Unlucky in Love

“Em,”

I moaned pathetically and turned over to see Dominic. “What?” I asked in barely more than a whisper. I was so tired.

“I have to go to class, but I’ll be back around noon. Then we can do whatever you want to do.”

I glanced over at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was only eight. “Your class will take four hours?”

He chuckled. “No, but I have to pick something up afterwards, so I’ll be home no later than noon.”

“What do you have to pick up?”

“You’ll see.” He said simply. He bent down and kissed me on the lips for a moment, and then pulled back. “Happy birthday, by the way.”

I smiled sleepily. “Thank you for remembering.” I replied. He kissed me again. “I love you.” I told him when we separated.

“I love you, too.”

* * *

“I should not be doing this,” I muttered, continuing to stare at the window. I just couldn’t help it—it was like its very own soap opera unfolding on the front lawn, and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only neighbor doing it.

Emma pulled on my shirt, and I looked down at her. It was more than a little obvious she wanted attention. She got more incessant when I turned back to look yet again through the window.

I couldn’t stay at home anymore; I’d just continue to waste my day staring at the drama between Leah and Logan and Daveigh. Why Daveigh was over there in the first place, I didn’t know. I got up, got Emma’s bag ready and got Poppy leashed up, and then put my shoes on.

The second I heard sirens blaring down the street, I dropped everything I was doing, picked up Emma, and ran out of the house and across the street. A cop was putting handcuffs on Daveigh as soon as I got there, and Leah and Logan were in a verbal fight, not even aware of the officer. I heard him say into his radio that they needed back up.

“Officer, what did she do?” I asked as he put Daveigh into the car.

“Pardon me, Ma’am, but that is not your business.”

“She’s my sister, I’m going to find out eventually when I become her one phone call.” I argued.

He sighed and closed the door on Daveigh. “When I pulled up, she had pushed this young lady down. We count that as assault.”

I scoffed. “Of course, you’re playing the victim!” I exclaimed, turning to Leah.

“Ember, just shut the fuck up and go away!” Leah hissed, coming over to me. The cop intercepted her move, probably because of the crying baby in my arms.

“No!” I retorted. “Leah, this is what you do! You ruin people’s lives! You’ve been doing it since I’ve met you. You took my best friend, you took her boyfriend, you ruined my birthday, you almost single-handedly wrecked my marriage…you just need to be far away, or you’re going to ruin your son’s life too!” I spat.

Leah ignored the cop and went after me. She pushed me down, and I had enough sense to leave Emma on the ground away from me when Leah decided to kick me directly in the spine. The cop pulled her away before she could come after me again.

I heard more sirens, and then another officer ran out and handcuffed Leah, and one came over to me. I held Emma’s glossy blue eyes in my sight while an EMT pressed against my lower back. I cried out, my voice choking on a sob. Emma started crying again and came over to me, burying her face between my shoulder and neck. I wrapped my arm around her, trying to reassure her that I was okay.

“Ma’am, can you hear us?”

“Yes,” I said, trying to make my voice sound strong.

“Try to lift your left leg, straight into the air.” I tried, and it was half way up when another sob left my throat. I sounded like a pathetic puppy that had been kicked over and over for peeing on the rug. I kept lifting it till it was all the way up, my body making a ninety-degree angle. “Try to stand up.”

I nodded. A female officer took Emma, and she wailed. I held both of the hands of the EMT and used my legs to push myself up.

“What’s your name?” the officer holding Emma asked me.

“Ember.” I replied.

“Ember what?”

I straightened up until I was almost out of a slouch. “Ember Nightingale.”

“Okay Ms. Nightingale, we’ll take you down to the station, you can give a statement and then call someone to come pick you up.”

I shook my head quickly. “No, my house is right across the street, and my husband will be home any time now—and you saw what happened!” I argued. “Why do I have to defend myself when there are plenty of witnesses?”

“Ma’am, we need your cooperation.”

