8

4

I sat down after a crazy day at the hotel.Being at the checkout desk may not seem very crazy,but believe me.You do not want about 14 rowdy college boys coming in a hotel,acting like they own the place on your shift.

It's over now,at least.Now,I could finish season four of Pysch,my favorite show.

Jennifer heard the theme music,(I Know You Know) and her 7 year old feet came racing down the hall and she leaped over the back of the couch,and landed on the cushion.She loves Pysch just as much as I do.

Unfortunately,since it was 5 P.M, that meant,most adults were home and turning on their TV,making it harder for Netflix to function.So,we got buffering.Lots and lots and lots of buffering.

Eventually,I turned off the TV altogether.Jennifer and I sat in silence for a few minutes.Then,she said suddenly,

"How did you and Daddy meet?"Her green eyes staring in my direction,her head cocked to the right.

The images filled my mind,first,the happier ones,when I was loving Tristan,sort of,it's really hard to explain.Then...ooh.It was...painful.That's all I'll tell you.

Then,I went to the life I had before Tristan.It made my heart stab with actual pain.I pursed my lips.I had great grades,amazing friends,a mesmerizing love story growing in my life,the BAM!Tristan hit me,like I was a tree hit by a hurricane.

That changed everything.My world was topsy-turvy,upside down and inside out.Whatever you wanna call it,it was torture.

I finally managed to stutter a sentence,

"That is a story for when you're older."

Jennifer looked down,disappointed.

"I can handle it,Mommy!"She whined.

"No,you can't,"I said,shaking my head.

"Okay."She huffed,and went to her room.

What was I doing?Tristan did horrible things to me,and made me love him,and what was I doing?Sitting in a house Tristan and I bought,married to Tristan, and raising a kid Tristan and I had.And I was enjoying it.He made me feel like he wasn't making me.

The counseling helped him out a lot,and he no longer goes ballistic,but...

Maybe,in that shed,I needed to be saved by Nathan.But if he saved me...

Jennifer wouldn't have been born.

Jennifer was the nicest girl in the entire universe.She was sweet,kind,and she doesn't have a boyfriend(Tristan was eternally grateful),and she does whatever she can to help whoever she can help.

She's blind,but,what does that have to do with anything?

Maybe I didn't need to be saved.Tristan needed help.I don't blame him.I can tell he wasn't always the way he was in that shed.

Who knows his backstory?Honestly,I never really thought about it.

I was gonna find out.And I knew somebody who might know.