Her Last Plea✨

Chapter 49

Alexis didn't get much sleep, despite her best efforts. Instead, she lay propped up in bed as Mike was snuggled against her, one arm wrapped snugly around her waist as his head was tucked in the crook of her neck. The hand attached to the arm that was trapped as partial pillow to Mike absently ran through his hair as Alexis made a mental list of everything they needed to do today once Mira was collected from Francesc's. Ara's school, Brearley Elementary, needed to be called as she was meant to return to school the next day, and a constructive conversation was going to have to happen between Mike and Delphina's parents at some point. There was a service to plan and for the sake of the children, Alexis needed to make sure that it was done with minimal shouting.

She tried her best to suppress the guilt at the small enjoyment she felt with Mike nestled so close to her. Alexis knew that what was in store for them the moment Mike woke up was going to be hard – maybe even impossible. Their friendship was about to be tested and Alexis's biggest fear was that the promise she made to Delphina would save the children but at the expense of her friendship with Mike. She couldn't make the gears in her head quit turning with every poor what-if scenario that crossed her mind.

What if we can't co-parent?

What if Mike resented decisions I make?

What if Mike does meet someone else?

"Do you always think this loud?" Mike mumbled, his voice hoarse.

Her eyes went wide as she looked down at the top of his head. "How does someone think loud?"

Mike sighed and Alexis could have sworn he pulled himself closer to her. "Your entire body goes stiff and your heart thumps like a goddamn cannon…so stop it. I don't want to wake up. Not yet."

He almost held his breath, exhaling as he heard her whisper, "Okay." He wasn't ready to face what was going to be one of the longest days of his life, and he was enjoying the smell of Alexis's strawberry shampoo with each inhale. Mike wasn't one to admit his vulnerabilities aloud. It had been ingrained into him from an early age, one of the many things his father had forced him to do. He was stoic and controlled in public, a trick of the trade for he had to make sure his mother didn't receive any beating because of him.

Then his sweet little Mirabelle was born, and he realized that his sole purpose in life was to protect and raise her in a world where bad and tragic events were not the norm. He became a man who could easily crumble with a pleading bat of her long eyelashes, a man who would do anything his daughter asked of him - even if it meant hours of pretend tea parties and dressing up her dolls. When Arabelle came around, and when she learned how to say 'please,' with a non-existent 'l', he realized the two biggest threats to any sort of cold exterior he had left in him, called him 'Daddy.' His daughters softened the jagged edges of his personality while the birth of his son made Mike want to be the best man he could be - a role model for Marvin to look up to.

But right now, all Mike could feel was anger about many things. He was angry that his children were about to have their hearts broken. He was angry his children had to experience the emotions that came with death, and he worried about how it would affect them. He was angry that his wife, in the past year of her illness, became someone he could have easily fallen in love with, and he didn't like his emotions being toyed with. He could have loved that version of Delphina. He could have been happy with that version of Delphina. But she was gone, leaving Mike to once again pick up the pieces for the sake of his children.

He swallowed a shallow moan, knowing he shouldn't be enjoying the smell of strawberries and vanilla that was oozing from Alexis. Mike knew he shouldn't be using her body as a pillow given the circumstances, and he knew he should have kept it together before, instead of begging her to stay.