Ariadne and Arthur entered the house, before pushing the door Arthur sighed and turned towards her.
"In my mind this is what would have happened if I came home early, if she hadn't been murdered..."
With wide brown eyes, Ariadne watched as the door with the stained glass opened...
Arthur jingled his keys out as he found the right one and unlocked the front door.
"Regan! I'm home!"
The door opened silently as Arthur stepped inside, looking around he right away smelt something baking in the kitchen. Just a few months ago, Regan had picked up an old cookbook at a flea market and every few days would test her cooking abilities. In the beginning both Arthur and Regan had a few good laughs over the fact they mostly would burn everything. Lately though, Regan seemed to be getting the hang of it and Arthur often joked she would be the reason he would have to start jogging again after eating all these cookies, cakes, and pies.
Taking his messenger bag off and tossing it on the chair near the door, right away Arthur looked forward to a nice peaceful relaxing long weekend with his wife. He just wanted to hang out by the pool with her, get drunk, and sleep in. Stepping on the hardwood floor, Arthur shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled on over to the kitchen.
There she stood.
She looked beautiful.
She was in that dress and tights he thought she looked cute in, and her hair was at a side ponytail. She was leaning against the counter mixing something and listening to the radio. Just then Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's Ain't no mountain high enough began playing on the radio. One thing he loved about Regan was the fact they shared the same music taste, which raged from indie punk, the classics like this.
Regan's big blue eyes lifted and she stared at him, right away a smile appearing on her face.
"Hey you..."
Arthur began playfully dancing towards her, lip-syncing the words to her and bobbing his head. Laughing, Regan put the bowl down on the counter and wiped her hands on a dish towel as Arthur circled her.
Lip-syncing the words back to him, she placed her arms on his shoulders as they sung to each other, holding back from laughing. Picking her up from the waist, Arthur lifted her and began to twirl her.
In the doorway, Arthur and Ariadne watched this happy scene play-out. Sighing, Ariadne looked up at Arthur and saw the pain in his eyes.
"This is what I always thought the day would have been like if none of this would of happened..."
Arthur said without looking away, the music continued to play on before they watched Arthur and Regan press their foreheads against each other.
Gently kissing her husband's lips. Regan nervously smiled at him as the song began to end.
"I have a surprise for you."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, let's go sit down."
Raising an eyebrow, Arthur tickled his nose with hers before deeply kissing her.
"I'm in suspense, what is it?"
"Come on..."
Regan tugged on his arm, bringing him to the other room. All the while Arthur and Ariadne stayed in the shadows watching, not saying a word.
In the living room. Regan led Arthur to their chair and sat him down.
"Stay there a second."
Smiling, Arthur watched as she ran up the stairs, a few seconds later the sound of her footsteps coming down the stairs filled the room before she appeared again holding an envelope. Looking extremely nervous, Regan walked over to him before sitting on his lap. Laughing, Arthur looked at her.
"What's up with you?"
Regan stared down at her husband very closely before handing him the envelope.
"Here, open it."
Smiling, Arthur raised his eyebrow again before slowly ripping it open, taking the card out he looked at the cover and right away his eyes became confused. Opening it, he read the inside and fell silent. No expression or emotion was seen in his eyes. Nervously, Regan twisted her hands together waiting for a response.
"So?"
Arthur's eyes then lit up as reality settled in. Looking up, right away the biggest smile appeared on his face before his eyes locked with hers.
"You're pregnant?"
Regan smiled before quickly nodding, before she could even say a word Arthur grabbed her and kissed her as hard as he could.
Arthur and Ariadne watched in the background. Sighing, Arthur shook his head.
"I always used to pretend what it would have been like if none of this would of happened. How she would have told me, my reaction...it was perfect."
Arthur pressed his forehead against Regan's, and softly smiled.
Regan pulled away slightly, cocking her head and smiling.
"You sure you're happy?"
Arthur laced his hands into hers before he brought his other hand behind her head, bringing her in for another kiss. Right away the card Regan had written him slowly fell to the ground.
"Come on..."
Arthur told Ariadne as they began going up the stairs. Arthur pressed his hand against Ariadne's back and turned her away, slowly bringing her up the stairs. Passing the framed photographs, Ariadne saw Arthur and his wife's entire life, played out frozen in time.
Once they reached upstairs Arthur stopped and stared at the long hallway.
"This was where she was killed, I found her laying there..."
Ariadne gazed over the wooden floor, her eyes lifting she noticed at the stained glass window at the end raindrops were falling outside.
