Author's Note: I've been wayyyy too stressed out. It's almost the end of the school year, and I've just been so krfhgihgig. And I'm really upset right now because I have a D in Geometry. :( Well, enjoy the update. And Happy Mother's Day to the mommy's out there!
Alicia had closed Aaliyah's room door, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. She had just finished putting her to bed, and the house was now completely silent.
She walked out into the living room, and noticed Seth sitting on the couch. He was lost in thought, and didn't even look up when Alicia walked in. She stared at him for a minute, before poking her bottom lip out absentmindedly.
"Seth?" she whispered. He blinked slowly, and then looked up at her. He was waiting for her to continue, so she tugged at her lip. "Everything alright?" he shrugged his shoulders, and swallowed.
"What I said today... I don't know what came over me. I can't even come up with an excuse," he looked up at her, and she noticed the sad glint in his eyes. "I'm sorry." Alicia hated seeing him like that. Seth was a very sentimental man, and when he did something wrong, he beat himself up about it.
She hesitantly crossed over to him, taking a seat beside him on the couch. Their bodies were dangerously close, but neither one of them cared. She reached over and took hold of his shaking hand.
"It's okay. It's not like what you said wasn't true... Jas has asthma, so things aren't going to be easy. We just have to monitor her better, that's all," she whispered, giving him a small smile. He took a deep breath and peeked down at their hands. Alicia could have sworn that she saw him smile a bit.
"You're right," he said, looking back up at her face. "Maybe I'm overreacting a bit." they stared at each other for awhile, wondering what it would be like if they had the courage to kiss each other. Alicia scooted a bit closer to him, and laced her fingers through his slick hair.
"It wouldn't be you if you didn't overreact," she joked, laughing a bit. For the first time in a while, he grinned back. Her face turned serious again, and she leaned closer to place a kiss to his cheek. It felt good, because it wasn't for show. She meant it, and he didn't object to it. Maybe, just maybe, they were finally making progress.
Seth looked into her eyes, and inched his face closer to hers. Her heart was pounding rapidly, as she realized what he was about to do. She allowed her eyes to flutter closed, pressing her body into his. As their lips brushed against each others, they heard the sound of a thud, followed by crying. They snapped away from each other, glancing toward Aaliyah's room.
Seth stood up, heading toward the room. Alicia cursed under her breath, standing up as well. By the time she made it to Aaliyah's doorway, Seth had her in his arms, rocking her. She had fallen out of the bed, but she wasn't hurt. It was probably the fear that had her riled up.
"You're gonna be okay," Seth cooed, laying down beside her. She was still crying, but Seth had helped her to calm down. "I'll stay in here until you go back to sleep."
"Goodnight," Alicia told them, causing the both of them to look up at her. Seth gave her an apologetic sigh, but she understood. Their kids came first. She waved before closing the door again, and walking toward the couch.
Seth was about to kiss her. They were so close; she didn't know how to feel. Was it a one time moment between them, or was Seth still in love with her? Without a doubt, she was still in love with him. No matter what she had to do, she'd try to make it work. She just hoped that he was willing to do the same.
…
Seth looked at the money in the packet that Leah had sent him. He promised her that he'd pay her back in full, but she objected to it. He was her younger brother, and if he needed a little help, she'd give it to him.
Alicia walked into the room, and he quickly hid the money in the dresser. She paused when she saw him fidgeting around, and narrowed her eyes.
"You alright there?" she wondered. He nodded, and walked into the master bathroom. It was late in the afternoon, and Seth had somewhere to be. He checked himself in the mirror to make sure that he looked okay.
"I'll be home in a while," he said, brushing past Alicia.
"Seth, wait," she spoke, causing him to turn around. She slowly walked over to him and gave him a hug, sighing with content. He slowly laced his arms around her, taking in the scent of her hair. He loved the way it smelled. It felt like forever had passed before they finally pulled away from each other.
"I'll see you in a bit," he told her, walking out of the room. She looked after him, slouching down against the dresser. Something poked her in the back, so she turned around to see what it was. The ends of an envelope was poking out of the dresser, and she narrowed her eyes. She looked toward the empty doorway, and then tugged it out of the dresser. The back flap had some writing on it.
I love you. – Leah
She opened the envelope, and gasped at what it was. Dozens of 50 dollar bills, one after the other. She looked toward the empty doorway again, and clenched her jaw. Were they having money problems that she wasn't aware about? She was afraid to find out.
…
Seth pulled up to the gym, ripping off his shirt. He tossed it in the backseat, and grabbed his water bottle. Every Tuesday and Thursday, Seth went to the gym to work out. He had an insecurity about not having as much muscle as he could have, so he worked at getting bigger. No one knew about it, not even Alicia.
