by Mynx, Sienna
“Got damn it! I can’t win with you. You’re making me fucking crazy!” he shouted at her.
“And that’s what it’s all about. Winning. Pete wins pride, you win the girl and my daughter loses. I was right to keep her away from you both. No one cares about her but me."
"I love her, and I love you."
"I'm tired, and I don’t trust you. I can’t trust you. You won’t let me.”
“You need to face some facts, Daisy. This is what I am and who I am. Your sister isn’t here. It’s me and you, doll and it’s time for you to be with me, and not against me. Not when I’m fucking tearing myself apart to be with you!”
“I don’t want to hear this.”
He reached and pulled her hand to him; she snatched away but didn’t leave. She just glared at him. “This is it. I can’t turn it on and off like that for you. You have to give me time.”
“Times up.”
“So that’s it? You want out before we even begin. You saw Nina and now you know Pete isn’t fighting as hard as you think.”
“Shut up!”
“All that stuff you said by the sea was what? You playing games with me?” Aiden said in a low almost menacing voice.
“Please… you’re the one with the games.”
“You care more about what Pete thinks of us than what—”
"I care about what you think of me. You and I are supposed to be different. I don’t care if no one in the world gets us, Aiden, as long as we do. I don’t give a damn what it cost us if we can get there… together. And from what I see, you make me feel the same as he did. Hell, you two should hook up. You seem to get off on pushing each other’s buttons. It’s your egos, pride… and let me tell you something. No woman can compete with the ego of Aiden Keane!”
“Fuck my ego! You want to talk about pride? Why was it I found you in the hall when I got here? Answer me, Daisy. Was it Nina? Could your pride take seeing him walk through the door with Nina?”
“Shut up!”
“You saw her with Pete and you couldn’t handle it. So he’s not some hero. He's just a man like any other, fucking anything he chooses.”
“Shut up!”
"That's right. He wants pussy just like I do. Except, he won’t fuck you and I will!”
Daisy turned to leave, but he blocked the door. “I love you damn it, but I can’t break myself down any further than this. I won’t, Daisy. You’re going to have to accept me as I am. What I am!”
“Let me out.”
“I mean it, damn it! I’m only in it if you are. Make up your damn mind. Stop torturing me.”
“I can’t accept you. I don’t like what you are.”
“I think you do.”
Daisy looked back at him. “You’re wrong. You’ve done nothing but pushed and pushed and pushed your way into my life! I was wrong to think you could be honest and decent. I was wrong to think you had any feelings in that black heart of yours.”
“Why? Because I treat you like a woman. Like my woman?”
“No, you treat me like you do anybody else that you’ve bought and paid for.”
“That’s bullshit!”
“Is it? I don’t want a man that rather pay for my love than earn it. I never wanted that!”
“You don’t know what you want,” Aiden sneered.
Daisy sniffed, shaking her head. “How’s this then? I want you to stay the hell away from us. If she is yours—”
“If? Now it’s if?”
“We’ll deal with it. But you and me, that’s over. Over.”
“Daisy, if you keep running from me and telling me you don’t want me, then I’m going to believe you.”
“One can only hope!” she tossed back, walking out.
****
Janette rose when she walked out. Not a word passed between them. Pete and Nina were gone and her sister couldn’t even look at her. It didn’t matter. She was sick, tired, stressed and now heartbroken. She took Amy’s hand and hurried out before Aiden tried to stop her. He didn’t. She looked back twice, expecting to see him charging after them and trying to convince her to listen, maybe even begging for her forgiveness. He didn’t. She did, however, notice when she strapped Amy in the back seat, Donovan McBride walking out of the Hospital.
Figures, she mumbled. He was Aiden’s shadow. They probably arrived together.
She headed straight for the airport: coughing, sneezing and crying silently behind the cover of her sunglasses. Janette was unusually quiet. Daisy would have noticed if it weren’t for the parting words between her and Aiden. The things they said to each other left her hopeless.
Parking curbside, she was out emptying the trunk without thought. Janette came over, standing close and watching her. “Can you fly right back? The party’s tomorrow. Bring mama. I don’t care. I just would like… I need you to come back. We get the results tomorrow and Pete is acting nuts, Aiden is… I just can’t do it, Janette.” She heaved the luggage out. "Besides, Amy wants you to come.”
She looked up to her sister’s silence. Her heart stopped at the sight of tears in Janette’s eyes. Her hand froze on the top of the trunk, and after several minutes, she found her voice. “What is it?”
“Daisy, be honest with me. Did you have an abortion?”
“What? Who told you that? Pete? Did he tell you that?”
“Did you have an abortion?”
Cars passed and parked. Travelers saying goodbye to their loved ones ran to and fro. The noises of honking horns and diesel engines of shuttle busses blared around them. She heard none of the outside world. Just her sister’s words. “It happened a long time ago.”
