p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian nearly fell off the couch when he woke up in the morning. It took him a minute to realize where he was, but only just. He stood up stretching, his shirt rising above his torso./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey good morning," Mariah said, startling him./p
p class="MsoNormal"He hastily pulled down his shirt, which he realized afterwards was unnecessary. She's obviously seen his scars before, he didn't need to hide them from her. The habit was just there./p
p class="MsoNormal""Did you sleep okay?" she asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," he said, "Did you?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"She shrugged, "Not as good as I usually do. But at least I did sleep."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Is Morgan up yet?" he asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Probably," Mariah said, "She's an early riser unfortunately. Most of the time she'll stay in her room and play quietly until she either hears us up or one of us goes to get her."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well before we get her I have something I need to tell you," Sebastian said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah, of course," Mariah said./p
p class="MsoNormal""So when I came back yesterday I saw the light from the shed and went to see what was going on. I, uh, overheard part of your conversation. With Sam."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Across the room Mariah's face turned to a frown and she swallowed. She opened her mouth to speak, but Sebastian continued./p
p class="MsoNormal""I was very angry at first, but seeing you crying and so upset affected me. You said how bad you felt about breaking my trust, not even knowing that I knew. You said you wanted your husband back, but that you also just wanted to make me feel better. I thought about it more last night, and I was still angry, but I understood why you did it. Honestly I think I would have done the same thing and I probably wouldn't have lasted as long as you did. And part of me is glad that we have another person so we don't have to deal with it all alone. Not that I really want more people to know, but I guess Sam is okay."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Sebastian I'm so sorry," she said, "I truly hate that I did it. I just completely broke down. I know that you're kind of telling me it's okay, but it really isn't. You asked me not to do it, I told you I wouldn't do it, and then I did it anyway. And I'm sorry you found out about it the way that I did. I should have told you."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian shrugged, "Don't worry about it. And I definitely am not capable of having more of a conversation about it without coffee. I just wanted to say something without Morgan around and before Sam got here."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Right," Mariah said, "Well I'll go start the coffee and then get Morgan. You take your time."/p
p class="MsoNormal"She smiled, though she seemed sad, and left. Sebastian picked up the blanket and folded it, putting it and the pillow he'd used back in the chest. He knew he'd most likely have to get them back out later, but he didn't want anything to look weird. Just in case. When he left the bedroom, the coffee was on but Morgan was nowhere to be seen yet. The bathroom door was closed and Sebastian had a 'duh she's very pregnant, of course she has to pee' moment. He heard noises upstairs, and took in a deep breath. He was truly nervous about spending any amount of time alone with Morgan. He had no idea how to be a parent, and apparently he left himself some big shoes to fill. He also knew that kids are smart and she would definitely know something was up. Luck was on his side though because Mariah came out of the bathroom before Morgan came downstairs. Mariah started up the stairs and there was some definitive giggling./p
p class="MsoNormal""I hiding!" Morgan called, "You find me!"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh Yoba," he heard Mariah mutter under her breath, "Morgan we're not playing hide and seek right now. You need to come great breakfast and we can play later."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I hiding!" she insisted loudly, "You find me!"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Morgan, you need to listen to mommy," Mariah said, "And mommy said we're not playing hide and seek right now. So please come here so we can eat breakfast. We can play hide and seek later."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I play with daddy!" Morgan said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Later," Mariah said, "Breakfast now."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Daddy!" Morgan cried, "I hiding!"/p
p class="MsoNormal""What do I do?" Sebastian hissed at Mariah./p
p class="MsoNormal""Just say she needs to listen to me and that it's breakfast time," Mariah whispered back./p
p class="MsoNormal"So Sebastian called up the stairs, "Morgan listen to mommy! It's breakfast time. You can play later!"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah gave him a thumbs up and he heard an exaggerated sigh from upstairs before there was some toddler sized stomping and her bedroom door opened./p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay," Mariah said when their daughter appeared at the top of the stairs, "What do you want for breakfast?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Jelly toast," Morgan said, sounding grumpy./p
p class="MsoNormal""Jelly toast it is," Mariah said, "Do you want some tea?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Chocolate milk?" Morgan asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""No chocolate milk. You can have regular milk," Mariah offered./p
p class="MsoNormal"Morgan sighed, "Okay."/p
p class="MsoNormal"She and Mariah made their way down the stairs, and Sebastian stood there drinking his coffee./p
p class="MsoNormal""Daddy you play hide and seek with me later?" Morgan asked when they got to the bottom./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah's words from the day before rang in his head, "Maybe. I think Uncle Sam is coming by with Sophie to play today. Plus I bet we've got some chores to do to help Mommy on the farm."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay!" Morgan sounded much more cheerful./p
p class="MsoNormal"After she ate breakfast, Mariah sent Morgan upstairs to pick out her clothes, "You're doing great so far. I can't thank you enough. How are you holding up?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Stressed," Sebastian answered, "I'm so anxious I'm going to fuck something up. I had no clue what I'm doing. I'm dreading the moment I'm left alone with her."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm going to do my best to make sure that doesn't happen," Mariah said, "Sam coming should help. Would you rather one of us text him to let him know that you know or just want until he gets here?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Uh, I think I'll text him," Sebastian said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay, sounds good. Once Morgan is dressed I'll have her come help me and you can relax a bit," Mariah said./p
p class="MsoNormal""As much as I'd rather do that," Sebastian began, "I think it's best if I join you and watch. I should know what a typical day looks like around here right?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Are you sure?" Mariah said, "You can always relax now and then I can go over it with you later when Morgan's asleep or otherwise occupied. You've been pushed into doing a lot of things over the last twenty-four hours. All we have to say is that you need to get some work done, she won't question it."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Actually do I need to get work done?" Sebastian asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Uh, you shouldn't have any pending external projects. Like I said yesterday, you made your own game, so you work on that sometimes, but only when you want to, or if players are reporting a bug. I'm not sure how any of that stuff works, but I'm guessing you should probably play it before you mess with anything. You can check and see if you have any job requests if you want, but don't feel like you have to take any of them. You have a generic 'Sorry I can't take on this project now' email that you use to decline any offers you're not going to complete. If you get anything from the movie theater in Grampleton you should take it, you've got a relationship with them. Though their jobs tend to be few and far between and they're usually flexible with deadlines. Ultimately you're your own boss and you get to do basically whatever you want without worrying about money."/p
p class="MsoNormal""How did that happen?" Sebastian asked, "That's really cool."/p
p class="MsoNormal""The farm is profitable," Mariah shrugged, "No mortgage, minimal bills."/p
