The penny dropped. I didn't even need for him to clarify because by what he had said, the answer was ob-vious. He must have known I would be making assump-tions and chose to say nothing, so it was probably now wrong."Aunt Emelda?" I asked.She was the only aunt I had. I hadn't realized she was Mom's aunt, too, maybe an older sister. So she'd...had me as a baby and given me up to Mom and Dad?I tried to think of all that I knew about her. Next to Mom, she'd been the other woman in the family I was closest to. I loved both my grandma's, but Mom and Aunt Emelda had been my favorite growing up. Right after Mom died, I'd seen her a lot of the time. But, she had her own life, and she could only help us out for so long before she had to get back to it.At that moment, I wondered, if I knew what I did now, would I have wanted her to stay, or begged her to go with me?Well. Anyway, it guessed why I looked more like Mom than I did Dad because I was at least her direct family."Did s
The drive wasn't even that long, but on the way back, I didn't feel like I was in a hurry, so we were going slower that before. I'd been right, too. Now and then, everything would hit me again, and my eyes would blur with tears. I'd remove a hand from the wheel to wipe my eyes, and go on driving."Why don't we stop somewhere on the way?" Ade-le was the one to make the suggestion.I glanced over at her. "You think it's a good idea?" I asked, not feeling against it."I think so. You need some time to calm down, at least, and you can't do that while you're driving. An hour won't put us out too much, right? We'll get back on the road before it gets too dark. We passed a small hotel on the way; we could see if they do hourly rates..."There was no argument from me, and when the ho-tel came into view, I got off the road. We were lucky; they did do hourly rates. We didn't pay any less if we stayed under the hour, but if we were over by a minute, there were extra fees. I didn't even ca
It was growing dark by the time we started on the way back, but neither of us cared. And I felt much better, so I picked up the speed a bit. It wasn't too late by the time we got back, and I decided to take us back to my house, so I could leave the car and walk Adele home, or take her on the bike if she wanted to be quicker.I parked the car in the drive where I got it, and as I stepped out of the car, I held my hand out to Adele so she could join me."Mom could be waiting for me at home," she point-ed out.I shrugged. "You won't be staying long, just for a little bit. You could come in for some water, at least. I'll take you home myself in a bit."Without further argument, she took my hand, and I led her to the door. I reached for the handle to open the door. It was unlocked, so I assumed Dad was still at home, and not out somewhere, trying to talk Laurie to get back together with him. He'd have locked the door if he left; I knew where the spare house key was.When I opened
AdeleThe car came to a stop, and I took a look out the window."Are you sure it's fine to be out here?" I asked, glancing over at Liam.He shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, we've been out here in the dark before. And it's a relatively safe town, no wild animals running around, so it should still be fine, right?"I bit down on my lip, watching anxiously as he stepped out of the car. A second later, I sighed and stepped out as well. He was right; we'd been out here in the dark before. How could I not remember that night? I'd been at home, and out of nowhere, Liam had been outside my window, throwing pebbles. I snuck out, and we spent the night out."Help me out with this," Liam called out.He had the trunk open, and he was pulling some stuff out. He held a blanket out to me, moving closer so he could keep whatever else he still had in the trunk a se-cret. Tonight was a lot like that night. I'd been home, and he'd come to pick me up. Only, this time, he knocked on the door. Mo
"This is the oddest place to do this, right?" Liam said, grinning at me.I giggled. "It is, but it's also pretty awesome of you, so thanks. If I haven't said it yet, I'm enjoying to-night.""You've said it now, and I'm glad you like it."We were pretty much-done eating. Besides the sandwiches, there had been cookie ice cream and a piece of cake that we'd shared for dessert. The drinks were just apple juice for both of us, but all I could think was how glad I was that there wasn't any alcohol. Not for tonight, because that would only ruin it.Liam was busy packing things away now that we were done with it all. I watched him work from the side until I decided I couldn't just watch anymore. I reached for him, grabbing onto his shoulder and tugging. I put quite a bit of force into it, but the only reason I managed to pull him down, was probably because he was surprised by it."Whoa! Adele, what gives!"Even though he was complaining, there was laughter in his voice. I crawled o
After our little rest, it was back to packing things up. The blanket and candles would be last to go, so I just sat back as I watched him carefully arrange everything in his bags. He had his back to me, so I couldn't see exactly what was going on, just his limbs moving as he worked. I was feeling lazy and sated, so I didn't even offer to help, though I was the one that distracted him in the first place."How did you think to come out here?" I asked, feeling curious."Hmm?" He glanced at me over his shoulder. "I don't know. I figured doing it at either of our places was a bit risky, and I didn't want to share tonight with any-one else. And then it just hit me, that somehow, we had plenty of highlights in our relationship right here, so why not add one more?"I snickered. "We've had sex here before, though," I reminded him. "So I don't think that counts."Liam chuckled. "I guess there's that, huh."His voice sounded a little odd as he said it, though, and it was enough to get m
