by Sadie Grubor
"Oh my god, that prick!" Elora rushed to me and put her arms around me.
"Well, she can't leave! The conditions..."
"Shut the fuck up, Henry!" We all snapped our heads to Liam. "Just shut up. This isn't about your damn money. This is about Lilli and Aidan. If you are more interested in the money then get out now! Or I can throw your ass out!" He growled.
Henry was taken back. He immediately shut up and stood quietly with Anne.
"Are you okay? You can stay with us." Elora said in a hushed tone as she tried to soothe me.
"I need to get away. I'm sorry, I just…I need to leave." I grabbed my suitcase and headed to the twins room. I grabbed my phone and. as I was placing a call, I saw all the missed calls and text messages. I ignored them all and made my travel arrangements. Kimberly had everything ready for me; bags and carriers.
"Lilli, please..." Liam begged. Viola put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Let us know that you got somewhere safely. I promise that no one will speak to Aidan unless you ask us to." She forced a smile.
"Thank you." I said quickly and took the twins.
Jay appeared with a solemn look as he grabbed the bags and luggage. When I got to the airport, Phoebe was waiting.
"Oh, Lil!" She ran to me and hugged me. After taking one of the twins, we entered the airport to wait for our flight to Winter Harbor.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Aidan
She ran out of the room and I got to the door before I realized that I was completely naked.
"Fuck!" I screamed and ran back to the bedroom, grabbing up all of my clothes from the floor.
"W-what..?" Loreley rolled over with her hand on her head. "Shit...my head." She groaned.
"Shut the fuck up." I leaned over, grabbed her wrist, and yanked her up in front of me. "I don't know what you did or how you did it, but I will kill you, Loreley! I swear to God, if I see your face again, I will kill you! And, if I lose Lillian, you are as good as dead!" I threw her back and stood from the bed, slipping my arms through my shirt.
"But..." She looked down at herself and pulled the blankets over her naked body. “What the hell happened?" She looked at me with pleading eyes.
"Like you don't know! What the fuck did you do to me?" I sneered.
"I didn't...I swear...Oh my god. I heard Lilli, it was her. She was here. Was she here?" Loreley was yelling after me as I rushed from the room.
Calling Lilli numerous times without an answer, I called family to try to get to her. I needed to talk to her. I needed to make her understand that I didn't do anything. Loreley had done something to me.
I didn't have time to explain to anyone, I had to get on the plane. The trip was so long and I paced the plane a million times trying to remember last night. What the fuck happened? How did I end up with Loreley?
I remembered sitting at the dinner table eating and talking with Mr. Dourien and his son. Once they had said goodnight, I headed to my room. I remember entering the room and pouring a drink, but then I don't...fuck! What the hell was in that glass?
I made a few calls. I needed someone to get to that room and take samples of everything they could find. I wanted security footage as well.
I was at the bottom of the steps before they had touched the tarmac. Jumping into the car, I made call after call trying to get someone to answer.
"Fuck!" I screamed out to the empty car. "Drive faster!" I yelled to the driver.
I burst through the doors of the house to find my family huddled and crying in the living room.
"Where is she?" I panted and ran up the stairs.
"Aidan, she's gone." Liam came following after me.
"No, she can't be! Lilli!" I shouted and felt the tears start to stream over my cheeks. "No, no, no. She can't be gone!"
Liam took me in his arms and held me.
"Shhh...she left almost an hour ago." Liam told me. "Aidan, what happened? It doesn't make sense."
"Damn right it doesn't!" Uncle Henry barged into the room.
"Dad!" James tried to subdue him.
Henry approached me and pulled me up from the floor by my collar.
"What did you do? You've ruined everything!"
"Dad!" James grabbed his hand and pried it from my shirt.
"I didn't do anything." I exclaimed. "I went to my room, had a drink, blacked out, and awoke to Lilli sobbing at the sight of Loreley and me together. I didn't take her to my room! I didn't do anything!” I cried out.
