Esther, Be Tender With My Love

II - Five

Arriving back at Barry and Linda's, I felt exhausted. I mean, we did have a pretty late night last night and I haven't even been in this decade for twenty four hours yet. Maurice helped me carry bags up to my room and then closed the door.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked, walking closer to me. After nodding, he sat down on my bed and motioned for me to sit next to him. "Remember the girl that was with me at the mall?" I nodded me head. "That was my ex-wife. We actually split up about five years ago."

"Why was she with you?" I asked but then immediately regretted it. It wasn't my business. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

"It's okay, Es." Maurice reached for my hand that was resting in my lap. His calloused fingers traced over my smooth palm. "Tomorrow is the premiere of the 'Saturday Night Fever' film and they requested Lulu and I to show up together." Our eyes met and I could see that he felt guilty about the situation. "I'd much rather have you come with me but it's too late. I'm really sorry." My cold fingers wrapped around his hand and I squeezed it to show support.

"Maurice, it's quite alright. You don't have to apologize and I don't want you to turn your whole world around just because I showed up. I'm not even really supposed to be here." Letting go of his hand, I stood up from the bed to pace around the room. Fear was taking ahold of me.

"Esther, what's wrong?" Maurice asked. When I didn't answer, he followed me and placed his hands on my shoulders to turn me around to face him. "You're kind of stressing me out. Why're you pacing?"

"What if me being here alters everything. What if everything that happened in the old future isn't going to happen now? What if your career changes because I'm here? What if your relationships change because I'm here?" I began to twitch anxiously in his grip. It was all too much. My vision began to get all spotty as my breaths became more shallow. Maurice noticed my change in behaviour and guided me to the bed. He pulled the covers back for me and tucked me in to the bed.

"Shhh. Let's not worry about any of this right now. All that matters is that you're here with me again and nothing is going to change that. I'm not letting you slip away from me again Esther. I mean it." My heart skipped a beat at his words. Man how I'd missed him. "Now, I want you to try and get some rest. You need it." He bent down to kiss my cheek and then made his way towards the door, shutting the light off in the process. Before he completely left, I called out to him.

"Wait, can you stay here for a moment? Just until I fall asleep?" I asked, slightly nervous about his answer. I just wanted to be around him. To catch up on all of the years we'd missed. After pausing for a moment to think, he turned back around and slid into the other side of the bed. His warm body was the cure or my coldness. I couldn't help but scoot closer to him. Smiling, he lifted his arm up for me to rest my head on his chest. The rhythmic beat of his heart pounded softly in my ear. My hand rested on his chest that would rise and fall with every gentle breath. This was exactly where I wanted to be: in his arms for all eternity.

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Narrator

Maurice had ended up falling asleep after Esther asked him to stay with her. When he awoke, a couple of hours had passed and the sun was slowly making it's way towards the horizon line. On his chest was the most angelic face he'd ever seen lost in a dream world. Having her back again made him feel like he was in a dream world. To prove that he wasn't, he reached over and pinched his arm.

Esther stirred a little and mumbled something incoherent, making Maurice smile. Carefully, as to not wake the sleeping woman, he got out of the bed and went out into the hallway. In the living room sat Barry, Linda holding Ashley, Robin, and his wife Molly. Stephen and his cousins Spencer and Melissa were sitting on the living room floor playing with toys.

When Maurice walked in, he received a few smirks - mainly from his brothers. He sat down in the recliner and watched his niece and nephews throw a ball to each other.

"Have a nice nap?" Robin asked in a playful tone. Maurice glared at him from across the room.

"Yes and nothing happened. She just asked me to stay with her until she fell asleep and then I fell asleep." Robin's laugh echoed through the room, Barry's eventually joining in.

"Mum, Dad, and Andy are on their way over for dinner. They want to meet her." Barry informed his younger brother.

"I should probably go wake her up then huh?" Maurice replied and left to go prepare Esther for meeting the rest of the Gibb family.