I ended up not spending the night out, like I'd thought. The last time we had sex out in the woods, we slept in each other's arms until the morning after. He'd gotten a ring on my finger, but Liam was surprisingly quick to want to get rid of me, enough to make me a little suspicious.When I got home, I opened the front door, and walked in a few steps before realizing Mom was home. Honestly, I would have expected she would be staying out for the night, though that probably wouldn't be the case if Liam had dropped me off to rush home himself, right? Even more surprising, she looked like she was in a good mood."Honey, you're home!" she said, looking up with a wide smile.I was a bit nervous as I walked inside, but she didn't ask where I was coming from so late at night. I was pretty sure it was close to midnight already. She had her laptop on in front of her on the coffee table. Whatev-er she must have been looking at put her in a good mood."Sorry I'm late," I apologized as I wa
Mom and I went on a little shopping spree and Chanel, came along with us. I would have invited one of my own friends, but all the ones I called were busy, so I let it go anyways. Besides, there still wasn't anyone who knew about the pregnancy, and if I mentioned a wedding at my age they would probably guess, so I was a little glad no one had the time.I felt a lot safer with just Mom, her friend and me.Besides going to the boutique to look through and try dresses, we went around to look at shoes, some purses and accessories. After exhausting myself for most of the day, Mom and Chanel were ready to move on to flowers, but it was pretty late already. I would have gone to din-ner with them, when they invited me, but I got a text from Liam at around the same time, so I went to see him instead.I practically dragged my feet to my front door, where Liam was already waiting for me, and I opened the door for us to walk in. we were both silent, until I walked into my bedroom and dropped
AdeleI sat on the couch, holding Harmony in my arms. I felt a little bad for taking so long, but when we'd woken up and started getting ready for Liam's departure, I fig-ured it had been about time to let our little girl know that her dad would be going away for a while.She hadn't cried, but she was being pouty about it, and not speaking. I knew, sometime after he left, she'd come to me and cry, and when she did, I would cry with her. Sometimes, things just seemed to hit her late, and when they did, they hit hard. It reminded me a little of myself at times.Liam brought down the last of his suitcases and set it at the base of the stairs, then glanced over at us. He arched an eyebrow at me, but all I could do was sigh."Harmony?" I said slowly, pulling her away from my chest so I could look at her face. She kept her head ducked down, but I tilted it up by the chin, and she final-ly met my eyes. "I know you're sad that Daddy is going away, but he has to leave soon, so why don't
LiamI was seated in my bedroom, on top of the bed with my laptop on in front of me. It was about time for me to go to school, and I was doing last minute checks to be sure I didn't forget something before I had to leave. I would be leaving for the city tomorrow morning, taking a few things with me to my new apartment that was closer to the school and my job. I would be coming back when I had to time off, but it killed me that I had to move away from my wife and daughter like I knew it bothered Ade-le.Shit, we hadn't even explained it to Harmony right that I wouldn't be around all the time anymore. There were phone calls and video calls, but it was hardly the same."Are you done?"I looked up to see Adele just walking out of the bathroom with a bathrobe around her and a towel around her neck as she wiped at her hair."I can do whatever's left once I get there," I said, closing the laptop and setting it aside without taking my eyes off her."I'm going to miss you when you l
AdeleIt was getting closer and closer to the fall, and with it, nearer to the time Liam had to go off to law school. As summer was winding down, Liam had to get a bunch of stuff in order before he could leave. The one thing I hated most, though, was when he was looking for a place to stay. I knew he wasn't leaving me, but I still hated that he had to move out of the house.I woke up one day, too anxious to sleep longer, and both Liam and Harmony came down to find me on the couch, and breakfast nowhere in sight."I'm so sorry, honey," I said, referring to both of them, but looking at my pouting daughter. "I haven't cooked anything, but we still have cereal would you like that?"Immediately, she perked up. "Yay, cereal!"She shot toward the kitchen, and Liam grinned at me. I didn't usually like her having cereal, so I tried to lessen how many times in a week she could have any, and she'd already had it twice. She preferred the extremely sweet types, and the sugar rush always h
