She had promised herself what she had between him was just a drunken one night stand, a careless action to get the affection she lacked from her husband. Yet, what had turned into a hasty night for intimate contact had resulted in several nights of being showered in gifts and swapping saliva. She refrained from thinking much of it, the constant emotion of remorse threatening to drown her. The only relief that had ever washed over her was that her husband was oblivious to what she had been doing while he was away at work, clueless to the fact that his beloved wife wore another man's kiss on her neck and his fingertips on her thighs.
Not only did he become the victim of her selfish acts, but her small daughter did too. She would often leave the girl alone, promising her the gifts of new dolls and dresses. But to her avail, she was left with the feeling of disappoint her her heart and hunger in the pit of her stomach. She would sometimes wet the couch with her tears, her small hands running over her protruding rib cage. She couldn't help but feel that her mother had no longer loved her, feeling as if she done something wrong. Did she not clean up her toys like her mother always asked her? Was mommy mad that she sometimes forgot to brush or teeth or that she refused to go to bed when instructed? She would watch as her mother brought a strange man along with her sometimes, instructing her that trouble would follow if word about it left her mouth.
It wasn't until the sight of her mother sat on the tiles of their bathroom floor, vomit entering their toilet as she clutched her stomach. Countless times the mother had shushed her daughter, assuring here that she had gotten sick from consuming some expired food. Nevertheless, she the young girl found herself in her father's arms as she told him about her mother's vomiting. Failing to find sleep, she had listened to her mother's painful moans from another night of vomiting. The brunette had feared the worst when she overheard the conversation between father and daughter.
It was quite amusing that a simple trip to the doctor would shatter her future, cutting away the bond with the things she cherished the most.
Mack trembled, stroking her daughter's chocolate curls as they sat on the couch together. The young mom refrained from breaking down in horrendous sobs, not wanting her daughter to question her wrong doings. The faint ticking of the grandfather clock they had in their home enveloped her with an endless taunting, as if it knew the the time her trouble would be just beginning. It wasn't long before Mack sit still at the sound of their front door being unlocked, tears already threatening her dark eyes. Comforting her daughter one last time, she instructed the young girl to lock herself in her room. "Mommy wants you to go in your room and lock the door, okay?" She whispered. Lynn, their four year old daughter picked up the stern in her mother's voice, causing her not to question what would happen once that door was open. Hopping down from her mother's lap, she scurried to her room upstairs.
Biting her lip, she watched as her husband appeared at the entrance. Running his fingers through blonde curls, he brought in his surfboard, a gift passed down for many generations. He smiled at his wife, propping the item up against their wall. The brunette nervously smiled back, watching what would have been the love of her life come forward. She watched as he placed a tender kiss on her temple, trailing down to her lips. Guilt was another ache in her stomach she wished to vomit, the kiss reminding her of all the ways Tanner made her shiver with satisfaction. By now, it was too late, tears slipping from her eyes as she pushed the blonde away.
"Mack, what's wrong? Did you go to the doctor today?" He questioned, grabbing his wife's hand as he sat down beside her. She nodded, pulling the white mechanism from her short's pocket. Trembling, she held the device in her hands a lump already forming tightly in her throat. "The doctor said there was a possibly of me being pregnant, so he sent me home with a pregnancy test." She explained, not able to meet his eyes. Brady nodded, squeezing his wife's hand. He was still in a state of oblivion, but Mack knew he would soon snap out of his lovingly vibe. "So are you pregnant?" He inquired, raising his eyebrow.
Mack struggled to swallow, placing the mechanism in his hands. Finding the courage to look up at him, she searched his lifeless eyes for any sign of emotion. He wasn't in fact angry yet, but she could feel irritation through the questions he voiced upon. "But how? We haven't done anything to get another child." He replied, his eyes still comprehending what he had just seen. Mack sighed, running her shaky fingers through her frizzy curls. "That's because it isn't our child, Brady." She whispered, her voice quivering with fear. Brady wasn't the type of person violence, but she knew the type of anger he withheld.
Her original plan had been to tell Brady that she had agreed to become a surrogate mother for a woman in her area. While that happened, she would have explained to Tanner that their affair could no longer unravel any further. Yet, for many nights the remorse had eaten at her internally. Promising her doting husband that her vomiting had been from eating bad food was no longer working on the surfer. Brady was oblivious most of the time, but he wasn't stupid. "Then how?"
