When The Stars Align

Chapter 83

I woke at 7.30. I was already late at that point. I heard Sarah walking around the house already and I headed to the shower. When I came back, to get dressed I stared at the figure sleeping on my bed. James was turned on his stomach and his mouth was slightly opened as he breathed. I sat by his side, just watching him. Ever since he had lost his father that things twisted, plus touring didn't help. James was still not that close to his father, but when he was told his father was dying of cancer, that was another stab in his heart. I tried to talk to him, but James is a master in hiding and disguising his feelings, though I knew he was aching inside, he'd always tried to show he was alright. On tour, I could only imagine things got out of hand, he had no one near to control him, the kids were not there to make him feel responsible. One of the reasons why I thought he didn't ask me to go was exactly the fact that he wanted to numb the pain, and he used booze for that. I discovered, then, how serious his problem was.

"Babe..." I whispered with tears in my eyes and ran a hand over his hair. "Please, don't drag this shit to our house." I said. James stirred and I pulled my hand away, but his eyes opened, and he looked at me.

"My head aches." He said, taking a hand to it.

I thought about telling him a few things, but it was too early in the morning to fight and talking to him while he was hangover wasn't a good option too, so I shut myself up. "You have aspirins in the cabinet of the bathroom and I'm gonna leave you fresh coffee in the kitchen." I told him getting up. I was hurt, I felt left behind, even betrayed, as he came back home to leave right after. I was about to leave to room when he called my name.

"Andrea..."

"Yeah..." I answered with my gaze on my feet, as I didn't want him to see the tears flickering in my eyes.

"Is it ok if I pick you up for lunch?"

"Do you think you can handle lunch with me and Tyler?" I asked back. God...I just wanted to yell at him, but since he was offering lunch, I had to give him a chance.

"What time can I pick you up?"

"I finish at one o' clock today." I said and then I closed the door behind me.

"Were you talking to dad?" Sarah asked as she passed by me.

"Ready?" I asked. On that part, having Sarah so grown up was great, because she did all by herself now, I didn't even had to wake her up.

"I have to have breakfast yet." She said.

"Go ahead, I'm going to wake up Tyler." I said. Sarah went down and I walked to my boy's room. He was still sleeping peacefully, and it broke my heart every day I had to wake him up so soon. "Wake up gorgeous." I said grabbing him up in my arms and kissing him. "It's so soon isn't it?" Tyler didn't say a thing, he was barely keeping his eyes opened. I took care of him, as in every morning and by the time we got to the kitchen, he was already awake.

"Sarah..." He ran to her as he got in the kitchen. Sarah was just lovely with him and she let him sit on her lap. She was very tender, and she began to kiss him, she definitely had a special passion for her little brother, maybe because he was so little compared to her.

"We have to hurry up." I said sitting at the table with my two children. Tyler was sat by my side, as I had to help him with his food. Sarah was sat in front of me and rather silent. "Is everything alright sweetie?" I asked her and she nodded her head, but then she lifted her eyes and I knew she had something to say. "What is it?" I insisted.

"Dad came rather late last night. I heard his truck and then I saw him sleeping on the couch."

I didn't know what to tell her. Saying he was feeling sick was stupid because she was almost a teenager and she could understand things pretty well, the least I could do was to try and make things less ugly. "You dad drank a bit too much with his friends, it happens sometimes." I said.