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Life After Love: Part 8

Serena and Marley Series

By Sharlene AlbaPublished 6 years ago 10 min read
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Photo by The Phope on Unsplash

MARLEY

Giselle had fallen asleep in my arms again, and I couldn't bear to move her just yet. She was sleeping so peacefully, so comfortably in my embrace, I didn't want to wake her until Freddy came to get her. This has been our routine for the last couple of weeks now. We all took shifts looking after her, but she spent most of her time with me or Freddy. I'd like to think she almost preferred it that way. I hoped she did. I felt just as protective of her as I would for my own child.

When I saw headlights flashing across my front windows, I took it as a sign Freddy was here to pick her up.

"Is she asleep?" Freddy asked quietly when he entered through my front door, his keys dangling from the door as he pulled them and closed it, walking towards the sofa where Giselle and I were laying comfortably.

"Yes. I made her some Mole and she knocked out right after her bath." I answered, chuckling as I remembered how Gabe used to do the same when I cooked him my infamous Mole.

"Would you mind if we crashed here tonight? I'm exhausted," he suggested and I nodded, letting him know it was fine by me. I loved having them over.

"I'll put her to bed and take a quick shower. I'll meet you out on the porch in a few," he added, and picked her up with his good arm, holding her close to his chest as he walked over to the stairs and climbed up to the guest bedroom I had set up for her. The room had once held a full sized bed and a couple of nightstands and a dresser. I put all that into the garage when Giselle began to spend more time here, and switched it out for a kids bed, with a dresser full of her clothes and pajamas and whatever else she needed. Her taste in clothing was a bit peculiar for her age, but I found it amusing that she preferred wearing her baseball cap backwards and her shirt around her waist. Just like her father did in high school. She was like him in so many ways, I didn't see an ounce of her mother in her anywhere besides her wavy curls and her sassy attitude. Watching that little girl do pretty much anything filled me with joy and I felt the maternal side of me crave one of my own sooner rather than later.

"Are you cold?" Freddy asked me when he joined me out on the porch and closed the door behind him, offering to place the throw blanket laying on my porch swing over my shoulders.

"You warm me up just fine, Freddy," I teased and he smiled smugly, stepping in behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling me into his broad and firm chest. All of the tension in my body began to dissipate as soon as his lips kissed my neck, lingering there until I turned to rub my cheek against his. This is what I craved to come home to every night. A man who adored me, a stable relationship that didn't involve any tension of any kind unless it was the sexual one. I knew Freddy was ready to give me that. And I was almost sure I was ready to let him.

We got closer these past couple of months as we practically co-parented Giselle and we juggled our busy work schedules as well. It was a good preview of what my future with him would look like with a couple of kids of our own running around. I turned to tell him just that, that I was ready to start the family we always talked about having but something stopped me. Maybe it had been all the times I was standing in this exact same spot, putting all my faith and love into a man who had done nothing but hurt me.

I knew Freddy was a changed man. I couldn't keep holding his past mistakes against him. He'd shown me just how much he had changed when he decided to walk into a burning building to save the life of a little boy and his dog. There was also a tenderness I'd never seen in him before Giselle came into our lives. He loved that little girl as if she were his own, and I'd be blind not to notice how much he wanted kids of his own as well.

"I was going to save this present for later, but I just couldn't wait to see your face light up," Freddy interrupted my heavy thoughts and pulled something out of his pocket. He handed me a picture and I almost cried due to all the cuteness in the picture.

"You got a goat! He's adorable..." I answered excitedly as I looked at the baby goat with a blue ribbon around his neck.

"Not just any goat. His name is Billy and he's got a new mommy now," he corrected, his grin widening as he handed me the blue ribbon Billy had been wearing in the picture.

"You didn't! When can I see him?" I asked and tried to contain my excitement as I hugged him, careful not to hurt his injured arm. It was healing faster than the doctors had predicted. In a couple of weeks, he'd be able to take that bandage off and he'd be back to normal.

"Any time you'd like. You have my keys," Freddy reminded me as he covered my face in kisses. I couldn't help but smile and hug him tight. I didn't know why I started to cry, but I ended up soaking his shirt and it alarmed him enough to pull away from me.

