Allie Chapter 33

Allie (Chapter 33) Year

Chapter 33

 

            Wildflower was in a good mood when she got home, it was good to get out and to laugh. And it was good to be around people that weren’t constantly worrying over her. She loved her family but her life would have been so much easier if she hadn’t stayed the night in the hospital after L.A. The first indication that something was going on were the cars in the driveway. And the second was Ivan opening the door before she could. He smiled and pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. Why wasn’t he at work? When she talked to him yesterday he said he was working, she’d asked him if he wanted to do anything together. Another sign was that there were cars in the driveway but the house was silent.

            “Happy Birthday,” Ivan said.

            “You too old man,” she replied.

            “We might as well had been born at the same time,” he pointed out.

            “They must count it as having a full body out, it was just an arm. I’m sure they were too freaked out anyway,” she said and he laughed. Life would have been so boring without being a multiple.

            “Want to go take flowers to Daisy?” He asked as if reading her mind, of course sometimes he could.

            “As long as we also take her a big balloon,” she said and he smiled. It would be a miracle to make it through this day without crying. The first 3 birthdays after Daisy died she spent the whole day crying.

            “Of course,” he said. Even he cried a few birthdays and Ivan never cried.

            “So are you going to tell me what you are doing here?” She asked but he shook his head.

            “It’s a surprise,” he said taking her hand. “Once we get to the top of the stairs you have to close your eyes. No peeking, but you won’t regret it.”

            “Ok,” she said. They walked up the stairs and he was very careful walking with her of course.

            At the top of the stairs she closed her eyes and let him lead her. What type of surprise could this be? She hadn’t really wanted anything for her birthday, what could she need? Everything she ever wanted and needed was here with her family. There was one small thing she wanted and that was for her baby to hurry up and be born. She definitely heard voices when they reached a door. Ivan spun her around a few times so she won’t know which side of the house he took her too. Someone covered her eyes with their hand and she was pretty sure it was Ricky. Both of them guided her somewhere and stopped. The he removed his hand and she got the shock of her life.

            She was standing in the nursery that was now full of furniture. Everything was put together and the bed was made. It was beautiful and it brought tears to her eyes. Her family was there, wasn’t this what she wanted? Nothing was more important than family and they came together to do this. When she left that morning the only thing in the nursery was the carousel. Now everything was there and she was speechless. Waiting for her was Nicolas, Allie, Sammie and Christina. Her husband came over to kiss her. All she could think was that this was perfect.

            “Do you like it Mommy?” Allie asked coming to hug her.

            “I love it, sweetie,” she said kissing her cheek.

            The nursery was a pretty big room before all the construction, so there had been a lot of space to fill. In one corner of course was the carousel, in another was a little sitting area with two rocking chairs and two arm chairs. In front of the doors that lead out to the balcony was a day bed that had pretty pillows and a few stuffed animals on it. The crib was in another corner with and a changing table was made into the shelving that was recently put in. Everything was in shades of blues and greens and sandy colors. It was the perfect beach baby room and she loved it. Now when she got working on registering for her baby shower there were a lot less things she needed to buy. Iago got a small walk in closet where there was a dresser and not much else besides empty hangers. But it had obviously been painted earlier.

            This was a perfect birthday; she didn’t want or need anything for herself. Her son was most important and her family understood that. There was a wrapped gift waiting for her in a rocking chair. Inside was a gift from Carmen, she apparently hand sewed a quilt for Iago with his name on it. All of her family got her so well. She couldn’t help but to smile and be happy. And even though she just came from lunch she could smell food cooking downstairs. Nothing could be better than spending time with her family. There were no more tears of sadness but there were some because she was happy, very happy.

 

 

            Brooke was trying to put a smile on her face for her best friend, but it was hard. This was the worse week of her life, well since her parents died. She was usually the one to break up with guys not the other way around. Not really just that it really hurt because she really loved him. Seeing him for the first time in almost a week was hard. Especially since this was after she gave up on him. Calling and texting him obsessively didn’t do anything, she apologized and begged his forgiveness. Still he didn’t respond and made a point of not telling his family where he disappeared to just cause he didn’t want her to know. Now she fully grasped why she never should have been involved with her best friend’s brother.

