Forever yours

Chapter 9 Part 10

Fate had never been kind to Marie and that night she was forced to reveal her past to someone that she wanted to spend her future with. The funny thing was that it was not by choice. She had gone to bed early claiming she was tired but the truth was that she needed to think.

She was trying desperately to protect the babies and she was calling to Jeff to help her but he was walking away in the other direction and Craig was standing over her with a gun, pointing it at the twins.

'Please don't hurt them, please don't'

She tried to shield the babies with her body but someone was pulling her away.

'Marie, you are dreaming, look at me.' But she was caught up in the nightmare.

'Don't let him hurt them, please don't let him hurt them.' She woke up when Jeff shook her hard.

'Marie, it is a dream. They are fine. No-one is going to hurt them 'He took her hand and placed it on her stomach.

The dream had been so real.

'This can't go on Marie. You have been having this nightmare since I met you. I want to know what it is about and why you keep having it.'

'He killed her and I couldn't stop him.'

Jeff held her tight. 'Who?'

Marie looked up at him her eyes filled with torment and pain.

'Craig killed our baby.'

Jeff stared at her in absolute horror. This was not something he had ever expected to hear from her. She had never mentioned her ex-husband's name but he had heard the others talk about him.

'Do you want to tell me more? ' he asked quietly. He did not want to hear it but he needed to and she was talking to him about it for the first time.

'I can't...............'

Jeff could see her distress and did not want to upset her. He laid her back against the pillows and then climbed on to the bed next to her so that he could hold her.

'Go to sleep. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again.'

Marie turned on her side and cried while he stroked her hair. Jeff was at a loss and horrified. How did he handle this situation? My God, why would anyone want to hurt his own baby?

She calmed down a while later and then turned back so that she could face him. It was time.

'I don't know why I married Craig. I think I was lonely. Robbie was in KZN doing his internship and Megan had already passed away. Mother was making my life a living hell and he made me laugh. The first year was pure bliss but then he lost his job and started drinking and gambling. The alcohol made him violent and he started hitting me.

Jeff curled his hands into fists. His face was thunderous.

'I was working in the corporate world and earning good money and I wanted to divorce him but he told me he would take everything I worked for away from me. You know the circumstances I grew up in and the prospect of losing what I had worked so hard for made me stubborn so I stayed. He got more violent and started taking drugs, which he paid for by stealing money from me. We had separate bedrooms by then but one night he got home drunk and he ............'she shuddered and then started crying again.

'He hit me and then he................I couldn't stop him.'

Jeff drew in a sharp breathe' his knuckles were turning white. They were sitting up and she was hugging her knees.

'I fell pregnant from that night and then I moved out in the middle of the night.' Her voice was strangled with emotion.

'Oliver and Richard offered for me to stay with them until Robbie came back. I was six months when Craig came round demanding money to pay loan sharks that were after him. Oliver and Richard had gone to the supermarket to get me some ice cream . He started hitting me but I fought back because of the baby but he was stronger. He smashed my head against the wall. Oliver and Richard pulled up as he pulled out a gun and shot me. He ran away and Oliver tried to stop the bleeding while Richard called the police and the paramedics. Oliver saved my life that night and now he is gone.'