The Dream Isn't Done

There won't ever be
a storm that I can't weather.
Cause you hold me together.



“Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded, hovering over Alex, hands on my hips.

“I’m… sorry?” Alex apologized, uncertainly.

He stared up at me, nothing but pure confusion and curiosity in his eyes. He looked so innocent and unaware from his position on the couch, clad only in a pair of black pyjama pants. I was tempted to just fall down next to him and hold him. But this was serious, he had lied to me about something so vital.

“How could you not tell me about this?”

“Okay, Quinn,” Alex began, standing up. He placed his hands on my shoulders. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about you, Alex. I’m talking about you, and how you decided it was okay to keep something so… life changing from me!”

“Quinn, what are you going on about?” Alex shook his head, oblivious to what I was talking about.

“Don’t act like you’re clueless, Alex,” I spat. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. Are you sure you don’t have anything to tell me? Not one little piece of information that you should have shared with me, oh… eight years ago?”

Alex continued to stare at me, feigning he had no idea what I was talking about. I let out a frustrated sigh and tore myself away from my husband. I was halfway up the stairs when Alex called out my name.

“Quinn!” He jogged into the front hall, pausing at the bottom of the stairs. “I know you think that I have something to tell you, that I’ve kept something from you, but I don’t know what it is. I’m sorry.”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I shook my head. “You didn’t even tell me,” I whispered. “I had to hear it from your sister, Alex. Do you have any idea how humiliating it was not to know something like that about my own husband?”

I bit my lip and let out another sigh. Yelling at Alex was getting me no where. I was done with the one-sided fighting.

“At least now I know why you won’t sleep with me,” I shot down at him, and his dark brown eyes widened in realization. I turned away from him, heading into our bedroom, where I threw myself sideways across the bed.

Closing my eyes, my mind began to wander back through the events of the day so far.

If I hadn’t of met Jane in Montreal for breakfast that morning… if she hadn’t of let Alex’s secret slip… how long would it have been until I found out? How much more time would have passed until I found out?

I had a feeling that if it were up to Alex, I would never have known.

I could feel the backs of my eyes begin to burn as the reality of the situation set in. This was actually happening.

There was a creak by the doorway.

“Come to make nice?” I murmured.

I heard a sigh before the bed sank down next to me.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry,” I scoffed, opening my eyes. “Sorry; sorry doesn’t exactly cut it, Alex. This isn’t just some little white lie, this is actually a big deal. I can’t believe you would keep something like this from me.”

I sat up, brushing a rogue tear from my cheek.

Alex took my face in his hands. “Quinn,” he whispered. “I know you’re mad and you have every right to be. And I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you. But tell me, is there anything you would have done differently? Would it of changed how you feel about me, if you had known?”

“Of course not.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “Okay, so why are you so upset? Knowing wouldn’t have changed anything, you said. Why are you getting so upset?”

“Because!” I croaked, a lump beginning to form in my throat. I could no longer hold back the tears that had been threatening to spill since I left Jane that morning. “Because I love you, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. I’m scared for you, Alex.”

“Chérie,” he murmured, running hand through my dark brown hair. “Don’t be scared for me. I’m not going anywhere yet.”

“Not yet,” I told him. “Not yet, but you will be.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling my husband closer to me. “You can’t leave me,” I begged, tears flowing down my cheeks, soaking Alex’s exposed shoulder. “I don’t know what I’ll do without you.”

“I told you,” Alex murmured in my ear, wrapping his arms around my waist. Closing his eyes, he said to me, “I told you… I’m not going anywhere yet.”