XV. The Burden of Truth
"Lying is done with words
and also with silence."
-Adrienne Rich
"Ooh, that smells so good," Hope moaned. Although she'd eaten a good breakfast the aroma of the Thanksgiving feast was providing a second wind. Even from the foyer of the Danvers estate the scent wafted to her, beckoning, enticing.
Pogue chuckled as he divested her of her jacket. "I think you want food more than you want me."
"Never," she said, winking at him.
"Bea was the same way," Pogue's dad commented, receiving a playful backhand to his arm.
A bark interrupted their banter. Erwin hurried to them, Bruce Lee at his tail. Apparently they were playing the butlers. But first, they insisted on a greeting by a scratch behind the ears before leading them to the large living room where most everyone was already present. A vast Christmas tree was alit and decorated. The large fireplace was aflame.
All the Families (which included Chase, Ginger and Dottie without question), Hunter, Gabriel, and Evelyn's boyfriend, Horatio. Pinkie and Laurie were having Thanksgiving with Laurie's family this year. However, Judy's parents, Patricia and Norman came for the festivities.
Erwin and Bruce Lee, seeing that everyone was here, went to the nursery where Lucius and Abraham were napping with Tippy. The fathers had the baby monitors clipped to their belts for good measure.
Everyone was enjoying drinks while Evelyn, Dottie, and a few of Evelyn's caterers were in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the meal. The dining room was already elaborately set.
"Luke looks wonderful, Rowan," Horatio was saying to her.
She beamed. "Thank you. We're all just glad he's in perfect health." Rowan liked Horatio and knew he made her mother happy. She knew how difficult it had been for her mother to open up, especially after the joy, then the dark sorrow she'd experienced with her first husband. Caleb was polite to Horatio but still a little distant.
"And I'm glad to see the flush of health on your face, too," Horatio said.
Reid neared and put his arm around his wife's waist. "We all are." And she was certainly looking beautiful tonight. She wore a royal blue tiered skirt that ended just below her knees, black mid-calf boots with a buckle and three-inch heel, and a v-necked long-sleeved wrap-front blouse. Her neck was adorned with the Hanging Garden necklace Reid had given her for their first Un-Valentine's Day. He wore black slacks and dark blue, button down shirt.
Not long after, it was announced that the feast was ready. The group couldn't help but ooh and aah at the set up which was worthy of a showing in a magazine. They sat down, not digging in right away, but waiting for everyone to get comfortable. The women had their chairs pulled out for them, (Hunter pulled Gabriel's out for him with a sly wink). It was nice to see that Chase was getting used to this large family he'd acquired who all acted as they'd known him forever (and held no grudge for his past actions), including Ginger and Dottie.
Judy said, "I think I could eat a horse."
"Welcome to the joys of pregnancy, sweetheart," her mother said with a smile.
Horatio extolled Evelyn for the work (Dottie as well) and Evelyn grinned. Three years she was with him, and it had not been easy. It took patience from Horatio and much caring to get her to open up to him. His divorce had been amicable; the loss of her husband was fraught with agony. Of course, she could not tell him the whole truth, but the mental and emotional things she had gone through were open to discussion. It was immensely difficult to share her battle of alcoholism, and ten times more difficult to admit to him how she had abandoned her children so selfishly. She was not blind to their pain, but too wrapped up in herself to reach out to them, comfort them. No pride followed the statement, and Evelyn knew and believed that her actions were no actions of a true mother. It had taken time to make her feel worthy of being their mother. All this Horatio knew, for she trusted him deeply.
There was much talking and laughter, familial revelry that could not be contained. A dark cloud might comment that this was the calm before the storm. Too much happiness could not be sustained. Not to say that tragedy had to follow, conflict was enough.
xx
"I'll never eat anything again," Maria lamented later that night when she got into bed.
Tyler chuckled. "You're pregnant. I heard that this was the time for women to eat like crazy."
