A World That Is Not Mine

LVI.

"Are you okay?" Lori asked---letting her hand fall gently on his rib.

"No," he shook his head. He was kind of squinting. "I'll be honest, I got into a fight at the bar, tonight."

"Oh my God," she paused. She slapped his face---not hard but to get her point across.

"Ow..." he said aloud, but calmly.

"Why didn't you tell me that? You could've gotten hurt worse. What on earth is wrong with you? What did they do?" she asked.

Christopher propped himself up in a more comfortable position so he could talk and not feel pain. "I am probably fine, I just got kicked and kneed in the ribs. There is probably a fracture, but it will heal. If I go to the doctors they are just going to tell me, rest."

"What started the fight? Where was Lindsey and--"

"I will tell you how it started all the way to how we get here." And he did. He told her what led to the fight, where Lindsey was and all of the things after. He even mentioned how he was in the county jail for a while but Lindsey bailed him out. It was a long thing that he wasn't actually supposed to tell but he felt it was right to let his wife know. He didn't want her thinking the worse. They were on the brink of a divorce, but what if it was just the honesty that was about to save it?

~

Stevie arose to the sunlight coming through the window the next morning. She looked over at Lindsey and smiled at the fact that he was still there. She knew it must have been early. Being pregnant, she was getting up at the oddest times; not comfortable, hungry, or just restless. She wasn't having the best night and she knew when she got to the later months, it was only going to be worse.

She started to slide out of bed and slip into her slippers so her feet wouldn't be cold, hitting the hard wood floors. She also slipped her robe on, over her nightgown. That was one thing she didn't love as much. She loved her little silk and lacy nighties with the robe to match and go over top, but she had to go for the wider kind of nightgowns due to her stomach protruding outwards. They were comfy and she liked them, but in her sleep she felt restricted, especially when a hot flash washed over her.

Getting downstairs, she flowed through quietly. She didn't want to wake her other family members in the house. When she got to the kitchen she was ready to make herself some tea and just write in her journal. She had been chronicling her whole pregnancy and everything she felt. She wanted to always remember how she did feel, so she could look back and feel the moment. It was easy for her to fall back in time and just feel how she did; good or bad.

As she pulled the barstool out, she heard the refrigerator shut. She jumped and realized it was just her brother. "You scared the hell out of me!" she whispered harshly.

"You scared the hell out of me too," he abided. He then went to sit next to her. "What are ya doing?" he looked into her journal.

"Writing..." she said bluntly as her cursive marked the page effortlessly.

"Oh..." he nodded and looked away. He only recalled her doing that when she was a teen and he would read her book and she would get mad. He just wanted to save himself from getting punched now.

"So, you told Lori?" she lingered as she continued on in writing. She was able to multitask when writing. She only knew because the high strung aura had gone out of the house. There was a lot of relaxation and mending of the hearts. Her heart felt lighter.

"Yeah... How did you know that?" he asked her. He was calm, not really wondering how she knew. He knew his sister had an idea of what happened. He never liked details into her life of how she knew things. He knew his sister was magical. But Stevie would never use that word because, she thought it was more natural than anything.