            She sat outside to avoid Jay because it was too hard. It probably would always be hard. One thing she couldn’t do was give up her friends, this was the only family she had. Her aunt and brother were even like family. Cole knew that Jay broke up with her, of course he did. That was why she turned her phone off and came to stay here. The last thing on earth she wanted was to be near or see Cole. He saw her misery as an opportunity to seduce her into giving him what he wanted. For once she wasn’t tempted at all, she just wanted Jay. It would be easy for Jay to move on, women loved him and he wasn’t pathetic like her. She deserved this and she knew it, but it didn’t make any of that any easier.

            “Brooke,” he called, she knew his voice so well.

            “I’m moving out so you can have your house and your space,” she said without looking at him.

            “You wanted to talk so talk,” he said then she looked up.

            “What can I say? I left you a thousand messages and then I realized I needed to let go. Yes I was stupid and I can admit that. But I can’t be sorry for wanting a future with you. Maybe I the reason I wanted to marry you had nothing to do with Wildflower and Chris. Whatever, I give, I’m not going to beg you to be with me,” she said. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t stop the tears when her heart was broken.

            “I have had a lot of time to think about all this and I’m sorry if I hurt you. But now you’re free to be with Cole so you can get married and be happy,” he said. She stared at him, like really stared hard trying to figure him out.

            “Jacob, I never wanted to be with him and I still don’t. It was sex and it was a long time ago, I love you. Is it so wrong that I love you enough to want a future with you? Yeah I know it was wrong to talk to him knowing what he wanted but I never cheated on you or anything,” she paused to take a breath.

“And I was in a bad mood all freaking day on Sunday because I’m so use to being alone for Valentine’s Day. I wanted to be loved and I never had anybody make an effort for me. So I was completely in shock when I came back and you were there. We’ve been together for two years and after two Valentine’s Days of absolutely nothing it was weird. Then you get mad and leave and won’t even talk about it. Yes, I know you are genetically wired not to talk about love and feelings and anything else besides maybe sex. But you could have at least talked to me; I deserved that much from you.”

He was silent for a long time and she just felt worse. Everything seemed to make her feel worse. This was why she never got so involved with men. Loving and giving yourself to someone was asking for them to tear you apart. Maybe this was karmic punishment for not being honest with Wildflower about that video. She did tell her after the fact but it was wrong to keep it from her. If she’d seen it before the wedding she would never have gotten married. Even after the mess with the stripper, Wildflower and Nicolas just seemed closer and to love each other more. At least it worked out for them, Iago deserved to grow up in an unbroken home. When she told Wildflower the truth she didn’t get mad at her and she didn’t care to see any of it. And she didn’t get mad about Eric.

The only reason Brooke thought that maybe they should together was just a look her friend had. That day they talked about him in the car there was definitely a look in her eyes. She was always having problems with Nicolas anyway. Eric loved Wildflower it was obvious before and it was still obvious now. He wouldn’t interfere in her marriage though so technically it was harmless. Unless of course Wildflower feelings for him or if Nicolas murdered him and buried the body. But Wildflower was too in love with Nicolas. Even though Brooke said a million times since that night one year ago exactly, that those two would get married she had mostly been joking.

The last year was a bit of a whirlwind for everybody involved. Nicolas’ presence in the family changed things for everybody. What happens after he comes along? For one thing everybody decided to fall in love and everybody found happiness. Things happened that never would have without him. And Brooke got to have a job where she did absolutely nothing but got paid. Well now she did whatever she could to keep Wildflower unstressed. It was what she would do for free, this was her best friend. But she did try to do things so that she wasn’t completely a lazy bum. Broken up or not she didn’t regret giving Jay her money, she still loved him.

“Can we take a walk?” He asked after awhile and it surprised her.

“Sure,” she sighed and took his hand he held out for her.

