Filed To Story: The Lingering Kiss of Farewell Novel
“But you recall the house now, so there is hope, Marilyn, I would like for you to get them back, even if it’s just for your own piece of mind,” he sighed. “Now you made mention of Christmas Day being a different matter for the boys wake-up time.
“Mm, it’s usually much earlier than normal, around 5am.” She told him.
“Alright, I’ll get up early myself.” he nodded and stood up. “Are you going to work all night?”
“A few chapters likely.” She nodded. “But seeing as you’re going to the house, can you do me a favour?” she asked.
“I can.” He nodded. She stood up and headed for her room, checked on the boys, and they were actually asleep, likely Calvin had sat in there and waited for them to fall asleep. Why he’d been in there so long.
She collected their two presents from Santa and handed them to him, “Put them under the tree for the boys, please.” don’t
He looked at them and then nodded. “Tomorrow will likely be a bit hectic. Just a heads-up. I know you recall, but it’s a big family day for all of us, something your old self actually enjoyed. You always smiled a lot on days we were with my family.”
“Alright, thanks for the heads-up. If I get overwhelmed, I’ll just retreat to the guest house.
Calvin
He’d struggled to go to sleep as he had done the night before. Sleeping in the bed he’d once shared with Marrin was hard to do. Seemed to be even worse than it had been after she’d vanished, because she was downstairs in the guesthouse. This was her house and this was her bedroom.
Everything about this room was Marrin, and sleeping in here before he’d become so bitter and twisted had been of some comfort to him, but not last night, and certainly not tonight. It probably didn’t help that there was a photo of the two of them on the bedside table. Wil had taken it, long ago, after she’d murmured she loved him in her sleep, and after he’d come to love her.
It was just a picture of the two of them sitting at dinner with Wil and Anabell. But they’d been smiling at each other, and it was a nice picture. Wil had given a copy to Marrin and one to himself. Marrin had kept it downstairs in the formal living room, and he’d moved it upstairs at some point.
Though after he’d stopped coming here to sleep because of those women that thought they could fool him, and he’d become bitter and twisted, he’d stopped coming up to the bedroom altogether, only really came out to Cliffside to access the study and the walk-in safe.
He tossed and turned in that bed and nearly went downstairs to sleep. It was after midnight, and he was still awake. His bloody brain wouldn’t shut off about all she’d said today, she’d also looked to fit in with his family like she’d done all those years ago, only her words didn’t match her actions, and it bothered him.
Everything was for the boys. Did she not want anything for herself? Or maybe she didn’t think she could have that happy family life, that she was seeing here with his family. They were all happy to see her and his mother was more than attentive, and he wondered now if it was too much for her.
Seeing as she recalled nothing, and only knew that they’d gotten divorced, and though she might have all the facts around it, without memories to associate with them, or her past life in anyway. She was likely to be disconnected from it all and could well be uncomfortable, but just hiding it from all, for the boys’ sake.
He’d seen her just sit and work yesterday while he had the boys. She’d done the same tonight, sat and worked while he was sitting watching the boys fall asleep. He wondered if she relied on her writing to cope with having no one other than the boys. To stop herself from feeling lonely, was she lonely? He didn’t know.
Calvin didn’t know when he had fallen asleep, but he woke up to his two sons yelling his name, and then they were climbing on the bed. “It’s Christmas, get up, get up, get up,” they were telling him. The place was still covered in darkness and though he could see the hallway light was on, it was too early for his tired eyes.
What time is it?” he muttered and made himself sit up. “Where is your mother?”
“Downstairs making breakfast. She won’t let us open gifts until you’re up.” They were up on the bed and pulling at him “Get up, Santa was here.”
“Alright boys. I’m getting up. I don’t know how your mother does it,” he muttered as they jumped down from the bed, “Don’t you wake little Heather.” He called out after them.
“Huh, Aunty Cheryl is already up,” they yelled at him, and then yelled for all in the house to hear “It’s Christmas wake up.”
Calvin rubbed a hand over his face and shook his head. He didn’t know how she did it, it was too bloody early for his liking. But he got his ass up, he’d packed himself a good-sized suitcase when going home to get those gifts from the plane for the boys.
His part of the walk-in now had many casual clothes in it. He pulled on blue jeans and a simple tee-shirt and a black and white sweater to go over the top and thought about shoes, but let it go. He wasn’t going anywhere today, so there was no need. He made his way down the hall and headed for the kitchen where he could hear the boys were talking a mile a minute.
He walked in to find Marilyn dressed much like he was, standing before a mixing bowl, and she had the pan on. She was making pancakes, there was an array of berries laid out in punnets before her, and he watched her swat both boys as they tried to steal fruit from them. “Hey, they’re for in the pancakes. You know the rules.”
He smiled as they grabbed the punnet and ran off with it. “It’s Christmas. You can’t punish us.” They laughed as they ran away. He watched her shake her head and just turn to the fridge and pull out another punnet. “Morning Marilyn, I see you have back-up berries.” He chuckled as he walked across to the counter. She was set up at “Do you want a hand?”
“Can you cook?” she asked in return with a raised eyebrow, as if to say she didn’t think he would be able to. “I can actually, I often cook my own meals. Only eat out if I have plans to do so for business or with friends.” He told her, and it was the truth, he’d even taken a few cooking classes so he could cook proper meals. It gave him something to do when he was bored as well.
“I’d say yes, but.” Her head tilted, and she shook her head. “They are looking to open presents. You might want to go that way and let them.”
“Aren’t you going to come for that? Please don’t tell me you’re going to stay in here as if you don’t exist. While we all sit and open gifts.”
“I’ll make breakfast as I always do,” she stated, “Though in my house I can see them from the kitchen so they can open presents while I watch and cook.” She looked about. “I can’t do that here.”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.