"Ooh. And what if I ate like crazy when I'm not pregnant and never get my figure back? Hmm?" She peered at him playfully.
He grinned. "Well, first I'd wonder if there was a psychological reason for overeating because it wouldn't be common behavior from you. And if you continued to gain weight I would still find you beautiful, but I would begin to worry about your physical health. There are so many illnesses that are related to being overweight."
"A loving husband and a loving doctor," she said. Maria sighed then, looked down at her hard-to-see toes. "I hope this doesn't sound bad, but I will be kind of glad when I'm not pregnant anymore and I can see my toes again."
Slipping on his sweats he sat down on the bed to face her. "It doesn't sound bad at all." Tyler put his hand on her stomach, a tender expression on his face.
"How do you do that, Ty?" He looked at her in query, and she said, "I believe you when you say I'm beautiful, thin or fat."
"Because it's true."
"I'm lucky to have an honest husband. Among your other wonderful characteristics."
Tyler inwardly winced, but recovered quickly. "I could say the same about you."
He hoped Maria didn't catch the momentary flinch because she was so perceptive of him. It had been a week since that night at the motel with Serena. He truly believed he had done nothing wrong and hadn't made even the most subtle of comments or actions to make Serena think that he was remotely attracted to her. Then why hadn't he told Maria? Because he was afraid that his wife wouldn't believe him? Because he felt infinitely stupid for not listening to Reid and letting his innate kindness get the best of him? In turn, feeling somewhat responsible for the chain of events.
Although he felt badly for not confiding in Maria, there was no way she would ever find out, so why rock the boat? There was no point in revealing unpleasant news to her. (Although she did insist that she talk to him about Kevin because she knew it pained him and would make him feel better to get it out. If not to her, then somebody.) Anyhow, Tyler made the definitive decision to keep it to himself. Except for Reid, the blonde had called him the day after his stay at the motel and nagged and harangued him to know what had happened because he was convinced something had (adamant in his belief that Serena would 'try to sink her fangs' into him ) and wouldn't let up until Tyler spilled the beans.
Tyler turned off the light and got into bed with Maria. She scooched close, lying on her back, he on his side with his arm across her. In contented silence, they drifted off.
xx
"The food was great," Hope was saying to Justice on the phone. "I wish you could have been there."
Pogue came out of the bathroom, catching the tail-end of her frown. He wished Justice had been able to come to Thanksgiving dinner too, if only to see Hope smile. Of course, being a vampire denied him the light of day, and food.
"But we need to go out, J," Hope said. "When are you coming back from your sojourn?" The elder sibling was at a convention in Quebec, helping Raphael Spellman and others subdue some rowdy vampires who were breaking many laws in the undead world. "Pogue's good. Loving as always and quick in getting me food."
Pogue chuckled.
"There was a mustard incident a week ago though." Hope told her brother about it.
"There was plenty here," Pogue said, not needing to speak loudly for Justice to hear. "Branded for life."
"I'll be telling this story for years to come," Hope declared.
Brother and sister talked for a half-hour more before saying their goodbyes and I-love-yous. Hope didn't want tea tonight which was often what she asked Pogue for before they went down for the night.
"No reading?" he questioned.
She shook her head. "Too tired."
"All right." Pogue turned off the lights and lay close to her. He knew she wasn't asleep from her lack of low, steady breathing. Five minutes ago she was smiling and laughing; now she was troubled. "Hope?" he said her name quietly.
She couldn't hide her sniffle and she berated herself silently. The hormones were to blame, that was it, as Hope wasn't normally this teary. And she didn't want Pogue to worry because if something at all seemed the matter he doused her with questions (not that it was bothersome) and suggested they go to the doctor.
Pogue turned on the light, supported himself on his elbow to get a better look at her.
"I don't need a doctor, Pogue," she said first. "And I'm not in pain," was added next.