They silently walked for awhile; there were a lot of places to walk in Capriani land. In her spare time out of boredom she’d started reading into the history of the Capriani family. Of course they kept records of everything and of course there was a library in the house. There was a whole section on family records, it was interesting or at least some of it was. This place was once a ranch where they raised and bred horses. It had been changed many times and the mansion had once been a small house. History was more interesting than thinking about her own life.

The Caprianis could trace their roots back as long as the family existed, she couldn’t do that. She definitely wasn’t from a family that had record keeper. Nicolas told her that all the records in the house were also copied and a member of their family played historian/record keeper. So while she walked side by side with Jay in silence she thought of those things. Thought of the people that lived here once and some were actually buried in a cemetery out on the riding trail. She thought of the horses, she liked horses and found the stables peaceful. Anything was better than thinking of how the man she loved with all her heart didn’t want her anymore. He was no doubt trying to figure out how to bring up the money, she knew him.

Jay felt guilty about her giving him her money. But they already paid it to the culinary school. He would be starting classes in the summer. The plan was for him to work until then and save so he could just work on the weekend and focus on school during the week. Since Brooke got paid still she was going to put her money towards their living expenses. It took a lot of arguing and sex to get him to agree to that. His father taught him that a man needed to provide for his woman, not the other way around.

She never met Vance Laiez but she hated the way he brainwashed his kids. Loving father or not he wasn’t modern thinking, maybe it was the way he was raised. But it was a little obvious that his beliefs that he forced on to his children sometimes did more harm than good. Ricky was so screwed up over all that and so were Isaiah, Jay and Iris. They spent the most time with daddy and his crazy rules so they were most affected. The four of them along with their crazy mother passed it all down to the other kids in the family. Angel was even affected by this man that seemed to have power even from the grave.

It was funny that the beliefs of a man she didn’t know were a major part of her life. Brooke was raised by modern parents and her borderline feminist/hippie aunt. Conservative was not a way to describe her family, she was a bit of a free spirit wild child. But she could be responsible and forward thinking. She couldn’t think of how to work an arrangement for Jay. His brothers would help him but the Laiezs were also prideful. The fact that he agreed to let her support them was already too much for him. So if she suggested still doing it even if they weren’t together he would freak out.

In her alone time she’d thought she could offer just to stay in another room in the house. But the thought of seeing him with someone else killed that right away. She may not have wanted her money back because he deserved it, but that would be too much. Of course he probably would careful not to bring someone else around and hurt her. It was still too huge of a risk. Besides she couldn’t live with him and not be with him. She loved him way too much for that. Now she understood Angel a whole lot more. That was enough to literally drive a person crazy. It was tragic and amusing that now years later everybody could fully understand why Angel was the way she was. Brooke hadn’t known the person she was before she completely lost touch with sanity, but she could see how that could happen.

“You don’t have to pay me back,” Brooke told him. They walked pretty far; they were almost to the stables.

“Yes I do,” he replied. “I know what I said the other day; it was mostly just that I was pissed at you for talking to him. I’m not a jealous person but he’s offering you something I can’t. I love you Brooke and I don’t want to lose you. You know me I do the love thing but I do love you. At first when we got together I never thought it would last. We fit together the thing with us worked. I’m sorry.”

“Did you read the messages?” She asked and he nodded.

“You were in the shower and he text you so I looked at them. It has nothing to do with me wanting to do something nice for you. Believe it or not I had discussed this with a brother or two,” he shrugged. “I bought you that necklace like right after you pouted that you wanted it.”

“Where were you staying all week?”

“With Eric, I figured it would be the most obvious so you would think it unlikely. I wasn’t f*****g around if that’s what you think.”

“And I wasn’t anywhere near Cole. Of course you know that because he’s staying at Isaiah’s house and he would tell you.”

“What do you want to do?” He asked staring her in her eyes like he was searching for something. Emotional damaged though the Laiezs were they were the type of people that loved completely. That was a reason they were so well guarded and didn’t love too easily.

“Maybe the question should be do you want to be with me? Obviously I wanted you back,” she said.

“Do you honestly think that you weren’t the only thing I could think of? You’re loud, pushy, crazy and you’re mine,” he said. He pulled her to him before she could even contemplate a response. She wanted him to express some type of emotion and she got her wish. “I kept thinking about when you were in the hospital and how it could have been so much worse. I can’t lose you Brooke,” he whispered in her ear.

