Chapter Six: I'm Proud of You
Mary stared out of the window aimlessly as the car drove away. She had a small sense of relief that her whole family didn't hate her, but this was clouded with everything else that had happened.
Her eyes were glazed over and she watched people wandering down the streets getting on with their everyday life. She found herself smiling as her eyes caught a young girl helping her little sister up off the floor.
She pulled her eyes away from the street and caught Carlos' gaze in the mirror. "I love you."
"I love you too, both of you." Carlos replied. "And I've never been more proud of you."
She felt herself growing with pride as she listened to her husband. It felt so good to hear the words love and proud without them being followed by a but or a however. Similarly 'I love you and I'm proud of you.' Not 'I love you but you really need to grow up and go to college' or 'we want to be proud of you and trust you.'
She was aware of her heart racing and her body shaking a little as she thought about what had been said and her love that she was now experiencing. A sense of happiness and ease was ebbing through her. This was what life was meant to be like. This, her life, was perfect.
Mary felt herself smiling. This was her life now. To be loved and happy and not have an element of doubt imposed by someone, she could not ask for more than this. She could live her life and please herself and her own small family and not worry about being judged by others.
"I'm a little proud of me too." She told him as she rested her hand softly on his. She felt her hand stop trembling as she felt Carlos' smooth powerful skin touching her own. "I just wish I'd told them sooner. I guess I was just scared to; I didn't want to lose my family. No matter what they said to me, they were the only family I had. But now I have you and we have our own baby on the way."
"And I'm not going anywhere." Carlos told her in a firm voice that was filled with both passion and determination. "Because you could not get rid of me even if you wanted to. I'm here for better or worse and I'm sticking to those marriage vows."
Mary moved her hand away as Carlos placed both hands back onto the steering wheel. She cupped her hands together and subconsciously rubbed her wedding band as she gazed down towards it before looking back up at her husband. 'Until death do us part' she muttered to herself. That's what she had agreed to and she could see no reason why she would be breaking those vows.
"I know and I'm not going to let you disappear anyway." Mary replied with a slight smile while keep a somber quality in her voice. "I just want you to promise me one thing."
"Anything."
"If I turn into my mother, you'll shoot me." She told him trying to say the statement in a serious tone of voice but dissolving into laughter as soon as the words came out of her mouth. "You promise?"
Carlos laughed, "That would never happen in a million years."
"I hope not and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't. I'm not the same type of person as the rest of them. And I'm happy about that. I love being me, in fact." She replied with a smile as she caught Carlos' eye in the mirror again. "Hey, do you want to know what my favorite memory of today will be."
"What?"
Mary waited for a couple of seconds before answering as she rested her hand on her stomach. "I finally got out of a family meal and I've been trying to get out of one of those awful things for years."
Fin
Mary stared out of the window aimlessly as the car drove away. She had a small sense of relief that her whole family didn't hate her, but this was clouded with everything else that had happened.
Her eyes were glazed over and she watched people wandering down the streets getting on with their everyday life. She found herself smiling as her eyes caught a young girl helping her little sister up off the floor.
She pulled her eyes away from the street and caught Carlos' gaze in the mirror. "I love you."
"I love you too, both of you." Carlos replied. "And I've never been more proud of you."
She felt herself growing with pride as she listened to her husband. It felt so good to hear the words love and proud without them being followed by a but or a however. Similarly 'I love you and I'm proud of you.' Not 'I love you but you really need to grow up and go to college' or 'we want to be proud of you and trust you.'
She was aware of her heart racing and her body shaking a little as she thought about what had been said and her love that she was now experiencing. A sense of happiness and ease was ebbing through her. This was what life was meant to be like. This, her life, was perfect.
Mary felt herself smiling. This was her life now. To be loved and happy and not have an element of doubt imposed by someone, she could not ask for more than this. She could live her life and please herself and her own small family and not worry about being judged by others.
"I'm a little proud of me too." She told him as she rested her hand softly on his. She felt her hand stop trembling as she felt Carlos' smooth powerful skin touching her own. "I just wish I'd told them sooner. I guess I was just scared to; I didn't want to lose my family. No matter what they said to me, they were the only family I had. But now I have you and we have our own baby on the way."
"And I'm not going anywhere." Carlos told her in a firm voice that was filled with both passion and determination. "Because you could not get rid of me even if you wanted to. I'm here for better or worse and I'm sticking to those marriage vows."
Mary moved her hand away as Carlos placed both hands back onto the steering wheel. She cupped her hands together and subconsciously rubbed her wedding band as she gazed down towards it before looking back up at her husband. 'Until death do us part' she muttered to herself. That's what she had agreed to and she could see no reason why she would be breaking those vows.
"I know and I'm not going to let you disappear anyway." Mary replied with a slight smile while keep a somber quality in her voice. "I just want you to promise me one thing."
"Anything."
"If I turn into my mother, you'll shoot me." She told him trying to say the statement in a serious tone of voice but dissolving into laughter as soon as the words came out of her mouth. "You promise?"
Carlos laughed, "That would never happen in a million years."
"I hope not and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't. I'm not the same type of person as the rest of them. And I'm happy about that. I love being me, in fact." She replied with a smile as she caught Carlos' eye in the mirror again. "Hey, do you want to know what my favorite memory of today will be."
"What?"
Mary waited for a couple of seconds before answering as she rested her hand on her stomach. "I finally got out of a family meal and I've been trying to get out of one of those awful things for years."
Fin