Fatal wounds

4

Valentina

I run my finger over the cool, dusty glass. A smile touches my lips and I can't help the laugh that tumbles out of them.

"Mommy stop!" I laugh as she hugs me from behind. Her fingers are brutally assaulting my ribs making me choke on laughter.

Mom's laughter rings in my ears. She's always had a very pretty laugh, it makes my skin prickle with goosebumps.

How is she this strong? We're basically the same height, her measuring at five eight and me at five seven and yet she still lifts me in the air with her arms around my midsection.

"Happy birthday, Sweetie." She laughs setting me down, still keeping her arms around me. "Do you feel old yet?"

I gasp looking at her over my shoulder, "I'm only twenty!"

"I know." She cups my face and soothes my skin with her fingers. "I remember the day you were born. I was the happiest woman on earth, still am today." She places a soft kiss on my cheek, I lean into her cherishing her motherly sent.

The shutter sound of a camera pulls my attention away from my mom. Dad stands at the back door with a camera in his arms grinning. "I couldn't resist."

Instead of placing the picture in the cardboard box to be sent to dad's new place I place it in my bag.

I remember her laugh perfectly. I hear it in my head like a melody, playing over and over as I think back to my twentieth birthday.

Her laugh still is the most beautiful one I've heard. Nothing can top the sound of her laughter showcasing her happiness.

The feeling of her holding me in her arms and laughing in my ear is something I'll never experience again but it's also something I can never forget. Something that'll be cherished forever, in my heart.

Today is the last day dad and I will step foot into this house. His apartment is ready, it has most of his stuff, and a family is ready to purchase this place.

This is the last round of taking stuff over. I take the last few boxes out to the u-haul and step foot inside the empty house hearing my footsteps echo.

It's almost unrecognizable now that it's empty. The walls no longer have the marks mom and dad drew on as I grew. Every foot and inch that was documented is now covered by white paint. The walls no longer have pictures of me as I grew. All my phases that I went through as a teenager no longer hang on the walls.

Mom's knitted table cloths aren't sitting on any coffee tables and her favorite pillows don't decorate the couch.

All the small furniture is gone. One couch and the dinner table is all that's left in the main rooms, the bedrooms still have beds with new mattress and bedding. The couch where we sat at for family movie night and the table we ate together at everyday for almost eighteen years are staying here. They're both staying since dad's place is too small for them and his place comes furnished.

I walk down the hall one last time, entering each room. And mentally saying goodbye to the place I grew up in. I pause at my childhood bedroom. The walls are no longer a light shade of pink, it's replaced by white.

The big window looking into the backyard no longer has the curtains mom and I picked out from Walmart, it has blinds.  The long mirror that mom and I would look in as she stood behind me telling me how beautiful I was, no longer hangs on the wall.

None of the hand made crafts mom and I used to make are in here anymore.

I gently close the door and walk back out seeing my dad close up the u-haul. "I'll drive it over." He smiles hitting the back door twice with his palm. "You can meet me there if you want?"

"Yeah." I fish out my keys and click the button to unlock my car. "Are you leaving now?"

He looks over my shoulder, his gaze drifting to the house behind me. "I'll uh... give me half an hour. I'm going in there for a bit."

I hug him before I go and drive to his apartment that's around the block from my place. I wait in the driveway scrolling on my phone as I wait for him.

I check my messages, looking for a specific text. I sent a few listings to my client last afternoon, a few penthouses in smaller places of Chicago and some in The Loop which are the most popular on the market right now.

Theo: I've viewed all the listings, all are beautiful places. The last one captured my attention most, is it possible to set up a showing?

I quickly type back a message asking for his availability so I can set up a date and time with the landlord since he'll be renting.

I haven't seen Theo since our meeting a few days back, but his words from one month ago at the bar still ring in my head sometimes.

You'll be okay.

It's not what he said, it's how he said it. He said it like he believed it. He was convinced that one day I'll be okay. It wasn't some unreachable goal of mine, it was something not only myself but he believed I could accomplish.

A few minutes go by before he answers and we set up a showing for a few days from now to view the apartment and see if he wants to sign his lease that day or not.

My heart jumps out of my chest when dad taps on my window with his knuckles. "You coming?"

I gasp letting out a small chuckle. "Yeah." Dad's apartment is more like a studio apartment. It doesn't have walls to divide the rooms, it's one room with the living area, kitchen, and his bed. His bed is in one of the corners hidden from the rest of the room.

It takes hours for dad and I to unpack the u-haul and get all of his boxes into the apartment.

I open up the box labeled bathroom and put all of his toiletries away. The bathroom is a small space but it has a rack on the door for towels and a rack in the shower for shampoo bottles.

I grab the curtains from the box and hang them on the shower bar. The matching mat goes right by the shower door and the hand soap bottles go neatly on the edges of the sink.

My ears perk at the notification buzzing from my phone. I flip it over reading a message that makes me smile.

Brooke: Is he settled in yet? Am I allowed to bring champagne as a house warming gift?

We're still unpacking but don't let that stop you ;)

Brooke: wasn't going to. Go open the door ;))

I shake my head grinning at my phone as I walk to dad's front door. "I came bearing gifts!" She says holding the bottle up as the door flies open. My eyes are immediately drawn to her hair.

Her dirty blond that used to hit just above her butt has been cut to her mid back. The new length is accompanied by curtain bags, the blonde streaks falling to her face complements her green eyes beautifully.

"Oh my god Brooke." I gasp, pulling her into a hug. The champagne bottle in her arms rests cold against my stomach as she squeezes me. "You look amazing!" I pull away, twirling a strand of her hair between my fingers.

"Yeah?" She grins, "I thought it was time for a change."

"Brooke is that you?" Dad asks coming behind me. He gasps taking in her new look. "Never did I think you would cut off all that hair." He shakes his head and pulls her in for a hug.

Brooke was always against the idea of shorter hair. She preferred long hair over everything. I on the other hand trim my hair every two months, my hair is almost always just under my shoulder blades.

"I brought you a house warming gift." She pulls away and hands him the bottle. "To celebrate the new place."

"How lovely." He sends her an appreciative smile and motions us to the kitchen where he pulls out a few glasses.

For the first time in a while I see dad really smile as he pops open the Champagne bottle with a loud pop. Bubbles spill over the top and drip to the counter making him laugh as he pours our glasses.

"Thank you. Both of you." He smiles clinking his glass with ours.

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Have a nice day! ♡