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Life After Love: Part 7

Serena and Marley Series

By Sharlene AlbaPublished 6 years ago 7 min read
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Photo by Vanessa Serpas on Unsplash

SERENA

I was up to my last can of shaving cream apparently. I shook it until I squeezed every drop out and threw the can inside a plastic bag before heading back up to the beginning of the homemade slide.

"Hey, kid. You ready to try this masterpiece out?" I asked the little girl with Gabe's dimples and her mother's bouncy hair, as she sat at the beginning of the tarp I brought over to the farmhouse from one of my projects. It was my day to babysit apparently, and I had no idea what kids this age liked to do. So I looked up some ideas from the internet and found something that didn't involve her touching my IPad or phone. Slides seemed like the coolest way to entertain a four year old, so we drove to the nearest wholesale store and bought about a hundred cans of shaving cream, spraying them along the tarp as the hose water kept it wet enough until it was completely covered in white foam.

"I'm ready," she stated shakily, and I could tell she was still afraid. I rubbed circles on her back, hoping to ease her into it and she took a deep breath as she sat down on the tarp.

"On the count of three. One... two... three!" I yelled and pushed her until she gained some traction and began to slide down the tarp, her little body covered in shaving cream as she shouted with joy. Smirking, I took out my phone and began to film her as she ran back up and took another trip down.

"I knew leaving her alone with you was a bad idea." Michael's voice startled me and I raised an eyebrow at him when I noticed the deep cut on the side of his head, as I resumed to film Giselle enjoying herself on the slide.

"Who gave you a key to this place? And what the hell happened to your face?" I countered and he shrugged as he smiled and waited for Giselle to come back up to grab her in his arms for a hug.

"I might have fallen off a bull last night. Daniel's going to kill you when he sees this mess he has to clean up." Michael tried to avert my attention to the backyard full of shaving cream as he let Giselle go and smiled as she started giggle.

"I love how you say that with such finesse and aloofness."

"Hey, I needed the money. I spent every dime of that check Gabe left for us," he explained as he brushed off the shaving cream from his clothes.

"On what? You've been in jail this entire time," I reminded him and he smirked as Marley surprised us as she entered through the patio and stepped into the back yard. My babysitting shift was over and she agreed to take Giselle to her place until Freddy was done doing whatever Freddy did these days. Judging from the awkward silence between Michael and Marley, I knew something must've happened last night between them. Whatever it was, it wasn't good at all.

"Giselle! Your knees are all scraped up, honey. Come on, lets go get you cleaned up," Marley insisted when Giselle reached us, taking her hand as she escorted her inside.

"What'd you do to her?" I asked, smacking Michael's chest, ignoring his glare of death as we walked towards the pergola covering the patio, sitting down on a couple of lounge chairs.

"I don't kiss and tell," Michael answered with a saucy grin and I shook my head. So that's why Marley was in such a crabby mood today. She finally managed to break her celibacy pact and I'm guessing the experience was wasted on Michael, whom she despised at the moment. I don't know why she was doing this to herself. Sex was just sex. It was made to be enjoyed, not to complicate anything. Yet here I was, about to be five months pregnant with twins. Maybe things weren't as simple as they used to be. Maybe things only got more confusing as we got older.

"Bullshit. But I don't need the details. I just want to make sure she's alright," I pointed out and he shrugged as he slouched into the chair and looked over the lake a couple of yards away from the house.

"I'm fine. Danny's home. And he wants to yell at you and Giselle before we go," Marley interrupted, her arms crossed as she completely disregarded Michael's presence and waited for me to stand up. I sent Michael a warning glance before heading back inside the house. I found Daniel putting bandages on Giselle's knees as I entered the kitchen and he shook his head the moment he saw me.

"Can't believe you would let her get hurt like this," Daniel scolded. I sighed as Giselle and I looked at each other. She didn't even look like she was dying. What was everyone so worried about?

"Giselle, did you have fun with me today?" I asked the little girl and she nodded, giggling when she hoped off the bar stool and ran back outside, no doubt to take one last ride down that tarp.

"She's fine. Relax," I insisted, snaking my arms around his shoulders to give him a proper greeting, which involved kisses and hugs.

"Boys are worse, you know. They like to climb things and jump everywhere and eat everything. I think we need a bigger house..." Daniel rambled in worry and I smirked as I pulled away from him just as Marley and Giselle entered the room.

"Bye-bye Uncle Danny! Bye-bye Auntie Serena!" Giselle said her goodbyes, jumping into Daniel's arms on her way to the door. He held onto her tight and covered her face with kisses before letting her go. The kid seemed more comfortable around everyone now, and I had the feeling it had to do a lot with whatever Michael has been whispering into her ear to get her to loosen up.

"That little girl looks just like Gabe. With better hair," Michael claimed as he joined us just after Marley closed the door behind them.

"Did you stop by to eat all my food again or is there another reason why you're here?" I teased and Michael chuckled as he and Daniel greeted each other with a fist bump, Daniel heading into the kitchen for some pre-dinner snacks.

"I wanted to ask you for a favor," he answered, a sliver of mischief in his eyes as we sat down across from each other on the sofa. Daniel sat on the armrest behind me, munching on some cheese crackers as he placed his hands on my shoulders and began to massage them.

"I want your help in designing the beach house on Sylvan Beach," Michael continued and Daniel and I shared a surprised look before we turned to him again.

"You're the private collector? But how? You've been—"

"In jail. Yes, you've mentioned that. I asked Rita to take the money Gabe had left for me to buy the beach house. I didn't want anyone else buying it while I was in there." he paused for a moment and looked away as he scratched at his growing scruff.

"And the money you won last night?" Daniel questioned, while Michael reached into his back pocket, taking out a piece of paper, and handing it over to me. My eyes widened at the half a million dollar check in my hand and turned to him again.

"I want you to turn that house into everything Marley could ever want." he proposed and I swallowed hard, wondering if I was breaking girl code by not telling her about this grand gesture. She didn't look like she wanted much to do with Michael anymore. Did it really matter that he was practically declaring his love for her with this beach house?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daniel and I decided to head into town after dinner since we had run out of sweets at the house. We walked hand in hand towards the ice cream shop, Daniel opening the door for me as I entered and my mouth watered as I looked through all the flavors they had on their menu.

"Red velvet again?" Daniel offered and I grinned, placing a kiss on his lips as I nodded.

"Yes, please. I'll be outside when you're done," I informed him before I exited the ice cream shop, my gaze glued to my phone as I answered some texts and managed to bump into a stranger. When I looked up to apologize, I stopped cold when I saw who it was.

"Aaron?"

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About the Creator

Sharlene Alba

Full of raw and unfiltered fluid poems, short stories and prompts on love, sex, relationships and life. I also review haircare, skincare and other beauty products. Instagram: grungefirepoetry MissBeautyBargain Facebook: grungefirepoetry

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