Rum and Coke

She flew into our bedroom and quickly shut the door behind her before she pulled off her shirt. Her face was flushed, but her eyes showed that she was excited. “Honey, the kids are asleep,” she stated before removing her shoes and skirt. She looked over at him, confusion etched in her face. “The kids are asleep,” she repeated slower as if he was an idiot. “Why are your clothes still on?” She asked, jumping on the bed- stark naked- and landing so that she was straddling his hips.

Brian grabbed her hips in an effort to keep her still. “Baby, Ethan is in the next room,” he said softly as she slowly ground her hips into his.

She ceased her movements after the sentence left my mouth. “Wow,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Where has your sense of adventure gone?” his grip tightened on her hips. He knew that she was egging him on. She was way too damn predictable sometimes. Smirking, she leaned down, pressing her breasts into his torso, so that she was mere centimeters from his ear. “Maybe it’s because you’re so old now,” she whispered huskily into his ear.

Brian’s eyebrows shot up as he put on a smirk. “Old, am I?” she nodded her head and bit her bottom lip seductively. “I’ll show you old,” he growled before rolling us over and pinning her under his body. He assaulted her neck with his lips as his hands traveled her body. He smirked against her skin as she let out a soft moan.

“Mommy?” a little voice said from the doorway. He instantly froze and covered her body with mine.

“Yes, sweetie?” she asked, looking over at their two year old son.

“I scared. Can I sleep with you two?”

“Sure, but why don’t you get your blankie and Teddy?”

“O-tay.” He said before leaving, the door still wide open.

He smirked down at her and pecked her lips. “You have less than a minute to get dressed.”

She smirked back at him. “No, you have less than a minute.”

He looked down. Sure enough, she was already in his shirt and boxers. “How the hell do you do that? We’ve been married six years, and I still can’t figure it out!”

She grinned up at him and pecked his lips. “Less than twenty seconds.”

Grumbling, he rolled off of her reached down to the floor by the bed and grabbed a pair of his sweatpants. As soon as he got them back on, Ethan walked back into the room, teddy bear and blanket in his arms.

“C’mere, Son,” Brian said, gesturing to his son to climb up on the bed, which he did. Ethan curled up into her body. He had always been such a mama’s boy.

“Hey, Little Man, have a nightmare?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his tiny body.

He nodded. “Scawy mwen.”

“Well, there’s no scary men here, so go to sleep. We’ll protect you.” Brian said with a smile, casually running his fingers through Ethan’s short hair. Ethan eventually fell asleep. Brian chuckled at his son’s position. He was curled up against her hip, his head nestled comfortably in her breasts.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, a small smile on her face.

Brian pointed to their son. “I’m jealous. He always gets in the best positions.”

She looked down and chuckled, too. “Well, you brought this on yourself.”

“How so?”

“You’re the one who knocked me up, genius,” she said with a laugh. “Now we’ll have to wait another nineteen years before we have any alone time!”

Brian looked at her quizzically. “Nineteen? But Ethan’s two.”

She looked down at her torso then back into Brian’s eyes.

“Are you…?”

She nodded her head and looked back at him. Sure that he was grinning stupidly, Brian launched himself on her, mindful not to crush his sleeping child, and pressed a hard kiss to her lips. She smiled into it, but pushed him away after awhile. “You’re welcome,” she smiled.

“How long?”

“They’re five months next week.”

Brian laughed. They didn’t know about Ellie until she was about six, six and a half months along and Ethan was about five and a half months. It’s weird, she doesn’t get any symptoms of pregnancy; just the occasional bout of morning sickness and she gains a little bit of weight until her third trimester (when she gets huge). “Well, it’s better than Ellie and Eth- wait….they’re?”

She nodded her head, still grinning from ear to ear. “Yea, we’re having twins.”

Brian pressed his lips against hers again. This time, he was able to slide his tongue into her mouth.

“Mommy! Daddy! Ethan missin!” their little girl wailed.

Sighing into his wife’s neck, Brian rolled back over to his spot and motioned to the little girl. “Ellie, Princess, he’s right here.”

“Oh,” she said, her face instantly changing. “Then I sleep here, too.” She said, marching to the bed and climbing over Brian. She snuggled into her father and grabbed her brother’s hand. “Night.” She said, before closing her eyes and instantly falling asleep.

“Typical, they both sleep like you,” she huffed, burying her head into her pillow.

“Aweh, don’t be like that. Not everyone can have my awesome sleeping abilities.”

She scoffed. “Awesome my ass.”