p class="MsoNormal""So you're telling me I was a gold digger," Sebastian said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Not at all. In fact you had no clue how much money I had until after we got married," Mariah said, "So you insisted that you learn how to run the place so you could help out to 'earn your keep'."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well I guess that instinct is still there," he snorted, "Given the choice, I'll hang out here and then you can show me stuff later. If that's okay."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Of course it is Seb," Mariah said, "I wouldn't have offered if it wasn't. Despite how different the version of you I know is, he still needs his space. It's just part of our relationship. Part of our family dynamic. When Morgan was born, it obviously changed, but it still happens. I don't know what I can do to help you or make it easier, but I can do this."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Thank you," Sebastian said sincerely. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Maybe she's worth getting to know. You did marry her for a reason. She did try to get you space yesterday too. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian went into the bedroom and got out his phone before sitting down at his computer. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Now what to say to Sam…/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"'Hey. So I overheard you and Mariah talking yesterday. I know you know about my memory. So you don't have to try to act like you don't when you come over.'/p
p class="MsoNormal"It wasn't perfect, but it worked./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Fuck, I'm sorry you had to find out that way. Don't be mad at Mariah please'/p
p class="MsoNormal"'I was yesterday, but I get why she did it'/p
p class="MsoNormal"'She's a really good person. She loves you a lot. You can trust her, she's just overwhelmed. Like I'm sure you are too'/p
p class="MsoNormal"'That's an understatement. I have no clue what the fuck I'm doing'/p
p class="MsoNormal"'I'll help as much as I can. I don't know how, but even if it's just babysitting or something. I'll do whatever I can to get you guys through this no matter what happens. I've got your back'/p
p class="MsoNormal"'Thanks Sam. Maybe it's good that she told you'/p
p class="MsoNormal"'Yeah dude, you're my best friend. You don't have to be alone in this'/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam's last text struck a chord in him. He did feel alone, he just hadn't been able to identify that feeling yet. As helpful as Mariah and Sam were trying to be, they weren't the ones experiencing this. In the same vein, Mariah was alone too. Her loss was different from his, they were just alone together. As circumstance would have it, they just happened to be fighting the same war. That's what he'd said to her last night right? For a stranger, he found himself talking to her more than he talked to just about anyone. Maybe the idea that part of thirty-year old Sebastian's instincts and connection to her were part of him now wasn't so farfetched./p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"But what can I do about it?/em Sebastian had no idea where to start. How were they going to break this curse? em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"I should be grateful I suppose that we have as much information about it as we do. /emShould he just go online and search 'breaking curses' and see what comes up? That seemed foolish, but of course having a witch and wizard living in his town hadn't seemed possible either, but here he was. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"The curse wasn't meant for you. It was meant for the wizard. If the wizard had been cursed, what would have happened? The witch wanted him to suffer, so would the curse have done the same thing? Would his memory have been erased too or would something entirely different have happened? It was a very specific part of your memory that you lost. That timeframe has to be significant to you right? The last six years wouldn't necessarily have had the same significance to the wizard. /emHe supposed the witch must be rather powerful in order to curse someone from a distance anyway, even if she did screw it up. So the curse having a complex nature makes sense. He wondered if there was a way that they could get more information from the witch, but his inclination was that they wouldn't be successful in that venture./p
p class="MsoNormal"He opened up a blank document on his computer and began documenting his questions and any notes he had. He realized it would also be helpful if he knew more about the wizard, but Mariah might have some of that information. If she didn't, he reasoned it would be significantly easier to get information out of him than it would be trying to get information from the witch. As he went through the process he realized that he was getting some good use out of his Solorian Chronicles critical thinking skills. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Who knew after all of these years that there would be some real world application?/em He didn't know if doing this would get him anywhere, but he at least he felt like he was doing something to try and get out of the situation./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian could hear some noise outside, which got louder as people came into the house. "Daddy, Daddy! Uncca Sam and Sophie is here!"/p
p class="MsoNormal"The bedroom door opened up, and he could hear Mariah's voice, "Morgan I think daddy is still working."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It's okay," Sebastian said turning around to look towards the doorway, "You guys can come in."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Morgan dashed over to him and grabbed his hand, "C'mon daddy."/p
p class="MsoNormal"He got up and let her drag him over to the living room./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey Seb," Sam said, giving him a smile./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey," Sebastian said and for a moment he thought he might cry. He didn't realize how emotional he would feel being around someone who wasn't a stranger to him who knew what was going on. Someone he felt comfortable with that he could be himself around./p
p class="MsoNormal"There was a young girl with strawberry blonde hair sucking on her thumb at Sam's legs. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"That must be Sophie. /emSebastian crouched down and said hello to her./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hi Sebby," she said grabbing the sides of her dress, swaying back and forth./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian glanced up at Sam who shrugged, "Uncle Sebastian is hard to say."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Morgan and Sophie do you guys want to go upstairs with me and play?" Mariah asked/p
p class="MsoNormal""So daddy and Unnca Sam can play?" Morgan asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""That's right," Mariah said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay!" Morgan said with a giggle and took Sophie's hand, "I help you up the steps."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay," Sophie agreed./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam and Sebastian stood awkwardly in the living room. When they were most of the way up the steps Sebastian turned to Sam, "She's adorable. Must take after Liz," Sam rolled his eyes in response, "I can't believe you're a dad," Sebastian added, "What's that like?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Dude you were a dad first," Sam said shaking his head, "But it's good. Great actually. I never knew I could love someone that much. You told me you felt the same way the first time you held Morgan, and I didn't think it was going to be the same for me at the time. Morgan was planned. Well mostly. Sophie was not. I didn't have the same relationship with Liz that you and Mariah had. I didn't think I was ready to be a dad, but then she was born and now I can't imagine my life without her. Between helping with Vince for all those years and learning from you I was more ready than I realized. You helped me out more than you could know actually."/p
p class="MsoNormal""What do you mean Morgan was mostly planned?" Sebastian asked, "Either she was or she wasn't, there's not really grey area with that."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh Yoba of course that's what you pick up on out of that," Sam shook his head, "Listen I'm not about to tell you the intimate details of your sex life with your wife, and not just because I don't know them. The short version of the story is you guys decided you wanted to have kids, Mariah stopped her birth control during the summer. Your ideal plan was to get pregnant in the spring and that's when you were going to actively start trying, but then she got pregnant that fall instead and Morgan was born in the spring."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Wait if she got pregnant in the fall and Morgan was born in the spring, wouldn't that mean she came early?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Three weeks," Sam confirmed, "Real fast too. And for the record, Mariah is super anxious about the same thing happening with this pregnancy. She was before all of this, but now with what's happened to you that stress has become a lot more significant. Not that any of this stress will help prevent any of that, but nothing can be done about that. I'm sorry for dumping that on you, but I know she won't say anything to you about it and I think it's important. I'm not trying to stress you out more. I know it's out of your control. I just think you should be aware of where she's at, because you may not remember her, or any of what your life is now, but when it comes down to it that's your kid."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian frowned. He'd thought about her pregnancy, but not in those terms. In fact, it was something he'd done his best to essentially ignore. He didn't really think he had the mental capacity to deal with it./p