“Jacob you are stuck with me,” she said and kissed him. This was love with ups and downs and hard times but it was what it was. She loved him and being without him a 6 days and thinking it would be permanent almost killed her. So much was put into perspective and if she never saw Cole Evers again it would be way too soon.

 

 

Christina was tired from a long week of working and school and family drama. Since Brooke told she had a thing with Cole it was the last thing she wanted to think about. There were a million other more important things to do and think about. When she found of Jay broke up with Brooke she figured it had something to do with her brother. It was a busy week for her so she never said anything to Cole about any of it. Isaiah she suspected had because this was his brother’s girlfriend. In the past she wasn’t a girl to get involved with friends’ family members. That ultimately led to drama and picking sides. She was with Isaiah before she was friends with his sister but if they ever split up it would end up the same.

Brooke was a really good friend to her when she needed friends and family. Jay was her brother-in-law and in this family loyalty was very important. That wasn’t why she was going to tell her brother to back off. It had nothing to do with what her family would expect from her. And it had nothing to do with choosing one family over the other. The reason was because she knew Brooke loved Jay and they would work it out. As luck would have it they made up only hours ago and it was a very good thing. If Brooke would have ended up with Cole it wouldn’t have gone over well with anybody. And if she was didn’t reign in her brother then her husband would definitely put him out of his house.

“Cole,” she said when she found him in the kitchen. Isaiah took Ariela upstairs to bed, which was where Christina wanted to go.

“Was it a nice party? I know I’m not welcome amongst you new family,” Cole said. Why did he have to be bratty about this?”

“Cole you need to leave Brooke alone,” she said firmly.

“Ahh of course you side with them over me,” he shook his head.

“Are you serious? I’m not siding with anyone I just think what you’re doing is wrong. You barely know her and she is in love with somebody else. I would say the same thing even if Jay wasn’t family. Stop trying to confuse her, Jay loves her and you don’t. Go pick up some other chick to have sex with,” she told him annoyed.

“He broke up with her so she’s fair game,” he said.

“They are back together; relationships go through rough patches and that doesn’t mean its over. Can you please just be the brother I use to know? I don’t remember you being so selfish but then again what the hell do I know about your family?” She was so tired of the drama from those people.

Her mother just left earlier that day to stay with a relative. Christina tried so hard to be helpful but it ended up bad. Michelle fought with Cole and then Isaiah and then the others came over. If she didn’t want her mother there why would her siblings think she wanted them around? She felt bad for her mother, she really did but this wasn’t her problem. When she needed help her family couldn’t be bothered with her. Maybe it was part grudge that made her want them to go away. But most of it was that Ariela came before everything and everyone else. She wasn’t going to let her parents’ bad choices put her daughter in danger.

Isaiah had been more patient than she thought he was capable of but he couldn’t take it anymore. More than one Evers was too many for him and if she was honest she felt the same. For as much as she thought she wanted her family back she realized she didn’t. Maybe when you were a part of the family you didn’t really notice the things wrong. But being away from them and really examining them now she felt like they were strangers. They could have always been like this or they changed in the time she was away. Whatever it was didn’t matter as long as they stayed the hell away from her.

She’d thought Cole was ok to keep around because he was different. Once they were close and she wanted that back, like with everything else it wasn’t the same. At first when she didn’t know that her brother was text stalking her best friend and previously had sex with her, life was better. Since that all came out she saw sides of her brother she never had before. He had been gone awhile and people did change. She’d just needed one thing to be normal and right in the world. There was a division because of Cole’s crazy obsession with Brooke. She couldn’t involve him with her family because it would cause drama. Helping with the nursery for Iago had been the least stressful thing she did in the last three weeks.

They were all family working together and happy and joking. That was what she was use to with Isaiah’s family since she met them. Then they became her family and she wanted her brother to be a part of it too. Nothing made her happier than to be a part of this family, she wanted to forget the others. If Cole didn’t want to stick around that was his choice and she had other brothers now. Brothers that would never just runaway and would be there for if ever you needed them. The last few years she learned the true meaning of love and family. And it had nothing to do with anyone related to her by blood. Except of course her amazing and beautiful daughter, everything she did was for her. If Cole was a toxic person like the rest of Evers family he had to go.  

