Brooklyn

Chapter Twenty-Three - Arielle

Arielle had never felt so alone. She presumed it was her pregnancy hormones because she had never been this bad before. For the past few weeks that she had been with Jaxon, focusing on their family, she had been trying to get in contact with Zac but he had not told anyone exactly where he was going. So she used the PO Box that she had used for Jaxon but she wasn't getting any replies back. She was confused and didn't understand why, especially when Jaxon was responding to her letters using the same PO Box. In her next letter, she therefore asked Jaxon about Zac.

Arielle,

Zac has been getting your letters but he's not been allowed to reply. He's been training as part of the Infantry. He's been doing really well, his six week training lasted three because of his knowledge. He'll be only working part time as a soldier though, I believe that he wants to be an engineer most. I think he's been considering his future a lot, he's quiet now. I don't know but I'll find out, we're still close.

How's my baby doing? I want to hear weekly updates! I love you, my wife.

Jaxon xxxx

Arielle went to her check-ups as usual but this time, she was alone. She felt herself distancing herself from everyone, putting Nancy in main charge of the store. She stayed at home most of the time, wearing sweats and designing clothes. When Jaxon had left, she had been a month pregnant and was starting to show a bit. Now it had been two months since Jaxon had left. Arielle was surrounded in the sitting room by sketches and designs. The doorbell rang and Arielle got up, moaning slightly at her sore back. She moved through the room of sketches and went to the door. She opened it to see Zac. He had a smile on his face which faded to anxiety when he actually looked at Arielle.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. It's good to see you." She murmured, stretching slightly which caused her more discomfort. He rolled his eyes at her and dropped his bag in the corridor, walking straight past her and into the sitting room.

"My God, Arielle! You're pregnant, not dying! What's with all this junk?"

"Junk?! It's my sketches."

"And you're not sending them off because..?"

"Because I... I didn't want to." Zac rolled his eyes again.

He ran her a bath which she took while he tidied up the kitchen, sitting room and bedroom. Once she was out, which took over an hour (though he suspected this was because she was sitting there rather than cleaning herself up),he had tidied all three rooms and had laid out clean pyjamas for her. She put them on and he came in to grab her dirty clothing and put them in the washing machine. He then took her hand and led her to the bed where he sat her down and sat down himself, pulling her against him. She closed her eyes, not complaining once. She was too exhausted and too drained to do so. He massaged her shoulders and back for her,which helped her so much, made her feel so much better. He then made her cheese macaroni. They ate it and then Zac took her to the sitting room where he put on a movie and they watched it, sat against each other. She was falling asleep on him when he moved, going to leave. She opened her eyes, biting her lip as her heart seemed to sink.

"Where are you going?" She asked in a whisper.

"I have to see Cheryl. See how she's doing."

"Please don't leave me." She begged. He hesitated, clearly torn. He then sighed, nodding and joined her back on the couch where she rested her head on his shoulder and fell back to sleep again.

Arielle felt almost herself again. She felt bad for not paying attention to her friends so she went to see them again and opened the store up. Zac helped her so much emotionally because she felt supported. Zac was the closest thing to Jaxon that she could get to which made her feel better, at least that's what she thought. As for Zac... He had Arielle actually wanting him around and life didn't get much better than that. Plus...He couldn't leave her again because he knew she would go straight back to the way she had been before. The house didn't deserve that treatment.... At least... That's what he told himself.