"Hey, I know goats are cute but not this bad. What's wrong?" he asked and I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt as I recalled what happened between Michael and I at the rodeo. I loved Freddy. And there's nothing in the world that would stop me from marrying him right now except Michael.

"Something happened last night. Between Michael and I. And before you get upset—"

"Marley, stop," he pleaded, pulling himself further and further away from me as he began to pace back and forth on my porch. He was angry and I didn't blame him. I've been playing this game with the two of them since Gabe's funeral and I wouldn't blame him if he decided he had too much piled on top of him already to add relationship problems to the list.

"I'm sorry," I apologized and he stopped pacing then, hanging his head in defeat before he turned to face me.

"I love you," he countered, walking back towards me, dipping his fingers into my curls as he craned my neck up so I could look at him, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but if you need to be with Michael right now, I know you're worth the wait. So please, do me a favor and try not to run back to me unless you're absolutely sure I'm what you want," he finished and wiped away my tears as he placed a lingering kiss on my forehead and then one on my lips. I held onto him for as long as I could until he pulled away from me and left me to sort through the mess I thought I had all figured out.

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

I didn't get much sleep at all. Getting up earlier than usual seemed like the next best thing to do considering Freddy had already taken Giselle home before I woke up, and I was alone again. I showered, brushed my teeth, ate my breakfast on my way to the office. I went about my normal daily routine until my days turned into weeks. Weeks of sleeping alone, being in uncomfortable silence with my own thoughts as I weighed the pros and cons of the men who had been causing somewhat of a stir in me. If I wanted my happy ending, then Freddy had been right all along. I needed to get Michael out of my system for good.

Biting my lower lip, I pulled up to Danny's farmhouse after work, where Michael was currently crashing while Danny and Serena put down roots in their old place. Killing the engine, I hopped out of my car and closed the door, then continued to walk down the path that would lead me to the barn behind the house. I spotted Michael hard at work as he scrubbed the horses down with soap, and rinsed them off with the garden hose. His t-shirt was soaked through and his shorts were as well. I swallowed hard and stopped dead in my tracks as he took off his shirt and turned to look at me. He looked surprised to see me here and I didn't blame him. I was surprised I had the guts to come here and say what I had to say as well.

"Can we talk for a second?" I asked and he nodded as he turned the water off and shook the excess water off him before he walked towards me. He stopped barely a foot away from me, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes holding my gaze as he waited.

"I'd like to call a truce. I don't want to argue anymore," I started, and he tried to read my face before he answered.

"Is that what you think we've been doing?"

"Don't do that. Don't be nasty when I'm trying to be the bigger person," I stated firmly and he looked away as he nodded.

"I'm sorry. Continue."

"As I was saying—" I began again, and he stepped closer to me, pursing his lips as he tried to hold back his smile. The little shithead just couldn't help pissing me off. He burned a hole right through my patience and I wanted to wring his neck for it.

"You were saying?" he repeated and his gaze lowered down to my lips, distracting me briefly and I shook my head until I focused again.

"It's obvious that you and I have some weird chemistry going on and I wanted to know if you would consider...assisting me in trying to tame it," I suggested, and he responded with the lifting of his eyebrows.

"Are you saying you want me to fuck you until you get tired of me?" he corrected crudely, and when I pursed my lips, he began to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"A lot of things actually. One being that you think you'd be the type of girl who could just fuck whoever she wanted without feeling a thing. The second being that you think so low of me that you think I would agree," he argued and began to walk away.

"That's not what I think at all," I fired back, following him back towards the barn.

"Well then you're full of shit because I know you think I'm trash. I know everybody else thinks it too. You ain't the first girl to look at me as a big disappointment, Marley," Michael continued and I just couldn't hear him putting himself down anymore. I pulled at his arm and took his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me.

"You're impossible to talk to, you know that?" I claimed, and he smirked, pulling me closer against him, wetting all of my clothes out of spite.

"I've heard that, yes."

"So shut up and let me finish," I ordered and he seemed impressed by my assertiveness, enough to give me his full attention. "I want to give us a try. If it works out, great. If it doesn't, we'll deal with it then."

"Fine. Just don't fall in love with me and I'll do whatever you want," Michael agreed nonchalantly, throwing in his contingency before closing the deal with a kiss.

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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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