His brow slightly furrowed in speculation, and when conceding that she spoke the truth he relaxed a bit. "If you want to talk about it later, we can."
She worried her bottom lip, pondering that; but if she did not get it off her chest no sleep would come tonight. Picking at the hem of the blanket she said, "I'm getting older. Not that that is a bad thing," Hope assured him, "but…when I look in the mirror and see the years on my face it just…makes me more aware that Justice will always be, physically, a twenty-three year old." Hope looked at her husband then. "He's a thirty-four year old man trapped in a twenty-three year old body."
What did he say to that? "He's still here for you, Hope."
"That's just it. He'll always be here, but I won't be. My brother will have to watch me grow old and die. It'll crush him, Pogue. I know it will."
Pogue exhaled, so lost for words, wishing he knew the right ones.
"That's all right," she said quietly, smiling softly so he knew she understood. "I don't think there's a solution."
"Well…if it makes you feel any better, in a way, there will always be a piece of you in the world. Our son, any other kids we have. And their kids…" He was relieved that his thought process relaxed his wife.
"I didn't think of that." She exhaled. "He could look after them, you know? Tell them stories, our history. And he can tell them about our mom and dad. How great they were before they died. So many people came to the funeral."
"Sounds good," he replied, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Speaking of your parents, I came up with a good idea for a name." (They already had eight on a list.)
"What?"
"How does 'Zane' sound?"
Hope's breath hitched. 'Zane' was her father's name. A bit unorthodox but Hope always thought it sounded like a warrior's name. A man in a fairy tale, and her mother, Sun-Mi (Sun), was the princess. Such was the innocent imagination of a young girl before losing her parents and the fairy tales burned to ash.
"Really?" she asked. "You don't think it's…unusual?"
Pogue laughed. "Your husband's name is 'Pogue.' We can keep with the tradition of off-beat names. You got a middle one?"
Hope chuckled. "Ooh! Merrick."
"My dad's middle name?" Pogue grinned. "He always wished that was his first name. He hates 'Wayne.'"
"You think he'd mind?"
He shook his head, chuckling. "Not at all. He's going to put a banner on his plane and fly across Massachusetts."
"I can't wait to tell your parents. And Justice. He'll love it."
"Why wouldn't they?" Pogue kissed her.
"You know what I could go for now?"
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" he said with a smirk.
"Yup. Tea."
xx
"Okay, I'm full," Gabe said, falling on his side of the bed. "If I get an emergency call I don't know what I'm going to do."
Hunter laughed, joining his significant other. "Same here. I don't think the higher-ups will give a damn, though."
"Ruthless." He took Hunter's hand. "It was nice, non? Over here we don't normally have bébés around."
Hunter paused for a mere moment, but it was audible to Gabriel. "Lucius and Abraham are great." This was a discussion that the Cajun sorcerer had subtly interjected into conversations for about the passed two years; babies, kids. The Shepherd deflected it nicely for some time, but he was feeling that his grace period of avoidance was coming to an end.
"Perhaps," Gabriel hedged, "we might hear papa or père…in our home."
"I don't think that's biologically possible, Gabe," he tried to keep it light.
Silence, he turned his head away to look out the window, "I did not forget that we are both men."
Hunter rubbed the bridge of his nose between his eyes where pressure was developing. "It's…it's late, Gabe. Can we…?"
"Oui, oui," he interrupted, and snapped off the lamp, leaving his back towards Hunter. "Good night."
Hunter stifled his sigh. He hadn't wanted to upset Gabriel, but he wasn't ready to have this talk of children, the possibility of the two of them having children. Hunter loved his nephews (absolutely no matter that they were not blood nephews), without reserve, loved seeing them, holding them, hearing them call him 'uncle.' Yet, his own? And how, adoption? A surrogate mother? Still, a child with no magical powers, having to tell that child later on that one father was a warlock, the other telekinetic.