"Something is very odd—"
Liam was cut off by James pulling his father out of the room and Aunt Anne yelling at them both.
"Aidan, sweetheart..."
"Viola...oh God, where is she? I need to go after her."
"She didn't tell us where she was going." She held my face. "She just packed her and the twins..."
"The kids, she took the twins away from me." Collapsing to my knees, I held my head in my hands. Grief and loss consumed me. "I have to find her."
"You need to find out what happened at that hotel, Aidan." Liam looked down at me. "She isn't going to accept that you don't know."
I sniffled and nodded.
"I've already made some calls and asked them to go over the hotel room to see if they can find anything." I leaned back against the bed, pulling my knees up to rest my elbows on while holding my head.
"Come, stand up." Liam took my arm and pulled me up to stand.
My legs gave out and I sat onto the bed. As I sat down, a small shine caught my attention. I reached over and grasped the cold metal. I opened my fist in front of me and fingered the two small rings that used to grace my Lilli's finger. The rings I was determined to get back on her hand, whatever the cost.
"She went home." I whispered.
"What?" Viola said as she sat down next to me and put her arm around me.
"She went home...to Donald." I was up and grabbing clothes, quickly shoving them into a bag.
"Aidan, stop." Liam stood and held me still.
"I need to go to her!"
"You need to figure some things out first. I think we should have you drug tested. Now, before it gets any later. It may already be too late, I'm afraid. But, I'm not a doctor."
I nodded and sighed. Liam pulled out his phone and called Dr. Johnson to the house. He arrived quickly.
"Do you have anything to do with this?" I glared at him as he entered my room.
"No, Aidan, I haven't had anything to do with any of this. Right now, I wish that I could say yes. At least then I would be able to tell you everything and resolve this huge mess." He had his head down. "I still cannot find my daughter. I fear that she has the answers you seek." He sighed.
I rolled up my sleeve and stuck out my arm.
Pulling out a needle, he drew blood. He clipped some hair as well, and took a swab of the inside of my mouth.
"I'll go to the hospital now and stand there as we run the lab work. I should be able to have it back to you by tomorrow morning or early afternoon."
"Thank you." I mumbled.
I took a shower and threw myself down into one of the large chairs in the sitting area of the bedroom, bourbon in my hand. Staring at my phone, I dialed her number over and over again, just to hear her voice on her voicemail message.
Chapter Eight
Winter Harbor and Back Again
Lilli
At first, the flight with the twins, mainly Walsh, was crazy. He hated the plane. I was finally able to situate both babies in my lap. Once Livy was next to him, he started to calm down. Phoebe was quiet, which I appreciated. She hadn’t heard the whole story but she was letting me have the time that I needed to cope.
Halfway into our flight, the twins fell asleep and I started to doze off myself. As I felt myself slipping into slumber, the image of Loreley's naked body wrapped around Aidan's flashed behind my eyelids. I gasped and my eyes flew open.
"Lilli, are you okay?" Phoebe looked at me concerned.
I shook my head as the tears started. That wa
s when I told Phoebe everything that had happened, from the weird message up to when I met with her to fly to Winter Harbor.
"I am so sorry." She held me in her arms as I sobbed, my tears dripping onto the first class seat.
"I can't get it out of my head." I growled out and sat back into my seat.
"Things will work out, just take the time you need to figure out what you are going to do." Phoebe rubbed my leg as she spoke.
I nodded, sniffled, and sat quietly the rest of the flight.
When we arrived to my father's house, I couldn't help but smile. Donald walked out onto the porch as we approached. He was walking around and looking good. No wheelchair, no bedridden sickly man; it was about the only thing that could make me smile at this point.
"Lilli!" He wrapped his arms around me as I gave him a one armed hug. I had Walsh in my other arm. "And here is my handsome grandson!" He beamed down to Walsh as he ruffled his hair. Walsh shied away into my shoulder.
"You look good, Dad. Like, really good." I smiled. "Millie's been taking good care of you."