“Chrissy, if you want me to leave then I will. I’m sorry I put you in an awkward position with your friend and brother-in-law. If she wants to be with him than fine, I’m over it anyway it was getting boring,” he shrugged. “In the morning I will pack up and leave, we bother know your husband hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you and we aren’t kicking you out. You are my brother and the last family I have left at his point. I want you to be a part of my family and I want you to get along with everybody. Isaiah is very close to his siblings and so am I, it’s just a bad situation. Family, loyalty and love are the most important things to them and to me too. You are my family and they are my family, can you at least try?” She asked, she stared at him trying to see if the person she knew was in there still. Sometimes peopled changed so much and so completely that they became total strangers.

“Alright,” he nodded. “For you Chrissy, you are after all the only family I have left. I am going to figure out my life plans now though. Don’t worry they don’t include Brooke.” He hugged her but for some reason she felt like he just lied to her.

 

 

Wildflower stared up at the stars to try to hold back the tears. Hadn’t she cried enough today. The sky was clear and she just stared at stars. Ivan was beside her in the grass and the world was silent and still. It had been a long time since she’d come to see Daisy, sometimes it was too much. Mostly she liked to think that Daisy was just away somewhere and would be back at some point. Coming here killed the illusion. Her family was often afraid to speak about Daisy around her, even Ivan. But she didn’t really want anybody to forget Daisy. For a long time after Daisy died she did tend to flip out a little if anybody said anything. It had been a long time and things were different now so she wanted to get them to talk about Daisy. Most of all she wanted her son to know about Daisy.

“What are you thinking?” Ivan asked leaning his head against hers.

“I miss her and I hate that everybody thinks I’ll go crazy if they talk about her too mu h,” she admitted.

“After she was gone, I thought I would lose you too,” he said.

“Almost,” she whispered.

“Yesterday your husband came to my job to invite me to lunch,” he told her.

“What? Why did he do that?” She asked completely shocked, Nicolas never said anything to her.

“Mostly to talk about you and to ask me if I would come over. He’s still not my favorite person but he loves you so I can’t hate him. Only someone that loves you would go to all the trouble he did to make sure you were out the house and your family helped with the baby’s room. Maybe it’s hard for me to trust him because I never really believed in this type of love. And he did take you away, I was too use to it being us against the world,” he told her.

“I’m happy that you are finally giving him a chance, it just took a year to happen. It’s ok I get it, I love you Ivan,” she said. She kissed his cheek and he put his arms around her.

“Last year when Brooke said you just took off with some guy I was shocked. That’s so not you, but I guess I didn’t know much about what you were up to.”

“Oh shut up, I was not in a relationship with Eric. Besides we hadn’t done anything in awhile before our birthday, we would have that night. I met Nick instead and fell face first in love with him. It’s funny that our family is known for never falling in love and relationship avoidance and I was just easy for him. I don’t know why it happened like that though, sometimes it still surprises me,” she paused. “Daisy would love this though; it’s her thing a fairytale.”

“Yeah, do you ever feel like you can still feel her?”

“Sometimes, it comes and goes.”

“Happy Birthday Daisy, wherever you are,” he said to the sky.

“We miss you,” she added.

They fell back into silence for awhile; it was good to be alone with her brother. This was exactly what she needed right now. Things were great at home but sometimes she felt guilty for being happy without Daisy. That was silly and stupid but she had a lot of irrational emotions these days. Her emotions were so up and down and mixed up. Being with Ivan right now made her feel at peace with nothing to worry about. It was a very good day and a very good birthday. The tears she shed today were because she was happy and that was a first since Daisy died. Before leaving she’d taken a moment to just stand in Iago’s room alone. Everything was coming together and starting to truly feel right, this was good.

“I didn’t know how to feel about this baby stuff but Iago can make us three again,” he said.

