I had been in this room all day yesterday and had only seen the boy and the little girl, so far my injuries had been skillfully bandaged and my left leg had been tied to a straight wooden block leaving me unable to walk without assistance and judging by the footsteps of the children after they left yesterday I'm assuming that there's a decent amount of stairs leading down to where I need to be to find out exactly where I was, and since no one was coming up it seems like I needed to do this myself
So with a sign, I grabbed the side of the bed and painfully lifted myself up, after a while what seemed like 10 full minutes, I made it to the door and slowly opened the wooden door clutching my side
As I was heading to the dreaded staircase a now familiar sharp pain attacked my head and I ended up stumbling I had hoped that the wall would catch me somehow but unfortunately, it didn't instead two rough arms caught my elbow and wrapped their arm around my hip making me wince
At that moment something strange happened, like a shock to my arms, no to my whole body a pleasant, ghost-like caress that made me unable to hold in a gasp that came filled the empty hallway
We were silent, both of us frozen in the embrace, my back to his chest, his palm on my lower hip, his breath on my ear. Even though I couldn't see his face something told me that this man and I were somehow meant to meet
+++
Seven hundred and thirty days, six months and five hours. I've been counting the days like I count how many years I've been on this earth, it's become an obsession for me, something to keep me going, something that I count on... literally. It's been seven hundred and thirty days, six months and five hours since he left me.
Since he died.
And I think for the first time in those seven hundred and thirty days, six months and five hours I'm ready to consider the possibilities, maybe just maybe I can fall in love again
"Mother why did you call us all here if you're not going to say anything?" said Kyle breaking me out of my deep thoughts
I look around at my sons who were looking back at me like I had on trousers, today I had gathered them in our sitting room, today was the day that I was going to tell them about him, about the man that has been slowly making me smile, the man that has made my grief bearable as of late "I have something that I have been wanting to tell you boys" started Dot "I know that lately, I have been... "
I took a deep breath as I tried so hard to keep eye contact with them, if only they didn't have their fathers eyes then this would be so much easier
"Distracted" I finished eyeing my four boys who nodded simultaneously
"That is because I have found a friend... a male companion"
Silence, their faces were blank off all emotion as if they were frozen "A male companion?" Elmer echoed his face still void of emotion
"Yes, a male companion" Dot repeated, "He is a wonderful man who has made me realize that grief doesn't have to take over my life, that Dermot would have wanted -"
"Father loved you" interrupted Elmer a shimmer of rage showing on his face
Dot was startled, she knew that her sons would be surprised, shocked even but she thought when she explained what a wonderful man he was then they would be able to understand that she felt ready to move on from her husband's death, that she was ready to move on from the grief
"Yes I know that sweetheart and I love him too but-"
"And you're ready to replace him only after two years?" Anger was now visible in his person, his face was scrunched into an ugly scowl, his eyes heald disgust and his body were shaking violently. Dot had only seen her son this way once and she never wanted to experience that ever again in her lifetime, or the next
"Elmer-" Kyle started but was interrupted by his triplet brother Aren the smartest and most emotionally calm out of the four
"He's right mother" Aren Winscott the one Dot thought would be on her side no matter what said " Father has been gone for only two years... don't you think it's too soon"
Dot was saddened at her son's reluctance to accept her decision she looked at youngest son Vice who had not said anything since Dot's announcement "Vice?"
Vices eyes met those of his mother, ever since their father died Vice had hated to watch his mother crumble while he could do nothing to help her, he felt useless and swore that if there was anything he could do he would do it, and here he had a chance to help his mother, she said that she wanted to move on from the grief but all Vice could do was look away from his mother's pleading eyes, all he could do was think of it as a betrayal of his father if he gave his mother his approval
"Do you all disapprove of him?" Dot asked and when all her son's said nothing she felt a familiar pain in her heart
"Are you still going to meet him?" asked Elmer and now it was Dots turn to be silent
"Mother! You're still going to meet him even after all of us disapprove?"
Again silence from Dots end which made Elmer make a sound of frustration, Elmer could not believe his mother, it had only been two years, two years since the love of her life died and she wants to replace him with a Squire from God knows where. Elmer knew about his mother's 'companion' he hired a stable boy to follow his mother ever since she started acting strangely a few months ago, what he heard from the stable boy made his blood boil but not enough to be concerned, he had thought that his mother was just trying to distract herself from the huge loss with the Squire, the same way he was distracting himself with the whores and female entertainers deep in the red district, well not nearly the same at least he hoped not
He had thought that this friendship with the Squire was just that, a friendship and would never escalate into anything more, but looking at his mother's pale but bright face and rosy cheeks made him think that he was wrong to have let them; his mother and the Squire continue their so-called "friendship", he was angry at himself but mostly at his mother for letting herself be swayed
So angry that he wasn't able to stop himself from saying what he said next
"He's not as serious about you as you are him mother" Elmer's voice suddenly taking on a cruel tone" And I think you've noticed this haven't you"
Dot was shocked not at his words but at his tone, never in his fifteen years had her oldest son ever talked to her in that tone even his brothers were shocked at Elmer's behaviour
"Excuse me?"
"You're a rich widow who's overcome by loneliness, he's just taking advantage of that loneliness and you're letting him" he continued " "Please tell me you're not that stupid mother!" And at that I stood making the chair I was sitting on fall back with force, I never let anyone talk to me like that and I wasn't going to let it start now, even if he was my son
But before I could put the boy in his place he was already on the floor clutching his nose, blood seeping through his fingers and Kyle was standing over him breathing hard and clutching his bloody knuckles and his eyes glowing a bright unnatural green colour, a look I'd never seen before on his face
That was the day I discoverd that my family wasn't as normal as I thought it was