"Yeah, yeah." He smiled. "Where's my..? There she is!" I turned and saw Phoebe approach with Livy.
"Ah, Donald, I never knew how much you missed me?" Phoebe giggled and then winked.
"I missed you too, Phoebe." Donald chuckled and then walked over to Livy, who was shying away into Phoebe's shoulder. Donald rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head. "Come on, let's get inside."
We followed dad inside and were immediately met by Millie, who fawned over the kids.
"They have gotten so big." She smiled and kissed each of their cheeks.
Donald helped me set out a blanket and toys for the kids so Phoebe and I could get the rest of the luggage out of the car.
After taking everything into my old room and setting up the playpen, I returned downstairs to sit with my family. Phoebe and I made dinner while my dad tried to teach the twins about baseball. Millie would laugh every so often at Donald. Phoebe kept giggling when she would overhear the twins babbling after Donald would speak.
The twins could say a few words, but were mostly babbling like crazy and making noises. It was adorable.
Phoebe left a couple of days later and my only true distractions were the kids. Aidan had called me repeatedly but I still couldn't bring myself to talk to him yet. I called Viola once to tell her that we were in Winter Harbor with my dad and that we were fine. She begged me to call Aidan, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was all still too fresh. I felt like someone had reached into my chest and pulled my heart from behind my ribcage.
Week one in Winter Harbor was dedicated to taking the twins around as much as I could in the weather. We went to the small ice cream parlor, the pizza place and the diner. There were a couple of new additions to the town. There was a McDonald's now, with an indoor play area, so I took them there. A daycare offering ‘Mommy and Me’ playdates had also opened, we took full advantage.
Week two and I still remained as focused on Livy and Walsh as ever. I didn't want to think about Aidan. I had sent him exactly one text while we had been here, stating that I was ok. He had text back that he was coming to talk to me and I told him not to come. I hadn't heard from him since and was thankful.
I had explained everything to my dad one late night after he overheard me during my ritual of crying alone in the shower before bed. He had yelled for me to come down to the couch in the living room and proceeded to hug me tightly as I sobbed and talked. It was very unlike Donald to take emotions on so forwardly, he usually avoided tears.
Three and a half weeks of being in Winter Harbor, my dad approached me one more time about Aidan.
"Lilli?" He yelled up to me as I was heading to the shower.
"Yeah, Dad?" I asked in a flat tone.
"Come here, please."
I walked down the steps and came face to face with Donald and Sarah.
"W-what..?"
"Please sit, baby." My mother said as she patted the cushion between her and my father.
I furrowed my brow and slouched down into the couch.
"Lilli, I've watched you mope around this house for the past three weeks..."
"I am not..."
"Let your father finish."
I huffed. I could not believe they were teaming up on me.
"You have been moping. Now, I understand why, but I need to say this. After I say my piece, I won’t bring it up again."
I nodded and he continued.
"Lilli, anyone who has seen the way Aidan looks at you knows that he loves you deeply and passionately."
"But—"
"Don't interrupt." My mother cut me off again.
"I am not saying that Aidan didn't make a mistake. Hell, I'm not saying that I even understand what the hell happened that night, regardless...I believe that, at the most, it was a mistake. A lousy mistake, but still a mistake." He took a deep breath. "Although, I really feel that something stinks about this whole situation. I wasn’t there, but it just doesn’t feel right."
"Baby..." Now it was my mother's turn, "I saw Aidan's face as you met him at the altar, the way he looked at you at your rehearsal dinner, how he was when you gave birth...Jesus, Lilli, that man is so in love with you. This marriage was the best thing that happened to you two, even if it was an arrangement."
I looked at her shocked. She smirked.
"I may be flighty but I am not stupid, baby. I don't know all the details but I've picked up a few things along the way." She put her arm over my shoulders.
"If you feel that there is nothing worth fighting for, that this 'incident' is something that you cannot get past and it's enough to end your marriage, then we support you." My mother squeezed me.
