Chapter 4
Troy was talking to Marc again and I knew he too, remembered the same thing I did; our first night together as husband and wife. I watched as they hugged each other and Marc headed to the entrance of the building. Troy looked up to me or maybe our baby and hesitated to leave. It seemed like he was waiting for something to happen.
The door to the balcony opened and Marc came through, he walked up to me and put his arms around both me and Rose then said, “Don’t worry. Everything will soon be alright.” I saw Troy start to walk out. He glanced back at me one more time before he left, shoulders hunched and head down as if he lost something precious to him.
“Hey.” Marc said to get my attention.
“Yes?” I asked in return.
“Do you want to go out tonight? Let’s have dinner somewhere.” He suggested just another usual thing for me and Marc after Troy left. I looked worriedly at my daughter who was sleeping peacefully in my arms. He saw my frightened look and said, “You can bring Rose if it makes you feel any better.” He suggested. “So what do you say? I’ll pick you up at seven?”
“Dinner would be great. Thanks Marc.” I said grateful.
True to his word, he picked Rosalie and I up at seven. She was sleeping, but I still couldn’t leave her so instead I took her with me. My parents were more than happy to get me out of the house. They blamed themselves for getting me into that mess; nevertheless they were happy about Rose, though not so much with her father. He took me to my favorite Chinese restaurant. Just as we got to our table, his phone rang. He said it was urgent so I let him take his call. While he was away, someone approached me from behind. I was looking at my daughter so I didn’t feel the person’s presence
until he spoke.
“You seem alone, would you mind if I joined you?” a very familiar voice asked me. I looked up and saw his all too familiar face.
“Actually I am not alone, I’m here with Marc.” I said as casually as I could.
“Yeah I know. I saw you two when you came in.” he said as a matter of fact, then stole a glance at the sleeping baby. “Would you mind if I kept you company while he’s gone?” he asked innocently.
“You see, I’m alone myself, as I have been for the past year,” he told me. I was shocked at what he said. Truth be told, I really didn’t expect him to stay all by himself the whole time he was away from me, “I’ve been lonely since I left because I couldn’t forget a particular girl. I tried to move on but I just couldn’t. It was her face I saw everywhere I looked. I noticed other girls, yes. But, only if they had something that reminded me of her,” he said looking straight into my eyes as he pulled up a chair next to me. “That girl was you, Al. I couldn’t forget anything about you. That was when I realized I made a mistake when I left you. That you were the only girl that I would ever love the way I do,” he said, taking my hand in his. Marc then decided it was the right time to come back so he did.
“Al sweetheart, I’m really sorry but I have to leave. My brother’s just been in an accident and my mom is breaking down. I have to go over there to calm my mom and see how Ralph’s doing,” he told me his tone urgent and frantic.
“I could go with you and help out with Marianne,” I suggested, not wanting to be left alone with Troy.
“No, you don’t have to do that. I don’t want to drag you into my family’s mess,” he looked to my side and finally saw Troy. “Why don’t you stay here since Troy’s here?” He suggested. “Stay, eat and then Troy can drop you off later.”
“That’s fine with me.” Troy said cutting me off when I started to protest. He looked at me with hopeful eyes.
“That’s settled then.” Marc announced. He turned to me, kissed me on the cheek, kissed Rose on her forehead then turned to Troy with a warning glance. “Don’t do anything stupid.” He warned. “Believe me when I tell you that if anything ever happens to these two, I will have your head on a silver platter.” He said with a murderous glare.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to them.” Troy promised. I smiled at that exchange; typical Marc, always so overprotective and Troy, always making promises he couldn’t fulfill. I winced at that last thought. After that Marc left with a final glare at Troy. An awkward silence befell the table, the tension rose until Troy started to speak.
“Al?” he called to me in a small voice.
“What do you want Troy?” I asked him straight out.
“I just want my family back.” He said.
“What family? The family that you tore apart even before it existed?” I asked him then looked at him as if he had grown
two heads.
“I know. And I’m really sorry. But I still want my wife back and I want to meet my daughter.” He said exasperated.
“Which wife are you talking about?” I asked him. “The wife you forced to marry you by threatening her parents of a pregnancy that wasn’t even possible at the time? Or the one whose feelings you played with? What about the one whom you impregnated and then left to her own devices?” I continued, sarcasm dripping in my voice. “You don’t have a family because you were never there in the first place or a wife because you left her when she needed you most or a daughter because you were gone! Not once did you call or send a message just so you could tell me where you were or how you were doing! Hundreds of times I tried to call you but you never picked up. There wasn’t anything to tell me you were alive. It was like you’ve dropped off the face of the earth!” I couldn’t continue. The façade I was working on showing him broke down and so did I. “But it was too late to pretend like nothing ever happened because I was already pregnant. I had a child that reminded me of you every time I looked at her. But even so, I never regretted having her.” I said as I sobbed. He took me into his arms and let me cry on his shirt. “And even after everything you’ve done to me, I protected you from my parents. I kept everything a secret except from Marc. Only he knows the truth and it will stay that way no matter what you decide to do now. But why Troy, why did you leave me? Wasn’t I good enough for you? Did I do something I shouldn’t have done? Why?” I couldn’t stop crying. I hated myself for exposing my true feelings to him again but I couldn’t do anything about it anymore; the floodgates had opened and all the emotions that I had kept bottled up inside of me just flowed into my tears.
