I Never Did Do Mother's Day…
(Alex's POV)
I never did do Mother's Day. Or, 'Mothering Sunday' as others sometimes called it. Either way, I just didn't do it. I wasn't able to.
Even when my mother was still around, we didn't have any money to buy something special. Instead, me and my brother used to go hunting around on the beaches, inside overgrown meadows, beaming with arrays of flowers and towering tree's. By the end of an afternoon, we used to try and make a shell necklace, find a few little coral's and make a small bouquet of flowers ones with the most scented. My brother and I even used to make a map from a ripped piece of paper in one of my few notebooks, to plan where we were going to hunt for the resources. It was one of those memories you couldn't shake away even if you wanted to. And I never wanted to.
The main gift to our mother though, was seeing me and my brother happy collecting all these little things. And if she was happy, we were happy.
Father's Day was out of the question. I never had a dad to celebrate it with and he personally didn't deserve anything from us for even one day of the year. He was arrested for domestic abuse when I was ten. And just two years later… two Mother's Day's later… my mom was killed by a disease. We were both sick but she paid for my medication before she perished with me weeping in her arms.
I was moved to live with my abusive uncle after that. He beat me and my cousin daily with whips from his belt and burns with a piping metal rod. My was brother taken straight into the foster care system. I never saw him again. All the laughter we shared in underneath the beating sun, sand between our bare toes, the sea lapping over the tops of our feet- was gone. He was gone.
A hurricane came next when I was just thirteen, destroying everything I could see. Everyone I knew… and even the field where we used to gallop in heated rays from our sun.
My cousin committed suicide after that… But who could blame him? At the time, I thought it was quite logical. Just his limp body slightly swaying before me trapped with the slight breeze from his window he always kept open, I might even say was desiring.
The police read his suicide note about the abuse he and I witnessed every day and I was removed from my uncle's care. I can only presume he went to prison.
I only had one other family on my island- the Wilson's. Lovely people if I was honest. I stayed with them for about six months before Mrs. Wilson was diagnosed with terminal cancer and they couldn't take care of me. I never made it to Mother's Day with her…
After that, I didn't want to risk being put in a Nevis Foster Home, so I fled the country on a boat at the age of fifteen… illegally… I was never found thank goodness. I didn't even know where this boat was going to! Turns out, it went to New York. And it also turns out, New York Foster homes may have been just as bad as Nevis's.
Hungry. Painful. Cold. Three small words that meant so much. Those three small words basically described my life until I was nineteen. At that age I went to college to study a major of Law. And that brought me to the present.
My life was pretty good at the minute. Friends, money, education and a great dorm room. Every day I was full, comfortable and warm. And that was all I could have wished for. But on top of that, I was happy and on stable ground.
My friends were marvellous. Lafayette, John Laurens, Hercules Mulligan, Aaron Burr, Peggy, Eliza and Angelica Schuyler and Maria Lewis. Always there for me and showed me what it meant to get properly drunk. Aaron and Hercules were the calm of the group- calm and collected. Completely opposite of Peggy, Maria and Lafayette! Jesus Christ! They were a literal tornado of energy! Angelica Schuyler was a lot like me in ways. Strong minded, independent, extremely intelligent and sharp-tongued. "Un petit lion et grande lionne", as Laf would say. Eliza and John were the sweet and shyer ones of the group. Weird because I've been in love with both of them. I'd always thought I'd find someone more like me- like Angie. But Angie will always be more like a big sister to me. I went on a few dates with Eliza at the beginning of the year but it never really worked out. We both ended up falling for someone new but we still remained close friends. Which was pretty easy in all honesty, we never kissed romantically so nothing really went between us. She fell for Maria and they were now in a stable relationship! I fell for my dormmate… John…
It was actually quite a funny cycle between us both. Everybody knew we liked each other, but we were both in denial for a long time. Lafayette eventually became sick of our huge crush and dealt with it himself.
"I won't ask you again Alexandre. Ask. Him. Out." Laf had prodded, taking sips of his beer.
"And I won't tell you again. He. Doesn't. Like me."
The whole group was there that night, all laughing hysterically at only things drunks would laugh at. It was only really me, John and Eliza who weren't completely wasted in that moment. Lafayette was only a beer or two off being like the others so he still had some sanity about him. John was sat in the corner sipping gently from his can and I couldn't help but stare at him the whole time. It was always a small smile that graced his lips… Well, either that or a huge grin implanting dimples to his cheeks. Alas, Laf picked up on my gaze and literally dragged me to the other room to lecture me again.
