It was late by the time Kayla finally headed up to the bedroom. She and Steve had barely spoken since she had walked away from him at the pond earlier in the afternoon. He had returned to the house in time to help feed Stephanie her dinner and eat something himself. After dinner, he had spent the evening playing with Stephanie and ignoring Kayla, except when absolutely necessary. When Stephanie had begun yawning, Steve had quietly picked her up and followed Kayla upstairs where they had put her to bed. As soon as Stephanie was asleep, Steve had turned and left the room without a word. Kayla had left, too, but had not seen him since.
Pausing at the bedroom door, she took a deep breath and slowly opened it. She stepped inside and saw Steve already in bed. His eye was closed, but she could not tell if he was asleep or just pretending. She walked across the room and into the adjoining room to check on Stephanie. Her daughter was sleeping soundly, clearly oblivious to all the turmoil going on with her parents.
Turning from the crib, Kayla eyed the small bed in the room. Maybe she should just sleep in there tonight. Steve was clearly not ready to forgive her yet, and she doubted he wanted her in their bed. She walked back into the bedroom to get her nightgown. As she reached for it on the chair by the bed, she looked again at Steve. This time his eye was open and locked on her. She held his gaze for a moment, wondering if he would say anything.
He did not, but he also did not turn away. Kayla picked up her nightgown and went into the adjoining bathroom. As she got ready for bed, Kayla knew she would not be sleeping in Stephanie's room. She had spent too many nights alone in her bed and she would be damned if she would voluntarily spend another one alone now. She had known that this would not be easy. Steve was hurt and angry, and she understood that. But if he wanted to shut her out, she was not going to make it easy for him. She had vowed that she would not let this tear them apart and she planned on keeping that vow.
Shutting off the light, Kayla exited the bathroom and walked towards the bed. She could again see Steve's eye open and he watched her approach. Without a word, she pulled back the covers and slipped into the bed beside him. She dared to hope for a moment that he might turn and take her in his arms as he had every other night since he returned. But he did not move.
Sighing slightly in disappointment, Kayla turned on her side to face Steve. He began to stir and she was sure that he was going to turn away from her. But, to her surprise, he turned on his side to face her. Their eyes met, each searching for something in the other. Kayla wanted to tell him to talk to her, to share his hurt, his anger; anything to break down this wall of silence between them. But she did not. Instead, without thinking, she reached out and stroked his cheek and softly spoke.
"You said you didn't know what to believe anymore. Well I do. I believe that we were meant to be together . . . forever. I believe that you love me and, that no matter how angry or hurt you are, you know that I love you. So, if you can't believe anything else, believe this - I'm here in our bed because there is nowhere else that I want to be . . . and I'm not going anywhere."
Steve did not respond, but she did nt expect him to. Pulling her hand away from his cheek, Kayla gave a small smile and rolled over. As the events of the day caught up with her and she drifted to sleep, Kayla knew there was one more thing she believed - they would survive this just as they had survived all other challenges placed before them.