“I don’t know who you are. I keep thinking. Never mind what I’m thinking.” Janette grabbed her luggage handle.
“Janette, wait. Please. Don’t go like this. I can explain.”
“You don’t have too. You’re grown, baby-girl. I can’t protect you from you. I keep thinking that you need a push and a little direction, but you’re… there’s just things about you that I don’t understand. And I’m trying.”
“It happened long ago. I have to explain it to you. I’m sorry.”
“Hush.” Janette took her hand. She felt her face and wiped the feverish sweat from her brow. “Don’t apologize to me. I just want you happy, Daisy, and I can’t tell you what that is. You have to figure that out on your own. Go home. Get some rest. I got to… I have to go.”
“Will you come back?”
Janette looked to the car. Amy had her face pressed to the window grinning, showing her auntie her purple tongue.
“I’ll call,” she said, pulling her luggage away. “I’ll call tonight to check on you.”
“Janette!”
Her sister kept going, swallowed in by the crowds. Disappeared. Daisy stood there on the verge of a complete collapse. She wiped her hand back across her tears.
"Mam, are you okay?” the skycap asked.
She backed away from him into the street, nearly getting hit by a car. Bursting into tears, she got behind her wheel.
“Mommy, I want McDonalds,” came Amy’s innocent voice.
She swerved away from the curb, gripping the steering wheel, trying hard to keep her eyes on the road.
****
Just before seven o’clock that night, he arrived. Aiden’s car idled low. The cool jets blowing through his vents beat the muggy air from the evening’s setting sun. He stared up at the beach house. After the fight, he left. He hadn’t been that angry in a long time. Well that’s not true. He hadn’t been that angry since their last fight.
A drive along the coast cooled him off and eventually brought him to her doorstep. He had an idea about the amount of southern crow he’d have to eat to get through the front door.
Donovan was right. He was behaving like a brat with a new toy. After all the years of friendship, he actually threatened him today. He cared so little for his affairs, and it was his friend’s job to ensure he did. What was wrong with him? All he could think of was the
promise of a family with her and Amy. It had all gotten out of hand. Out of his control. It’s no wonder she backed away.
Aiden dropped his head back and sucked in a deep breath, filling his lungs to the bursting point. The impromptu visit could very well blow up in his face too. He shook his head and smiled at the way she stood up to him. She told him to piss-off and meant it. Damn, she was worth getting torn apart for.
Beside him were cellophane wrapped fresh cut flowers. In the past, he’d sent a few. Actually, he had a girl on staff that handled it for him. Today, he purchased a dozen lustrous bunch of long stem daisies. He smiled at the site of them. No, he’d never asked her about her favorite flower. This was the safest guess he could manage.
His plan was simple. He’d get out, ring the doorbell, tell her he was sorry and leave. It was simple unless she invited him in. Then, of course, he’d stay. But he wouldn’t ask or push. He’d just apologize for the comment about fucking Pete or whatever he said. He’d apologize, sweet and to the point. Simple.
Aiden grabbed the flowers. He threw open the door and headed to her front steps. There he steeled himself and repeated the plan. Easy. He straightened his tie, ran a hand over his hair and paused with a finger over the doorbell. He told her he wouldn’t beg. Well he lied. He poked it and exhaled impatiently.
The door opened after the second press. Aiden couldn’t believe the sight of her. Daisy looked whipped. Her eyes were nearly swollen shut. Her skin was ashen. It had lost all semblance of its vibrant color except for her red, inflamed nostrils. She clutched a ratty blue robe by its collar and the day had been close to 80 degrees. The over washed terry cloth stopped at her ankles. She wore thick socks, one pulled up and the other rolled down. Her hair was wild, a nest of tangles. She blew her nose, looking at him accusingly.
Amy stepped from behind her. Thumb in her mouth, again the little girl was in her panties and a shirt. Why Daisy let her run around bottomless confounded him. He winked at her, and she grinned, thumb still in her mouth.
“What are you doing here?” Daisy coughed, her voice husky and grave.
“I came to, um. These are for you.”
She looked at the flowers and then at him. The gesture seemed not only unwanted but to agitate her. Daisy fiddled with the top of her robe, chewing on her chapped lips. Whatever kept her from slamming the door in his face, he seized. “You look beautiful,” he stammered.
Daisy frowned.
He stooped to Amy’s level. “Do you like flowers?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Then these are for you.” He handed the bouquet to her to which she held with both hands before she disappeared inside. Daisy coughed, watching her go, but when he tried to enter, she gave him a look that stopped him. “I asked you—” she coughed, and swallowed, which looked to have pained her. “What are you doing here?”
He touched her face, finger grazing her chin when her head turned. She cut her eyes back at him, but he caught that look in her eye. Aiden gave a small smile. “I was passing by.”
