Kind of just thought of this story, let me know what you think. Thanks!
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Avery watched from the hall, he could only see the corner of the crib and her shadow, but he still knew what she was doing…. She was crumbling, and there was nothing he could do to help her, no matter how hard he tried…..
Juliette stared out the window that rested over the kitchen sink, her hands tapping furiously as the silver band on her finger collided with the metal draining board. Glenn watched on, almost afraid to say anything. Emily clutched at the iPad in her hand waiting for someone to say something, anything, anything at all.
All Juliette could focus on was him, both of them. The remaining few leaves slowly rolling from the trees as winter slowly crept into the day. She followed their every move, their every jump, run, fall and their laugh. Even through the glass she could hear the laughs, that was all she ever wanted to hear.
"So, we'd start in January?" She asked quietly as Glenn and Emily looked at each other.
"Uh yeah, late January, that's what Rayna wants." Glenn said, in a cautious tone.
"And for how long?" Juliette asked as she watched them move towards the pile of leaves bundled up in the corner, she knew exactly what they were going to do next, jump.
"Well if you factor in the breaks between dates and the gap between the legs-"
"Glenn!" she snapped as she hit the marble countertop.
"You should be done by August, maybe September."
Juliette pursed her lips and nodded.
"We spoke to Rayna about the longer breaks between dates, like you requested and she is on board, so is the promoter."
"Juliette" Avery said softly as he approached the door of the room. Her head rose thus blocked the light from the lamp and like that, the shadow was gone. Even though it was dawn, she still had a lamp on and the curtains drawn. She wasn't wearing make-up and her hair hung loosely at the back from a messy bun. Her eyes puffy and tear-stained as she clutched at the pink baby blanket. His heart sunk.
"Juliette, you need to sleep."
All she did was raise the blanket towards her nose and rub it against the tip of her nose- that was all she ever did.
"If you won't sleep then at least sit down, please." His tone was calm and soft, not that it mattered really, she wasn't taking in anything he said. Avery rubbed the sleep from his eye as he ventured closer to her. Cautiously he placed his two hands on her back and guided her to the rocking chair that sat in the corner of the room. She had an empty look in her eyes as he guided her down onto the padded cushions.
"I have to leave for work in a while, but Emily will be here if you need anything." He dropped to his hunkers and stroked his thumb against the skin of her arm. He hoped for a response, anything at all to suggest the girl that made his heart race was still inside this empty, soulless ghost that sat in front of him.
All she did was blink.
Juliette smiled as the laughs grew louder outside the window, her skin tingled and her heart rose but somewhere, underneath all the happiness and joy sat guilt and loneliness. She looked back at Glenn and Emily.
"When would rehearsals start?"
"The band already has the set list and the tech guys had a come-together last week so all you need to do is a few run-through's after Christmas."
Juliette nodded, that seemed reasonable enough and although she didn't show it she appreciated all the work Glenn and Rayna had done to make this tour as easy as possible for her. That was all she wanted, for it to be easy.
"Rayna is callin' around on Wednesday anyway so we can run through the fine details then. Has she anyone in mind for the opening act?"
Glenn shook his head, slightly surprised that she seemed to be showing an interest in her work for the first time in years "Not that I know of, do you?"
"No, I just don't want some peppy teen sensation singing 30 minutes of auto tuned shit, I want a real musician, with real songs."
"I'll make sure Rayna is aware of that. Shouldn't be a problem finding a talented musician in Nashville."
Juliette turned back to face the window noticing they were gone from the garden. Her eyebrows arched and her body stiffened, she leaned over the sink to try get a better view of the landscape. She could feel it, the feeling she so often got of falling, free falling with no hope of stopping. Just then the porch door flew open and with that the feeling disappeared. A little boy, wearing jeans, a winter coat and red wellingtons bounded across the kitchen pulling the hat off his head along with the red mittens and threw them onto the kitchen floor.
"Look Mama…" he said as he held out a brown and amber leaf almost the size of his head "… look what we found."
Juliette dropped to her hunkers and smiled as she inspected the leaf, the little boy standing in front of her overjoyed with his discovery.
"I think that may be the biggest leaf in all of Tennessee, what do you think?" Her eyes sparkled as she traced her finger over the leaf.
The little boy nodded "Daddy said that too."
Juliette looked up at Avery in front of her, his cheeks still rosy red from the crisp air. She smiled sweetly at him and he reciprocated the smile as Glenn and Emily noticed the sudden change in Juliette's mood.
Juliette brushed the wavy brown curls away from the young boy's eyes as she felt the cold from outside against his skin. His big brown eyes stood out at her, so full of innocence and positivity. She brushed her fingers through his mess of hair as she felt the tears forming; she bit her bottom lip as her eyes watered. The young boy noticed the tears and reached his small fingers up and pressed them against her cheek.
"Don't be sad today Mama please."
Avery's heart broke as Emily hung her head but Juliette stayed strong, she sniffed, drying the tears up and cleared her throat. Suddenly she was upbeat as she whisked the boy into her arms and rested him on her hip.
"How could I be sad when I have the best little boy for a son." She pressed her nose against his as he laughed.
"I managed to convince her to drink some tea, that's when she dozed off. About 30 minutes ago." Emily said as she gathered her things and put them in her bag.
"That's good."
"The light bulb in the lamp blew, so I had Bo replace it."
"Did she say anything to you?" Avery asked hopefully.
Emily shook her head "No, I tried Avery I really did but she just- she's not there."
"Maybe tomorrow."
"Yeah, maybe." Emily said but didn't really believe it. How could she? How could anyone one of them have any belief in anything anymore. "How are you doing Avery?"
He just shrugged his shoulders "I'm trying to be there for her, for the day the silence breaks and she's ready to talk. I'll be there for her…." He looked down at the band around his finger and gave the slightest flicker of a smile "… that's what it's all about right?"
Both of them knew he didn't answer the question asked but the truth was he didn't know how to answer because he didn't know how he felt.
"Just hang in there okay."
Avery rested his head against the door frame, his eyes locked on Juliette, who even though was asleep in the same place he left her that morning, did not look one bit peaceful and that made his heart sting.
After Emily left, Avery locked the front door and switched off the lights of the house and made his way into the room where Juliette slept. He flicked the switch on the lamp and suddenly the room lit up. The white crib laced with pink materials stood out in a room full of soft toys, pictures on the wall and a changing table stocked with diapers and a small stack of neatly folded blankets. Everything was still, like nothing had ever happened, like it was still awaiting its arrival. He rested his arms against the railings of the crib and took deep breaths, gripping at the crib for strength but it was no use, slowly and quietly the tears rolled down his face. He was careful not to make any noise as it was important that Juliette slept so quietly he stood there and sobbed.
Avery let out an exhausted yawn as he clambered up the stairs. Immediately his eyes fell on Juliette at the end of the hall, she was leaning against the door frame looking into a room. He approached her slowly and hooked his arm around her stomach. She didn't jump or jolt instead she rested the back of her head against his chest.
"Our son's best friend is a leaf he found in the garden." She said trying to hide her laughter as they stared down at the little boy sound asleep in bed with the leaf resting on his bedside locker.
Avery smiled as he tightened his grip around her "He's 3, next week it will probably be a rock… or a stick."
Juliette giggled as she looked up at him and kissed him on the cheek. Avery looked over at the lamp that shone down on the bed.
"She's always there Juliette, looking down on him. You know that right."
Juliette tightened up, needing to feel Avery closer to her more than ever. She took a deep breath and smiled "I know…." Rubbing her hand across his, she sighed "… I know."
…
Hope you enjoy it, please let me know what you think!
