Chapter 77: It's Okay To Cry

I just want to say that I hit 300 pages in Word with this fanfic! Yay!

(Eret's POV)

I'm working in the forge with Gobber when my twelve-year-old daughter Ruby runs in, wide-eyed.

"Eret, here comes your firstborn."

"Thanks, Gobber. Ruby? What's wrong, my little love?" I ask.

"Daddy, it's Mama. She's having trouble breathing. She told me to come get you."

"Stay here with Gobber. I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise, my little love, your Mama will be just fine."

I run as fast as I can back home.

I can hear the wheezing before I even open the door. When I do open the door, the sight before me breaks my heart: my wife is on her knees, gasping for air.

"Love?"

She shrieks.

"Shhh. It's just me, my love. I'm here, my darling." I kneel before my poor wife.

"Baby, we need to get your breathing back under control. Take my hand."

She does.

"Squeeze my hand as hard as you can and take a deep breath in." Becky takes a deep breath in and I continue to help her breathe through this panic attack. Once it ends, she leans on me, tears welling in her eyes.

"Now, love, what brought this on?"

"Today's the anniversary of when Erica and her baby died."

"Oh, my love. I'm so sorry. I know you cared about your friend, even though you didn't know her for very long."

"I just…I feel so bad, you know? I never met her husband to tell him she loved him and that she was sorry."

"Do you know her husband's name?"

"Stephen. Stephen Harrison."

"As in one of the two brothers who attacked you when Ruby was younger?"

"Yeah…"

"Oh, love."

"I didn't even make a connection until – until I saw Stephen's eyes when he was…when he and Michael were having their fun with me. I saw his daughter's eyes…they were open for only a second, but her eyes…they were his."

"Oh, my love. So Erica was already pregnant when you met her?"

"Yes. Drago didn't father any children but mine. I was trying to tell Stephen that I met his wife and helped her give birth to their daughter…and he called me a liar, saying that his wife died at sea. Erica wouldn't have lied to me, Eret. She was dying! And I – I – I…"

"Shhhhh. Shhhhh. Breathe, love. You never have to deal with him or Michael ever again. I promise. Baby, look at me."

Becky looks at me.

"It's okay. It's okay to cry, love. Just let it out."

So she does. She begins to sob, nearly hyperventilating, but I'm quick to help her calm down.

I hold her close as she sobs, rocking her in the same rocking chair I rocked her in all those years ago after my former best friends attacked the woman I love.

Odin help me, I never want her to go through that again. I never want her to experience that kind of trauma, that kind of heartbreak, that kind of torture, ever again.