p class="MsoNormal""Did you want to like, sit down or something?" Sam asked, "This feels kind of awkward."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Uh, yeah, come in here," Sebastian said, having Sam follow him into the bedroom into his work space./p
p class="MsoNormal""Man I haven't been in here in ages," Sam said trailing after him./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian sat in his computer chair and Sam sat on the couch, "Alright I'm sleeping there so try not do anything gross."/p
p class="MsoNormal""What you're worried I'm going to fart on your couch?" Sam asked, shaking his head at his friend once more./p
p class="MsoNormal""Shut up," Sebastian grumbled, "I have a right to not want your stink where I'm going to be sleeping later."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Alright, fine, whatever," Sam said, "How's your head?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian shrugged, 'It's okay. It feels weird, but I'm not in pain like I was with it yesterday."/p
p class="MsoNormal""And you don't remember anything?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well I'm able to get feelings from things," Sebastian said, "Like I can look at a picture and feel the emotion attached to it. And some of the things Mariah had said it's like it feels so familiar and I know she's telling the truth, but it's just out of reach. Like when you get a song stuck in your head but only the melody and you're trying to come up with the lyrics so you can figure out what song it is. And last night we realized that I remember the song I wrote for Mariah. And she showed me this video of me singing it to her on our honeymoon and I remembered that we were in a hotel. I didn't know where or why, but I knew we were in a hotel. And then I remembered it had something to do with velvet. Which apparently was related to some earmuffs you gave me."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah! Your friendship earmuffs," Sam beamed, "But that's great! I'm glad you remembered something. Have you found anything else you remember yet?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian shook his head, "Nope, but I also haven't tried looking at anything today. I've been focused on trying to make more sense of the curse and how to break it. Plus going through six years' worth of memories seems like it would take a long time in the hopes that something would click for me, but is essentially random. Like how did I remember that I was in a hotel room and that the trip had something to do with Velvet when I don't even remember my own daughter? Like that story you just told me about her birth, I remember none of that. I can feel the emotions and I know it's true, but it's not in my head. File not found."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well did you want to try?" Sam asked, "Or is there anything you want to know about that I can help with?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I feel kind of terrible asking about this, but can you tell me about Mariah? I know almost nothing about her and asking her feels weird. I know we're into a lot of the same stuff."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well what do you want to know?" Sam asked, shifting in his seat, "Though I'm not sure I should be the one telling you about this."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Everything. Anything. Whatever," Sebastian replied./p
p class="MsoNormal""Um, well, she's an only child," Sam began, "He mother died when she was young."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Murdered," Sebastian blurted out, "I think right?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," Sam nodded, "She was. Weird random piece of information for you to remember, but that's something."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck, "It just popped into my head while you were talking."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well that's progress right? Anyway, that's who Morgan's named after," Sam said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay," Sebastian nodded, "That makes a lot of sense."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Mariah's dad's name in Jovin. He's pretty cool. Real chill sort of dude, but is definitely a city guy. Comes to visit a few times a year, and you guys go to see him once in a while too. You guys get along pretty well."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Sam I appreciate all of this information, but not my priority right now," Sebastian said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Right, sorry," Sam said, "Overwhelming information dump, stick to the more relevant and important stuff. So Mariah. How to describe Mariah. Hmmmm. Well she's a super nice person. Real friendly with like the whole town. But she's also private. You guys always had really firm boundaries about your relationship and didn't talk about stuff between you with other people in any kind of specifics. She's just kind of like that in general though. She's great a keeping secrets despite what you overheard yesterday. Like I said, try not to be too mad at her. I think I just happened to catch her at the right moment for it all to just overflow. She's got her own anxiety but it wasn't obvious to most of us for a while. It's not as bad as yours but it's there sometimes. Communication is really important for her. Like really really important, but she's usually totally respectful if you don't want to share something. And when she's not it's because she's trying to help, and she apologizes later. She is a big helper slash problem solver. It comes from a good place and it's not usually a problem, but sometimes she needs to be told to let it go. She's one of the most honest people I've ever met. She's smart, funny, and just in general a fun person to be around. She's very loyal and has a big heart. She's a big nerd like you, but I think you figured that much out already. She both doesn't care what anyone else thinks and wants everyone to be happy at the same time, if that makes any sense. She's all about people making their own choices and mistakes, but like I said she's a helper so she's quick to jump up if you do make a mistake which can be annoying at times. She's a good mom with just like the perfect balance of fun and firm. She's super supportive and tries to see the best in people and shitty situations. Again, can be annoying if you're in a bad mood. Easy going for the most part."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well that was a lot," Sebastian said taking in a breath./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sorry dude. I was trying to summarize a person. You can only be so concise," Sam said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah, I'm just trying to absorb everything," Sebastian let out a sigh./p
p class="MsoNormal""Take your time," Sam said, "I get it. I'm in no rush."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian was quiet as he thought through what Sam had said to him, "I still can't believe I'm married. And a dad. That's definitely….shocking."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I completely get that it's hard to believe, but it suits you. And more importantly you're happy," Sam said./p
p class="MsoNormal""From the obscene amount of photos I got that impression," Sebastian shook his head./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam chuckled, "We do surprising things for love."/p
p class="MsoNormal""What other things should I know?" Sebastian asked, "Just like in general? It doesn't have to be about Mariah."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Uhhh, I dunno. I'm not really sure what you do know. And you know how my memory is," Sam said, "Are there things you want to know about? That might help."/p