LiamWe had a late night, but I still woke up early. My body was too used to getting up at a certain time in the morning every day, I was up before the alarm even rang, and I reached over to shut it off before it got too annoy-ing. Then, I turned to the woman sleeping in my arms.I hadn't moved yet, and already I could feel the aches all over my body that pretty much meant we'd had a really fun night last night. After how that disastrous dinner had been, and then the day of circling each other while I thought of how best to cure Adele of her disap-pointment, I couldn't have asked for a better end to our long streak of no sex.There was still school, and I sighed as I wondered how I was going to work both that and my job into my family life. If Harmony did start going to school at the same time...it would be so much more convenient for everybody.After leaving a peck on her forehead, I slid out of Adele's arms and went to the bathroom. The area around my upper arms and back stun
AdeleIt had been a whole day since the dinner fiasco. I'd stopped crying a while back, but I was still pretty bummed out about it. Liam noticed, and he'd left me alone since then. I hated that he had, though, because he didn't even come to the bedroom to sleep last night. I must have cried myself to sleep, and when I woke, I found him sleeping on the couch in the same outfit from yesterday with his jacket thrown over him.Since he'd ignored me first, I'd done the same to him throughout most of the day. We didn't eat the food from yesterday, but at least I'd left it all covered, so all it needed was some warming. In fact, last night's dinner was pretty much all we had throughout the day; I warmed separate portions for breakfast, lunch, and din-ner. We ate separately and stayed in different rooms of the house.I hated how it felt like we were in a fight when the reason I was in such a mood wasn't even because of him.Is he just going to let things stay like this? I mused to myse
LiamIt was evening already. Adele had spent most of the afternoon cooking, and I could smell all sorts of amazing scents wafting from the kitchen. I'd kept my ass on the couch and my focus on the TV, though, so I wouldn't bother her. I could have helped, but... I was feeling a little lazy. And I was kind of uneasy over what Adele planned to do. So I left her alone. She wouldn't give me a plate before our guests were present, but my mouth was practically watering, and my stomach kept growling in hunger.To hurry things along, I got up to head for the kitchen, and see if she at least needed help with some-thing."Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked while leaning against the door. Hoping that her answer would be no.She glanced at me over her shoulder, paused with her arms raised where she was reaching for plates from the cupboard. I walked across the room and reached for the same plates, glancing down at her. She was just standing there, staring at me with wide eyes.
AdeleMy mom and Liam's dad were going to spend the day with Harmony; Liam's birth mother was even going to join them in spoiling her, and then she was going to spend the night over with them. She was four-years-old already and didn't exactly mind the attention, taking af-ter her dad in one more thing, among others, including her pretty looks.She should be starting school soon...and the idea of it scared me, the fact that she's grown up so fast.Where did the time go?It was something I had to talk to Liam about at some point. For the moment, she was still going to day-care, but it would probably be better to get her into kin-dergarten already instead of waiting too long, or she'd end up older than the other kids in her class.I was pretty much a stay at home mom, even though I'd gone through college and gotten my degree. It wasn't something I couldn't put to use while staying at home, anyway. Considering how far the world had ad-vanced already, it wouldn't be so difficult t
Liam"Are you going to meet Dwayne?"I looked up to see Adele, my wife, and sweet-heart walking down the stairs to join me in the living room. I was tying up my sneakers, ready to head out."Uh..." I stalled. "Am I not supposed to?"In the past four years since we'd graduated high school, we'd had a baby, completed college, and gradu-ated in our respective courses. Adele and I stayed in her family's house instead of looking for a different place for ourselves, and her mom stayed with my dad at our old house."It's not that you're not supposed to," she mum-bled, joining me on the couch.I rested my elbows on my knees, leaving my sneakers alone for a moment. Adele folded her legs under her on the couch, her arms wrapping around my middle as she settled into my side."What's up?" I asked."Well..." she hesitated. "It's just, I've organized a dinner...""For us?" I frowned, confused. "What for? I don't think I've missed any important dates..."Her arms squeezed me a lit
There was no huge disaster like I'd been worried about all along. We all got ready in time and then started heading out to the church in groups. Mom and I were among the last, of course, and we got out together and rode in the same car, one of the many we'd rented for the occasion. It was big enough to carry six people, so we each had two friends with us in the car.We arrived at the church just in time. We waited in the car as everyone else got things ready inside, Chanel and Rita waited with us. Once we heard the wedding march playing inside, they stepped out first, and we fol-lowed.Neither of us had someone to give us away. So, we walked down the aisle holding each other's arms. Mom's veil wasn't as dense as mine, so I could only hope that she wouldn't trip, as I learned mostly on her. We each held small bouquets of white and pink roses.The church had been set up so the audience could mingle and sit wherever they wanted. Mom and I had both decided there wasn't much point in