He strolled into the building, and headed for his favorite exercise machine. As he sat down on the bench, a sexy, athletic looking girl strolled over to him. She acted as if she were fetching some weights, but she kept glancing in his direction. That's when he realized who she was. She was the nurse from the clinic.
"Come here often?" she asked, once they had locked eyes for more than two seconds.
"Aren't you..." he began, cocking his head to the side.
"Yep. Julie, from the clinic," she said, taking a seat beside him on the bench. It was only big enough for one, so their bodies were pressed against each others. Seth felt ridiculously uncomfortable, but Julie looked content with herself. "It's crazy that this is my first time noticing you here."
"Same," he said, nodding. He looked away from her, hoping that she would get the hint and move.
"How's your wife?" Julie wondered. Seth looked back in her direction and raised his eyebrows.
"She's... fine," he responded, clearing his throat. Julie nodded, fidgeting with her sports bra. She was wearing nothing more than a pink sports bra, and some black shorts that exposed every inch of her thighs.
"That's cool. I saw you guys walking out of the clinic and she looked mad," Julie said, laughing afterward. Seth didn't find anything funny about that.
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna start exercising now. It was nice chatting with you," he said, standing to his feet. He walked away, over to one of the treadmills. He usually didn't like those things, but since Julie was propped up at his usual station, he had no other choice.
As he began to run, it began to get boring. He amped up the speed, and his legs began to sprint. He looked toward his usual station, and his eyes widened at what he saw. Julie had bent over to get another weight, and he had a wide view of her ass. Out of nowhere, his legs got tangled up, and he went flying backwards.
He landed with a crash against the water fountain. Everyone looked in his direction, and a few people ran over to help him up. As he stood to his feet, he felt an extreme jolt of pain in his back. He could tell that his exercising days were over for a while.
…
Seth arrived home, walking slowly into the house. It was pretty dark outside, so he figured that Jasmine and Hazel would probably be asleep. Aaliyah stayed up for hours, though.
He was hunched over, since his back was currently going through excruciating pain. He refused to see a doctor, though. He couldn't afford extra expenses.
He walked into the master bedroom, and saw Aaliyah and Alicia sitting on the bed. They were watching a movie, and Alicia was braiding Aaliyah's hair. They looked up when they saw Seth, and Aaliyah jumped down from the bed.
"Daddy!" she screamed, jumping into his arms. He cried out, and almost dropped her. She jumped down to her feet, and looked up at him confusedly. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing, sweet heart," he said, placing a kiss to her forehead. He looked up at Alicia, and something looked off with her.
"Liyah, go to your room, baby. I gotta talk to daddy," Alicia said. Aaliyah looked at her mother, and then huffed. She stormed out of the room, slamming the door after her. Jesus, that girl had an attitude.
Seth was still hunched over, and Alicia noticed.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked. He tugged at his lip and fell against the bed, onto his stomach.
"I hurt myself at the... at the gym," he confessed. Alicia raised one of her eyebrows.
"The gym? Since when do you go to the gym?" she asked. He poked his head up and swallowed.
"I've been going for awhile," he admitted. Originally, Alicia wanted to discuss the money that she had found, but now that Seth was hurt, she wasn't going to go into that.
"Where does it hurt?" she asked, scooting over to him. He rubbed his lower back, grunting from the pain. Since Alicia used to be a masseuse, he trusted her. She straddled his legs, and rested her hands on his back.
It felt amazing to be this close to him, and Alicia was going to take advantage of it. She began to knead her fingers into his back, and Seth let out another grunt. It didn't sound half as painful as the one he let out before, though. She continued to do her tricks, making him sigh with pleasure.
"That feels great, Alicia," he said, twisting his head to look back at her. She smiled at him, her dimples popping out. Seth laid his head back down, spreading his arms out.
Alicia felt bold, so she laid her body against his. She rested her head on his shoulder, and continued to roll her thumbs over his lower back. He didn't seem to mind, so she stayed in that position for a while.
"Thanks," he breathed, rolling over on his back. She plopped on the mattress beside him, resting her head on her arm.
"No problem," she said. He stared into her eyes for awhile, inching his hand toward her waist. She looked down at his hand, and sighed when he tugged her body against his. She looked back up at him, and blinked rapidly.
"Seth," she whispered.
"Shhh," he said, shaking his head. Without a second thought, he planted his lips against hers.
Author's Note: Hahahah. ;) I know you're gonna hate me for ending it there, but it'll be continued next week! Leave some reviews. :)