p class="MsoNormal""What do you know about the wizard?" Sebastian asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Not a whole lot," Sam asked frowning a bit, "He talks to Mariah and Linus more than anyone else."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Hmmm okay," Sebastian said, "I guess I'll ask her then."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam looked puzzled, "Why? What are you trying to figure out?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"So Sebastian explained to Sam his thought process about the curse, trying to get more answers. He showed him his notes and added Sam's observations as well. They were deep in conversation when Mariah cleared her throat./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yoba!" Sam said jumping in his seat, "You're a frigging ninja Mariah." Sebastian couldn't help but agree, though he didn't say anything./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sorry," she shrugged, "We're going to have some lunch. You guys hungry?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam jumped up, "Oh yeah! Definitely."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah chuckled at him, "Figured as much. How about you Seb?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Uh, sure," Sebastian said, "I guess I could eat."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Great," Mariah said, "The girls decided they wanted an indoor picnic so they're setting up the blanket on the floor in the living room. I'm going to get them some cheese and crackers with fruit. I plan on sitting at the table to eat, but you guys are welcome to do what you want, though I'm sure you are both wanted at the picnic. We also have plenty of other foods so you can absolutely eat something else."/p
p class="MsoNormal""You know I'll eat whatever," Sam said. The two of them started heading towards the living room as Sebastian got up and stretched. He trailed behind them, listening to bits and pieces of their conversation./p
p class="MsoNormal"Hearing their friendly banter left Sebastian aching. Of course he still considered Sam to be his best friend but six years changes people. Sebastian was stuck at twenty-four but Sam was twenty-nine and had lived a lot more life than Sebastian had at that point. Or at least that he remembered. He didn't know this version of Sam and that was a difficult thing to wrap his head around. Sam and Mariah knew each other. It pained Sebastian to admit it, but they may know each other better than he knew either of them at the moment. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"It's just not fair./em/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam agreed to the girls' picnic, but Sebastian was, in his opinion, sly and told them that he didn't want to leave Mariah to eat lunch alone. Morgan nodded and pat him on the hand as if he were making some kind of sacrifice, "Good job daddy."/p
p class="MsoNormal"They sat at the table together, but Mariah was watching the three of them in the living room. Sebastian looked over as well. It looked like they were having fun and he could see Sam's genuine happiness at playing along with them. When he looked back at Mariah again she was smiling, but her eyes were sad. The look on her face was similar to the way she had looked the night before, and it pulled at something in Sebastian. He thought back to what Sam said to him about her stress levels and worry about their baby being born early. He thought about her as a person and what Sam had said about her. If the roles were reversed how would someone describe him to her? Sam had a point. People are complex and worth more than the cliff notes. She deserved more than Sam's attempt at a relatively concise description. And if communication was as important to her as Sam had said, he imagined she was going nuts being stuck in her head, trying to not overload him with her thoughts./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian cleared his throat, "So, uh, how are you?" he asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh," Mariah said turning her attention to him, "I, um, I'm okay I guess. Just stressed ya know?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," Sebastian nodded, "I know something about that. So I remembered something else. Kind of. Not that it's helpful or even good lunch conversation."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah perked up at that, "Oh yeah?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah."/p
p class="MsoNormal"There was a pause, "Are you going to tell me what it was?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I, um, uh," Sebastian shifted uncomfortably. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Why did you have to say anything dumbass? There's no good way to say 'Yeah I remembered that your mom was murdered'. And then on top of that you'll have to explain that you were talking about her and that's how it came up./em/p
p class="MsoNormal""Listen whatever it is, that's some kind of progress right?" Mariah said when he didn't recover from his fumble and say anything else, "Was it like an actual memory or more like last night?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Not an actual memory," Sebastian confirmed, "It was just a fact. Sam said something and I corrected him without thinking about it."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well that's good," Mariah said taking a bite of her food, "I wish we had a way of knowing what was coming back so we could trigger it. I bet it feels a lot better when you're able to make the connections rather than just being given the information from other people."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes and no," Sebastian said, "I don't feel like I can trust it. Like I have the thought but I don't know if it's real until someone else confirms it. Plus it's so random it's frustrating. It would also be more helpful if I knew where it was coming from or if I had more information. Like with the hotel thing last night."/p
p class="MsoNormal""That makes sense," she nodded, "I can imagine it's difficult to try and remember things when you don't know what it is that you're trying to remember. It's not like you're trying to remember your password for an account you haven't used in forever."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Right," Sebastian nodded./p
p class="MsoNormal""So what were you and Sam talking about? It sounded like you were really working on something," Mariah said./p
p class="MsoNormal""I've been working on trying to understand more about the curse," Sebastian admitted, "It mostly just provided a lot of questions, but I'm hoping if I can get some of the answers things will make more sense. Even if I can't figure out how to break it any step forward is a step in the right direction. I think you might be able to help actually, so maybe I can go over it with you later?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Of course," Mariah nodded, "I'll do just about anything to help."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian found himself blushing, but he didn't really know why./p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm trying very hard," she added, "To make things less unpleasant for you. I don't know that I'm doing a good job of it, but I don't feel like I can really do much. I know it might seem like I'm only invested in getting my husband back, but I do care about how you're doing beyond just that. Yes, in an ideal world I'd love for you to wake up tomorrow with your memory back, but while we're waiting for that to happen if I can do anything to make you more comfortable or less stressed please let me know. You don't deserve to be going through this and you're doing so much for me already."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian was quiet for a moment before mumbling thanks. Mariah nodded her head and they fell into silence. He knew she must have a lot more on his mind because he definitely did./p
p class="MsoNormal""I wish I remembered you," Sebastian said, "Even if I didn't remember everything."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Me too," Mariah nodded, "If," she said before taking a deep breath, "If you don't get your memory back would you get to know me all over again? You don't have to answer now. I know that's a heavy question."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I think so," Sebastian answered and Mariah let out a breath. He looked at her intently, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look like you're about to cry."/p
p class="MsoNormal"That was apparently enough to put her over the edge and she did start crying. Sebastian froze, he had no idea what to do. Sam and the kids had turned to look at them, and Sam's eyes narrowed at him./p
p class="MsoNormal""Mommy you okay?" Morgan called, "You hurt or is it your ho-mones?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm okay baby," Mariah assured her through her tears, "It's just my hormones."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Morgan nodded her head and turned to Sam and Sophie and informed them, "Mommy cries sometimes 'cause of the ho-mones from the baby. She be okay. I'm gonna be a big sister."/p
p class="MsoNormal""The best big sister," Sebastian heard himself saying. Mariah looked at him wide eyed when he spoke and started crying harder. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"What is happening right now?/em She got up and went outside. Sam gave Sebastian very clear 'go after her' signals before talking to the kids./p