“Are you mad we aren’t naming him after you?” She asked and he shrugged.

“I’m not Brooke, its fine I’m sure you will have plenty more kids. At least his name starts with an “I”. Ricky kind of deserves the honor more. Do you hate when people touch you?” He asked while rubbing her belly, his hand paused when Iago kicked it.

“Sometimes, if it’s like family then whatever and I can deal but not with strangers,” she paused and turned to face him. “I know it’s like gross to ask but will you be there for me when he’s born?”

“Somehow I knew you would want that,” he shook his head. “As long as I don’t have to see anything then I’ll be there. I guess with you having so many brothers naturally you would give birth surrounded by men.”

“Of course you know I love you guys,” she said. She snuggled back against him happy for this one small thing.

“Who else will be there? Other than me and Nick I mean.”

“Um maybe Ricky and maybe Brooke and Chris and I bet Allie would want to.”

“Ok an army, not that I would expect anything less. What about Marguerite?”

“Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it, I just don’t know. She’s been good, she called me today but I just don’t know. Isaiah would like die if Chris was in the same room with her,” she shook her head.

“None of your new family wants to be there?” He asked and she shrugged.

“I don’t know I bet Carmen would but I’m not sure I even want a lot of people around. Guess it depends on how I feel but I know I want you and Nick and Ricky. Is it weird that I want my brothers to watch me give birth?” She asked and he laughed.

“You have nine brothers pretty much it was a given. And it’s not like when Chris had Ariela,” he pointed out and they both laughed.

“Well it’s a lot different I am related to you and you don’t want to see my privates. Isaiah is such a man, not wanting anybody to see her parts.”

“I would never want to see that anyway. With you I have to you because we are what’s left of our triangle.”

“It feels worse when you say it aloud. Is it ever going to be easier?”

“No, especially not for you, I loved her too but it was different.”

“I guess we should leave here, huh?”

“I like the quiet; it’s more peaceful than at home. Tonight I’m sure Jay and Brooke will spend the night having make-up sex.”

“Like you’re not going to be having sex with Jessica?”

“Maybe,” he shrugged like it didn’t matter.

“Are we bored with the girlfriend?” She asked, she knew the answer because she knew him.

“I don’t love her and it bothers her, it’s not boredom. But I don’t want to be serious with her, why can’t we just be?” He asked frustrated, this was after all his longest relationship he’d ever been in.

“Girls want to be loved, brother of mine. Why can’t you love her? It’s been awhile not that I know anything about love. I love Nick and it just came easy for me, he wouldn’t accept anything less. Falling in love with him was easy but everything is hard. Though at least with Jessica you never have to worry about her murdering somebody that pissed you off,” she sighed.

“Why are you still with him? I try really hard to like him but sometimes I worry that you aren’t safe with him,” Ivan said.

“He would never hurt me, not on purpose anyway. I’m not worried about me, it’s everybody else I’m worried for,” she sighed again. This wasn’t something she should have said to this particular brother. Before she could say anything else she got a text from Brooke and it sort of proved Ivan’s point about her husband.

“What’s wrong?” He asked her, words were too much right now.

“Help me up please,” she said and he did. “Just when I think I can deal with being with him he does something awful.”

“What did he do?” Her brother asked following her.

“I’ll tell you on the way,” she said. Today was supposed to be a great amazing day, it was until now.

 

Nicolas was in his office checking emails. He saw that his wife was back on one of the cameras. Good, he’d been wondering why she was out so long. How long did it really take to visit her sister’s grave? That was a little selfish of him; he knew she missed her sister. And he knew her brother wanted to spend time with her, but he had to share her all day. What he wanted was alone time with her. It was after midnight so technically it was no longer her birthday. Maybe he needed to take her to the hotel to do all the things he wanted to when he met her on her last birthday. The idea had promise, he went to wait for her in the bedroom but found that she was already there. Ivan was too and he disappeared into the closet when they saw him. What was going on? Whatever it was had to be bad, she looked pissed.

“Hey baby I was going to call you,” he said going to kiss her.

“Nicolas, please please please tell me that there are coincidences and that you haven’t done anything horrible lately,” she said.

