In The Blink Of An Eye

It's Jake...

What? Jake was here?? I peaked from the side and it was Jake standing in front of the door with flowers in his hand. I was SHOCKED! When I tell you I had to clear my eyes in hopes that I wasn't dreaming. I couldn't believe that he was standing outside the door.

Lilli jumped into his arms and he grabbed her and held her tightly as he hugged her. I had never seen Lilli this happy, ever.

"Hi Madi," Jake exclaimed.

"Hi... ummm do you want to come in?"

"These are for you!"

"Thank you, they are beautiful."

This man was my husband! The man I just recently married and the man I had spent years with and here I was unable to hold a normal conversation without feeling awkward. I couldn't understand how we went from being inpatient to get married to now looking at each other and not knowing what to say.

"I missed you girls," Jake continued.

"We missed you too dad. Please don't leave again."

"I won't! I'm here to stay. Plus, being away from you was no fun."

"I thought you had left for ever. Mom said she was scared you weren't going to come back anymore."

Jake looked up at me with a painful look in his eyes. As I looked back at him I tried my hardest to not cry. I had so many questions yet I had to act like nothing was wrong. I had to pretend that he actually was with my dad this entire time and not God knows where, doing what? I always tried to be an understanding person but his behavior was something I was having a very hard time understanding. It was Jake! It was the same man physically who I got married to and who I fell in love with. But for some reason every time I looked at him it was nearly impossible to find him there. His body was like the shell which remained the same but the inside of him was nowhere to be found. On the outside he was the man I knew and loved but on the inside... he was different.

"Jake what are you doing here? I thought you were staying longer with my dad."

"I couldn't be away from you and Lilli anymore."

"I told you that dad loves us and that he would never leave mom."

"Yes you did sweetie. Baby can you give dad and I some time to talk? Go to your room and watch TV and I'll bring you some ice cream."

"Okay, I want cookies and cream please."

"You got it!"

Lilli and Jake kiss each other and she runs off to her room. She was like a little butterfly that's been set free. She was flying around his hotel room like she had just gotten her wings and she was full of excitement. I hadn't seen her like that since our wedding day and as her mother, I wanted her to stay like that forever. There was nothing worse than seeing your child sad and not being able to do anything to fix it. She loved Jake and my biggest fear was having to let her know that he was gone and never coming back. So seeing him in front of me now, I was shocked but scared. How long before he walked out again? How long before he realized that maybe he made a mistake in coming back? I was just scared to look at the positive side and focus solely on that.

I mean how could I after everything that's been happening?

"Jake what are you really doing here?" I asked

"Madisyn I'm so sorry I left. I shouldn't have done that. I just didn't know what to do or how I felt when I saw your reaction towards Silas. At that moment I was certain that you were in love with Silas and I felt lost and scared that I was going to watch you slowly fade away from me and go to him."