p class="MsoNormal""You two almost done with your picnic? It's getting close to nap time."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian got up, heading outside himself. He wasn't sure where Mariah went, but she couldn't have gotten far./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey good morning," Mariah said, startling him./p
p class="MsoNormal"He hastily pulled down his shirt, which he realized afterwards was unnecessary. She's obviously seen his scars before, he didn't need to hide them from her. The habit was just there./p
p class="MsoNormal""Did you sleep okay?" she asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," he said, "Did you?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"She shrugged, "Not as good as I usually do. But at least I did sleep."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Is Morgan up yet?" he asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Probably," Mariah said, "She's an early riser unfortunately. Most of the time she'll stay in her room and play quietly until she either hears us up or one of us goes to get her."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well before we get her I have something I need to tell you," Sebastian said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah, of course," Mariah said./p
p class="MsoNormal""So when I came back yesterday I saw the light from the shed and went to see what was going on. I, uh, overheard part of your conversation. With Sam."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Across the room Mariah's face turned to a frown and she swallowed. She opened her mouth to speak, but Sebastian continued./p
p class="MsoNormal""I was very angry at first, but seeing you crying and so upset affected me. You said how bad you felt about breaking my trust, not even knowing that I knew. You said you wanted your husband back, but that you also just wanted to make me feel better. I thought about it more last night, and I was still angry, but I understood why you did it. Honestly I think I would have done the same thing and I probably wouldn't have lasted as long as you did. And part of me is glad that we have another person so we don't have to deal with it all alone. Not that I really want more people to know, but I guess Sam is okay."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Sebastian I'm so sorry," she said, "I truly hate that I did it. I just completely broke down. I know that you're kind of telling me it's okay, but it really isn't. You asked me not to do it, I told you I wouldn't do it, and then I did it anyway. And I'm sorry you found out about it the way that I did. I should have told you."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian shrugged, "Don't worry about it. And I definitely am not capable of having more of a conversation about it without coffee. I just wanted to say something without Morgan around and before Sam got here."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Right," Mariah said, "Well I'll go start the coffee and then get Morgan. You take your time."/p
p class="MsoNormal"She smiled, though she seemed sad, and left. Sebastian picked up the blanket and folded it, putting it and the pillow he'd used back in the chest. He knew he'd most likely have to get them back out later, but he didn't want anything to look weird. Just in case. When he left the bedroom, the coffee was on but Morgan was nowhere to be seen yet. The bathroom door was closed and Sebastian had a 'duh she's very pregnant, of course she has to pee' moment. He heard noises upstairs, and took in a deep breath. He was truly nervous about spending any amount of time alone with Morgan. He had no idea how to be a parent, and apparently he left himself some big shoes to fill. He also knew that kids are smart and she would definitely know something was up. Luck was on his side though because Mariah came out of the bathroom before Morgan came downstairs. Mariah started up the stairs and there was some definitive giggling./p
p class="MsoNormal""I hiding!" Morgan called, "You find me!"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh Yoba," he heard Mariah mutter under her breath, "Morgan we're not playing hide and seek right now. You need to come great breakfast and we can play later."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I hiding!" she insisted loudly, "You find me!"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Morgan, you need to listen to mommy," Mariah said, "And mommy said we're not playing hide and seek right now. So please come here so we can eat breakfast. We can play hide and seek later."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I play with daddy!" Morgan said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Later," Mariah said, "Breakfast now."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Daddy!" Morgan cried, "I hiding!"/p
p class="MsoNormal""What do I do?" Sebastian hissed at Mariah./p
p class="MsoNormal""Just say she needs to listen to me and that it's breakfast time," Mariah whispered back./p
p class="MsoNormal"So Sebastian called up the stairs, "Morgan listen to mommy! It's breakfast time. You can play later!"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah gave him a thumbs up and he heard an exaggerated sigh from upstairs before there was some toddler sized stomping and her bedroom door opened./p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay," Mariah said when their daughter appeared at the top of the stairs, "What do you want for breakfast?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Jelly toast," Morgan said, sounding grumpy./p
p class="MsoNormal""Jelly toast it is," Mariah said, "Do you want some tea?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Chocolate milk?" Morgan asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""No chocolate milk. You can have regular milk," Mariah offered./p
p class="MsoNormal"Morgan sighed, "Okay."/p
p class="MsoNormal"She and Mariah made their way down the stairs, and Sebastian stood there drinking his coffee./p
p class="MsoNormal""Daddy you play hide and seek with me later?" Morgan asked when they got to the bottom./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah's words from the day before rang in his head, "Maybe. I think Uncle Sam is coming by with Sophie to play today. Plus I bet we've got some chores to do to help Mommy on the farm."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay!" Morgan sounded much more cheerful./p
p class="MsoNormal"After she ate breakfast, Mariah sent Morgan upstairs to pick out her clothes, "You're doing great so far. I can't thank you enough. How are you holding up?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Stressed," Sebastian answered, "I'm so anxious I'm going to fuck something up. I had no clue what I'm doing. I'm dreading the moment I'm left alone with her."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm going to do my best to make sure that doesn't happen," Mariah said, "Sam coming should help. Would you rather one of us text him to let him know that you know or just want until he gets here?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Uh, I think I'll text him," Sebastian said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay, sounds good. Once Morgan is dressed I'll have her come help me and you can relax a bit," Mariah said./p
p class="MsoNormal""As much as I'd rather do that," Sebastian began, "I think it's best if I join you and watch. I should know what a typical day looks like around here right?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Are you sure?" Mariah said, "You can always relax now and then I can go over it with you later when Morgan's asleep or otherwise occupied. You've been pushed into doing a lot of things over the last twenty-four hours. All we have to say is that you need to get some work done, she won't question it."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Actually do I need to get work done?" Sebastian asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Uh, you shouldn't have any pending external projects. Like I said yesterday, you made your own game, so you work on that sometimes, but only when you want to, or if players are reporting a bug. I'm not sure how any of that stuff works, but I'm guessing you should probably play it before you mess with anything. You can check and see if you have any job requests if you want, but don't feel like you have to take any of them. You have a generic 'Sorry I can't take on this project now' email that you use to decline any offers you're not going to complete. If you get anything from the movie theater in Grampleton you should take it, you've got a relationship with them. Though their jobs tend to be few and far between and they're usually flexible with deadlines. Ultimately you're your own boss and you get to do basically whatever you want without worrying about money."/p
p class="MsoNormal""How did that happen?" Sebastian asked, "That's really cool."/p
p class="MsoNormal""The farm is profitable," Mariah shrugged, "No mortgage, minimal bills."/p
