Remodelling the Wreckage of My Past

“Morning!” she said cheerfully as she stumbled into the living room, holding a box in one arm and her crutch in the other hand.

“Lyn, what are you doing?” I asked, rubbing my eyes and casting a glance at the clock. 8am.

“I thought you would like to see some of the videos I recorded when the twins were young. Do you wanna see some of them?” she asked, putting the box down on the coffee table and smiling at me.

“Sure!” I replied, taken aback by the sudden change in her behavior but then I remembered what had happen the day before.

“Okay hum, do you wanna eat or drink something before I put the DVD on? There are at least three DVDs and each of them is about 2 hours long.” She said, grabbing her other crutch.

“Coffee sounds good.” I replied, “Do you need any help?”

“Well, I could use some help.” She replied and slowly made her way to the kitchen. I followed her.

“Just do your own coffee.” She said before she went to grab a cup from the cupboard and handed it to me.

“You still not a fan of coffee?” I asked, as she was taking the milk from the fridge.

“Nope.” She replied as she poured the milk on the cereals.

I poured some coffee in the mug and grabbed her bowl of cereals before making my way to the living room. She headed over to the DVD player and put a DVD in before she stumbled her way back to the couch.

“Okay, so hum in this DVD Aiden and Angelina are kinda young. So if it gets boring for you, just tell me and I’ll forward it, okay?” she asked, looking at me.

“Yeah, okay.” I replied as I made myself more comfortable on the couch. Out of old habit, I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and brought her closer to my chest. That when I realized that I wasn’t wearing any T-shirt and I realized my previous action.

“Oh sorry, old habit!” I whispered as I retracted my arm but she grabbed my hand.

“It’s okay Brian.” She replied, looking at the screen. She put her feet on the couch so that she was basically laying on it, her head resting on my chest, just like old times.
She grabbed the remote and pressed play.

“So, how are you feeling Lyn?” I recognized the voice as Billy’s. They were in a hospital room and the woman lying on the bed looked worn out.

“I’m good, just tired…” replied Lyn, as her eyes looked briefly at the camera before she focused on the two small bundles of covers in her arms.

“What do we have here?” he asked, moving closer to the bed and probably sitting on it and filming Lyn. The camera was passed over to someone else and Benji’s face appeared on the screen. He was filming himself.

“Hey ya! I’m an uncle!” he cheered. Lyn chuckled.

“So, have you found a name yet?” asked Billy as he was in fact sitting on the bed.

“Angelina Charlotte Sanders and Aiden Brian Sanders.” she said but then bit her lip. “I’m not sure yet. Maybe just Aiden Sanders…” she whispered.

“When’s the wedding?” asked Benji from behind the camera. Lyn looked up at glared at him.

“Do I really have to remind you that I am not on really good terms with the father and that there is nothing going on between me and Billy?” she asked lowly.

Lyn pressed pause.

“Sorry about that. Let’s forward it a little.” She whispered and forwards the DVD before she pressed play once again.

Lyn was sitting almost exactly where she was sitting right now and was cradling a baby in her arms.

“Benji, put the camera down, please.” she said.

“Why? We need to save those moments for when we will be old and senile.” he replied.

“Benji, Aiden is asleep right now, save the film. There’s nothing exciting right now.” she whispered as she smiled down at Aiden. The camera came closer and Aiden’s little baby face appeared on the screen. I couldn’t help but smile. He looked adorable.

“Hey there Aiden!”

“Benji for Christ sake, go away.” muttered Billy as he appeared on the screen, holding Angelina in his arms. “Lyn needs some rest and you are certainly not helping her.” The film stopped and the screen went blank for a second.

The next scene was Lyn breast feeding Aiden.

“That’s embarrassing.” She mumbled, grabbing the nearest pillow and hiding her face with it. I laughed and took it off her face.

“It’s not like I never saw you naked before, right?” I said, smiling down at her. She rolled her eyes at my comment but didn’t say anything else.

“Oh jeez, he’s eating again?”

“Billy, it’s a baby. He’s just like you guys, he eats and he sleeps, a lot” Lyn said, rolling her eyes but her face broke into a smile. That’s when I realized that her feelings might have slightly change towards Billy. It was clear that at the very beginning Billy and Lyn were just friends, but it was becoming more. You could clearly see it.

“I’m sorry Brian, that film is kinda boring, the twins are really young.” She said and then got up. “I’ll put the second one in the player.” She said as she got up and stumbled to the player, she changed the DVD and sat back on the couch, resting her feet on the coffee table this time.

“Aiden, say Hi! to the camera.” said Billy from behind the camera. A little kid, around three years old was sitting in a sandbox, with a bucket and was trying to make a sandcastle. He looked up and smiled at the camera, waving with the bucket in hand, which makes the sand flew everywhere.

Lyn appeared on the screen, holding Angelina’s hand. I had seen photos of Adeline when she was younger and Angelina looked just like her.
Angelina let go of her mother’s hand and ran to the sandbox, she sat next to her brother and started playing.

“Billy, why do you keep filming, pictures are just as good.” Lyn said as she sat on a bench.

“I like filming!”

“Mummy? Where daddy?" called Aiden from the sandbox.

Lyn got up and walked over to the sandbox. She sat on the border and looked at Aiden.

“I told you Aiden, Daddy is not here.” she said softly, brushing the sand off Aiden’s hair.

“Billy Daddy?” asked Angelina.

“No, Billy isn’t your daddy but he loves you just the same.”said Lyn as she kept brushing the sand off Aiden’s hair and then started doing the same with Angelina’s hair.

“Why daddy gone?” asked Aiden.

Lyn sighed. “It’s too complicated.” she said softly and then Aiden threw his bucket angrily on the other side of the sand box, scaring Angelina in the process. Lyn looked at the camera and the screen went blank.

I looked down at Lyn and she was biting her lip, “I forgot about Aiden’s tantrum at the end.” She said softly.

“Well, let’s stop with the DVD, I agree with you, I like pictures too.” I said, trying to break the awkward silence and reached for the box as Lyn was shutting off the DVD player and the TV.