Cured

Ch. 2

The next day, I found myself outside, walking with Evelyn in the grass, watching the boys playing around, chasing each other around or sitting by the door, discussing what imaginary monsters they were going to hunt in the morning. Evelyn watched them with a smile, then turned to the rose bush behind her.

"I'm going to miss them." She said quietly, carefully picking one of the roses, avoiding the thorns. "We will be gone for a couple months, but I will write all of you letters whenever I can."

"I look forward to it." I said, and took the rose when she handed it to me.

"I'm still a little sad that Damon and I will be leaving so early in the morning that the boys won't be awake yet." She sighed.

"Mommy!" One of the boys shouted, and I saw Tao and Sehun running over to us, Sehun holding something in his hands. "Look what I caught!" Suho said, clearly excited.

Evelyn turned to the two, bending down to their height, and Sehun carefully opened his hand to show her a small yellow butterfly. "How pretty." She smiled. "But you need to be careful. A butterflies wings are very fragile, if you hurt their wings, they can't fly ever again." She warned, and Sehun's looked down at the butterfly with worry all over his  face.

I couldn't help but smile, enjoying how cute the boys were, when Tao grabbed my hand and looked up at me excited. "You smiled!" He said, and Evelyn looked at me, laughing when she saw how startled
I was. "I'm happy that you cheered up. You look pretty with a smile." Tao said, and I bit my lip, tears coming to my eyes.

I bent down to even our height, and I hugged him, a big smile on my face. "Thank you." I said, and he wrapped his small arms around me.

"Here, I'll make you a promise." He said after a few seconds, and I pulled away from him, wondering what he had planned. "Whenever you are sad, I'll promise I'll make you happy. That way you don't cry anymore." He smiled.

I dried my eyes before any tears could fall, and I nodded. "Okay." I smiled again. "And I promise to take good care of you while your mom and dad are on their trip."

Tao nodded, a big grin on his face, and he ran off with Sehun back over to Kai and Kyungsoo. I stood back up, seeing Evelyn smiling at me.

"You're sons are amazing." I said, and she nodded in agreement.

"They are, aren't they." She said with a happy sigh. "You seem to be fond of them already."

I nodded. "They remind me of some very dear friends of mine." I said, smiling, but then the image of Tao hitting his head when he was thrown back by Mee-Yon crossed my mind, and I felt my skin grow cold.

"I'm sorry." Evelyn said, taking my hand in hers. "He must have been very important to you."

I looked over at her, wondering how she knew what I was thinking. "How..." I began, and she gave me a small smile, then lifted my hand up, my engagement ring sparkling in the sunlight.

"I put two and two together." She said. "How long has it been?" She asked.

I looked down at the grass, wiping my eyes, feeling them tear up again. "A few days." I answered, and her face went pale. "He was protecting me when he was pushed backwards. He hit his head, and I couldn't save him."

Evelyn looked like she would cry, and she pulled me into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry dear." She said, and I felt someone grab my hand. I looked down to see Tao holding my hand, trying to cheer me up just as he had promised.

~~~

It was early in the morning when I was woken up by the sound of heels crossing the wooden floor. I had fallen asleep by the window, still in the dress from yesterday, so my back was aching from the corset, but I managed to get up and open my door in time to see Miss Kim pass by my door.