p class="MsoNormal""So you're telling me I was a gold digger," Sebastian said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Not at all. In fact you had no clue how much money I had until after we got married," Mariah said, "So you insisted that you learn how to run the place so you could help out to 'earn your keep'."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well I guess that instinct is still there," he snorted, "Given the choice, I'll hang out here and then you can show me stuff later. If that's okay."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Of course it is Seb," Mariah said, "I wouldn't have offered if it wasn't. Despite how different the version of you I know is, he still needs his space. It's just part of our relationship. Part of our family dynamic. When Morgan was born, it obviously changed, but it still happens. I don't know what I can do to help you or make it easier, but I can do this."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Thank you," Sebastian said sincerely. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Maybe she's worth getting to know. You did marry her for a reason. She did try to get you space yesterday too. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian went into the bedroom and got out his phone before sitting down at his computer. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Now what to say to Sam…/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"'Hey. So I overheard you and Mariah talking yesterday. I know you know about my memory. So you don't have to try to act like you don't when you come over.'/p
p class="MsoNormal"It wasn't perfect, but it worked./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Fuck, I'm sorry you had to find out that way. Don't be mad at Mariah please'/p
p class="MsoNormal"'I was yesterday, but I get why she did it'/p
p class="MsoNormal"'She's a really good person. She loves you a lot. You can trust her, she's just overwhelmed. Like I'm sure you are too'/p
p class="MsoNormal"'That's an understatement. I have no clue what the fuck I'm doing'/p
p class="MsoNormal"'I'll help as much as I can. I don't know how, but even if it's just babysitting or something. I'll do whatever I can to get you guys through this no matter what happens. I've got your back'/p
p class="MsoNormal"'Thanks Sam. Maybe it's good that she told you'/p
p class="MsoNormal"'Yeah dude, you're my best friend. You don't have to be alone in this'/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam's last text struck a chord in him. He did feel alone, he just hadn't been able to identify that feeling yet. As helpful as Mariah and Sam were trying to be, they weren't the ones experiencing this. In the same vein, Mariah was alone too. Her loss was different from his, they were just alone together. As circumstance would have it, they just happened to be fighting the same war. That's what he'd said to her last night right? For a stranger, he found himself talking to her more than he talked to just about anyone. Maybe the idea that part of thirty-year old Sebastian's instincts and connection to her were part of him now wasn't so farfetched./p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"But what can I do about it?/em Sebastian had no idea where to start. How were they going to break this curse? em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"I should be grateful I suppose that we have as much information about it as we do. /emShould he just go online and search 'breaking curses' and see what comes up? That seemed foolish, but of course having a witch and wizard living in his town hadn't seemed possible either, but here he was. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"The curse wasn't meant for you. It was meant for the wizard. If the wizard had been cursed, what would have happened? The witch wanted him to suffer, so would the curse have done the same thing? Would his memory have been erased too or would something entirely different have happened? It was a very specific part of your memory that you lost. That timeframe has to be significant to you right? The last six years wouldn't necessarily have had the same significance to the wizard. /emHe supposed the witch must be rather powerful in order to curse someone from a distance anyway, even if she did screw it up. So the curse having a complex nature makes sense. He wondered if there was a way that they could get more information from the witch, but his inclination was that they wouldn't be successful in that venture./p
p class="MsoNormal"He opened up a blank document on his computer and began documenting his questions and any notes he had. He realized it would also be helpful if he knew more about the wizard, but Mariah might have some of that information. If she didn't, he reasoned it would be significantly easier to get information out of him than it would be trying to get information from the witch. As he went through the process he realized that he was getting some good use out of his Solorian Chronicles critical thinking skills. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Who knew after all of these years that there would be some real world application?/em He didn't know if doing this would get him anywhere, but he at least he felt like he was doing something to try and get out of the situation./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian could hear some noise outside, which got louder as people came into the house. "Daddy, Daddy! Uncca Sam and Sophie is here!"/p
p class="MsoNormal"The bedroom door opened up, and he could hear Mariah's voice, "Morgan I think daddy is still working."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It's okay," Sebastian said turning around to look towards the doorway, "You guys can come in."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Morgan dashed over to him and grabbed his hand, "C'mon daddy."/p
p class="MsoNormal"He got up and let her drag him over to the living room./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey Seb," Sam said, giving him a smile./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey," Sebastian said and for a moment he thought he might cry. He didn't realize how emotional he would feel being around someone who wasn't a stranger to him who knew what was going on. Someone he felt comfortable with that he could be himself around./p
p class="MsoNormal"There was a young girl with strawberry blonde hair sucking on her thumb at Sam's legs. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"That must be Sophie. /emSebastian crouched down and said hello to her./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hi Sebby," she said grabbing the sides of her dress, swaying back and forth./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian glanced up at Sam who shrugged, "Uncle Sebastian is hard to say."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Morgan and Sophie do you guys want to go upstairs with me and play?" Mariah asked/p
p class="MsoNormal""So daddy and Unnca Sam can play?" Morgan asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""That's right," Mariah said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay!" Morgan said with a giggle and took Sophie's hand, "I help you up the steps."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay," Sophie agreed./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam and Sebastian stood awkwardly in the living room. When they were most of the way up the steps Sebastian turned to Sam, "She's adorable. Must take after Liz," Sam rolled his eyes in response, "I can't believe you're a dad," Sebastian added, "What's that like?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Dude you were a dad first," Sam said shaking his head, "But it's good. Great actually. I never knew I could love someone that much. You told me you felt the same way the first time you held Morgan, and I didn't think it was going to be the same for me at the time. Morgan was planned. Well mostly. Sophie was not. I didn't have the same relationship with Liz that you and Mariah had. I didn't think I was ready to be a dad, but then she was born and now I can't imagine my life without her. Between helping with Vince for all those years and learning from you I was more ready than I realized. You helped me out more than you could know actually."/p
p class="MsoNormal""What do you mean Morgan was mostly planned?" Sebastian asked, "Either she was or she wasn't, there's not really grey area with that."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh Yoba of course that's what you pick up on out of that," Sam shook his head, "Listen I'm not about to tell you the intimate details of your sex life with your wife, and not just because I don't know them. The short version of the story is you guys decided you wanted to have kids, Mariah stopped her birth control during the summer. Your ideal plan was to get pregnant in the spring and that's when you were going to actively start trying, but then she got pregnant that fall instead and Morgan was born in the spring."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Wait if she got pregnant in the fall and Morgan was born in the spring, wouldn't that mean she came early?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Three weeks," Sam confirmed, "Real fast too. And for the record, Mariah is super anxious about the same thing happening with this pregnancy. She was before all of this, but now with what's happened to you that stress has become a lot more significant. Not that any of this stress will help prevent any of that, but nothing can be done about that. I'm sorry for dumping that on you, but I know she won't say anything to you about it and I think it's important. I'm not trying to stress you out more. I know it's out of your control. I just think you should be aware of where she's at, because you may not remember her, or any of what your life is now, but when it comes down to it that's your kid."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian frowned. He'd thought about her pregnancy, but not in those terms. In fact, it was something he'd done his best to essentially ignore. He didn't really think he had the mental capacity to deal with it./p
