No Happily Ever After

Chapter 7

Cailyndragged her eyes open early on Thanksgiving Day to find her homealready saturated by the aroma of fragrant herbs and a roastingturkey. For a moment her mind drifted back to Thanksgivings past andshe forgot all the drama of the present. She recalled all theboisterous noisy family gatherings and the delicious foods and shecouldn't wait to start the day. On the other hand, the warm comfortof her bed invited her to stay and drift back to sleep. Fun thoughThanksgiving was, it also proved to be exhausting.

Nonetheless, sheforced herself awake. Quickly she dressed and made her way to thekitchen where her mother hummed cheerily and busied herself about thecounters mixing and chopping. Cailyn took a deep breath of theheavenly scents and her mom turned to embrace her.

Outside the sun hadbarely emerged over the horizon and a thick blanket of snow coveredeverything as far as the eye could see. "Do you think everybodywill make it in?" Cailyn asked, wondering about the bad winterweather.

Nathalie Purechuckled. "Oh you know they will. They wouldn't miss yourfather's sweet potato casserole for anything," she imparted. Mention of her dad brought a shadow to Cailyn's face and her mooddarkened slightly.

Soon he joined themin the kitchen and the three of them worked together preparing themeal, quiet with their own thoughts.

***

By eleven in themorning, the extended family had begun to arrive. First, Great UncleHuntsman, her mother's uncle. He was a serious brooding fellow. Though Cailyn didn't know him well, and he generally seemed humorlessand even hard to get along with, she'd always heard tales of himlingering quietly in the background of the family, watching andprotecting.

Another slew ofaunts, uncles, and grandparents trickled in but finally it was timefor Cailyn's most anticipated guests to arrive. Her father's brotherand his wife, and their whopping total of seven sons. They were thePure family's claim to fame. Two sets of twins and one set oftriplets had been born to the couple over a short period. Everybodyjoked and teased the couple for their apparent superhuman baby makingabilities. The entire family worked together to help support thehuge bunch, and the boys were the darlings of every occasion.

The oldest set oftwins was seven and was comprised of Jordan, the serious, sometimesgrumpy brother; and Marvin, the exceptionally smart, leader of thepack. Next came five year old twins, Jake and Kyle. Jake being thebrother who was always bubbly and in a great mood, and Kyle the sillyflibbertigibbet who was forgetful and silly. Finally came thetriplets, three year olds. Frank who was painfully shy and alwayspeered up at Cailyn with a silly smile and bashful eyes. Caleb whohad terrible allergies and sneezed eighty six thousand times a day,poor kid. And Albert who always seemed in the middle of a growthspurt and needed naps constantly.

Cailyn spent theday helping and playing with the boys and remembering how very muchshe adored her entire family. How very much she just wantedeverything to be OK. She watched her small cousins and contemplatedhow much things would change if her father and mother split up. Shecouldn't stand the thought of it.

But eventually theday wore down and the family began to trickle out just as they'darrived until Cailyn was once again left alone with her parents.

In the stillnessthat followed the lively party, she realized, no matter how much shehated the idea of her family breaking up, the threat was real.

***

Cailyn clung to herdad. Her mother misinterpreted it as a rekindling of their fatherdaughter bond, and was delighted. Her blissful ignorance only servedto further depress Cailyn. And in late hours of the night, Mr. Purewould steal into her room to update her about communications fromAliah.

Her father informedher that his office was plagued with hang up phone calls. His inboxwas flooded with vulgarity. No more threats or even mentions ofCailyn. Mostly just senseless, profane ramblings. Or sometimesAliah would forward his own old emails back to him. Emails wherehe'd promised her the sun and moon. These sorts of messages she'dsend over and over, up to one hundred times in a row.

He also reportedseeing her outside his office frequently. Mr. Pure told Cailyn thathe'd be heading out the front door of his firm and stop dead in histracks when he spotted Aliah standing across the street. Her blackhair whipped around her face in the frigid winter wind. She wore bigblack sunglasses, despite the grey, sunless days. They covered mostof her face, but of course Quinton knew that it was her. He revealedto Cailyn that every time he saw her, she was dressed all in black,which wasn't her usual. And she'd be wearing black leather glovesand smoking long skinny cigarettes.

"I never knewher to smoke in the past," Quinton reported.

Other times hecaught her trailing him in her car. As he drove to the bank, thecourt house, or home, at a variety of hours ranging from early tolate evening, her headlights flooded his rear view. He said that itmade him nervous when she weaved erratically behind him, andtailgated far too close for safety. He wondered if she was on drugs. She wanted him to know she was there; didn't even attempt to remainhidden. But Mr. Pure confided in Cailyn that he was glad Aliah'sefforts were focused on him. Because then he knew she was leavinghis daughter alone.

Four weeks later,it all stopped.

No more emails orphone calls. He stopped spotting her. Once, several days passedwith no word from Aliah, Cailyn threw her arms around her dad onenight.

"See Dad, Itold you she'd go away!"

He accepted thefirst hug she'd offered in what seemed like ages. He embraced herwarmly. But he drew a jagged sigh. "We'll see," he saidwearily

She backed away andsmiled up into his face. "Aw, come on, Dad. Cheer up. It'sover. We're a family again. Let's just start new." Her eyesshone with the light of a loving daughter, eager to forgive thefather she adored.

He placed his handsfirmly on her shoulders and stooped slightly bringing them nose tonose. "Listen to me," he said. "Do not let yourguard down."

"Dad-"

"Cailyn,"he stood back again, closed his eyes and shook his head. "Imean it. Our arrangement stands until I'm sure she's gone. You arenot to be alone."

The fearful glintin his eye sent a shiver down her spine. "OK, Daddy," sheagreed quietly.