Slipping Through My Fingers

Because...

Janette lay on the sofa back at the house, the duvet pulled up to her chin, Little Ali tucked under 1 arm, Angel playing on the floor in front of her. Aljaz stood in the doorway to the living room, watching his wife lay on the sofa, no energy to do anything. She hadn't left the house for almost more than 2 weeks, mostly lying on the sofa or up in bed, her duvet wrapped around her like a burrito, her cheeks stained with tears. She seemed to be worse this time than when the Angels took Caleb....it was the fact that she...they...hadn't even got to know this baby...not the chance to cradle "it" in their arms, telling "it" that everything would be okay....that "it" was safe now. Aljaz went to sit down on the sofa, Janette scrunching her knees up to make space, her stomach still sore and tender from when the baby had been taken. Janette curled up in a ball, taking up as little space as possible, looking straight ahead at the TV, away from her darling husband. "Do you want anything princess?" He asked, breaking the silence. Janette hesitated for a moment before shaking her head, not speaking. Normally she would've said, "no, I have everything that I need right here" but this was different...she barely looked at Aljaz anymore, barely said a word to anyone, only with the occasional comment when talking to their children....it was torture....for both of them...as if their relationship was slowly breaking....drifting apart like 2 ships in the ocean.

"I'm going up to bed," Janette said, getting up from the sofa, the duvet still wrapped round her, kissing her youngest daughter on the cheek she left, not saying a word to Aljaz. Aljaz waited for his children in the school playground, gripping onto Angel's hand, not letting her go. Karen sidled up to Aljaz. "How's Janette?" She asked. Aljaz sighed, "I don't know...she won't talk to me...she won't look at me...she won't let me touch her, kiss her....it seems to be hard enough on her to be in the same room as me," Aljaz said. Karen hesitated, trying to think of something reassuring to say before Aljaz spoke again. "We used to be so in love...thinking nothing could ever break us, how wrong was I hey?" Aljaz continued to say. "You'll get through this...you always do," Karen said in attempt to reassure her friend. Aljaz shook his head, "I don't know....I really don't." Amelia-Lily and the twins came running out of school, Aljaz painted a smile on his face...he had to try to fix things with Janette, for their kids if not for anything else....

They cluttered into the house, chattering about the day, telling their little sister about school life, she was in awe of her older siblings. Aljaz started preparing dinner, trying to distract himself from his wreck of a relationship. Sasa and Leonardo snuck upstairs in search of their mother. They found her curled up in her bed, her eyes fixated on the TV but not really paying attention to what was going on in the show. The twins clambered onto the bed, nuzzling against their mother. "Hello my babies," she muttered. "Dad's sad," Sasa said. Janette adjusted her position on the bed, "why's he sad?" The twins sighed, "because you don't love him anymore."