p class="MsoNormal""Did you want to like, sit down or something?" Sam asked, "This feels kind of awkward."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Uh, yeah, come in here," Sebastian said, having Sam follow him into the bedroom into his work space./p
p class="MsoNormal""Man I haven't been in here in ages," Sam said trailing after him./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian sat in his computer chair and Sam sat on the couch, "Alright I'm sleeping there so try not do anything gross."/p
p class="MsoNormal""What you're worried I'm going to fart on your couch?" Sam asked, shaking his head at his friend once more./p
p class="MsoNormal""Shut up," Sebastian grumbled, "I have a right to not want your stink where I'm going to be sleeping later."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Alright, fine, whatever," Sam said, "How's your head?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian shrugged, 'It's okay. It feels weird, but I'm not in pain like I was with it yesterday."/p
p class="MsoNormal""And you don't remember anything?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well I'm able to get feelings from things," Sebastian said, "Like I can look at a picture and feel the emotion attached to it. And some of the things Mariah had said it's like it feels so familiar and I know she's telling the truth, but it's just out of reach. Like when you get a song stuck in your head but only the melody and you're trying to come up with the lyrics so you can figure out what song it is. And last night we realized that I remember the song I wrote for Mariah. And she showed me this video of me singing it to her on our honeymoon and I remembered that we were in a hotel. I didn't know where or why, but I knew we were in a hotel. And then I remembered it had something to do with velvet. Which apparently was related to some earmuffs you gave me."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah! Your friendship earmuffs," Sam beamed, "But that's great! I'm glad you remembered something. Have you found anything else you remember yet?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian shook his head, "Nope, but I also haven't tried looking at anything today. I've been focused on trying to make more sense of the curse and how to break it. Plus going through six years' worth of memories seems like it would take a long time in the hopes that something would click for me, but is essentially random. Like how did I remember that I was in a hotel room and that the trip had something to do with Velvet when I don't even remember my own daughter? Like that story you just told me about her birth, I remember none of that. I can feel the emotions and I know it's true, but it's not in my head. File not found."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well did you want to try?" Sam asked, "Or is there anything you want to know about that I can help with?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I feel kind of terrible asking about this, but can you tell me about Mariah? I know almost nothing about her and asking her feels weird. I know we're into a lot of the same stuff."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well what do you want to know?" Sam asked, shifting in his seat, "Though I'm not sure I should be the one telling you about this."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Everything. Anything. Whatever," Sebastian replied./p
p class="MsoNormal""Um, well, she's an only child," Sam began, "He mother died when she was young."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Murdered," Sebastian blurted out, "I think right?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," Sam nodded, "She was. Weird random piece of information for you to remember, but that's something."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck, "It just popped into my head while you were talking."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well that's progress right? Anyway, that's who Morgan's named after," Sam said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay," Sebastian nodded, "That makes a lot of sense."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Mariah's dad's name in Jovin. He's pretty cool. Real chill sort of dude, but is definitely a city guy. Comes to visit a few times a year, and you guys go to see him once in a while too. You guys get along pretty well."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Sam I appreciate all of this information, but not my priority right now," Sebastian said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Right, sorry," Sam said, "Overwhelming information dump, stick to the more relevant and important stuff. So Mariah. How to describe Mariah. Hmmmm. Well she's a super nice person. Real friendly with like the whole town. But she's also private. You guys always had really firm boundaries about your relationship and didn't talk about stuff between you with other people in any kind of specifics. She's just kind of like that in general though. She's great a keeping secrets despite what you overheard yesterday. Like I said, try not to be too mad at her. I think I just happened to catch her at the right moment for it all to just overflow. She's got her own anxiety but it wasn't obvious to most of us for a while. It's not as bad as yours but it's there sometimes. Communication is really important for her. Like really really important, but she's usually totally respectful if you don't want to share something. And when she's not it's because she's trying to help, and she apologizes later. She is a big helper slash problem solver. It comes from a good place and it's not usually a problem, but sometimes she needs to be told to let it go. She's one of the most honest people I've ever met. She's smart, funny, and just in general a fun person to be around. She's very loyal and has a big heart. She's a big nerd like you, but I think you figured that much out already. She both doesn't care what anyone else thinks and wants everyone to be happy at the same time, if that makes any sense. She's all about people making their own choices and mistakes, but like I said she's a helper so she's quick to jump up if you do make a mistake which can be annoying at times. She's a good mom with just like the perfect balance of fun and firm. She's super supportive and tries to see the best in people and shitty situations. Again, can be annoying if you're in a bad mood. Easy going for the most part."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well that was a lot," Sebastian said taking in a breath./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sorry dude. I was trying to summarize a person. You can only be so concise," Sam said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah, I'm just trying to absorb everything," Sebastian let out a sigh./p
p class="MsoNormal""Take your time," Sam said, "I get it. I'm in no rush."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian was quiet as he thought through what Sam had said to him, "I still can't believe I'm married. And a dad. That's definitely….shocking."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I completely get that it's hard to believe, but it suits you. And more importantly you're happy," Sam said./p
p class="MsoNormal""From the obscene amount of photos I got that impression," Sebastian shook his head./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam chuckled, "We do surprising things for love."/p
p class="MsoNormal""What other things should I know?" Sebastian asked, "Just like in general? It doesn't have to be about Mariah."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Uhhh, I dunno. I'm not really sure what you do know. And you know how my memory is," Sam said, "Are there things you want to know about? That might help."/p
