Have we gone too far?
The yells echo throughout the house. It is impossible not to hear them. Alfred Borden is in there yelling at the wife he never married and doesn't love. The women I married, and I love. And out here in the hallway, Jess, my little girl, is just sitting, listening to them.
And I, Fallon, can only listen in horror as my wife is told that her husband doesn't love her today. She knows something is wrong. Jess knows too. I can see it. I have to help the poor girl somehow. My daughter.
Slowly I walk over to her and kneel down before the small child. I love her so much, but I must force myself to remember that today I am Fallon, the assistant. I have to get her out of here. She shouldn't have to hear all this.
So, I pick her up and carry her outside. As the yells slowly fade behind us she hangs on to me a little tighter. At least I can be of some comfort to her, whether as her father or Fallon, though of course, I am both.
We finally get outside. The cool night air comes as a relief to me. It takes away the stuffiness and the tension that were inside the house. I just hope it does the same for Jess.
I slowly set her down and sit beside her. I give her a little smile to try to cheer her up. She smiles back but it's a very sad smile.
"Are you all right, Jess?" I ask softly.
She doesn't answer right away, just looks up at me with those big sad eyes. "Fallon," she asks, barely above a whisper, "why doesn't Daddy love Mum?"
"Oh, no, Jess, don't say that!" The poor girl. "Your daddy loves your mum so very much. I know he does."
She shakes her little head. "Not today. Mum can tell when he does. I can too. But I don't know why he does some days and doesn't others."
A stifle a sob. Luckily the darkness hides my sadness from my little girl. Once I can control my voice I whisper:
"Listen, Jess. I know for a fact that your dad loves your mum every single day. No matter what it may seem like, he loves her so very much."
She shakes her head again. "No, Fallon. He only loves her some of the time. It makes me sad. Mum is acting strange too. She's just...different, now."
Hiding the tears in my eyes I pull my daughter close to me. Before I can do anything a tear rolls down my cheek and onto her small head. Feeling the wetness she looks up at me in shock.
"Oh Fallon, it's all right!" She throws her little arms around me as far as they will go and I can't help but chuckle at the horrid irony of the situation: my little girl, comforting me, when I should be comforting her.
Suddenly her little body begins to shake with sobs and I wrap my arms around her. If only she knew it's her father's arms around her now, but she cannot.
"I want daddy to love mum all the time!" she sobs into my coat. "I want us all to be a family! Sometimes I wish he would stop doing magic shows so he could be at home with us!"
I pull her gently away from me and look into her tear filled eyes.
"Listen to me, Jess. No matter what it may seem like to you, and no matter what happens, your father will always-every day- love you and your mum. Every single day. Do you understand?"
"But- " she begins. I stop her.
"No, Jess. Your daddy just isn't himself today, and all the days he doesn't love your mum. That's not really him. Always remember, no matter what happens, that your daddy will always love your mum. And he will always love you. You got that?"
"Yes Fallon."
Fallon. The name cuts like a knife today. I pull her into my arms again and rock her back and forth till she falls asleep. Sometimes, at times like these, I wonder, have we gone too far?