of her father, it’s clear that she’s about to cry but can’t bring her little body to muster the tears. Shiv grabs her daughter’s hand and yanks her back to where she’s still seated, maybe slightly roughly, but she holds the little girl tightly. To her mother and her brothers, she looks like a little girl again. “Shit.” Tom looks remorseful but still picks up the phone to finish his text. Shiv just picks up her daughter and walks calmly out of the room. Tom looks as if he might follow but the looks from the rest of her family force him to stay where he’s sitting.
The next five minutes are tense; no one really says a word, especially not to Tom, whose face has hardened significantly. It’s obvious he wants to go see his wife and child, and he regrets his outburst, but it’s too little and far too late, so he continues with the very important correspondence on his phone, probably to Mattson or some other business fuck that the Roys have been cut out from, all because of Shiv’s decision, almost three years ago now.
-
When Romy and Shiv come out hand in hand, it's clear that the little girl has been crying, and subsequently comforted. Shiv might just be a better mother than she is willing to let on. Still the toddler lets go of Shiv and makes a beeline for where Logan has left out some blocks. Sophie is quick to put her phone away and join her on the carpet, looking from her aunt to her cousin and then back to her father.
Shiv stays standing, arms crossed and face set, “Tom…”, her voice is full of emotion but she won’t let tears fall, not when her own daughter is obviously distraught.
“Called to the principal’s office.” Kendall sneers, but even he is on edge.
“I can take her to the beach now.” Tom is clearly regretful but it’s too little too late for Shiv, her face doesn’t soften a bit. Roman snickers slightly, until Charlotte shoots him a look that shuts him up.
“Tom, we need to talk.” Without another thought, Tom stands and follows Shiv back to the other room. Caroline’s walls are thin and carry sound well, so the rest of the attendants can hear every footstep that Shiv and Tom make as they find a secluded spot away. “What the fuck was that?” Everyone in Caroline’s sitting room can hear Shiv yelling at Tom from the other room. “Why would you do that to her?” Even Caroline looks tense and haunted, reminded of a time that she would very much like to forget, with her own young children and marital strife.
“I’m sorry! She just scared me!” It’s unclear if Tom’s tone is genuinely apologetic or just sorry he got caught and in front of her family.
“She’s two years old! How could she have scared you?”
“She just caught me off guard, I’ll apologize to her!”
“Don’t you fucking dare go near her.”
“She’s a child! She’ll forget about it in an hour!”
“I won’t!” Shiv sounds genuinely scared and there’s a protective streak in brothers that is activated, but subsequently suppressed.
“Oh of course, because you are such a perfect mother!”
“I don’t yell at her! For something that wasn’t even her fault!”
“I can’t make a fucking mistake now? This is a fucking shitshow Siobhan!”
“Do you think I don’t know that? He was my fucking Dad! I have another fucking brother now? Maybe? Excuse me for trying to wrap my head around it!”
Tom laughs condescendingly, “That’s not what I’m concerned about!”
“Oh yeah, Tom?”
“Do you know how much shit we are in if this breaks?” Shiv scoffs, like she doesn’t know, like she wasn’t here long before he was.
“Do you think he’s really the first dead billionaire to have a bastard child!”
“He’s a liability!”
“Are you aware of how stupid you sound? You’re concerned about a fucking toddler. He’s not Dad’s you know? It’s fucking impossible Tom!”
“Is it? You weren’t there.”
“I don’t need to hear about how you watched my father fuck.”
“I didn’t— what? It’s not out of the realm of possibility, you know!”
“What?” Her voice goes low.
“You remember the fucking Maca root powder?”
“Just cause Kerry fed my dad some supplements doesn’t mean he— if he was even capable of it!”
“I need to make sure it’s taken care of!”
“I’m sorry are you a fucking mob boss Tom? Jesus Christ!”
“This wasn’t supposed to happen!”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“We had it taken care of, after he died, it was supposed to be taken care of!”
“You knew? About Logan?”
“We knew Kerry was a threat. I would’ve told you, but we didn’t want to make things worse, and then…”
“And then I stuck my neck out for you and Mattson. And had your goddamn child, Tom! Fuck you!” They both pause, “Don’t touch me!” He must’ve reached for her.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Shiv.”
“Get out, Tom! Go away!”
They both exit the room together, Tom makes a beeline for the room they were supposed to share and Shiv avoids everyone’s glares as she throws herself down on the couch beside Roman. Shiv’s eyes are glassy and red now. Her youngest brother smirks, “Have you gotten all of that out of your systems?”
“Could someone please drive Tom back to the airport?” Shiv scowls.
“We can find someone.” Caroline says, almost uncharacteristically softly, she probably just wants the attention to be back on her. Romy, who until now has been stacking the small amount of blocks over and over again, stands up slowly and toddles her way to her mother, pulling herself up onto the couch and into her mothers lap. Shiv only looks at her daughter, as the toddler buries her head into her mother, trying to comfort her. It’s clear that they do this often.