p class="MsoNormal""What do you know about the wizard?" Sebastian asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Not a whole lot," Sam asked frowning a bit, "He talks to Mariah and Linus more than anyone else."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Hmmm okay," Sebastian said, "I guess I'll ask her then."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam looked puzzled, "Why? What are you trying to figure out?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"So Sebastian explained to Sam his thought process about the curse, trying to get more answers. He showed him his notes and added Sam's observations as well. They were deep in conversation when Mariah cleared her throat./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yoba!" Sam said jumping in his seat, "You're a frigging ninja Mariah." Sebastian couldn't help but agree, though he didn't say anything./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sorry," she shrugged, "We're going to have some lunch. You guys hungry?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam jumped up, "Oh yeah! Definitely."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah chuckled at him, "Figured as much. How about you Seb?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Uh, sure," Sebastian said, "I guess I could eat."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Great," Mariah said, "The girls decided they wanted an indoor picnic so they're setting up the blanket on the floor in the living room. I'm going to get them some cheese and crackers with fruit. I plan on sitting at the table to eat, but you guys are welcome to do what you want, though I'm sure you are both wanted at the picnic. We also have plenty of other foods so you can absolutely eat something else."/p
p class="MsoNormal""You know I'll eat whatever," Sam said. The two of them started heading towards the living room as Sebastian got up and stretched. He trailed behind them, listening to bits and pieces of their conversation./p
p class="MsoNormal"Hearing their friendly banter left Sebastian aching. Of course he still considered Sam to be his best friend but six years changes people. Sebastian was stuck at twenty-four but Sam was twenty-nine and had lived a lot more life than Sebastian had at that point. Or at least that he remembered. He didn't know this version of Sam and that was a difficult thing to wrap his head around. Sam and Mariah knew each other. It pained Sebastian to admit it, but they may know each other better than he knew either of them at the moment. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"It's just not fair./em/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam agreed to the girls' picnic, but Sebastian was, in his opinion, sly and told them that he didn't want to leave Mariah to eat lunch alone. Morgan nodded and pat him on the hand as if he were making some kind of sacrifice, "Good job daddy."/p
p class="MsoNormal"They sat at the table together, but Mariah was watching the three of them in the living room. Sebastian looked over as well. It looked like they were having fun and he could see Sam's genuine happiness at playing along with them. When he looked back at Mariah again she was smiling, but her eyes were sad. The look on her face was similar to the way she had looked the night before, and it pulled at something in Sebastian. He thought back to what Sam said to him about her stress levels and worry about their baby being born early. He thought about her as a person and what Sam had said about her. If the roles were reversed how would someone describe him to her? Sam had a point. People are complex and worth more than the cliff notes. She deserved more than Sam's attempt at a relatively concise description. And if communication was as important to her as Sam had said, he imagined she was going nuts being stuck in her head, trying to not overload him with her thoughts./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian cleared his throat, "So, uh, how are you?" he asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh," Mariah said turning her attention to him, "I, um, I'm okay I guess. Just stressed ya know?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," Sebastian nodded, "I know something about that. So I remembered something else. Kind of. Not that it's helpful or even good lunch conversation."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah perked up at that, "Oh yeah?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah."/p
p class="MsoNormal"There was a pause, "Are you going to tell me what it was?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I, um, uh," Sebastian shifted uncomfortably. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Why did you have to say anything dumbass? There's no good way to say 'Yeah I remembered that your mom was murdered'. And then on top of that you'll have to explain that you were talking about her and that's how it came up./em/p
p class="MsoNormal""Listen whatever it is, that's some kind of progress right?" Mariah said when he didn't recover from his fumble and say anything else, "Was it like an actual memory or more like last night?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Not an actual memory," Sebastian confirmed, "It was just a fact. Sam said something and I corrected him without thinking about it."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well that's good," Mariah said taking a bite of her food, "I wish we had a way of knowing what was coming back so we could trigger it. I bet it feels a lot better when you're able to make the connections rather than just being given the information from other people."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes and no," Sebastian said, "I don't feel like I can trust it. Like I have the thought but I don't know if it's real until someone else confirms it. Plus it's so random it's frustrating. It would also be more helpful if I knew where it was coming from or if I had more information. Like with the hotel thing last night."/p
p class="MsoNormal""That makes sense," she nodded, "I can imagine it's difficult to try and remember things when you don't know what it is that you're trying to remember. It's not like you're trying to remember your password for an account you haven't used in forever."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Right," Sebastian nodded./p
p class="MsoNormal""So what were you and Sam talking about? It sounded like you were really working on something," Mariah said./p
p class="MsoNormal""I've been working on trying to understand more about the curse," Sebastian admitted, "It mostly just provided a lot of questions, but I'm hoping if I can get some of the answers things will make more sense. Even if I can't figure out how to break it any step forward is a step in the right direction. I think you might be able to help actually, so maybe I can go over it with you later?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Of course," Mariah nodded, "I'll do just about anything to help."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian found himself blushing, but he didn't really know why./p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm trying very hard," she added, "To make things less unpleasant for you. I don't know that I'm doing a good job of it, but I don't feel like I can really do much. I know it might seem like I'm only invested in getting my husband back, but I do care about how you're doing beyond just that. Yes, in an ideal world I'd love for you to wake up tomorrow with your memory back, but while we're waiting for that to happen if I can do anything to make you more comfortable or less stressed please let me know. You don't deserve to be going through this and you're doing so much for me already."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian was quiet for a moment before mumbling thanks. Mariah nodded her head and they fell into silence. He knew she must have a lot more on his mind because he definitely did./p
p class="MsoNormal""I wish I remembered you," Sebastian said, "Even if I didn't remember everything."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Me too," Mariah nodded, "If," she said before taking a deep breath, "If you don't get your memory back would you get to know me all over again? You don't have to answer now. I know that's a heavy question."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I think so," Sebastian answered and Mariah let out a breath. He looked at her intently, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look like you're about to cry."/p
p class="MsoNormal"That was apparently enough to put her over the edge and she did start crying. Sebastian froze, he had no idea what to do. Sam and the kids had turned to look at them, and Sam's eyes narrowed at him./p
p class="MsoNormal""Mommy you okay?" Morgan called, "You hurt or is it your ho-mones?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm okay baby," Mariah assured her through her tears, "It's just my hormones."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Morgan nodded her head and turned to Sam and Sophie and informed them, "Mommy cries sometimes 'cause of the ho-mones from the baby. She be okay. I'm gonna be a big sister."/p
p class="MsoNormal""The best big sister," Sebastian heard himself saying. Mariah looked at him wide eyed when he spoke and started crying harder. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"What is happening right now?/em She got up and went outside. Sam gave Sebastian very clear 'go after her' signals before talking to the kids./p
p class="MsoNormal""You two almost done with your picnic? It's getting close to nap time."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian got up, heading outside himself. He wasn't sure where Mariah went, but she couldn't have gotten far./p
