Royce DeBarry x Carmelita Fox

Chapter 20: B-PTSD...

Royce: "Morning Carmelita," he told his Vixen wife whom he assumed was still asleep, so he decided to check up on Hoshimi who was still sleeping in her crip, "morning my beautiful Starlight!" He whispered into the sleeping baby Vixen's ear whom yawned before opening her eyes, "morning baby girl," Royce said to the newborn once more before picking Hoshimi up and taking her to the kitchen to start preparing food for his family. Then after a few minutes, Carmelita wakes up to the smell of Royce making breakfast, with a side of bacon, country ham, eggs, cheese, bologna, and maybe some milk and cereal.

Carmelita: "Good morning Hon, mmm... smells good, why are you cooking so much?"

Royce: "Just eat, you must be exhausted from yesterday, maybe worked up an appetite?"

Carmelita: "Well I AM hungry, and feel like I dropped a log," Carmelita said humorously, "but seriously though, I am hungry."

Royce: "Then start eating," Royce told his wife before she started eating her breakfast, "I thought I'd make something special for you and the baby. What do you think?"

Carmelita: "It's~ it's good," Carmelita told her husband whom only smiled seeing how she was able to eat normally once again, then a thought came to Carmelita, "hey sweetheart, I was wondering, would you mind if I invited my parents over to see our kid?" Royce remained silent trying to come up with an answer, "Royce?"

Royce: "What? You say something Carm? I wasn't listening."

Carmelita: "I could tell; I said 'do you mind if I invite my parents over to see our kid'?"

Royce: "What about your father? His first impression on me wasn't the best one, calling me 'stupid', highly inappropriate and judgmental," before Royce went onto talking about Carmelita's Grandpa, "but your Grandfather, quite frankly is very nice and appreciative. He seems to take interest about me and/or my history. Look... it's just... I don't want to be looked down upon by your family as if I'm just a disappointment," Royce explains to his wife, who begins to tear up, "and I certainly don't and would not want Hoshimi to think that way of me either."

Carmelita: "Royce..." he looks at his Vixen wife's face, "I will never look at you as a disappointment."

Royce: "Promise?"

Carmelita: "I promise. And I love you too." Before smiling even more, "you've given me a lot, and yet, you haven't asked for anything in return. A new home to live in, a loving, caring and loyal husband, and a family."

Royce: "It's all in the mindset," Royce says with appreciation as he kisses his Vixen wife on the right side of her jaw, "and I have someone in my life that appreciates me for who I am despite my intellectual and developmental limitations, err~ disabilities. That, and I want to have a child and see him or her grow up and have as normal of a life as possible, unlike me."

The last part caught Carmelita's attention as it also made her concerned.

Carmelita: "Why do you say that? What makes you feel that way?" She asks her human husband while lightly shoving him away.

Royce: "Carmelita, I witnessed some pretty messed up things when I was Seven; my stepfather went drunk with rage, anger and wrath and was all hellbent on harming my mother. She just stood there, not putting up a fight, he kept assaulting her, went as far as him throwing punches and even a chair at her," at this point Royce couldn't take it and broke down, "the only person (or thing) that broke him out of his insanity was ME," hearing these gruesome things about her husband's life story growing up was about to bring her to tears, "I had to threaten him to back off from my mother, that, I'd kill, or 3. I'd call the Police," Carmelita, at this point was tearing up and grabbed her husband tightly and cried into his chest, "and I was close to calling the police too, all I had to do was press the last digit, and I wasn't bluffing either. As a result, he immediately calmed down and left the house. I care(d) for my family. I didn't, no, couldn't press that last digit because I was afraid~ afraid that my mother would look down upon as a disappointment~ a disgrace. And even then, I HAD TO live with him. Now traumatized, I could no longer view him as a person, but a monster, but I still treated him like he was a person. And up to this day, that one event constantly replays in my mind where he hits her, never stops and I have to remind myself that I will NEVER become that person."

Carmelita: "Please promise that you will NEVER tell Hoshimi this when she is a child, I don't think she will not comprehend this. You might even end up scaring her, giving her nightmares."

Royce: "No. I cannot promise that," Carmelita's face went from sorrow and fearful to somewhat surprise and angered, "a child will always be curious, and as the saying goes: 'Knowledge comes with a price' I will refuse but I will tell when the time is right, or when she asks. Oh, and one more thing, the stepfather wasn't all so bad..."

Carmelita: "WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD SAY THAT?! DO YOU HEAR WHAT YOU ARE SAYING?" Royce looks away from his Vixen wife because Carmelita was raising her voice and she noticed this, "I'm~ I'm sorry, how could someone whom assaulted someone not be all bad?! When you Assault someone you already ARE a bad example not to mention committing criminal behavior. So what was 'good' about him? Huh?"

Royce: "We spent a lot of time outdoors; fishing, camping..."

Carmelita: "Hunting Foxes?"

Royce: "NO... never went hunting."

Carmelita: "I'm so sorry honey, maybe a little fun to cheer you up?" Carmelita asked her 22-year-old husband with a seductive smile. "Maybe? Please? No?"

Royce: "You WANT to get knocked again?"

Carmelita: "we got protection, remember?"

Royce: "Good God Carmelita, control yourself! And feed the kid! She looks thirsty, maybe hungry too."

Carmelita just rolls her eyes as she tends to Hoshimi.

By the way, if no one understands what the title is or says, B-PTSD is just (Breakfast-) with a side of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder.