Secrets? Never.

9. Ah, The Irony

Emily's bare feet were met by the cold embrace of the hardwood floors of the beach house. Its iciness seared through her, from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. Her eyes opened a little bit wider as they adjusted to the darkness around her. She caught sight if a dim light emanating from somewhere upstairs. She stood still and listened. She listened to the sounds of the house; sounds that had once sang her to sleep as a child. She heard the house creaking ever so slightly as it bore the brunt of the wind's rage. She heard the wind chimes outside the door she hadn't yet closed. Lastly, she heard a sound with which she had only become familiar in recent years; the steady in and out of breath from upstairs.

She climbed each step, reliving fond memories as she did so. As she approached the light source in her son's room, she was on the beach with Jack, baking clams with her father, throwing driftwood for Sammy, and watching the sun set on the porch swing. She loved the fact that she not only had old memories to cherish, but new ones she'd made possible herself. It had all been accidental, though. It wasn't meant to go that way, in the beginning.

Flashback;

"You know what? I lucked out, having that Cosmo poured all over that Armani suit!" Daniel laughed, as he and Emily sat on the porch swing a few months after they'd met, watching the sun set into an array of pinks, reds, and oranges.

"I feel like I probably could've made a better first impression to be honest!" Emily returned his laughter, meeting it with a chuckle of her own. "Don't be silly, it was a great first impression, as was your second, and third..."

"When you were a kid, where did you see yourself as, let's say, a thirty year-old?" Daniel questioned, looking into her eyes, which were transfixed by the sunset, which in turn was nearing its crescendo. "I wasn't sure. I always knew I wanted to get married, have kids, you know; the usual sappy boring stuff!" she giggled, eyes still on the sunset, all the while secretly knowing that, by the time she was in her thirties, she wanted nothing more than to be rid of any and all responsibilities, obligations, and Graysons.

It was in that one fleeting instant that Daniel Grayson decided he'd be the one to give all of those 'usual sappy boring' things to her.

Present;

And, in that moment that Emily knew she'd made the right choice. Daniel was where her future lay; she was certain of it. Little did she know, however, that this future she'd truly envisioned for herself wasn't to be.

She approached Danny's nursery, to find her husband, fast asleep in her rocking chair, with Danny in his crib, snoring.

"Daniel?" she prodded him gently "You awake?" He did little more than stir, before she kissed his cheek, and he opened his eyes slightly, groaning "Now, that's more like it!" "Emily laughed and playfully slapped his chest before replying, through her laughter, "We've got to bet to bed; I'd carry you if I could, but sadly I lack the upper body strength, and I feel as though at this point, that's become your forté!"

The next morning, once Daniel had left for work, and the children for school, Emily put Danny down for a nap, and headed back downstairs. She picked up the landline, and dialed. As she waited for someone to pick up on the other end, she fingered the curls of hair that fell from her ponytail. "Hello?" A voice rang out on the other end. "Nolan, how soon can you get here?"

And Emily once again tread the path of so many before her; of Aiden and Takeda.

The stony path of vengeance.

© Sarah Egan 2014 - 2015. All rights reserved. This story is subject to copyright and may not be copied or reproduced without the express permission of the author.