Brian took in her disheveled appearance. Her hair, that was initially in a ponytail, had slipped and there were several strands that had escaped the elastic band. Brian’s shirt was wrinkled and a little too big for her, but that didn’t matter. He was completely head over heels for her. Ethan blocked Brian’s view of her toned stomach. Her arm was draped around his pudgy body and Brian couldn’t have been happier- He was proud, knowing that they, all three of them, were his. He glanced down toward where the covers hugged her hips and followed them down further, knowing that the comforter held her long smooth legs. He was lucky to have her.

“Bri?”

He looked back up to her face and smiled as he stretched out his arm and caressed her cheek with his thumb.

“What is it?”

“Shhh, you’re beautiful.”

She smiled. “I love you, Brian.”

“I love you, too, Danni.”

~*~
Brian woke up in a sweat. He hated dreams like that. The What Ifs. Was it not torture enough to have missed out on an opportunity? Must his mind actually play reels of tapes of things that could have happened? That should have happened?

Brian looked around. Ellie wasn’t in the hotel room anymore. He panicked before remembering that it was her shift to watch Ryan, who refused to spend the night in the hospital alone. The next week’s worth of tourdates had been postponed due to Ryan’s extensive injuries. Recovery, for him, would take longer than that. No one doubted that the tour would most likely be canceled. If that happened, Avenged Sevenfold would continue the tour at much later dates.

Brian sighed and got out of his bed. There was no way that he could go back to sleep- well, at least not for awhile. Rubbing a hand threw his hair, Brian looked in the mirror. He grimaced at the person staring back at him: hollow brown eyes that no longer held their flame. Large, purple bags under his hollow eyes. Pale complexion. Gaunt face. He looked dead. Hell, he felt dead.

Taking a deep breath, he turned off the light to the bathroom and walked over to Ellie’s laptop. He needed to see her again: the woman who has had his heart for the past twenty some odd years- the woman who he couldn’t get off of his mind. Any picture of her would do.

~*~
“Hey, dad,” Ellie answered her phone. She was sitting right next to

“You sound tired, maybe I should call you later?”

“No, don’t do that. I’m fine- just, recovering.”

“I thought they released you.”

“They did, but know how Ryan is at night. In the dark.”

“Yea, I thought he would have grown out of that by now.”

“You never told me how Amy and Steve took the news,” Ellie said, abruptly changing the subject.

“They’re…upset, as they should be.”

“They think it’s my fault,” Ellie mused, smiling when Ryan squeezed her hand. She squeezed his back before returning her focus back to the phone call.

“Ellie, I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. I know how they are. I know what they think about me- about mom,” Ellie whispered the last part.

“There’s something else that’s bothering you. What is it?” Adam asked after a brief pause.

Ellie sighed and looked out the window. It was dark outside and Ellie could still see the cars whizzing by on the expressway. Everyone seemed to have somewhere to go- most likely home to their families. “You know me to well,” she finally said.

“I’m your father- it’s my job.” Ellie could tell that Adam was smiling on the other line. “So, are you going to tell me or are you going to make me guess?” he asked after a few minutes of silence.

“I-I think going to California was a mistake.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because, then none of this would have happened. Bailey and Mark wouldn’t have left us. Ryan wouldn’t be lying comatose in front of me.”

“But, you also wouldn’t know who your father was- your real one. You would still have so many questions that none of us back here in New York could answer.”

Ellie sucked in air.

“Angel?”

“You’re right, but I feel as if I’m breaking up his family. I told you that his wife filed for a divorce, right?”

“Yes, I remember that. And you also said that his son wants to live with the mother?”

“Yea.”

“Ellie, don’t blame yourself for that. You told me that he admitted himself that things weren’t working out between them. They would have filed for divorce no matter what. You just may have sped that along.”

“See?! It is my fault!”

“Ellie, I am not going to fight with you over this. You’re being irrational. You- oh my god, what did you promise him?”

“To meet with mom.”

“That will be kind of hard, don’t you think?”

“You think I don’t know that?! I know I screwed up, okay? I didn’t mean to- it just fucking slipped out. I- I’m sorry. I just want her back.”

“So, you’re telling me that he doesn’t even know that she’s dead?” Adam asked in a softer tone.

“No, he doesn’t.”

“When are you planning on telling him?”

“Either right before or when we get to New York.”

“Jesus, Ellie, that’s two weeks away! You’re going to string him along some more? Hasn’t the man been through enough?”

“And what about what I’ve been through?!”

“Ellie, honey, calm down. You don’t want to end up like your mother, so soon, do you?”

“Don’t see the reason not to! I’m going to die anyways, why not now?!”

“Because,” Ryan said from the bed as he squeezed her hand tightly. “I’m not ready for you to leave me. Not now. Not when we have so much to accomplish.”

Ellie nodded. “I-I gotta go. Night, daddy. I love you.” She said before hanging up. “don’t worry, Ry, I’m not going anytime soon.”