“Go,” she said closing the door.
“Wait.” He put up his hand. She evidently didn't get his joke. “Is your sister here? Is someone taking care of you and Amy?”
“No,” Daisy admitted.
“Then let me in. Today… well we both said… no… I was wrong. I shouldn’t have sent for Pete’s woman, and I should’ve told you.” He wiped his chin. So an apology wouldn’t be enough? He smiled trying to lighten her mood. “I’m an idiot.”
She sighed.
“I fucked up. Okay? I’m sorry. Let me come, in and I’ll take care of you. If not, then let me call someone to come over and help. Tell me who. You can’t do it alone with Amy. You know I am right. ”
****
“There’s nobody,” she said weakly. Her hand went to her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was cry. The day had exhausted her. She felt like a butterfly trapped in a magnifying glass under his piercing stare. His arrival was the final straw. She just couldn’t escape her life, not even long enough to be sick.
Daisy tried everything to get Amy to lie down so that she could have a few minutes. Mostly, she heard her in her room dragging out more toys. Unaware of how sick her mommy was, Amy had a question every five minutes. She hadn’t even fed her baby. If she could just get twenty minutes of uninterrupted sleep, she could deal. And the medicine the doctor gave her only made her feel worse. Now this. She was too tired, too weak to fight with him.
Aiden reached for her but she flapped her hand at his to ward it away. He caught it, pulled it to his chest, lifted it and brought it to his face, kissing the inside of her palm. Daisy opened her eyes.
“You going to let me in? I can take care of you,” he said. He came in before she answered. Daisy stepped back and his hand reached to steady her, then drew her nearer. She stumbled, weak from the fever. Closing the door behind him, he walked her back into her place.
“It’s okay; I have you.”
She tried to resist but he only tugged back, sliding one arm around her waist. He pressed her against the full length of him while he used his other hand and closed the door.
“I don’t want to fight,” she said into his chest.
“We won’t. I don’t want anything from you. Just blame me. It’s my fault anyway.”
She could feel the pulse beat strong and fast under his shirt and beneath his ribs. Hers soon altered to match the beat. She sniffed. Barely able to breathe, her throat burned and so did her lungs. Her bones felt like sponges. She wanted to drop so bad. Instead, she leaned against him.
“Daddy, come see. It’s pretty!” Amy called out from the living room. Daisy drew the last of her strength to let go of him and looked back. Amy had managed to pull out some flowers and arrange them on the coffee table.
“Why did you give her those?” she asked with exhaustion in her voice.
He hugged her from behind. “Because she wanted them. I’ll give her whatever she wants. You too.”
Another wave of weakness had her swaying. “I got to sit down. All I need is a few minutes, then you can go. Just a few,” she said, allowing him to hold her up. Her lids sagged to the point of closing. Suddenly she felt her feet leave the ground once more. She thought possibly she had fainted, which was her biggest fear with Amy on her watch. But the lifting had her pressed against his chest securely. Her eyes fluttered and she relaxed. He was climbing the stairs. Everything was dull and muted. Her sense of smell, sound, taste, and even her vision was gone. She heard him. He called Amy ‘squirt’. He told her to follow.
By the time her mind fully accepted his presence, he was placing her in bed. Finally, the medicine took over. Sleep she’d been fighting since they arrived home pulled her under, and she drifted willingly.
“Just a few minutes… then you go… a few minutes to sleep,” she mumbled dragging in a deep breath. He pulled the covers up and she was gone.
****
“What’s wrong with mommy?”
“She’s tired,” Aiden said, staring at Daisy.
“I not,” Amy announced.
He frowned and looked down to see her walking out of the room. Was that a warning or a challenge? He hadn’t really considered what it would take to watch a little version of Daisy. It couldn’t be hard. The kid was four. What could she get into?
Aiden pulled off his sports coat and tossed it on the lounger in the room. He rolled up his sleeve and stared at Daisy for a minute longer. She needed him. He wouldn't let her down. Closing the door, he headed down the hall to Amy’s room.
He could watch that DVD with her maybe or put on the charm and make her go to sleep. Kids took naps. He remembered several times when he visited Donovan his daughter was always taking a ‘nap’.
“Amy?”
Aiden looked in her room. Toys covered the floor. This little girl had more toys than probably every kid on the block. He figured that while Daisy battled her cold, Amy entertained herself here. But she wasn’t there now.
; “Amy?”
He heard a crash down below. It scared the crap out of him. He hurried down the stairs, two at a time, eyes searching.
“Amy?”
She came running. He nearly stepped on her. “I didn’t do it,” she panted, eyes welling with tears. Aiden looked past her and then down at her again. “Do what?”
“I didn’t.”
He took her hand and pulled her with him. Walking into the kitchen, he saw a container had fallen from the counter and rice had spilled all over the floor.