"It's because it's Tanner child, okay? I-I went over to his house for a couple drinks and he just kissed me." She explained. Brady could feel himself clench his fists, his knuckles turning a pale white as he quivered in anger. "One year, Mack. One fucking year. Yet, you're already ready to throw away what we already had." By then, tears were already making it's way by blurring his vision, the feeling of anger and betrayal suffocating him. "I didn't plan to have this happen. I-I just confided into him and he comforted me. We swore this would only be a one night stand." She assured him, justifying her actions.
"How funny because Lynn wandered into the kitchen last night and told me about the dolls you promised her. She told me about the strange man you let into the house almost everyday while I was gone." He retorted, standing up from his seat on the couch. "You don't understand how lonely it was here. Y-You're always at your surfing gigs, never having any time for our daughter and me. If anything you should be yelling at Tanner for making a move on me!" She exclaimed, placing her hand upon her temple. "We're a married couple. We made a commitment to tell each other everything. I honestly want to make you feel good every night but I'm tired, Mack. I'm booked for photo shoots, I'm flung into the water when practicing my surfing, and then I come home to this."
"You're so busy thinking about all the things you selfishly want, you don't think about how this could affect me." He sighed, beginning to walk away. "Brady, wait." She whispered hoarsely, following behind him as he went outside. "We have to be a family for Lynn. We can tell her that we have a new addition to our family." She smiled weakly, grasping his arm as plead gleamed in her eyes. "There won't be any new addition. We aren't going to raise a baby that isn't ours." He spoke sternly, snatching his arm away from her.
"There's always an abortion clinic." He added. Brady knew that Mack had grown up in a religious household, another reason Mack almost got taken back from him a couple summers ago when her aunt came along. Murdering someone, alive or unborn was an unholy sin. When the couple was told that their daughter might be born with complications, the brunette's strong decisions for pro-life kept her from aborting like the doctors suggested. She knew it was nothing left to justify the unforgivable act she committed, but she stayed sturdy in her position. "You know my opinions when it comes to abortion. I'll talk to Tanner and I'll help him get settled with this baby." She suggested, biting her lip.
"That's great because you won't be stepping a foot in this house anymore." He nodded, opening the door. "But I need to be here to support this family! Who am I going to look like if I'm not the mother who cares for her daughter?" She stamped her foot upon the porch. By then, she was inches apart from his lips, the smell of saltwater and sunscreen entering her nose. She refrained from crying out in emotion, realization a violent smack to the face as she realized the man she was giving up. "Well it's pretty evident of who you wanted yourself to be." He spoke faintly, placing one last kiss upon her dry lips. There, she was left to watch his disappear behind the door, a simple action that call her to sob out in pain. She bloodied her knuckles, pounding against their chipping door in rage. She screamed for her daughter, her husband, and for her right to entrance. She had done all of that until her voice groan hoarse.
With her heart worn on her sleeve, she slumped down in front of the door with her face in her palms. Dampening them with her tears, thoughts pricked at her from the inside. The thought of that last minute kiss a constant replay in her head, the feeling of sickly sweetness as the gleam of that his eyes possessed stripped of affection for his wife. The thought that she may not feel the gentle sheets of her daughter's spread, an emotion of warmth when reading her tales of damsels in distress and kissing her goodnight once her lamp was no longer on.
Despite that she had realized she had hurt more than herself, she didn't care to think that her husband was inside distributing shards of glass onto their kitchen floor, the feeling of a knife through his blackening heart as he ripped the walls of their portraits. She didn't think that her only child would ever see the day that she would ever become the princesses that need saving from in her book, trembling as she hid in her closet. She didn't think that her daughter would ever see the day that life wasn't a place of happy endings. She was still in her selfish mindset, not knowing whether if she was in the state of changing it.
But it wouldn't be long before the events that would take presence shortly after, would be willing to change it for her.
Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of my TBM fanfiction, Misery Business. So first off, I would like to clarify that this will be a fanfiction set in an Alternate Universe, so the characters from Wet Side Story won't be from the movie they came from or act as if the technology or new things in the modern world amaze them. There will also be minor changes as well. Since this is set in a world where Mack and Brady are older, they won't act as they did when they were teenagers, so it may seem out a character at some points. It would mean a lot to me if you left any comments, feedback, or critique. I will make sure everything is as realistic as possible considering we are dealing with some serious topics, so don't expect everything to be all sunshine and rainbows in this story. I would appreciate any comments, feedback, or critique on my story. I hope you enjoy! I'll update soon!~
