'Til Death Do Us Part - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

“Mom?” I called. She turned her hazed brown eyes toward me.

 It was midnight and my sisters were asleep in the living room. Troy was with Rose in the room that we shared; he had volunteered to get her to bed once he saw the somber look my mother had had during dinner. Supper had been a rambunctious event what with my sisters there along with Ralph and Jessica. Marc couldn’t seem to take his eyes away from Bea during the whole affair and both had retired soon after we finished eating.

“You need to speak to your father,” she said, her voice quiet.

“What’s wrong with dad?”

“He hasn’t spoken to anyone since you fought.”

I was instantly filled with guilt. If he hadn’t spoken to anyone then it meant that I hurt him more than I thought I did.

“He’s been avoiding me ever since Troy came over that day. I tried talking to him but he wouldn’t even look at me. I’m worried that he might do something he’ll regret if this continues. You need to talk to him Alexia.” She begged. I visibly flinched at her words. Her tone of voice not to mention the usage of my full name meant that she was worried.

“I’ll talk to him, mom,” I promised. “We’ll come home tomorrow or maybe the next day. I just need more time to think things through.”

“Thank you sweetheart,” she whispered as she caught me in a tight embrace. “We’ll see you when you get home.” I nodded and she kissed my forehead.

We proceeded to the living room where we began the laborious task of waking up my sisters. After half an hour they were awake enough to walk to the car. I watched silently as mom drove off, my thoughts focused on my father and the way he had closed himself off. I ran a hand tiredly through my dark tresses and sighed deeply.

‘I wonder what’s wrong with him…’ I thought to myself. ‘He’s never been like this. Even when we fought over Troy before he came back, he would never shut himself from mom. He’s always spoken to her, why not now?’ I thought as I passed through the living room, shutting the doors and turning off lights as I walked past them. My mind drifted off to my father and all the times we fought as my body mechanically climbed up the steps and walked to the room I shared with my family.

The sight that greeted me once I opened the door was one to remember; Troy lay on the bed with Rose lying on his chest as they slept. His arms encased her protectively and hers were wrapped around his neck. I smiled wistfully at the scene. I walked to the bed and lie down next to my family intent on watching them sleep until Troy stirred. His eyelids lifted to reveal hazed sapphire orbs.

“Hi,” I whispered.

“Hello,” he smirked.

“What?”

“I seem to remember someone saying that they will pay me back for making me get up earlier this evening,” was his cocky reply.  I smiled at him then rose to pick up my child. I put her on the cot on the floor so that she may crawl towards the bed if she so wished then turned my attention back to my husband.

Our lovemaking was slow and sweet that night. We took our time in relearning everything there was to know about one another. It was unlike the past nights when we sated ourselves after being apart for a year. That night, there was only love. Hours later, we lay in bed as close as two people could get. We spoke in hushed whispers, not wanting to wake our child.

“Troy?” I called.

“Yes?”

“What did you do during the time you were away?”

“You won’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.”

“I went to Rio de Janeiro,” he started.

“Why?”

“I had been planning to come back earlier but there were some complications,” he said.

“Complications on what?” I asked.

“I was looking at some land,” he replied. “You see, I have a trust fund but I wasn’t supposed to get it until I turn twenty-one. Things changed however when we got married. My father changed the timeline to when I turn eighteen but we had Rose so he was forced to release my money to me earlier so that they wouldn’t have to support us financially.”

“And?” I asked.

“I bought a piece of land where I directed the building of our house,” he said shyly.

“You bought a piece of land and built a house?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes,” he replied. “We can actually move there now…” he trailed off. “That’s if you would like to,” he finished hesitantly.

“I don’t mind. We can move as soon as I’ve fixed things up with my father,” I promised.

“What about school?”

“We’ll worry about that later,” I said. “Frankly I need some rest with all the drama. We could take a vacation, just the three of us; you, me and Rosalie,” I suggested.

“I’d like that,” he said. We drifted off to sleep not knowing what the following day would bring to us.