Until Forever Falls Apart

Through the Dark

"Sissy, catch!" I heard Leo shout at me from the other side of the pool.

"No, Le-Le! She catch me!" Liam yelled as he pushed Leo out of the way.

Next thing I know, three blonde haired toddlers come splashing in to the water.

"Landon! Leo! Liam! You guys need to wait your turn so I'm ready." The boys began splashing around and giggling while taking their turns jumping on to my shoulders.

"Momma!" All three of the boys scream-directly in to my ear-swimming around in their life vests.

I was relieved to see her because, as much as I love the triplets, taking care of three, two-year-old boys is exhausting. She works hard to provide for us, but that means my mother trades parent teacher conferences for extra shifts at the hospital and family dinners for rent money. The boys need their mother and their father is clearly not in the picture which pains my mother each day to see as well.

"Hey, you little monsters. Let's get you dried up so we can go get something to eat."

Mom takes the boys out of the pool and their little feet waddle in to the house as my mother sends me a smile and mouths the words 'thank you' while placing her hands on her swollen stomach.

I continue to swim around the pool. How is she going to do this when I'm gone? I feel guilty for leaving her when the triplets are still young and full of energy and another baby is on the way...I could always stay at home and go to community college, but then I would lose my scholarship.

My mother has a bad habit of choosing guys who will just leave her fragile heart in the end. She got pregnant with me by the quarterback of the football team at the end of sophomore year, the same year he committed to some D1 college and wanted nothing to do with her or me. Then there was Dave, he promised the world to my mother for a month then when she found out she was pregnant, he left. I was here with her for the triplets and to pick up the pieces of her broken heart. After a work Christmas party last year, she met a guy named 'Mitch' and she found out she was pregnant on Valentine's Day. Ever since that night she tried to find the man, but the number and name he gave her was fake. I have been there for every ultrasound and every consultation, and it'll be hard to leave.

"Ellie, can you please give the boys a bath while I go answer this call? I promise it will be quick." I know it won't be quick and will end up resulting in picking up another shift at the hospital, but I don't mind.

"Yes, I will be right in."

•••

"Leo! Please stop blowing the bubbles in Landon's face!"

"Liam please put your shirt on!"

"Leo sit down! Liam stop throwing your towel!"

"Landon stop jumping!"

It took over an hour just to get them bathed and another hour to get them in bed.

A little after 11 pm, mom walked in with large bags under her eyes.

"Baby, I am so sorry. One of the other nurses on my unit called off and I-"

"Mom", I went over to give her a hug, "it's okay. You work hard and you're a great mom."

She starts sobbing in my shoulder causing my shirt to be soaked in tear, but I don't care.

I wish I could make all of her worries and pain go away...

"I am sorry, it's those damn hormones. I hate asking you this, but could you please run and get double-"

"Chocolate ice cream with hot fudge and whipped cream? Yeah, baby #5 has a sweet tooth." I give her a small, but sincere smile.

"Thank you, baby. Here's a twenty."

I took the car and got about three miles until I heard a 'pop' sound.

"You have to be freaking joking!" I huffed in utter frustration.

I have absolutely no idea what the mechanic at the garage talks about with cars let alone how to fix a car. There's not even an open store for another mile and a half. I took out my bag with a blanket, flashlight, and pepper spray. I have never used this, but I decided after a lady down the street's car got broken in to that it was a necessary purchase. In order to better disguise it, I made sure to put on an One Direction sticker like who would suspect something with Niall Horan's face could temporarily blind you?

With the spray in clutch, I made my way towards the gas station that my phone said was a mile away. I heard a faint grunting from one of the alleyways and someone groaning in pain.

Don't do it, Elle. You will be like the first victim of a horror movie.

Fighting with my rational part of my brain, but my heart got in the way and I ran over, with my keys in one hand and the pepper spray in the other, to the alley. I saw three shadows, one hunched over and groaning while a taller shadow seemed to be punching them and the other standing behind the tall shadow.

Don't be an idiot, Elle. You are going to get yourself kil-

"Hey! You leave them alone!" I rushed over to the man and sprayed the pepper spray, aiming for the tall man's eyes, but the next thing I know I feel a painful stinging in my eyes.

You absolute idiot! You spray yourself with your own pepper spray!

A deep, male voice towered above me, "Leave, tu miserabilis mortalis!"

"Let them go! Someone help!"

I stumble over trying to gain a bit of vision before I get myself killed, but my confidence from my sudden heroic act is starting to wear off.

If you only left before...

I feel myself trip over something on the ground and fall only to feel the ground meeting my head seeing darkness.