"Do you know what? I'm sick of this! I'm going to do something about it!"
I physically felt my stomach drop to the floor, whip over in summersaults on a bungee rope.
"Don't you dare baguette…" I spoke low. Not really anticipating what he would do next…
I would have expected him to run to the whole group and declare my crush to everyone- including John. But he didn't. In fact, he did something in a lot more of a devious way…
He strutted back into the room and literally dragged John from his seat to a small, dark room I could only presume was a closet.
Great. I mocked in my thoughts.
"Laf what the hell?!" John barked as we were both shoved to the floor in this room. So when he began tying us up so our chests were pressed together, our faces looking at each other, our hands and feet also tied together John was furious and flustered all at the same time. "Laf! What the f-"
"Shh, shh, shh." The Frenchman hushed, finishing his knot, that was thankfully quite loose… I could get out of it if I tried…
Laf smiled proudly and snapped a picture with his phone, "Now, you two have somethings to say to each other. I'll leave you two it." He winked, and bounced out the door. Hearing him lock the door with a click, I set out an annoyed sigh.
John grunted next to me, trying to undo his ropes, but completely failing and eventually giving up and let our bodies press to each other. By the way we were positioned, he rested in the crook of my neck, my chin resting on top of his bouncy hair. Neither of us spoke- we just breathed. I couldn't see him but I could only presume he held the same annoyed expression on his face. Especially when we heard the others break out laughing outside the door. I could only assume Laf showed them the photo…
I sighed again and shuffled our weight to press on the wall, trying to make our position a little more comfortable. So we lay on each other and tried to undo the others ties. Occasionally, he would let out a sharp breath on my neck, making my heart practically melt with his body on mine.
Our leg ropes came undone so we stood up shakily, not saying anything at all other than muttered apologies and awkward laughs as we stood on each other's feet. We stumbled to the door and I pressed him tight to the frame, trying to hook the handle through the ropes to pull them off. It worked. He did the same to me and I had to restrain melting into him helplessly. All we had now was the ties on our chests together. But we had given up by then.
"I'm so sorry about this." I laughed extremely nervous, my face pulsing red.
"I-it's o-okay just… erm… Laf said w-we had t-to erm… say something to each other… so… uh… Should we just go for it or-"
He couldn't finish before I shoved my lips on his. He was shocked for a second, completely stocked still, but he pushed back. And that was all I could wish for… We embraced the others lips with pure delight eventually using to walls to support us. Somehow, with all our movement, the ropes around our chest fell to the floor and I instantly ran them through his thick hair.
We were left in that room the whole night, they never came back to us until the morning, where they found us cuddled up in each other's arms.
They never lived us down for it.
I chuckled lightly at the memory, gazing out onto the busing streets below. Many mothers were gathered with their children, either dragging them into shops or making their way to a restaurant down the street. Everywhere I looked, people smiled broadly, happy in family love.
Everybody I knew was out with their parents today, I couldn't blame them... It was Mother's Day after all… It wasn't my fault I didn't have anyone to celebrate with…
So I just curled up on my windowsill, letting my eyes fall shut but never succumbing to sleep. I had my notebook by me but I never felt the urge to write anything down.
I just sighed.
Memories of my mom and brother came flooding past my mind and trickling in silent droplets done my cheeks. I let out one shook breath and tried to maintain my breathing again. I was that focussed on regaining myself, I didn't hear John enter the dorm.
He called my name a few times while I wiped away the tears from my eyes before he walked into our room with a light knock.
"Alex?" He asked tentatively as I bit back a sob where he couldn't see my face. "Alex?" He repeated walking closer to me and lightly tapping my shoulder. I stayed still and pretended to be asleep, using all my energy to not let out into his chest.
He gave out a sigh probably believing I was sleeping and lifted me to my bed, tucking me beneath our sheets tightly before snuggling up next to me letting me fall to his chest. He stoked my hair lightly and I could feel the smile on his lips as he pressed a kiss to my forehead before whispering next to my ear,
"I'm sorry."
Author's Note:Okay. Look, it's Mother's Day in my country today so this is a little One-Shot!
Yes, it's rushed and not my best work (maybe my worst actually) but here it is!
Please tell me what you think!
-L.E-Rae _x_