Family Forever (Book 5 in Nemi Forever series)

Chapter 8

Nick

I was too angry to even cry when I got to the guest room. I couldn't believe Demi slapped me, let alone grabbed my throat. I was stunned & wondered if she was stunned that she did it. The more I went over the argument in my head, the more I didn't exactly blame her. This fight came out of the blue & shocked me so severely that I got scared. I said some awful things to Demi & throwing her past in her face was uncalled for. I messed up. I shouldn't have said all the things I said. And most of all, I should never have lied to Demi about sleeping with Samantha, even if I had promised to take it to my grave. I should have at least come clean once her & I got back together. I hoped she would forgive me. I wanted to go to her now, but I was still kind of angry & I think we both needed time to cool off.

I laid on the bed, thinking I'd fall asleep, quickly, since it was pretty late. I checked my phone & saw it was almost 3 a.m. Demi & I had been arguing for almost an hour. I really wasn't tired & my mind couldn't stop thinking about the fight with Demi. I felt horrible. I started wondering if she'd forgive me for lying to her. Would we be okay? Was this going to change our marriage? Would it make us stronger? Or eventually tear us apart? These were the thoughts in my head as I dozed off.

I woke up, not realizing, at first, where I was. I looked around the spare bedroom, then it hit me. Demi. I needed to go to her. I needed to apologize. Again. I grabbed my phone off the bed next to me & saw it was almost 10 a.m. I went to the bathroom to relieve myself, then splash some water on my face. When I looked in the mirror, I had a reminder from the night before. I lifted my chin to see I had several scratches on my neck & jawline, two of my wounds were scabbed over. They looked pretty bad. How the hell was I going to explain these to people? I sighed as I wiped the water off my face with a towel. I wiped at my wounds on my neck, thankful that looked a little better once I cleaned them off.

I headed to our bedroom, hoping I'd find Demi asleep, so I could climb into bed & pull her into my arms, where I'd smother her with kisses. I felt like crying, now, thinking of how I must have hurt her. The stinging I felt on my neck was nothing compared to the pain I inflicted on her last night. As I approached our bedroom, the door was open a crack. I pushed it open & saw the bed was empty, made up in a messy fashion.

"Demi?" I called out as I took a few steps into the room. "Demi?" I said, louder. She wasn't in here. Maybe she was downstairs. As I turned to leave the room, I saw a piece of paper on Demi's pillow. My heart beat, loud, in my chest as I retrieved the paper. I held my breath as I read it.

"This isn't the marriage I thought it was. This isn't the marriage I dreamed about. Can't do it anymore. I'll make sure someone brings the twins to see you soon.

~Demi"

I read the note about a dozen times, before I crumpled it up into a ball & angrily tossed it across the room. Can't do what? Can't do our marriage anymore? My heart was breaking as I realized Demi was running away again. Just like she did when we dated. Things get bad & she runs for the hills. Tears were filling my eyes now. Tears of anger & frustration. They weren't tears of sadness, surprisingly. I had shed so many of those over the years, that now when it concerned Demi & leaving me, yet again, I couldn't be sad. I was just mad. I sat on the bed, trying to breathe through my anger.

I figured Demi went to her mom's to be with our children, so I'd eat something, check my sugar, shower, get dressed & then head over there. I hoped she would talk to me. I hoped I could convince her to not give up on us. I hoped she wouldn't keep me from seeing the babies.

I saw Demi's car in her mom's driveway when I pulled up, so I breathed a sigh of relief. I knocked on the door & a few minutes later, Maddie opened the door. Her eyes were wide when she saw me, then she gave me a small smile, looking down at the floor.