At the park, an intense game between Anthony, Dawn and Fayth was taking place.
The name of it was Octopus. It went like this: The octopus would be somewhere in the middle of the field, and that field would consist of an ocean the octopus lived in, on the two other sides of the field were shores. When the octopus calls out 'octopus' those who are one side of the shore must run, surpass the octopus, and get to the other side safely. If they are caught, they become seaweed.
At that time, Anthony and Dawn were safe on the shore and Fayth was the octopus. The two had crossed the ocean four times now, and she had yet to catch either of them. It seemed as if they had a secret language that they passed along in-between them to trick Fayth.
On the sixth crossing, Fayth was finally able to wrap her arms around Anthony. Bubbles laughter for not being the one who got caught jingled in the air. "Faith caught uncle Anthony! He's seaweed. I win!"
Anthony's whole body grew still as it was tightly pressed against Fayth's. He stared down at her arms wrapped around his stomach. His heart pounded. His smile widened.
Man, I love this game.
Fayth, who was happy that she finally caught someone, held onto Anthony and spun him around. "I caught you! I caught you, you slippery little dev–" Noticing Dawn, Fayth cut off what she was going to say and put him back down.
When it was Anthony's turn to be the octopus, he would only chase Fayth in his ocean, seeing this as a chance to get free hugs from her. This upset Dawn, who got tired of running back and forth between the shores without anyone chasing her.
"Daddy, you be the octopus. Uncle Anthony isn't being fair." She said, walking over to Lexis.
Lexis, who sat on the nearby bench under the tree, scowled at him. "Treat the game fairly Anthony." He resumed peeling the apple he held, then cut a slice for Dawn to snack on as she played.
"But daddy," Dawn whined, chewing at the apple. "I want you to play with us."
Before Lexis could argue, she grabbed his hand and began pulling him to his feet.
Lexis sighed and stood, and before long, another game was on.
The rules of the game changed. No matter how many times Lexis caught Dawn and threw her in the air or spun her around, she can still be safe, because, like she said, that's her daddy and it's okay.
Anyone else? Out.
At one point, Lexis caught Dawn, threw her in the air, and while holding her up, with her back to him and her arms sticking out, he ran towards Fayth, trying to catch her, and Fayth would laugh as Dawn's small arms tickled her, yelling, "Now you're stuck in the ocean with us!"
Anthony ran towards them, taking ahold of Fayth's hand and pulling her away, being her knight in shining armor like always.
It was smiles. It was happiness. It was simplicity and carefree. It was the most memorable moment Fayth will take on with her, will fall back to at times when the broken pieces of her existence were too sharp to endure.
It was her first time seeing Lexis this way. He looked like a different person. His smile was never more similar to Anthony's. A smile she had grown to love so much. Seeing it on Lexis made her feel sudden comfort that was missing. She was no longer afraid. Was no longer alienated from the kind of person he was.
He lived past it, whatever it was. Now its time for you to do that too, Fayth.
She could now see the man Dawn complimented, the brother Anthony looked up to. She could see the care radiate off of him for the two most valuable people in his life. He didn't need anything more than them. The fulfillment was there, showcased in front of her so beautifully, it brought jealousy to the surface of her brain.
YOU ARE READING
F.A.I.T.H.
Romance"I was broken. Nothing, no one could fix me. Until you came into my life again. I wish I had gone with you that day instead of him. Because, now I can't imagine how I spent the previous years of my life without you by my side. You are my savior. You...