He could only imagine looking into his son's or daughter's eyes and not seeing acceptance, understanding. Just thinking about it made Hunter hurt. So, for now, he shut it out, and tried to sleep.
xx
The next day, Friday, Tyler was back at work. The injured and sick, never a reprieve for them. Either it was the good food or great time he'd had with his family - mostly the latter - the youngest Son felt revived and ready to face the day with vigor. As a side note, Serena had been temporarily working in another ward for the past week so he had seen very little of her. So the first thing he did after readying himself in the locker room was go to Kevin's room. The young boy had still not emerged from his coma.
He found Mrs. Wilcox sitting silent by the hospital bed holding her son's limp hand. Her eyes did not stray from Kevin's face.
"Mrs. Wilcox," Tyler said gently, his voice causing her to slowly raise her eyes to his. They were bloodshot and filled with grief.
Her voice cracked, husky and dry. "He won't wake up, will he?"
Silent a moment, Tyler approached to the opposite side of the bed. "Almost fifteen years ago, my sister had similar head injures from a car crash. She woke up from her coma."
She scoffed with self-loathing. "That's…good for you, but you didn't cause her crash. But I caused this." Her eyes drifted back to her son. "I did this…by not stopping him," – the father – "sooner. I let this happen. And I'm being punished by having the one person I love more than anything taken away from me."
"This is not-"
"Please," Mrs. Wilcox interjected, holding up a hand. "No."
He nodded. "Well," he decided to move forward, "the doctor feels that Kevin is sufficiently stable to undergo surgery to relieve the blood clot in his head."
"The…the doctor?" she questioned. "Will you be performing the surgery?"
"No," he answered. "This is a delicate surgery and needs to be done by a specialist."
Her lips pursed. "But…you are Kevin's doctor."
"I have the title of 'doctor' but I am not yet licensed to practice medicine on my own. I'm in my last year of internship right now, Mrs. Wilcox." Damn, he should have informed her of this from the get-go.
"I want you though," she insisted as if she had not heard what he said.
Tyler continued to be patient, which was no difficulty. He understood her resistance. When a person got used to one doctor, it could be hard to transition to another. "Doctor Hoag is an expert surgeon, Mrs. Wilcox. He's been doing this for over twenty years. Kevin is in excellent hands."
"I've never even met him," she uttered insistently under her breath.
He nodded. "I came here to tell you that he would be here within the hour. He'll inform you of everything you need to know."
She went quiet then, face sagging in defeat. Beggars couldn't be choosers right? The woman thought anyone else taking care of her son was better than her.
Tyler wished he could say something more, but what words could succor this situation? Was there any forgiveness in the future for this mother? He hoped so. If (or when) Kevin woke up he would need a mother to be there for him one-hundred percent and not drifting off into pools of self-loathing.
He was about to tell Mrs. Wilcox that he would take his leave when Doctor Hoag came into the room…followed by Serena. Tyler's shoulders stiffened, his eyes went hard. Serena merely looked at him as if she'd never tried to seduce him at a motel.
"Hello, Mrs. Wilcox," Serena said. "This is Dr. Hoag; he'll be performing the operation."
Tyler knew it was okay to remove himself from the room. He told Mrs. Wilcox he would speak with her later and exited the room, instantly feeling like he could breathe once again out of the presence of Serena. For the next two hours he attended to his other patients until he was able to take his break.
First, he went to the locker area to check his messages. Maria had been having slight cramping the previous night and he wanted to check up on her. There were only a few people in the room, all who he was friendly with. Tyler unlocked his compartment only to find that he had Maria's cell phone.
"Damn," he muttered.
They had the same type and obviously he'd grabbed hers by mistake. Not like him, but nothing to go nuts about. He called his cell phone number, knowing that his wife had already found the mixing of the cell phones already. The phone rang and rang and went to voicemail. His brow furrowed, thinking it wasn't usual for Maria to keep the phone too far from her especially since she got pregnant.
