He turned to face Rose and began conversing with her. He asked her how physiotherapy was while he was gone and if she had fun without him.
“Mr. Raphael, you’re the only fun man I’ve ever met, and I was very strong when you were not here. But Mummy was there sometimes, so it was fine”, she responded.“I missed you a lot, Rose. Thank you for calling me funny too, I mean, in a good way, that is. To show you how happy I am, why don’t we go out for some ice cream?" Raphael asked,“well, I don’t think mommy would allow it”.“Well, since your mother and I are good friends, there will be no problem, I want to get you any flavor you like for being such a good girl okay. Come on”, he stood up and helped her put her crutches in place, clueless, she accepted and left out the door with him and into the car.***Marianne sat motionless on the sofa, hoping that Raphael could just come back with Rose. ShChapter Twenty NineThe next evening Marianne and Lucy were pacing around the kitchen and living room impatiently waiting for George.“Are you sure he told you that he will be here or was that another lie? What if he has just forgotten about all this?” Marianne kept asking.“You have got to stop with all your negative questions and answers, for real this time”, Lucy answered back.Even though Lucy kept asking Marianne to calm down, she herself, kept opening and closing the curtains to check if George had arrived, she kept checking her phone incase she missed the notification as well.There was always something about the evening that Marianne found confusing, how was it that the most peaceful time of a day would also turn out to be the most risky part as well? Even back when she was a child, she always noticed that most of the arguments between her and her mother usually started in the night time, but since they were both lovers of the
Chapter ThirtyThe feeling of her heart racing was driving Marianne crazy, her hands trembled so much that if she was asked to hold anything, the object would drop to the floor. She tried to fight back all the terrible things that were running through her mind for the sake of Lucy and George, yet she didn't know if she had to be mad at them too for keeping the news a secret."How could this be? This is a lie! You can't possibly…. " tears ran down from Marianne's eyes and George reached out to try and comfort her,"No! Don't touch me! You knew that this was my father but you never told me, you kept it a secret from me this whole time, and for what!?" She yelled.At that point, Marianne stood up to keep her distance from the man she called a criminal, the man that claimed to be her father."Lucy, why are you so quiet? Tell me that this is a joke, please!""Marianne, I'm just as shocked as you are right now, I had no idea that you were my sister thi
The next day had arrived and Marianne was getting more and more impatient. She tried hard to keep that to herself but not all of it would stay hidden. Lucy noticed that she was stuck between losing hope and having the will to still fight for her daughter.Sometimes, her eyes lit up when she saw more armed bodyguards arrive at Lucy's house. The search was becoming more and more real, nothing like what Marianne thought it was going to be. She imagined that the solution she had in mind would have worked better, easily informing the police about the missing girl and then putting it all over the news and in the newspapers, on posters as well.She imagined that anyone would have called the police back and given them leads to Raphael because he would have been the said suspect. Marianne, at some point, even went to George about it, just so she could understand exactly why he decided to call off her plan."Marianne, do you really think that the detectives under the law are du
"Marianne, how could you let this happen?!" Greg raised his voice at her as if she were a teenager who didn't know what she was doing..."Weren't you on the pill?"Confused as she was, Marianne could not find the words to respond to Greg's ridiculous questions. Honestly, what did he expect from unprotected sexual relations? A dog in a gift box?"Aren't you gonna say something to defend yourself?" Greg insisted that she answered him with a face so angry he'd be capable of harming her.Considering the safety of her daughter and her unborn child, Marianne calmly replied, "I don't know what happened, I'm so sorry.""You better be, we're not having this child, one is enough trouble." He commandedMarianne's heart sank as those words played through her mind, feeling all sorts of emotion in that moment she could not object. All she could do was stare....
"MOM! MOM! MOMMY! MOM!..." Marianne's attention was drawn to her six-year-old daughter, Rose, who needed her urgently. "What's wrong, baby?" Marianne asked, snapping out of her thoughts.Rose pointed to the overfilled peanut butter on her bread. "You put too much peanut butter on my slice!" Marianne gasped, quickly washing off the excess and drying her hands with a paper towel. "What a waste!" she exclaimed, disappointment etched on her face.Marianne's mind had been preoccupied with the day's news - an unplanned pregnancy, unwanted by her boyfriend, Greg. For ten years, six months, and twelve days, Greg had emphasized the struggles of raising their daughter, Rose. He never seemed ready for the responsibility, making Marianne feel like she had forced him into parenthood. Despite her stability and readiness for another child, Greg's reluctance loomed large.Feeling off for days, Marianne suspected she was pregnant and confirmed it with a home test. The positive result sparked fear about
As Marianne shut the door behind her, Greg exited the bathroom, drying his light brown short hair with a small towel while another body towel wrapped him from the waist down. Despite their troubled relationship, Marianne couldn't help but notice the attractive man standing before her. "Six feet of a whole hunk, but no brains," she thought to herself, a hint of sarcasm in her mind."I thought you were cleaning the living room?" Greg asked, breaking the silence. Marianne snapped out of her reverie and replied immediately, "I wanted us to talk before you left." But Greg was in a hurry, and his response was curt: "But I told you I needed to leave urgently, can't this wait?"Marianne tried to explain, but Greg cut her off again. "You look tired and sick; have you been to a hospital?" He asked with sudden concern, his tone a mix of worry and annoyance. Marianne's tongue felt heavy, and she struggled to respond. She wished he could read her mind or predict her thoughts like he had during her
Night fell, and Marianne felt elated all day, thanks to Greg's sudden change of heart towards the surprise pregnancy. She had been cleaning all day while Rose played at her friend's house next door. With boundless energy, she vacuumed and mopped every room, washed dishes, and put clothes in the washer. She even dried them outside, remembering her mother's advice: "What better way to kill germs than with the scorching sun?"As she prepared a special meal for supper, her mood leaned towards spaghetti and meatballs, a dish she excelled at. Rose finally came back at four, and Marianne ran a bath for her. After dressing Rose in her nightwear, Marianne started putting the food away in warmers and setting the table. She took Greg's offer to ask for whatever she wanted on his way back, requesting a vanilla milkshake and a burger with extra cheese and mayo.As soon as she finished washing the dishes, Rose called out, "Mommy, I'm done!" Marianne rinsed her hands, dried them, and headed to the ba
Marianne came to and found herself laying on a hospital bed, in a hospital gown and connected to a drip. Greg was seated right next to her dozing off at the edge of the bed while Rose was fast asleep on the sofa right across from her bed, her head was pounding like someone were drumming on it and she felt sick to her stomach.She lay her hand on her tummy and woke Greg from his snooze, "my baby? Is the baby okay?", she asked with tears in her eyes."You're awake! Nurse!", He called out to a nurse immediately.Marianne held his hand tight before he could step away, "Greg, my baby. Please tell me"He put his other hand over hers and finally gave a response,"I'm so sorry my love, we lost it",Marianne put her hand over her mouth as tears started to flow down her cheeks, she gasped and let out a loud sob."Why? How? I was just fine and...." she looked up to him and anger immediately filled her heart."What did you do?", She asked him hitt