AMB~she~OUS

FORTY NINE [II]

"What's all this?"

"Mr. Daniels asked us to put these up in preparation for his late wife's death anniversary." Paloma explained gesturing to the dozen of flowers coming in through the front door. A couple of Daphne's portraits were also displayed all over the house.

Craig was doing too much, I thought miserably. He didn't normally go over the top like this, I wonder what had changed. The dead woman wasn't the angel everyone thought her to be, she didn't deserve half of the fuss she was getting.

It felt weirdly wrong to hold such resentment towards a dead person.

"It's funny, isn't it? He's doing so much for her now that she's dead but couldn't do shit when she was breathing." I heard Nick speak from beside me.

The venom in his voice was something I had become used to whenever he spoke about his father's relationship with his mother. I wanted to reach out and tell him that he had it all wrong, that Craig wasn't the kind of man he thought he was. I wanted to tell him that it was his mother who had been the snake instead but even that didn't sound right.

"Nick-" I stopped myself midway. What would I say?

"Let's go. Remember you promised me the whole day." He stretched his lips in a forced smile and motioned for me to follow him. It was his way of shutting me out.

"Where are we going?" I shouted after him.

"I told you, there's someone I want you to meet." He winked cheekily.

I should've known it wasn't someone I would like to meet. My mood turned slightly sour once we stepped foot in the cemetery. I tried to keep it as light as I could for Nick's sake, I had to remind myself that he was a victim in this as well.

"I know this looks a bit too much but I couldn't help myself. My mother was very important to me and I think you are becoming pretty important to me too. I don't know why but this felt like the proper thing to do."

This felt like the time to say something that could match his words but I came up with nothing.

I didn't have my feelings as figured out as he had. I knew I was attracted to him and that I cared for him more than I would care to admit. But there was still an ocean between him and I, an ocean of secrets.

"I-"

"You don't need to say anything, I'm not asking for a reply. I already know how you feel about this situation. All I want is for you to know this, then maybe one day when we aren't connected through my father you can tell me how u feel then."

I winced at the sad smile gracing his lips. In his mind, it was not possible to stop being Craig's son so the ball fell im my court. I was the only one who could cut the connection by divorcing his father. He had his hopes on that but once his mom's death anniversary passed I would have to make a choice whether to crush those hopes by naming Craig the father of my child.

"Stop thinking too much, we don't have time for that." Nick said, holding his hand out for me to take.

My eyes quickly scanned the quiet cemetery to check if there wasn't anyone around, one could never be too careful. I know I had said each time would be the last time I would take Nick's hand but something about this felt like a finality.

"So this is where your mother was laid to rest?"

"Yes, I haven't been here in years."

"It's beautiful."

I had never laid a foot in this cemetery afraid of being disrespectful to Daphne. I was Craig's new wife and coming here with him every year had felt so wrong at the time. Now coming here and seeing the amount of effort Craig put in making his dead wife's resting place gorgeous. And seeing the look of sorrow on Nick's face as he stared at his mother's grave made me slightly sick to my stomach.

I had a distaste for the woman but my hormones were also amplifying those emotions making it that much worse.

"Hie, mom. I know I haven't been the best son in the world considering I haven't stepped foot here in years but I want you to know that I haven't forgotten you. You see I've been trying to make amends with dad but it hasn't been easy...for a number of reasons but I've been trying cause that's what you'd have wanted."

Something inside of me moved as I watched Nick lay down a large bouquet of flowers and speak so softly to his mother.

"I brought someone, if you have been watching over me then you'd know who she is. She has become very important to me, there is something about her that reminds me of you. I-" A phone blaring cut Nick's sentence.

"It's important I have to take this." I nodded and watched him away and only turned back to Daphne's grave once I was sure he was out of earshot.

"Nick's wrong." I said quietly.

"He may be an incredibly smart person but he is wrong about one thing. I am nothing like you." I knelt forward to brush the dust covering her name.

"You might have been able to cover your tracks and fool everyone else but you missed a lot of important things. To think for a moment or two, I was actually tempted to do what you did. But doing that would just hurt the people I care about in the long run, something you didn't care for. I'm going to do what you failed to do and that is tell the truth."

I don't know whether it was Nick's comparison of Daphne and I that had brought out an enormous amount of courage within me. I was many things but a coward wasn't one of them and I wouldn't start acting cowardly now.

"Are you okay? You're fisting your hands so tightly." Nick's voice behind me brought a sudden end to my train of thought.

"I'm fine, I was just thinking." I smiled at him, rising from my kneeling position.

"Last time I checked my mom was a good listener, you could have shared a thing a two with her."

"Believe me, I did." I gave him a tight-lipped smile.

My words seemed to please him so much he pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

"I'm glad you two met even though you've always been connected." There was a sense of satisfaction in his voice that made me sad. His happiness didn't have to based on a facade.

"Do you remember how I promised not to keep important things from you?" I asked him softly.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" He pulled back to look at me.

"Yes, I have been keeping something-things from you." I confessed.

"Important things?" Nick cocked his head to the side, eyes searching mine.

"Yes and I think you need to know. I want us to be able to trust each other."

"I would like that." His hand came up to caress my cheek. There was a sense of warmth in his hands that made me move voluntarily back into his embrace. My hands moved on their own accord and wrapped around his neck. This was the first time I had acted openly affectionate to him and the surprise was clear in his face.

"An unplanned business trip came up, I need to be in Melbourne by tomorrow. I will try to get back before the weekend, can we talk then?"

I had kept the pregnancy and paternity secrets with me for weeks, surely I could wait 3 more nights.

In three nights, everything I had built could fall apart.

In three nights I could lose everything.

In three nights I would expose secrets that could either break or make Nick and I's relationship.

In three nights...I would do everything in my power not to end up like Daphne Daniels.

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We are nearing the last chapters and I'm excited.

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