Tyler figured she was indisposed and called five minutes later. When even the house phone wasn't answered he began to worry. If Maria was going somewhere she would have at least texted him or left him a message. Images of Maria hurt and unable to call for help flashed through his mind and sent his heart pounding.
He called Pinkie.
xx
"Who is that?" Maria cried. "If it's Tyler, don't you dare answer that phone!"
Pinkie winced. "Sweetie, I know you are beyond upset, but you cannot get yourself worked up like this."
"Worked up?" she said through clenched teeth. "My husband is cheating on me!"
"We don't know that," Pinkie insisted.
"Oh? No? No?" She tried to get off the couch, failed, and just held up Tyler's cell phone with the incriminating text message she'd found forty-five minutes ago, but had been sent almost two hours ago.
Tyler, I'm sorry about what happened at the motel. We should talk. –Serena
Maria burst into a fresh waterfall of tears, exactly what she'd been doing after she was collected enough to call Pinkie. He rushed right over, certain that Maria had misinterpreted the message, because Tyler would never in a million-billion years cheat on Maria.
Pinkie's phone stopped ringing. It flashed, indicating he had a voice-mail.
She sniffed. "What's he saying?"
"He's probably going out of his mind," he said.
"I don't care!" she yelled. "I'm out of my mind. My husband, my Tyler, is diddling that…that whore!"
He knew that this was no regular drama. His best friend was in a true, hysterical, distraught state. Pinkie plunked himself down beside her, planted his hands on her shoulders. "Maria, breathe. You have to. Your blood pressure is, like, probably sky-rocketing right now, and that can't be good for the baby, right?"
"How can I breathe," – hiccup – "when Tyler doesn't love me anymore?"
"That is not true! I will never accept that," he stated. "We can call him and get the truth."
"No." She shook her head vehemently. "I don't want to talk to him. Or see him, or hear him. I don't want to be here." She shoved herself up to her feet, face puffy, eyes red. "I'm getting a bag, and I'm," – her lip quivered – "leaving." Maria looked at him sadly, "Can I stay with you and Laurie?"
"Of course," he said. "But…I think you should talk to him."
"You're on his side?" she questioned, getting riled up once more. "Are you?"
"No! I'm with you, sweetie, all right? We'll get through this."
She nodded. "Why would he do this, Pinkie? What did I do?"
"Nothing," he soothed, supporting her as they went upstairs. "This is all just a horrible, horrible misunderstanding." Good gracious I hope so.
xx
"Tip-py," Reid enunciated. "See?" He pointed to the gray and white cat who sat at the window on her perch. Hearing her name, Tippy turned her head, meowed, and went back to watching the outside world.
Lucius gurgled with a drooly smile, flapping his chubby arms.
"Er-win," Reid grinned, pointing at the German shepherd sleeping lazily at his feet, and Luke let out a squeal. The blond looked for the ferret but he was nowhere to be found. "Pretty soon you'll be calling out for them," he said to his son. "Your brains are coming from mommy."
"And your daddy," Rowan's voice sounded as she came into the sitting room.
Reid turned his head to see her. "Mostly you, though."
She waved away his comment good-naturedly. Rowan knew Reid was smart, he just didn't give himself enough credit sometimes. "Hungry?"
"I could eat," he replied. Reid stood up. Luke was able to hold his head up on his own but dad still lightly put his hand at the back of his son's soft head. "How're you feeling?"
"Lovely," she replied honestly. "You?" Her brow rose. "The jewels?"
He chuckled. "Doesn't hurt anymore." And the bruising was gone. Hurrah. He was hoping at his next doctor's visit that he'd receive the results of a zero sperm count. Then he and Rowan could…
"Oh, I saw that Mr. Garwin," she teased. "Not in front of the baby."
"Ah, you're right." To Luke, "This is grown-up stuff."
"Phone," Rowan said, and it rang two seconds later.
"Hey, Maria," Reid answered.
