Jane
Days passed, and I adjusted my life with Brandon in one house. I have a separate room for myself in Brandon’s house since sharing a room with him is something I’m not very comfortable with, nor did I want to.
Anyway, even after being married to Brandon for a few weeks. I have heard nothing about Marian, nor has Brandon even spoken anything about her.
It is now 6:00 pm and Brandon will come soon from his shift. Both Marlene and Liam are in the living room watching TV.
Both of them are thrilled with our marriage and spend all of their time together. They even like sharing bedrooms. On the other hand, for me, things are not as good; every time someone comes to visit me, wishing me a happy married life, my thoughts travel to Jared, with whom I have dreamed of being married and living a life. But now look, Jared is nowhere to be found. It is Brandon, to who I’m married, and to whom I’m going to live.
The sound of the door opening distracted me from my thoughts.
“Daddy,” both Marlene and Liam shouted, running towards Brandon, as he put a package down along with his briefcase, hugging both of them in his arms.
“How are my babies doing?” he asked, tickling both of them and making them laugh loudly.
“Hey,” I said, as Brandon’s eyes glanced at me.
“Hi,” he replied, smiling.
Brandon then left the kids in the living room with a kiss on both of their cheeks. And went to his room to take a shower. We are best friends and things have been very good when we were, but after the wedding, there has been awkwardness in our relationship, which makes me sad. We hardly talk even though we live under the same roof.
I sighed, ignoring my thoughts.
Both Marlene and Liam came with a package that Brandon brought with him.
“Mama, look,” Liam said, showing me the package.
I glimpsed inside to see the package containing some cupcakes inside. I took the bag from their hand, placing it on the kitchen counter.
“Can we eat some?” asked Marlene.
“No,” I said
“Please, momma,” both Marlene and Liam said, making a cute, innocent faces.
“Nice try but, no, you are diabetic Marlene. Sweets are not good for you,” I replied sternly, both their faces turned sad at my words. “Okay fine, a little after dinner, okay.”
“Okay,” they both said at the same time. Running towards the TV, watching their favorite show.
I checked some of the work-related emails, as the kids are busy. I’m lucky that I can work from home. It’s easy for me to stay at home with the kids. That way, I take better care of them.
After the accident, all my family possessions, their house, and everything was transferred to my name as the only living person in the family.
Money has never been an issue in my life. My family left me enough to survive and live a comfortable life. But money is worthless when you have no one to call your own. But at least I have Liam now, and there are Brandon and Marlene, too, but something that always seems missing.
As my thoughts were distracted. Brandon entered the kitchen in his PJs, topless.
I turned my eyes, diverting my attention to the laptop. I don’t want to look at Brandon while he is topless.
Brandon has a good body. What the heck did he think of walking topless? ‘Don’t look. Don’t look.’ I chanted the words in my head.
“So, how was your day?” Brandon asked, sitting beside me on the kitchen stool.
“Good,” I said, with my eyes still focused on my laptop. “And yours,”
“Stressful but good,” he replied, taking a sip of non-alcoholic beer from the can.
“So…., ”
“Mama,” Liam called, interrupting Brandon’s words.
I stood up as I made my way towards Liam, and all my senses stopped working, looking at the image in front of my eyes.
I swiftly moved towards Marlene, who fainted and was lying on the floor.
“Brandon,” I called,
Brandon went to his room, and with one swift movement, he returned, grabbing his briefcase.
Meanwhile, I carried Marlene and placed her on the sofa, with her head on my lap.
Brandon came to sit beside us as he checked on his breathing and blood pressure. I didn’t ask or distract him from his work.
I placed one hand on Marlene’s head, caressing her hair. And my other hand is Liam, who’s standing beside me, with his hands clutching my body.
“What happened?” I asked when Brandon finished his check-up on Marlene.
Brandon rubbed his neck with the back of his hand. “Low sugar,”, he said with a sign.
Brandon carried her to her room and placed her on her bed. “She should rest for now.”
I nodded my head at his words. Brandon is a doctor, and he knows better than me. So, I didn’t question his words.
“Is she… okay?” Liam asked, with his eyes streaming with tears.
“She is fine. She just needs rest, okay,” Brandon replied, carrying Liam in his arms, and hugging him as Liam cried on his shoulder.
“Jane,” Brandon said, swaying Liam in his arms, “I need to talk to you about something.”
“What do you want to talk about?” I asked Brandon when we were alone. Both Marlene and Liam were asleep in their room.
Brandon sighed, putting his hand over his head, his face looking tired and his eyes hollow as he stared at me.
We both stared at each other like that. No one said a single word, letting the silent envelope encompass us.
“So…,” I said, disrupting the silence between us.
“Come,” Brandon called, tapping the space beside him.
I moved towards him, perching in the space beside him.
Brandon’s eyes stared at me for a few moments, not saying anything, as he held my hand from my lap to his palm, holding it in his hand delicately.
“The thing is…,” he said, but then hesitated, rubbing my hand with his thumb, sighing as he stared deep into my eyes.
His eyes are gleaming with emotion. For a reason, I don’t even know.
“Brandon….,” I placed one of my free hands over his shoulder, comforting him.
And he wrapped his arms tightly around my body suddenly, startling me.
Brandon stood like that with his arms around me. I don’t know what happened to him, but I know it’s something that we shouldn’t take lightly. I felt something damp on my shoulder, the spot where Brandon put his head on. Is he crying?
“Brandon,” I mumbled, holding him in my arms, stroking his back gently with my hand, trying to soothe him in the best possible way.
Moments passed, and Brandon lingered like this, embracing me in his arms as he mourned his heart out in my arms. A few moments later, Brandon separated himself from me as he wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his palm.
“You okay?” I asked, placing my hand on his shoulder.
Brandon glanced at me and nodded his head slightly in answer.
“Sorry,” he said,
“It’s okay,” I replied, encouraging him and giving him a small smile.
Brandon smiled back at me. But he didn’t say a word. Silence surrounded us again. Everything is so quiet that I can hear the sound of our breathing, but Brandon’s still silent. “Brandon…..,”
“Jane…..” he responded, stopping in the middle of my words as he directed his face at me, his eyes staring at me. “I’m dying,”