Marla sat on the floor of the living room holding onto Angelo watching him dance to the music she had on hoping that he would attempt to take a few steps. She laughed at him as he fell down making his diaper make a nose. "Angelo. You are something else." She said picking him up carrying him to the walker that was sitting on the floor next to his sister. Marla turned them toward each other so they could look at each other while she ran to see what Rosie was doing outside. "Moooommm!" she heard her oldest daughter yell at her.
"Whaaaattt?" Marla exclaimed seeing her daughter who had climbed up a tree above the family's pool.
"Look!" she exclaimed. "I'm going to live up here!" she told her mother.
"Well, what are you going to do for food, mija?" she asked as she looked at her daughter perched perfectly in the tree.
"I'll eat what the birds bring me. And I'll hunt like Katniss." She told her mother.
"Rosalia. Please come down. Your cousins are going to be here soon." She told her daughter without being dramatic.
"I'll wait for them here...." She said laying her head back looking through the leaves. Shit. What if she has a seizure up there? Marla thought to herself glancing into the room to see the babies still sitting next to each other. When I think these things, they usually happen. Marla continued to think to herself.
"Get down now or I'm calling your father, and he's asleep right now and would not appreciate it." Marla responded in a firm tone. "I will give you five seconds...." She looked down at her watch counting. "One...." She paused watching her daughter remain her spot. "Two...." She kept her eye on her daughter glaring at her. "Three.....Rosalia Diane. Come down. I don't want you to get hurt." Marla said concerned walking closer to the tree feeling that her daughter was going to get hurt.
"Fine..." Rosie answered moving her feet to the edge of the tree climbing down the slim trunk of the tree slipping slightly as she neared the bottom falling backwards into ther mother's arms starting to shake.
"Damnit!" Marla exclaimed running into the house chased by the dog who knew exactly what was going on. She held onto her phone telling it to call the hospital.
**
A few hours later Marla sat next to Rosie in the hospital holding her phone in her hand waiting to hear from Bruno who she had called in the middle of the night. She started shaking knowing that he was nearly 9 hours ahead of her and had a busy schedule ahead of him. She laid her head next to Rosie hoping that she was going to wake up her same spunky self. Instead she was laying in the bed with her eyes closed and fluttering between small rebound seizures. Marla ran her fingers across her daughter's smashed curls singing her a song that Bruno had sung to her when she was in the hospital when she was 3 years old.
"Mar? How did you know that song?" she heard her brother come in sitting next to her.
"What do you mean? Bruno sings it to her...." She told him.
"But he sang it to her when she was sick the first time..and that was before you got sick..." he explained to her. She shrugged her shoulders not sure how to respond.
"I don't know. Sometimes things from the past just pop up. Like there's something there that brings it back to me. I had no idea. It was just something that I thought I needed to do..." she said looking at Rosie feeling her phone vibrate. "Stay with her..." she requested getting up holding the phone. "Bruno....." she said in a shaky voice.
"Marley...it will be okay. She's going to be fine." He reassured her/ "It will be okay." He said again. "I'll be home on Saturday. Just take some deep breathes, momma. Just take some deep breathes. Everyone else is there." He told her.
"Bruno...why does this happen?" she asked him. He didn't answer her right away. "Bruno?" she asked again.
"Baby, it happens because you and Rosie are the strongest most amazing girls in the world. God only puts us through what we can handle. It may not seem right now, but boo, if we didn't go through half the crap we've gone through I don't think we'd be where we are today." he explained to her.
"I guess you're right." She said to him. "I need you to come home. I can't do it." She admitted.
"Yes you can, Mar. You can do it." He told her again. "I love you."
"Marla?" she heard her brother come out into the hallway. "She's asking for her dad."
"Oh...." She responded. "B...she's awake. Will you talk to her?"
"As long as you need me to, Marla." He said moving to a quiet spot in the studio that he was working in. He heard the rustling of the phone and his daughter's weak raspy voice.
"Daddy?" she asked holding the phone close her ear.
"Hi, mama. How are you feeling?" he asked her sweetly.
"Daddy....my legs and my head hurt. I need you to make them better." She smiled into the phone making Marla smile at her brother who was sitting next to her.
"I will be home soon, mi amor. Just be strong, okay? And remember the song." He told her singing her a happy song about being strong that he sang her a few weeks ago when she fell off her bike.
"Daddy, mommy misses you. She cries when she goes to sleep." Rosie told him.
"I cry too, Rosie. I love you." He said to his daughter. "Can I talk to your mom?" he asked.
"I love you too, daddy." She said handing the phone back to Marla.
"Hey, mommy." He said sweetly to her. "Be strong. I have to go." She heard voices behind him knowing he really was busy.
"I love you, Bruno." She said to him waiting for his response.
"I love you too. I'll be home soon." He said starting to hang up the phone.
**
Dear Marla,
Today Rosie had a seizure again. You were right there when it happened. You said it was a mommy thing that I wouldn't get because you could feel it happening. She's going to be okay, Marley. She'll be fine. She will have to take more medicine for a while but she'll be back to herself before you know it. Mar, you're so strong and amazing. You asked me why you have to go through this. I can't answer that question, but I do know that you and our daughter, and the rest of us will be stronger for it. And you being any stronger than you are now, that means trouble. You could beat Omar. Like that's how strong you are. Okay...that was silly. I love you. I'll talk to you tomorrow.
Bru
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The Good Life
FanfictionThis is my first fanfic. SInce I've written several more, but this is my baby. It's been on tumblr for a good while now, but if you haven't read it, I think it's pretty fab. Bruno is just starting out when he takes the time to perform at one of his...