"It's Tyler," he said.
"Dude, you okay?" His brow furrowed and he and Rowan shared a look.
"No," the younger said hurriedly. "I called Maria, and she is not answering. Then I called Pinkie and he's not answering either. For the past twenty minutes, Reid! I'm about to call the police."
"Okay, okay, take a breath," Reid said. Rowan took Luke from him. "What's the prob?"
"I can't get to Maria!" Tyler repeated. "She always leaves me a text or voicemail if she's going somewhere."
Reid mouthed to Rowan, Call Pinkie.
Rowan retrieved her cell phone. It was two rings before an anxious Pinkie answered.
xx
"Oh, God, Row, you will not believe this flustercuck!" he exclaimed, and quickly told her the details almost all in one breath.
"Where is she now?" Rowan asked.
"The poor thing collapsed into sleep almost the minute she got here. Absolutely refused to have anything to do with Tyler." Pinkie exhaled sharply. "I am so overcome Rowan, there has got to be an explanation, right? Am I right?"
"Yes," she replied. "Reid's on the phone with Tyler right now. I think you should talk to him."
"Who? Tyler? Dear Lord, Maria would never forgive me."
"All right, I will talk to Tyler and let him know what's going on."
"Please don't let him just drive over here. It will upset Maria, and she needs a level head when she confronts him. I swear the baby was about to combust because she was so mad!"
"Tell me you brought some tea."
"Of course," he said. "I need to get her to drink some when she wakes up."
"Okay." She hung up with Pinkie and Luke got passed to his father so Rowan could speak with Tyler.
When Reid heard the problem he groaned inwardly and cursed Serena, and mentally smacked Tyler for getting involved in the first place. Damn his friend's good nature.
xx
"What did the text say?" Tyler asked for a third time. It wasn't any easier to assimilate when Rowan told him again. "I don't… I swear nothing happened."
"I believe you, Ty," Rowan soothed. "I'm sure she will too when she lets you explain."
"I should have told her to begin with," he said more to himself than Rowan. "What am I going to do?"
"I know this will be hard, but I really think Maria needs to sleep through the night, get some perspective and you two can talk tomorrow."
"I can't wait until tomorrow," he said insistently. "She has to know now. Today."
"Well, I can't stop you…"
"Dude, seriously," Reid had taken the phone. "Do you think Maria even wants to hear your name right now? Give her the night to chill out. If you want to crash here for supervision, then do that." Pause, then, "No, scratch that. You will come here after work. Being alone doesn't sound so good at the moment."
"Reid-"
"Do I need to come get you?" the blond interrupted. "Or are you good to drive?"
"I can drive just fine," Tyler replied tersely. His sigh was heavy.
Seriously, firmly Reid said, "I mean it, Tyler. Come here after work. Being alone won't help."
xx
How the hell he was going to get through the rest of the day, four more hours, he didn't know. He was torn between rage at Serena and undiluted fear and worry over Maria. Did she really, truly believe he had or would be unfaithful? Worse, he couldn't (knowing that it was best) speak to her until the next day. Putting forth a valiant effort to maintain equanimity during the rest of his work, he finally was able to drop it at the end of the day.
Everything hurt as he made his way to the locker to collect his things. But yet another thing was rising against him.
Serena.
"Hey, Tyler," she said warily.
His face was stone. No one would probably recognize him with this expression. Which was the case with Serena. Her brow furrowed in confusion, then as his face didn't change, something akin to fear.
"You texted me," he said.
She nodded.
Tyler's jaw clenched. "You might be happy to know, that my mine and my wife's phones were mixed up this morning. And she got your text." He took a step forward. "I told you never to speak to me again. What is your problem?"
"I…"
"I! I! I!" his voice rose. "There is something mentally wrong with you Serena. I have told you numerous times to stay away or do not speak to me. Why would you think that a text message would be welcome?" She didn't answer. "Well? What, nothing to say now?"