“No, no. It wasn’t you. It had never been you. It was me.” He replied trying to soothe my doubts. “I wanted to straighten out my life because I wanted to be a good father but I was also afraid. I thought I wasn't ready to be a father. That’s why I went away, but in the process I hurt everyone around me. I hurt my family, my friends and worst of all, you. And that’s what I regret the most; hurting you.” He said sincerely. “I promised myself that I would never hurt you again and yet here I am making you cry,” he continued, remorse overflowing in his voice.
My sobs finally died down as Rose started stirring up in her carriage. I reached out to take her and said, “Rose, meet you father.” as I handed her over to Troy. He took her and cradled her gently in his arms.
“Hello there Rose, daddy’s home and I will never leave you and mommy alone again," he said lovingly stroking her cheek with one hand, supporting her with the other. The scene fascinated me. It gave me an overwhelming feeling of happiness; that’s when I realized that finally my family was complete. But I wasn’t going to let him off that easily. We ate dinner, trying to catch up with each other’s lives and then he drove me and Rose home. I had Rose in my arms when
he parked in front of my house. We were silent as one waited for the other to speak.
“I-I should get inside. They might be worried about Rose by now.” His eyebrows shot up in question. “They’re more worried about her than me most days you know.” I said as I reached out to open my door.
“Al?” he called. I turned around to face him. His forefinger and thumb caught my chin and his lips came down on mine in a gentle kiss. This time I didn’t even try stopping myself. I responded the moment our lips met. His tongue grazed my lower lip coaxing me to grant him entrance. I gasped and his tongue entered my mouth exploring the inner recesses of my moist cavern, deepening the kiss until we were both breathless.
“I-I should really go.” I muttered when we pulled apart, our breathing ragged, heartbeats racing. He smiled at me, clearly relieved at my response and amused at my reaction afterward. He got out of the car and walked to the passenger side and opened my door for me. He reached out to assist me out of the car but instead I put the baby in his outstretched arms and helped myself out. I reached into my purse for my keys while he patiently waited with Rose cradled gently in his arms. As I opened the gate he passed Rose to me and I took her. He went to get Rose’s carriage from the back of his car
and came back to me.
“Would you like to come inside?” I asked him.
“I um…” he hesitated. “Is that an invitation?” he asked stunned.
“Well, yes. I thought you’d want to start getting to know Rosalie since you told her that you’re staying.” I said. “You are staying right?” I asked him for reassurance.
“Of course I am. If I could help it, I won’t leave your side right now,” he said his voice a mere whisper as he peered at me. “But I know that would probably get me killed, so maybe not yet,” he concluded.
I led him in the house. My whole family was in the living room spending quality time together. They heard us come in.
“Is that you Al?” my mom called out.
“Yeah mom, it’s me.” I replied.
“How’s it going Marc?” My dad said clueless of whom I was with.
“It’s not Marc dad, it’s Troy.” I said as I started to climb up the stairs, Troy following closely. “He just dropped us off.” I said by way of explanation. I had Rose in my arms while he had the carriage in his. I continued down the hallway to my room and opened the door. I went to Rosalie’s crib and gently laid her down.
“Where should I put this?” Troy asked, standing by the doorway.
“Put it down anywhere, I’ll tend to it later.” I replied without looking back at him. He followed my instruction and walked towards me. I was just standing in front of the crib watching my baby sleep. He snaked his arms around my waist and embraced me from behind. He rested his chin on top of my head and breathed in deeply, taking in my scent.
“You have no idea how much I missed you.” He murmured. He slowly spun me around until I was facing him. He put my arms around his neck and looked straight into my eyes. He rested his forehead on mine until our lips were a hairsbreadth away from the other. He crossed that distance in an urgent but gentle kiss. There were no restraints, our kiss overflowed with emotion, so much that my legs gave way and we both fell on the bed with Troy on top of me. We both froze when we realized what had happened. He reluctantly pulled away and rolled off of me.
“I should go, it’s getting late.” He said looking warily at me. “And besides I can’t trust myself to be alone you like this,” he said caressing my cheek. "In a room and behind a closed door."
“Technically we’re not alone.” I smiled cheekily up at him, daring him to do something with our privacy.
“True. But I don’t think she would have done anything to stop us.” He answered, getting off of the bed and walking towards the crib. “I really have to go.”
“Come on. I’ll walk you downstairs.” I replied. He kissed Rose’s forehead before he followed me out of the room. When we reached the gate he turned to me.
“So, would you like me to help you babysit tomorrow?” he asked.
I smirked at him before replying, “What Troy? Don’t you have any business trips tomorrow?”
He flushed, “Okay, I deserve that. But seriously, would you mind if I came over tomorrow?” he asked again.
“No problem. Everyone else has plans anyway so I will be alone with Rose. Come anytime you want, we’ll be here.” I informed him, still smirking. He kissed me goodbye before he finally left.
I was expecting some kind of drama from the parents?