“Uh you have to give me a hint,” he said.

“Mindy,” she said like he was afraid she would.

“Oh that, would you prefer if I lied to you?” He asked and she just glared at him.

“Ok I know that she is a w***e and deserves karmic pay back for what the mess she put us through. How did you manage this?”

“I own a drug company, I can do anything. Don’t worry about it; I almost lost you because of her. Did you seriously think I would let it go? Besides you never asked me not to do anything.”

“You are disgusting,” she said. “And the Owen thing was your work too?”

“Can we put this all behind us? Those people aren’t important,” he said. “I don’t need you getting stressed out over nothing.”

“Too late maybe if you didn’t want me stressed out you wouldn’t have done this. It isn’t for me! I would never ask you to kill her baby and or to have Owen beat up so that he’s in a coma! What is wrong with you? Do you not see this is a problem? You had someone drug her so that she could have a miscarriage. Was the baby really yours Nick? And did you really think I wouldn’t know? In the real world where sane people live these things are considered crimes,” she said. She was so angry she was shaking and she wouldn’t let him touch her.

“Ready?” Ivan asked her when he came out the closet.

“Yeah,” she replied. Her brother had a bag of hers which most likely had her clothes in it.

“Can we talk about this?” Nicolas asked, the look she gave him answered that question. “Where are you going?”

“Away from you,” she replied. “Don’t ask me where or to stay, for once in your life mind your damn business.”

“You are my business,” he said grabbed her arm. The look she gave him was what made him let go, it was more than a challenge.

“Don’t touch my sister,” Ivan told him stepping between them.

“What I do with my wife isn’t your concern,” he replied. “Look, don’t leave stay here, I don’t want you upset. I’ll leave and we can talk tomorrow.”

“No, I’ll make the rules now and you aren’t going to tell me what to do or how to feel. I will tell you when I feel like speaking to you, ok? Don’t bother me and don’t use our son to guilt me, I’m not playing your game anymore,” she said.

“Fine,” he said. Was it wrong that he thought this side of her was sexy? Letting her win was the best course of action right now, fighting would upset her too much.

“What’s going on?” Allie’s voice came from the hall; she was standing in the doorway looking afraid.

“I’m leaving for a little bit, honey, don’t worry ok?” Wildflower said she went over to her to hug her.

“Mom, why are you leaving? Please don’t be fighting again, everything was supposed to be better,” Allie said. The poor girl looked like she was going to cry.

“Allie, I’m really tired tonight I’ll call you in the morning so we can talk,” she told her.

“You’re just going to let her leave?” Allie asked him, that look in her eyes made it all so much worse.

“For now,” he said. “Wildflower, you are my wife and I’m not going to let you go. You know that right? Take the night or the weekend, whatever you need, but you will be back. This is where you belong, these people don’t matter. You knew who I was when you married me and I did what I had to. When you’re thinking clearly you will see that karmic justice was served.”

“Allie, I’ll call you,” she said and left with Ivan following.

“What happened?” Allie asked when she came across the room, he put his arms around her.

“I couldn’t help but to get revenge on certain people,” he told her. “Don’t worry, we’ll get her back. I would rather she just go and take some time than for anything to happen to the baby.”

Already a plan was forming in his head and he was glad for his ability to think quick. Let her think she won for a moment, she could go cool off. He should have felt something about the things he’d done but he didn’t care at all and couldn’t fake it. Some things needed to be done whether or not they were nice or legal or socially acceptable. That really wasn’t important, what was important was getting his wife back, again.

Some people might think that this would be a sign that they didn’t need to be together. At one point he would have thought that too. But she was his and he could never let her go. Like her brother said she married him so she had to deal with the consequences. All he’d really done was what everybody else was afraid to do. Seemed like his conscience left him again, it would come back eventually. It always did come back, hopefully it wouldn’t be too late.