And she didn't have anything to say.
Tyler breathed. There was no point in castigating Serena. This was truly his fault, for not telling Maria everything, for trying to hide it when she'd had the right to know. "If this continues, Serena, I will file a charge for harassment."
xx
"Ty," Rowan said when he arrived. She gave him a big, long hug which he returned, obviously in need of one.
Luke had been put down with the animals, so Reid was free to give his friend a slap on the back and an I-told-you-so-but-I-know-this-sucks-for-you shake of his head. Rowan ushered Tyler to the kitchen where chicken soup (she thought a sandwich would be too hard to stomach) and iced-tea was put out for him. The youngest Son didn't know if he'd be able to eat a bite, but he'd try.
The married couple sat with him, Rowan with a cup of tea, Reid with the same although it wasn't his first choice.
"You want something with more kick?" Reid asked, gesturing towards the tea.
"No, thanks," Tyler half-smiled. Even that fell pitifully short.
He did manage to eat most of his meal before going upstairs to his room. Throwing his duffle on the bed he realized he'd pretty much forgotten all the essentials. Sad as it was, brushing his teeth, washing his face were the last things from his mind. But Rowan always had extras of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other hygienic amenities under the bathroom counters. Always the hostess.
Rowan and Reid came in to say goodnight. He turned off the light and tried to sleep. About an hour later as he was drifting off (though barely) he felt the bed shift oh-so slightly. Tyler's eyes snapped open. The silhouette of a cat approached him and settled on his chest.
"Thanks, Tip," he said, petting her behind the ears.
xx
"I don't want to," Maria said from the bathroom.
Laurie and Pinkie shared a helpless glance. They'd been standing outside the bathroom for the past twenty minutes trying to get Maria to come out because Tyler was downstairs, waiting anxiously, biting his nails to the quick.
"Honey, you need to hear what he has to say," Pinkie insisted.
Silence. The door opened a pinch. "One minute."
Pinkie didn't think that'd be nearly enough, but getting Maria out of the bathroom and downstairs was the first step. Or first and second step. Laurie hurried to the first floor ahead of them to inform Tyler that she was ready to make her appearance.
"Good luck," he whispered.
Tyler bolted to his feet when Maria entered the living room. She looked sad, drawn, but her eyes were forcibly defiant on his. Not that he blamed her. She was hanging onto Pinkie's arm.
"All right," he said, "I'll leave you two."
"One minute!" Maria reminded him.
Then they were left alone. Tyler took a step forward but the daggers she glared at him stopped him. He cleared his throat.
"Do you…want to sit down?" he asked her. "Have you rested-?"
"Rested," she spat. "Yes, I've gotten so much rest while my husband was out doing God-knows-what with another woman." Tears filled her eyes.
"Maria, I am so sorry for not telling you."
"About your rendezvous at the Motel Sex?" she nearly screamed.
"No. Nothing happened," he told her. "Nothing. She tried to…" Haltingly, he told her exactly the events that occurred. "And I came straight home to you."
Her lips were pursed, she sniffed. "If it was nothing, why didn't you tell me?"
"Because it was nothing." He walked to her now. "I promise you that. I didn't want to upset you about something so trivial."
"Upset me? Trivial? A woman fondles my husband, and that's trivial?" she screeched. "Well you failed! You lied, and you failed! What else have you 'not done' with her, huh? No stolen kisses in the janitor's closet? God, was this even the first time?"
Tyler's eye must have twitched. No one else would have caught it. No one. But even from her peripheral vision, Maria saw it. Sensed it.
"Was this the first time?" she questioned quietly.
"I have never been unfaithful to you, Maria," he said.
"But you're hiding something else. I know it." Her stomach bumped him she stood so close. "What is it? What are you hiding now?"
"It was…nothing," he told her, sounding pathetic even to his ears.
"What…was it?" she demanded.
