You Are Loved, Baby.

Brian and I both sank down into our chairs when the front door slammed shut a final time. Bronx and Juliann emerged from the kitchen and Bronx ran over to Brian and climbed onto his lap.
"Brian?" Bronx asked, "What's wrong?"
Brian just shook his head at the boy, knowing that he wouldn't truly understand at his age, "Nothing Bronx," Brian claimed, offering Bronx a smile.
Bronx smiled back happily and slid off of Brian's lap. He stood in front of the defeated guitarist with a look on concentration on his little face.
"Did you finish your food, baby?" I questioned Bronx, standing up from the table so that I could put Blaik back into his highchair, seeing as me was being to get really fussy at the face that he still hadn't eaten.
"Yes I did, Mommy!" Bronx cheered, throwing his hands up into the air. Bronx looked around the table at all the have eaten plates of food and then looked up to me with a confused expression, "How come they all left before eating all their food?"
Brian answered this one, "Because they had to go to the doctors! They felt bad about leaving you Bronx, and they said you could go. They're probably still in the car waiting for you so lets go!" Brian told him with enthusiasm in his voice as he swept Bronx up into his arms and began walking to the front door.
Bronx starting screaming to be put down and kicking his feet around, not wanting to go to the imaginary doctors office.

I laughed loudly and watched as Brian disappeared into the living room with Bronx in his arms. I continued to feed Blaik, who made noises of happiness every time I popped another bite into his mouth. My brother walked over and sat next to me, watching me with a quiet scrutinization.
"What Juliann?" I acknowledged, turning to face him.
"What happened?" He inquired.
"Brian told everyone. Michelle broke down. Valary got pissed of and she made everyone leave." I explained, leaving out mostly all of the details.
"What's going to happen with Brian? Where's he going to go?"
I shrugged, "I don't know. It's all up to Brian and Michelle now. It's Brian's house so he'll probably move back in there eventually. But until they work every thing out he can stay here." I concluded, popping another bite into Blaik's mouth and sighing when he spit it out, a sign that he was full.
Juliann nodded quietly before standing up and walking into the living room. I smiled when the sound of his video games started up again, a sign of normalcy.

I took Blaik into the kitchen so that I could wash his face and hands. After that I carried him back into the living room. I grinned at the sight. Juliann was sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table paying no mind to Brian and Bronx who were running around like maniacs.
I went and sat on the couch with Blaik and watched Junior's game for a second before Brian called time out and threw himself down onto the couch next to me, groaning when Bronx jumped on top of him. I smiled at the two and watched as Brian situated my child on his lap so that they were both sitting comfortingly.

"Brian?" I asked him, chuckling when both Bronx and Brian looked to me with expectant expressions.
"Yeah?" Brian asked, all sadness hidden from the sound of his voice.
"Can you come with me into the kitchen?" I questioned.
Brian nodded and slid Bronx off of him. He leaned down and pulled Blaik from my arms with a smile. I stood up then and followed him into the kitchen, watching as he glanced over his shoulder a couple of times.

We both sat at the breakfast bar, Brian cradling Blaik close to his chest.
"Are you okay?" I whispered, turning to face him.
"Yeah, I guess so. I knew that this day was coming and I'm glad it's over with," He said, "But I'm not looking forward to my little chat with Valary tomorrow."
I sighed, "Don't worry about it too much,"
Brian brushed it off, "Are you okay, Nissa? They were pretty harsh on you,"
I shrugged, "I deserved worse."
Brian seemed shocked and angry, "No you don't."
I nodded, "Brian, I slept with you even though I had met your girlfriend."
"Well, I slept with you even though I had a girlfriend."
I sighed and shook my head, dismissing the subject. "What are you going to do Brian? You need to talk to Michelle tomorrow and figure out where you guys stand," I told him with a tough tone, yet soft enough to make sure that he knew I wasn't going to force him to do anything that he didn't want to do.
Brian nodded his head, "I'm planning out it," He murmured, cooing at Blaik.
I sighed, "Brian, are you okay? For real?"
Brian was silent for a few moments, staring at his son instead of me. Then he looked up to me and I knew that if he wasn't himself, he'd at least have tears in his eyes. Brian looked broken and hurt in a way that could be brought on by self-harm.
I guess we both realized that we deserve more than we took away from this dinner. I, especially, deserved more than just a few hurtful words thrown my way. It seemed that Brian would lose a bunch of things, his fiancee and possibly a friend that he'd had since he was a child, Valary.
I wasn't sure if this would cause any major complications between him and the guys. I knew that they'd be sour for watching Brian crush Michelle in front of everyone, but still, they'd know each other longer than anyone else. Brian was crumbling in front of me, his emotions getting away from him.
"Oh Bri," I murmured, sliding off of my chair and wrapping my arms around his shoulders, "It'll all be alright."
Brian nodded his head solemnly, as if he didn't understand. And I knew that he didn't. I knew that things wouldn't ever be back to normal, if that word still meant something in our world. Did 'normal' exist anymore or was it just something that Brian and I would wish for, for the rest of our lives? I wasn't sure a bit.
But I did know that at this moment Brian wasn't alright. As he shifted Blaik in his arms and didn't look to me I knew that he needed something, but in fear of losing any resolve that I might have acquired over the last year, I knew that I couldn't be the one to make him feel better about the mistakes that we made together.

So I offered him a place to stay for a few days and backed off just a little bit, reluctantly. I took Blaik and went upstairs to put him down to sleep with the comfort that Brian would be up in a minute after he recollected himself. But it wasn't until I had Blaik asleep in his crib that Brian came into the room with a sad smile.
"Hey..." He muttered, walking over to Blaik's crib and peering down at the precious little baby.
"Hey..." I repeated quietly, standing next to him.
I grabbed onto Brian's arm reassuringly, glancing down to our boy.
He smiled lightly and nodded, watching as Blaik rolled a little and tangled his fingers into his own hair.