Arthur took her arm and lead to the the doorway of the master bedroom, there a mid afternoon sunlight poured out through the curtains, showing every single tiny golden piece of dust.
On the bed was Regan, six or seven months along in her pregnancy. She wore a rolled up T-shirt and slacks. Her very pregnancy stomach stuck up from her tiny frame. Kneeling on the bed was Arthur in jeans and a band T-shirt. His hair messy, something Ariadne wasn't used to seeing.
He had his ear against her stomach and was laughing. Ariadne watched as Regan laid there, giggling before Arthur lifted his head and looked down at her.
"She's kicking up a storm..."
Smiling, Ariadne drummed her fingers against her stomach.
"That's because she wants out..."
Arthur then turned from the doorway and began going down the hall, Ariadne continued watching Regan and Arthur before noticing he was gone. Turning, she followed him to the next door where Arthur stood. Right away before Ariadne reached the doorway and looked in she heard beeping and voices.
Looking in she saw Regan sitting up in a hospital bed. Her beautiful dark hair held back from a hairnet, and dressed in a hospital gown. There were two nurses and a doctor working between her two legs. Arthur meanwhile stood beside her in jeans and a button up shirt squeezing her hand, looking nervous and scared.
"Push Regan come on!"
Regan threw her head back crying before squeezing Arthur's hand and snapping her eyes shut. Screaming, she pushed with all her might before the sound of crying filled the air. Ariadne stretched her neck to see the baby but before the doctor lifted it up the door slammed right in her and Arthur's face, causing her to jump.
"What the hell happened?"
"I could never make up past then, I of course thought of what it would be like, me and Regan teaching our daughter how to walk, her first words, dropping her off at daycare, how we would grow old together watching our baby grow up. How she would look exactly like Regan, and maybe when she was in high school we had another baby...this time a boy..."
He began walking down the hallway, thunder sounded in the distance.
Arthur went to the last door with Ariadne in which she heard running water. Right away her eyed widened and she held back a scream when she looked in.
In the perfectly white and clean bathroom, blood had been splattered everywhere. Floating in an overflowing tub of bloody water was Regan.
Arthur looked in sighing.
"And somehow, no matter how much I make up the perfectly future, it's always shattered because deep down inside I know those bastards would still kill her, whenever they had a chance..."
For a split second Ariadne thought she saw a tiny body floating with Regan's in the bathtub before the door slammed shut. Turning towards Arthur all she wanted to do was cry. Arthur met her eyes, looking dead and empty of any emotion. Turning away, he started down the hallway.
Ariadne watched as he started back down the stairs. Looking around, she now knew how heartbreaking these fake memories were. Arthur wasn't like Cobb at all. His mind wasn't trapped in past memories he shared with his wife...these were stories, make up little things that haunted him for years.
She followed him in silence before reaching downstairs, she just caught Arthur as he was making his way for the back porch. Sighing, she followed him and noticed right away that it was sunny out. Following him, she stood yet again in the back doorway where she heard crickets and birds chirp. Taking a second, she watched as Arthur stood on the back deck, hands in his pockets and looking out at something. Looking around, she saw it was a gorgeous day. Stepping out, she heard a splash of water and stood beside him, looking down.
She saw Regan swimming in the pool in a dark red two-piece bathing suit. She was swimming underneath the crystal clear water, looking nothing but beautiful. Standing beside him, she looked before Arthur cleared his throat.
"This is one of my favorite memories of us...in fact my favorite photo of her was taken away."
Ariadne watched before looking up at Arthur.
"You can't forgive yourself for what happened. You hide it so much it's been killing you. Now you don't care anymore if you live or die...you've gotten used to the idea of being alone."
Arthur shot her a look.
"So?"
Ariadne looked at him.
"Arthur, none of this wasn't any of your fault. Regan would have wanted you to keep living, for her, and your baby..."
Arthur looked down, back to watching his wife swim in the pool down below.
"Yeah, sure..."
"Arthur please..."
Ariadne pleaded with him, staring up with helpless eyes. Staring down, Arthur sighed before he heard Regan's lovely voice call up to him.
"Arthur! You coming in?"
Looking down he saw Regan's big blue eyes smile up at him, waiting for him to be with her. Closing his eyes, he sighed feeling his heart dully ache. At that exact moment...
He opened his eyes and woke up.
Taking a second he blinked a few times before looking over at Ariadne who sat beside him. Both had been sleeping side by side as it continued to rain outside. Both locked eyes and before Arthur could say anything...
She reached out and kissed him.