Tyler sighed. That night Serena had come over, he was on the verge of drunk because Maria had left him. The alcohol boggled his mind, but Serena had only gotten close enough that her nose brushed his. That was it.
"That was it," he said.
Maria's bottom lip trembled. "I asked you if anything happened," she cried. "I asked you then! And you said nothing!"
"It was nothing!" his voice rose. "Nothing happened!"
"You knew what I meant!" she yelled. "You know you should have told me. You were asking yourself if you should have told me, so you should have! You should have!" Her hands clenched into fists and she pummeled his chest and shoulders, crying, tears streaming unchecked.
"Please, sweetheart," he said, holding her flailing fists.
"No!" She wrenched herself away. "You never get to call me 'sweetheart' again! How many more lies?"
"I didn't-" Tyler stopped himself. By keeping his silence, he had lied.
Maria's shoulders shook with sobs. Exhausted, hurt, she cried. Tyler stood there, wanting to hold her so badly, knowing his touch was far from welcome. He saw Pinkie peek around the corner, and Tyler indicated that he should take her to rest. Because there was nothing more he could say to her.
He collapsed on the couch with his head in his hands while Pinkie took Maria upstairs. Laurie followed with a cup of tea, though he doubted Maria could stop crying long enough to drink it.
Forty-five minutes later Pinkie came back downstairs and sat next to Tyler.
"You haven't lost her," Pinkie soothed. "This will just take some time."
"How much time?" He looked at Pinkie without much hope. "Before or after our son is born?"
"Oh, definitely before," Pinkie exclaimed.
Tyler sighed. "I won't stop trying to get her to forgive me, but…I really, really hurt her. 'Hurt' doesn't describe it." He got up, feeling old. "Thanks for trying to mediate, Pinks."
Pinkie followed him to the door.
"Will you…will you call me if anything happens? Even if she feels a small cramp."
He nodded. "Of course. Of course."
Tyler departed, and walked into the cold.
xx
Reid was waiting in Tyler's house when he got home. By the lack of Maria at his side, and Tyler's agony-face, Reid surmised that there'd been no forgiving reunion with hugs and kisses. That was what he'd expected anyway. It'd been less than two days and this shit storm wasn't going to clear up with apologies, however sincere they were.
"I don't want to hear an I-told-you-so, Reid," Tyler said exhaustedly.
"None from this corner."
It was starting to snow again, the gray clouds fat with crystal-white flakes. Reid sighed seeing his friend so…down. Circles under the eyes, mussed hair, a couple of nicks from shaving, so rare coming from Baby Boy.
"Row made beef stew with veggies and thick gravy," he told him.
"I can't eat."
"I figured that. You look like shit, so get some rest, and when you wake up you'll be hungry."
Tyler blinked. "You don't have to stay."
"Whatever," Reid shrugged.
"You think I'm going to kill myself or something?" he tried to joke.
The blond looked at him blandly even though he thought so such thing. "Sleep."
Tyler didn't argue. Not having taken off his jacket in the foyer, he threw it over a chair, then plopped face-first on the living room couch. He was asleep within minutes.
"Christ," Reid muttered, for his friend and the situation.
The guy hadn't taken his shoes off and Reid didn't want to wake him, so he used his Power to remove them. The quilt draped over the back of the couch Reid manually used to cover his friend with. That done, Reid sat down himself, plunked his feet on the coffee table and shuffled through a few magazines on the side table.
It was either some fashion magazine or one of Tyler's medical magazines filled with words Reid would never understand.
"Vogue it is," he muttered.
Thanks for the continued reading and reviews. I hope this is going okay. I did a little foreshadowing with Hunter/Gabriel and Hope/Pogue.
I'm not going to agonizingly drag out Tyler and Maria's reconciliation, but it won't be an easy one.
As a side note, I made more couple banners, they're on my profile.
Happy impending New Years for those who celebrate, just in case I don't get another update in before then. :)