Found Along The Way

Chapter thirty-three

It was difficult for Anya to tell whether her love for Daniel was fading as time went by, or if they were just settling into some kind of domestic routine. It's something that happens for a lot of couples, the excitement drifts away ever so slowly and boredom sits in its' place. The love is still there, how could it not be? But the want for something new can overpower it.

However what Anya wasn't considering was that boredom was not the only thing pushing them apart, there was resentment. She began to resent him and his shouting, or his silence, and his hostile bubble that would burst into a fit of rage at any moment. She hated it, though she could never admit it out loud. The want to leave him was more than them just growing old in the relationship, with nothing new to do together. It was fight or flight, it was needing to escape before she got seriously, seriously hurt. But she wouldn't know that, not for a while at least.

"We're still young, but how did we get to feel so old?" Lina queried, sitting with Joey in the dimly-lit living room of their little home. Her head was on his shoulder, and her Rosie was sitting in his lap, giggling at what seemed to be every word that came out of their mouths, no matter the context. Such a happy little girl.

"Easy, a baby." Joey chuckled, holding Rosie's little hands and clapping them together in time with his words. Lina was as in love with him as ever, that was never a question. But she felt they were already old, as she often thought about. This night, the one before Rosie's first birthday, the clock ticked ever closer to midnight and Rosie was refusing to sleep. She preferred to laugh and giggle into the early hours of the morning, still not getting into a good sleep schedule despite her parents' efforts. However tonight was different to most. Lina and Joey didn't mind her sleeplessness, they were completely content watching her laugh her way towards the clock striking twelve, and being officially being a year old.

"She is still a baby, right?" Lina asked, in a sort of sad nostalgic way that Rosie had grown so much. Sitting up by herself, wide eyed and aware of every single thing, crawling and cruising at the speed of light it seemed. She looked nothing like the little sleeping bundle they met a year ago.

"She will always be our baby Lina."

"Yeah, she will." Lina whispered, quickly checking the time and smiling to Joey, showing him the screen. Midnight. "Happy birthday, Rosie baby." Lina exclaimed quietly, not wanting her daughter to be any more excited, she wanted her to settle down for sleep at some point.

"A year brought a lot with it, huh?" Joey whispered, leaning his head on Lina's, in a sleepy happiness.

"So much. I feel like I've aged ten years in only one."

He hummed a response, agreeing completely. "We should be in our eighties not our twenties." His voice was so gentle, a sweet whisper. They sat in the quiet warmth of each-other's company for a little while, watching Rosie slowly settle down into a sleepy state. After enough time had passed, and her little eyelids began to close, Joey scooped her up and slowly carried her up to her nursery, laying her in the crib and watching as she finally slept. It would only last for a couple of hours, so Joey and Lina decided to get whatever sleep they could catch in that time. Lina took the quiet time before her eyes shut too to look up at the ceiling, the empty cream space, with just enough room for her to lay out and arrange her thoughts. They had grown up so much, so much change and so much time, and she feared that it would slip into some sort of death for their love. Lina loved Joey, but would he always love her? He was smart, handsome, funny, and kind, and could get any girl he wanted. But he chose Lina, and when he chose her she seemed to be a completely different girl. Partying, dancing with him, being young and exciting. Now she may have only been a few years older but she didn't drink, or dance anymore, and the skin under her eyes was stained blue from sleepless nights and so many tears. Yet when he looked at her, he did it with the love in his eyes that he'd had since the beginning, if not more. Which made it so much more painful to think that she could lose that one day, she couldn't bear the thought of them fading from each-other.