Flowers

Chapter 10

Caesar had gone back to the base when I began feeling like normal. I still had a slight cough but that was really it. The weather had also died down and only gusts of wind swept through.

I woke up alone for the first time since I got sick. The feeling was weird and I didn't like it. Not being held in the night or having someone's protective arms around you. I clung to a pillow as I looked through the lace curtain. My mind wandered to Caesar.

He had treated me so well when I was ill. He had reminded me of my mother. When I was ten I came down with an awful illness. The doctor came out and said it was just a bad case of flu and to keep an eye on me. Since my brother was away with dad at some kind of convention thing in the city my mother treated me greatly.

She would make me all kinds of foods to help me feel better. She practically babied me for a whole week before I began to feel better. She would read to me, play with me, and pay attention to me. Something I hadn't gotten.

When I had begun feeling better my brother and father arrived home. I was hopeful that my mother would continue to treat me the same but I was mistaken. I was tossed to the side, worse than before. I wasn't even there to her. She missed her son so much that her daughter was no longer a person.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt a tear run down my cheek. Quickly I sat up and wiped it away. I couldn't remember the last time I cried and I wasn't going to start now.

I got up and got ready for the day. I walked through the house, feeling more empty than normal, and headed to the kitchen. I made myself a quick breakfast and went into the living room. Riley sat on the couch snuggled into a blanket. As I went to sit down I noticed a gray hoodie laying on the arm of the couch.

"Caesar's hoodie." I thought as I picked it up. I brought it close to my chest and breathed in the scent. It smelled just like him making me miss him more than before.

Quickly I ate breakfast and headed outside to see what the rain had done to my plants. Riley trotted next to me, her paws making prints in the muddy spots of the pathway. A cold breeze ran through and I shivered. My hair swept behind me.

I prepared myself for the worst. "Ok ready Riley," my voice carried in the wind. I opened the gate slowly to find my planter boxes. Some flooded and some seemingly fine. I sighed in relief. "Omg I can't believe nothing is completely destroyed." I whispered to myself in awe.

I looked around at my plants and yet still couldn't believe nothing was destroyed. "My flowers!" I ran to the back of the garden. As I neared the planter box I saw the hint of green. Then I noticed the box was full of flower buds. Some bigger than others and some barely peeking from the dirt but still there.

"No fucking way!" I jumped around happily. I was finally growing flowers and they survived a rain storm. Things are turning out great for me right now. "I just can't believe it." I put my hand on my forehead.

I tended to the garden for the rest of the day. A few of the boxes were flooded so I took my time in taking the extra water out without hurting the plants growing inside. I was extra careful with the flowers, like they were my children.

Riley got into a muddy patch and came back covered so I spent the evening cleaning her off, getting absolutely soaked in the process. I was happy. Happier than I've been in a while. I had my dream guy, my garden was turning out great, and everything was turning up for me.

That night I showered and made myself dinner. Now here I sat on the couch in sweats and Caesar's hoodie he left eating orange chicken and rice. A fire going with Riley gnawing on a bone I bought her a while ago. I heard the door to my house open and close. I freazed but when I saw Riley peer up and then go back to eating her bone I knew who it was.

I jumped up happily and ran to the door. Caesar stood at the door holding a small bouquet of tulips. He had a small box with him. I looked up at him and he looked nervous. His mask was off and was in the pocket of his jeans.

I went up and hugged him. "I missed you." I breathed him in as he returned the hug. "I missed you too. I got you flowers and umm.. Something else." I released him. I took the flowers and looked them over.

They were pink and red tulips. They were absolutely beautiful. The colors on each petals mixed with lighter shades of the other making a swirl like effect.

"They're beautiful." I whispered awe struck at how pretty they looked. "Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman." Caesar said. I flushed and his my face behind the flowers before going to find a vase. I took out a vase from the cabinet and filled it with water before placing the tulips inside.

"Come I have a fire going." I tugged at Caesar's hand as he followed me into the living room. As we sat down I saw his eyes travel to the hoodie I had on. "I see you found the hoodie I left you." He smirked. "I did, thank you for leaving it." Smiling, I leaned into him.

"So what's in the box?" I questioned. The box was simple. I little a purple box, nothing special. It wasn't very big and could maybe hold a necklace or a ring.

"Well." He handed it over to me. I pushed myself off his shoulder and took the small box in my hands. The sides were smoothed over and I could barely find the opening. Slowly I opened the box to find a necklace with a silver flower. The flower was simple and had a small pink stone in the middle making it stand out.

"Wow" I whispered as I picked it up. I held it to the light and watched as the fire reflected off the stone making it shimmer with each flicker of the flame. "I love it," I went and kissed Caesar's cheek quickly before looking back at the necklace.

"I got the flower because that's kind of how we got to where we are. When I helped you plant the flowers." He snaked around my waist and pulled me close to him. I placed the necklace in the box and onto the coffee table.

I leaned back with Caesar as he cuddled me closely on the couch. "I missed sleeping with you." I mumbled softly into his chest. I drew small circles along his shirt. "I can tell," he chuckled at me.

"You know I haven't received a gift from someone since I was fifteen." I mumbled. I felt Caesar's muscles flex under me. "How so?" His voice nearly a whisper. I stayed quiet for a minute. The crackling of the fire filling in the silence.

I wasn't sure if I was ready to tell him. "Would he treat me differently? I can't afford to lose him." my mind raced with thoughts until I blocked them out. I was ready and I needed to tell someone just to get it off my chest.

"I had a brother," I started, my voice barely a whisper. "He was gifted with the mind of a genius. He could solve any math problem you threw at him. My parents nurtured this gift and gave him anything he could ever want or need. I, on the other hand, was treated differently." I clung onto Caesar's shirt. He stayed still, rubbing my back, and listening.

"I was often forgotten and casted aside. I get it, my brother was this amazing thing but they forgot about me. I had ended up raising myself. I learned everything in either a book or the rare chance my parents acknowledged me. At the age of fifteen my parents left in the night with my brother. I was left alone. They never came back and still haven't. I was left here all alone." I felt tears sting my eyes.

I pushed myself into Caesar who began hugging me tightly. More tears flooded my face and I sobbed. I sobbed for the first time since I can remember. I let everything out that I had built up. The ruff wall I put up now crumbled before this man.

Caesar stroked my hair and encouraged me to cry it all out. Only when my tears ran out did I stop crying. I still clung to Caesar like he was going to leave me like my parents did.

"Flower," Caesar started. The nickname caught me off guard but at the moment I didn't care as much. "I promise with everything in my body that I will not leave you. No matter your past, or mine, I will stay with you until the end." Caesar spoke to me. His voice soothing in a gruff way. All I could do was nod. I was exhausted from my crying fit.

I curled up into Caesar as he held me. The same protecting feeling I got when I was around him returned. I closed my eyes and let myself leave the past behind. I now focused on the future, my future with Caesar and what it would bring us.