Shiv pauses and squeezes her daughter once more, burying her face into her little shoulder one more time. Tom appears, briefcase in hand, standing in the doorway, looking at Shiv, she doesn’t look back instead she lets the child down, “Do you want to go say bye to Daddy?” Romy looks mildly scared but toddles over and lets Tom pick her up and hug her, he tells her that he loves her. Then he puts her down and leaves, shutting the door behind him. Romy stands by the door frozen, like she’s expecting him to come back. He doesn’t. So she walks back to her dolls and her mother. Shiv brushes some hair out her daughter's face, and shakes her head, “Well.”
“Well!” Caroline agrees, half laughing with sadness behind her eyes.
Shiv hardens, “We need a plan.”
Roman scoffs, “Getting right back into it, huh? We’re not gonna even try to unpack that?”
“Fuck off, Roman, just fuck off.”
Roman laughs and rolls his eyes, “Okay! Okay then!”
Shiv turns back to Caroline, “I mean Mom, are you sure he’s even Kerry’s? Maybe he’s just a loaner for the day.”
“Kerry put all the documents somewhere.” Caroline says rifling through the stack of papers on the table, “Ah.”
Roman snatches it from his mothers hands. He examines Logan's birth certificate with an intense look. He makes a show of holding it up to the light like how one would examine counterfeit money, “What time, Shiv?”
“What?”
“What time was Romy here born on the 15th?” Romy perks up at her own name and even more so when her uncle tickles her neck.
Shiv seems even more confused, “Huh? What are you talking about?”
“I gotta say Logan’s time is hard to beat. So?”
“I don’t know, like early, 4 am?”
Roman smiles, “And she takes it!” He smiles and cheers at Romy, who seems excited by this whole scene, despite having no idea the gravity of it all. “Good job, Romy!”
The toddler jumps up and claps her hands, “Yay!”
“That’s not how this works!”
“Oh right! Romy’s the heir now.” Kendall mutters.
Shiv’s face drops, “No fuck you.”
“What? You don’t want her to take over Mattson’s shitshow?” Roman jokes.
“Three years ago you would’ve killed us all for him and now you’re all over it?” Kendall doesn’t seem to be joking, at least the way Roman is.
“Excuse me for not wanting to offer up my daughter to Mattson’s NASDAQ master race before she starts kindergarten!”
“Well, it’s why you’re still with him, isn't it? I mean, you aren’t madly in love anymore, obviously.” Caroline sighs, mutters something and leaves, Marcia follows her.
Then Roman, “The Wambsgans- Roys! I’d give you guys a reality tv show!”
“Fuck off! Both of you! Like you fuck heads would do much better!” Shiv is obviously distressed now, but she keeps her voice just low enough not to alarm her daughter. “We’re seriously getting into this again?” Shiv asks
“Again? I have not once gotten the explanation of why you betrayed me, Shiv.” Kendall said, looking at his sister. It's clear he's still carrying those old wounds with him/
“Betrayed you?” Shiv scoffs
“Kendall, this is not some High school mean girl drama. I didn't betray you; everyone knew you were not fit to run the show. I just did what everyone was thinking,” Shiv continued.
That seemed to land on him.
Kendall stood there in silence hitting him where it hurts the most.
What? It's true. It's not like Roman wanted you to be the CEO either. He did it because he just wanted to be done with this shit.
“Don't drag me into this mess, Shiv. I’m Switzerland; I go with the flow.” Roman raised his hands as if he had nothing to do with it, or he simply didn't want to hurt his brother's feelings. Which Shiv clocked instantly.
“Aww, poor Romey still can't go against his big brother cause he taught you how to aim your pee pee,” Shiv feigned a sweet tone to taunt her brother.
“Yeah, very funny, Shiv, fuck off. I got a kid to look after and a girlfriend who's probably wondering where I am.”
“Oh, the one who came back only because she pitied your lonely ass.”
“At least she loved me enough to come back. Can you say the same about your husband? Huh, Shiv?”
“Are you even sure it's for love or because she's now trapped with your child?”
The fear that Roman thinks about every day has now been said out loud by his sister, and he's just stumped.
Kendall, who was listening to his siblings bickering, speaks up, “ Stop projecting, Shiv.”
“I'm projecting?”
“Yes, that's why you chose that Swedish dog and your lap dog of a husband over us, because you were insecure and wanted to secure the position for yourself, which you could not have otherwise.”
“Wow” she scoffs with disbelief.
“Yeah……it-its the only plausible reason”
“I'm sorry but the only one insecure here is you. You didn’t want this job because you’re good at it, you wanted it because you needed it. Like oxygen. Like proof. Some sad little certificate that your life isn’t just a string of half-failures and broken relationships dressed up as ambition. This isn’t about the company, Kendall. It’s about you trying to convince yourself you’re not… fundamentally a disappointment.”
Kendall opened his mouth to say something but Romy walks into the conversation, rubbing her eyes , wanting her mother. “Mama, I'm sleepy”
“Yeah let's go honey” Shiv scoops the little girl in her arms and walks out of the room leaving her three brothers behind.
“Wow. Heartwarming. Really, five stars would attend this trauma buffet again. Very on-brand for us, though. Love the consistency. Anyway, I’d stay and unpack all this… but I’ve got a kid allegedly waiting for me. So, you know. Priorities. Maybe”
And with that Roman also left the room-