Hate Me Love Me

34|His Most Precious Painting 🎨

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"Crying is how our heart speaks when our lips can't explain the pain we feel." --- Jellal Fernandes.

֍҉֍҉♥҉֍҉֍

Valerie Dornan

Jo holds my face in her soft hands and tenderly wipes away my tears. I suck in my lips and take a couple of deep breaths before swallowing the lump in my throat.

I'm stronger than this!

'Shh. I'm here, ok. She can't do anything while I'm here,' Jo coos, and I nod, calming down.

My father had burst through the door and shouted out 'Surprise!'

Then, he'd come to me first and said 'My Baby!' before hugging me, and I'm proud of myself for not crying in front of him.

I missed my dad.

He reminds me of my mom though, and that makes me cry.

I help Julian move his game consoles, personal stuff and blankets down to the basement, and feel happy because of the smile on his face. He's always wanted to stay in the basement, saying something about it being cooler for gamers. And my father and Megan will be in his room.

A bunch of wires and plug extensions come tumbling down the stairs to the basement, and Julian and I rush to see what's happened.

Dylan's standing there with wide eyes and his hands clasped over his mouth. He removes then and looks down at his feet, shuffling them before saying a quiet 'Sorry.'

I walk upstairs and take him into my arms, tickling his small frame enough to make him laugh, and let Julian pick up the mess on his own.

In the lounge, everyone's talking about hospitals and holidays.

'Yep. I didn't sign up for the holidays working committee this time, so Megan and I were able to make it,' he says, patting the small bump on his wife's belly.

Jo gives me a look, so I smile and continue playing with Dylan.

'Thank god! Now we can finally spend Christmas with the family,' Roland says.

They talk about our other relatives, who can't make it here because of the terrible snowstorms in their areas, and I avoid the looks I keep getting from Megan.

And then my father turns to me with an innocent smile and says 'Can I check your laptop? Let's see how much work you've been doing.'

Megan shifts on her side of the couch, and I walk upstairs to retrieve my laptop. 

The sun's almost fully set, and the street lamps haven't turned off, but there's a bright light coming from outside. I walk over to the window and peer down.

There's a recognisable car parked lazily on the edge of the driveway, the headlights still on, but nobody seems to be sitting in it. 

And then I see a familiar figure sitting on the front steps of the porch, with his head between his knees.

Safe to say I look halfway insane as I rush downstairs, slow down and straighten my sweater, before opening the door and meeting a cold, frosty breeze.

Alaric lifts his head slowly and turns around, and I can see that he's shivering slightly. When he's standing up and facing me, I smile widely and say 'Hey, why didn't you knock?'

He just shrugs. I shake my head and walk over to his car, pulling out the keys from the ignition and shoving them into my jeans pocket.

'You're coming inside,' I tell him, and he gives me a small nod and there's an indistinguishable look in his eyes as he walks in behind me.