What Life Stole From Me

Chapter Forty-Two

We went to bed that night with Sarah fingering her neckpiece. She wouldn't take it off,She insisted on sleeping with it.

"You know what I'm going to do to you,young lady? It might tamper with the safety of your new found love there."
I said,looking at her with rapt fascination.

"Oh yeah?" Sarah's eyes flared up with charged desire. There we go.
"Come.." She said,dragging me to bed.

I mistakenly landed on my wounded fist and I let out a grunt noise of displeasure.

"Oh God. What is---" Sara started and she stopped mid sentence. Wide eyed She took a close examination of my fist. "Jesus Christ. What the--" she stopped again as realization dawned on her. "I did this.. Oh My God. Es,I did this. Lets see it. Oh My God."

"Calm down Muffin. Please,its fine. I got it treated. I only just landed on it mistakenly,thats all. It doesn't hurt." I tried to comfort her.

Her eyes got heavy with tears and I moved to kiss Her... "Now... Where were we,Mrs Alcaraz."

                       ************

One week later,Esteban,Simon and I boarded a plane to Coastal Town. Forty five minutes later,we were at the front door of Home I grew up in,the home that I'd always known.

Simon brought out our luggages as I caught Esteban gauging my reaction,that action made me freeze mid-step.

"What in God's name happened?" I  asked quizzically as I stared at out totally renovated home.

"Uh nothing. Just a little renovation. Thats all." Esteban said.

"A little? Es,this is looking like a house in the Maldives,you call that 'a little'.. I almost swore we missed a road. Christ. And you never mentioned anything? This is too much. Es." I uttered,as I walked to the now modernized porch. It was like a totally different house from the one I grew up in.

"Oh baby." My dad came out the front door,happily receiving us.
Behind Him were my mom and Judith.
I was so happy to be back home after almost two years. It felt heavenly.

The house looked totally different,the old furniture and electronics were all replaced with modernized versions,it was a total refurbishment.
Esteban and I took my room,while Simon comfortably settled in the boys quarters.

                          *********

"Have you thought of a name yet?" My mom asked through a chunk of food.
It was a Saturday evening and we were all having dinner cooked by my ever so good cook of a mother,Esteban sat beside me and next to Him was Simon.

"If its a girl,We'll call her Cherry." Es answered.

"No way in hell. My granddaughter shall not be called 'cherry'." My mom protested.
Oh there we go. The two never got along,they never agreed on anything.

"Oh mind you,its my daughter,not yours." Esteban shot back.

"Listen Mister Man,You better have a rethink." My mom scolded back,everyone on the table laughed at their never ending drama.

"And if its a boy,we'll call him 'Murphy'." Es said.

"Oh Jesus Christ. How do you come up with these names of gothic gods names. Pathetic."

We finished off dinner as everyone was forced to listen to my mom and my husband disagree on everything and anything.

It was 8:30pm and We resorted to watching TV in the sitting room when we saw that 'The Avengers' was showing.
The last thing I remembered before I dozed off on Esteban's chest was hearing them argue,my mom insisted that Chris Hemsworth was a better actor than Liam Hemsworth,and of course,Es disagreed.

"Have you ever seen Liam's movie?" Esteban Asked.

"Jeez,are you serious right now?" My mom countered,and with that,I slept.

                          ***********

Esteban agreed to extend our stay to ten days,and just like the blink of an eye,it came to pass.
I had a nice time with my family and when it was time to leave with my husband,I got emotional.

"Its your time to visit now." I said as I hugged my mom.

"I'll fly them to you anytime you want,Muffin." Esteban said.

"Oh hey look we got here,'fly'... What,Are you an angel now?" My mom scolded her son inlaw.

"Yes,haven't you heard,woman?" Esteban retaliated as He hugged my mom. "I'll miss your trouble." He said against her neck.

"I'll surely miss yours more." She answered as she roughed his long hair. He kissed Her cheek and we were off.

                        *************

It was on a Thursday,Esteban was at work and I was driving back from the hospital.

I heard my phone ring.

"Hey muffin."
"Hey handsome. You know,its unfair that after all these months,I never came up with a nickname for you."
"Well I guess that fits just fine."
"Ey.. Cocky,are we?" I teased.
"Yes. Listen Muff,can you come over to the Empire? Lets finish the paperwork?" He asked,careful to trigger some emotion.
It took us a battle of ten months to get me to agree to sign those papers,Still not comfortable with the idea,I inwardly winced.
"Alright.. I'm on my way." I said.
"Okay See ya babe. Love you."

I dragged my long protruding stomach into the foyer and up to Esteban's office.

"Hello beautiful." Esteban rose to His feet to kiss me. "How you doing buddy?" He rubbed my big stomach.

Simon was sitting on the white couch.

"Hey daddy." I kissed him back.
We said Hi with Simon and I sat on the couch.

"You shouldn't be driving Muff,I told you that."

"Doctor said its healthy to exercise,I'm expecting in two weeks." I protested.

"Driving isn't exercising,Muff." He said.

                        ********

After signing the papers,Esteban,Simon and I talked and laughed about random things,things that included our trip to Spain,Bunõl.

Esteban rose to His feet and excused himself to get into the rest room,while Simon and I continued talking.

"Where that boy Josh? I miss Him." Simon said.

"Oh He should be coming this weekend,even. I miss him too." I replied.

Our attention immediately steered to the loud sound of displeasure that came from the restroom,we immediately rose to our feet as Simon pushed the door open.

"Es!" I cried.
He was lying on the floor,both hands holding the lower side of his left breast,He was clearly in pain,and I screamed and cried.

"Call 911!" Simon shouted,and I gathered strength to do just that.