“With all due respect, officer, I just want to take my daughter, go home, and take some ibuprofen.”

“We really need you to come down to the station with us.” The first officer pressed.

I sniffled. “Please, my back hurts, and it’s my birthday, and she’s freaking out, so please just let me go home. I don’t want to press any charges on her.”

The officers gawked at me, and I just shook my head. In the end, the first officer walked me across the street and handed Emma to me. I thanked him and agreed to see a doctor if my back hurt any worse.

I set Emma down and got some ibuprofen out of a cabinet above the sink, and took two with some water. I got Emma and went to lie down on the couch. Emma sat lay on my stomach, her head resting on my chest. “Emma, I really hope this is the last year of this bad stuff.” I meant to say shit, but remembered that Emma was in the phase of repeating everything I said and decided against it.

“Bad,” she said, knowing what it meant.

“Yeah.” I replied. “Since I was ten.” I took a deep breath and readjusted my head on the pillow. “My tenth birthday, I found out I was going to have a little sister, your Aunt Isabel. My eleventh birthday, I broke my wrist when I fell off my bike. My twelfth birthday, I had food poisoning. My thirteenth birthday, I was grounded and my mom gave two of my birthday presents to Goodwill. My fourteenth birthday, I had my first relationship fight. My fifteenth birthday, I got into a fight with my mom because she wouldn’t buy me a cell phone when all of my friends had one. My sixteenth birthday…I had yet another fight with my mom, I ripped my two thousand dollar dress, and broke my toe when I kicked a wall. My seventeenth birthday, I fought with both of my parents because they chose to take Isabel to her new school in Connecticut instead of staying home with me or taking me with them. My eighteenth birthday, I was hurt by Daddy’s ex. And last year…” I sighed and looked down at Emma, who was falling asleep, her head between my breasts. “Last year, Daddy forgot my birthday. And this year, he remembered, I had you, and I had the makings of a good day. But Mommy couldn’t get a break.”

Her even breathing told me she was asleep now, and I held her closer to me. Poppy jumped up on the end of the couch and rested her head on my leg.

Was it so much to ask for a good birthday?

* * *

At about a quarter after twelve, Dominic came in. He came over to me and kissed me on the lips. I smiled.

My back was hurting so much less, and Emma was still asleep. Her picked her up, and she opened her eyes. She suddenly got a second wind, and was back to her normal, perky self.

“Mumma!” she whined, reaching towards me. I sat up slowly, using my elbows for support.

“What’s wrong?” Dominic asked, noticing my cautious movement.

I sighed and dropped back down. “I fucked up and got involved in a fight between Leah and Daveigh, and Leah pushed me down and kicked me.”

“What?” he asked incredulously. “Where did she kick you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I promised. “It was about where my tattoo is on my back. It doesn’t hurt that much, I’m just a little sore.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

I sighed. “Babe, I’m fine. Please stop worrying about me.” I pleaded. “If you want to worry about someone, worry about your sister who’s in jail right now.”

Dominic scoffed. “I’ll leave her there for the night. She deserves it.”

I rolled my eyes. “So what did you have to pick up?” I asked him.

He handed me a plain brown gift bag. I took out the tissue paper and unwrapped the package inside. It was a book. “Are you that bored with our sex life?” I asked, holding up the book.

“Not at all.” He replied earnestly. “It’s just…we’re going to run out of those vouchers soon.”

I smiled deviously. “Christmas is two months away. I think we have enough until then.” I sat up and met his lips again. “Was that my birthday present?”

“No. you’ll get the second part tonight after I take you out to dinner.”

“What about Emma?”

“She’ll be asleep once we get her into bed tonight.”

I rested my head against the back of the couch and reached up to hold Emma’s little hand lightly. “Can you promise me something?”

“What?”

“Promise me that whatever happens from here on out, I don’t have to worry about us, because we’ll be okay.”

He held my gaze for a moment, and I was expecting him to say he couldn’t promise that, so it surprised me when he agreed.

“I promise, Ember.”