"But, Lilli, if one mistake, no matter how big of a mistake it was, can tear apart your marriage, then, perhaps, it was never love to begin with. If you love that man the way we think that you do, as much as he loves you, then you need to ask yourself one question." My father stopped there and sighed.
"What question?" It came out in a very hushed tone.
"If this 'one situation' is enough to throw away everything the two of you have.” Donald stated.
"And, if this is the one thing that you can't forgive, then we will help you." Sarah smiled and held me tighter.
"I'm going to go take a shower." I wiped the tears from my eyes and headed toward the stairs.
I could hear my mother and father whispering rapidly and animatedly. I ignored it as I shut the bathroom door behind me.
I crouched in the tub as the steam rose around me from the hot water. First, I cried until it was only water running over my cheeks instead of tears. Second, I turned off the water, dried and got dressed. Third, I looked at myself in the mirror.
When I say that I looked at myself, I mean, I really, really looked at myself. I stared for so long that the image of myself started to blur.
Aidan hated Loreley, could he possibly have gotten drunk enough to sleep with her? Was everyone right about Loreley? Had I been that foolish? Something felt wrong. I knew it that night but the sight of them, after all of the happiness that I thought that Aidan and I had going, I just couldn't handle it. If it hadn't been for the twins, I'm sure that I would have had a mental breakdown from the overload of emotions.
I finally put myself into bed. Lying awake, I stared into the darkness of my childhood room. Aidan had said he loved me and I thought…no, I knew he meant it. Every small act and exchange between us since the moment we met, played like a movie reel in my head. Not in one of those moments did I ever see Aidan pay attention to another woman. Perhaps, it could have been out of fear due to the conditions but, even after the marriage and the children, it was just too...too genuine. He couldn't be that good of an actor, could he? Sighing heavily, I rolled to my left side, curling my left arm under my head.
Could I walk away from what I have with Aidan? I looked over to my sleeping children. Guilt suddenly weighed very heavily on my chest for keeping them separated fr
om their father for so long.
Tossing back over, again, I settled into a restless sleep.
When I was awoken the next morning by Walsh yelling 'mumma', it was almost as if my mind had cleared and I knew what needed to be done. I smiled widely and got up, taking Walsh downstairs for breakfast.
"Good morning, dear." Millie smiled as she walked into the kitchen.
"Morning." I smiled and placed the Cheerios and sliced bananas out on the highchair's tray. "Do you mind keeping an eye on him while I..."
"Oh, honey, go do what you need to do." She waved me off before I could finish.
I headed upstairs and grabbed my cell phone along with a now awake Livy.
"Morning, baby." I kissed her head. I took Livy downstairs for her breakfast and made some phone calls.
After breakfast, I placed the twins in the living room with Donald and Sarah while I headed upstairs to pack our things. We were going home. Well, we were at least going back so that I could finally talk to Aidan. It was time. The car taking us to the airport arrived around four in the afternoon. We gave our hugs and kisses goodbye, promising to call when we landed.
Flying alone with the twins was much different than with another set of hands. I managed, incredibly relieved that first class was barely occupied. It was confirmed, Walsh hated to fly. Thank God for Livy or he would have never settled down.
When we came off the plane, I stopped in my tracks. Aidan. He looked terrible. He seemed thinner, paler and had deep, dark circles under his eyes. I took a quick breath and started walking, holding one twin on each hip.
I couldn't help that part of me wanted to run and throw my arms around him, while the other part had me feeling sick to my stomach with anger and confusion. I swallowed the feelings down.
Once we were close, he moved quickly to us. He seemed to be breathing heavily. I bit my lip and furrowed my brow at him. He paused about a foot from me.
"I-I...damn it, I couldn't not be here." He said, sad but firm.
I simply nodded without expression. Then I headed toward the baggage claim. Aidan quickly kept up with me and, once we reached baggage, Livy reached out to him.
"Ded." She smiled with outstretched arms. I smiled down on her. Aidan's face lit up and he immediately took her into his arms, holding onto her as if she weren't real.