 

Wildflower knew she shouldn’t be here; she should have gone over to Ricky’s apartment. She could have gone to Christina’s or home with Ivan. There was a whole hotel she could stay at. The truth was that she didn’t want to be somewhere her husband could get to. Somewhere he would think she would go. It was just like what Jay had been thinking. Maybe he was her inspiration for this. She just needed to get away from Nicolas. But she didn’t want anybody really asking her a bunch of questions, not tonight. It was another one of those nights but it wasn’t something to cry over.

He was right; she knew who he was and what he was capable of. No maybe not what he was capable of because that would be scary. What he’d done was out of love in his mind. Someone hurt her so he hurt them, revenge minded Caprianis. And she would go back home eventually maybe after she could talk herself out of the guilt she felt. Yes Owen and that horrible stripper did deserve to be punished. But who was Nicolas to decided how and when that would happen?

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay? Or you could come home with me,” Ivan said again.

“He has keys to your house he can come and go as he pleases,” she replied.

“Your husband is violent, what if he hurts you? Did that ever occur to you? Think about yourself and your son for a minute here. Just because you married him and have a sense of duty doesn’t mean its right. And don’t you dare say that you have to be with the father of your child. Or that it might hurt Allie’s poor fragile mental state. She isn’t really your kid and she’s way too old for you two to baby hurt like you do. What other excuse do you have? One day he will turn violent against you and you know it,” he said angrily.

“Nick would never hurt me like that,” she said pathetically.

“That’s what women say before their husbands start beating on them. The next excuse will be once he does do something to you. What will you tell your son? ‘Oh mommy fell, daddy loves you Iago. He just gets upset some times.’ You are so much smarter than this,” he said.

“Ivan, I’m not going to get a divorce, ok? I know you don’t like him but you don’t know him like I do. And I know how this sounds, I just can’t do it. Yes, my son needs his father but I also love him. Do you really think I would stay with him if he hit me? Violent he is but never towards me and yes I care about Allie. I knew going into this that he’s a little crazy when it comes to protecting his family. In his own sick twisted way he did it out of love,” she paused. “I know you don’t understand why I love him sometimes I don’t either but I do. He and I just need a long talk about what is unacceptable for him to do. Yes, I know that the fact that we have to have that conversation says a lot about him.”

“You are what’s left of us, I can’t lose you,” he said. That was what made her cry, the look in his eyes.

“I’m not going anywhere Ivan; it’s me and you always. I swear if he ever did something to me or one of the kids or anybody I love I would get far away from him. Can you not trust me and my judgment? When have I been wrong about somebody and still hung around them? Owen and Cody don’t count.”

“Yeah yeah, can this be the last chance you give him? He doesn’t deserve you and I’m worried he will hurt you.”

            “Trust me,” she said and he nodded. “I’m probably just staying the night, can you take time off?”

            “Maybe, why?” He asked staring at her.

            “I want to go to my beach house, but I can’t go alone. Not just because Nick would have a heart attack or because Ricky would order me to stay. It would just be nice if you were there with me but if you can’t its fine,” she said.

            “I’m on it,” he said. “Come on let’s get you inside.”

            The front door opened before either of them got out. There he stood her temporary savior. Staying with her brothers was a wise choice, but tonight wasn’t about responsibility. She needed to be somewhere stress free and she could relax. It was one night, what harm would that do? And she was very pregnant it wasn’t like anything was going to happen. Eric came around to her door and opened it for her and of course he helped her get out. Immediately he hugged her close and as tight as her belly would allow.

            “I put fresh sheets on my bed for you,” he whispered in her ear. “Don’t worry I will sleep on the couch.”

            “You don’t have to,” she whispered back. He stared at her a moment while Ivan was getting her bag.

This could definitely be labeled as playing with fire. She was a Capriani now so playing it safe was just too boring for her. Sleeping in a bed with another man wasn’t really cheating, nothing was going to happen. When she was sad or upset she liked to cuddle, Ivan was going home. Jessica had been waiting awhile for him. Accepting comfort from an old friend wasn’t a crime. Besides she wasn’t planning on telling her husband, right now what she did wasn’t his business. He should just feel lucky that she intended to come back home at all, eventually.

Reviews

[deeps]

Wow! I think this is my favorite chapter so far. I like the vivid imagery.
The characters were really active as well. This is wonderful.