G.A.B.O.S. (Original Version)

Chapter XXV

Tremaine watched as Lynise pulled an assortment of clothes out of his closet and placed them into a large suitcase. Every few seconds, his eyes would drift over to his nightstand, which is where the last photo he'd taken with Lynise and all of his kids sat. He observed the twins' playful grins and Lynise's million-dollar smile, and then he looked away. He didn't know why he kept subjecting himself to that type of emotional torment, but he couldn't bring himself to look at his daughter. He didn't want to have to spend the rest of his life looking at photos of her. He wanted to see her grow up and do all of the things that she'd been robbed of the opportunity to do. He didn't think any parent should have to see their child as a four-year-old forever while they were stuck counting the birthdays that were supposed to add on to their ages every year.

"So, I packed your clothes, your toiletries, some books, and some snacks. Am I missing anything?"

Tremaine focused on Lynise again and offered her a silent shrug. He didn't care about what he needed to pack for his ride up to Georgia. He didn't care that they needed to be on the road within the next three hours. He didn't care about anything at the moment. How could he when he had to bury his daughter in two days?

Lynise sat down beside Tremaine on his bed and caressed his cheek. He hadn't said a single word since he'd come home from the hospital fifteen hours earlier, and she was starting to miss the sound of his voice. She wished there was some way that she could help him. She hated seeing him in pain and not knowing what to do about it. The fact that she'd planned Heaven's entire funeral on her own let her know just how hard he was really taking his sudden loss. He couldn't even call his and Angelique's families to deliver the bad news, leaving Lynise the task of consoling Heaven's distressed relatives. She didn't mind helping Tremaine in his time of need, but she needed him to understand that she was grieving herself and needed help with some things.

"Tremaine, it's gonna get better eventually. You know that, right?"

Again, Tremaine shrugged.

"It will. I promise. You trust me, don't you?" When he shrugged a third time, Lynise figured that he still wasn't ready to speak. "Well, I'm gonna go tell Tamia that we're leaving. I'll be right back."

Lynise started to rise from the bed, but Tremaine pulled her back down. He'd forgotten all about Tamia. He'd been too busy sulking to figure out how he was going to deal with her. He still didn't know what he was going to do with her in the long run, but he knew what he was going to do with her at the moment. He got up from his bed and grabbed one of his spare suitcases before exiting his room. He went downstairs to his guestroom and opened the door, causing Tamia and her daughter to look at him.

Without offering an explanation, he went over to the closet in the room and began pulling out some of the dresses that he'd purchased for Tamia when December was in jail. He tossed the clothes into the suitcase and repeated the process with Tania's things.

"Tremaine, what are you doing?" Tamia inquired.

Tremaine turned toward her and pointed to the suitcase. "Pack some shit for you and your kid. You're coming to Georgia with me for a few days."

"Why?"

"I'm not leaving you here by yourself so that you can get lonely and find your way back to December's house. Get up and pack this bag." Though he didn't plan on telling Tamia that December was responsible for Heaven's death, he did plan on keeping her away from him. Since Tania was with her, Tamia's presence guaranteed that December wouldn't try anything else. Besides, since she was ultimately the reason Heaven was no longer around, he wouldn't have allowed her to go back to him even if he didn't pose a threat. He wasn't going to let his child's death be in vain. Tamia didn't have to be with Tremaine, but she damn sure wasn't going to be with December.