His Fairytale, My Folklore

"We need to talk about this," Valentine said as we stood in the kitchen the next morning.
"No," I hissed as the kids ran down stairs. "We don't."
"You lied to me."
"Daddy," I heard Terence squeal as he ran down the steps.
I turned as Valentine tried to look at me. I couldn't do it. I closed my eyes as tears fell down my face. I could hear Carlos trying to get the kids out of the house. I wiped my tears discretely before I turned back to Valentine and Terence.
"Terence," I said, taking him from Valentine. "Why don't you go watch TV and I'll make you something to eat."
"No school?"
I shook my head. "Not today, baby."
"Okay."
He stumbled out to the living room and I heard the TV turn on to Sesame Street. I looked at Valentine. He was staring at me.
"Let me see it."
I lifted my shirt a little to show him the scar. "It hit him directly."
"So that means it went through your uterus."
I nodded, pulling my shirt back down, I turned to the pantry to my left and I was yanked back to look at him. "Let go," I said weakly.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked dangerously.
"I tried. Three times. That's what I was gonna tell you that night."
"You could have told me earlier."
"Yeah, that would have work," I said sarcastically, yanking my arm from his grasp. "Oh," I started with as much sarcasm as I could muster, which was a lot. "I killed your brother, and by the way, I'm having your child. How well do you actually think that would have gone over? Beside," I said, lowering my voice. "You said more than once that I should get an abortion if I got pregnant, and I couldn't."
"I wouldn't have told you that!"
"Oh?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Only if it's your child I should keep it, other than that, abort them all?!"
"That's not what I meant!"
"Then what?!" I asked frustrated. "What do you mean, because I can't keep trying to decipher what you mean?"
He groaned in frustration and stormed out. Tears started to fall again. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. I wiped my tears away and went to check on Terence. He was asleep as Elmo talked about colors. I changed it to the news and picked him up. I sat him on my lap and he curled up as I wrapped him in a blanket.
"In local news," the anchor woman said. "A high ranking federal agent was kidnapped. No one will confirm if Trevor Wright, the man kidnapped, is a part of the cover up at the boarding school in the next town over. Four months ago, three teenagers were shot, two injured and one dead. The FBI came in before the local police even got notified." She started going off about suspects and thoughts.
"Fuck," I said over and over again.
I grabbed my phone and called Valentine, but he wasn't answering. I then called Joel, telling him to find his brother and bring him to his house. I texted Carlos and told him to drop off the kids, but not Johnathan or Savannah and meet me at Trevor's house. Then, as an afterthought, I told him to grab a bug tracer.
I stood up and took Terence up stairs, getting him dressed without waking him up. I went to my room and set him on my bed gently. I quickly changed into a black skirt with cherries on it and a black tank-top. I grabbed my jewelry to match and my heels. I had to make sure it looked like I didn't know about anything that was going on in case anyone was watching me.
"Ter," I whispered into his ear. "Baby, wake up. We're gonna go see Aunt Val and Uncle Joel."
"Mommy?" he asked as I picked him up.
I grabbed the diaper bag that had my gun and cell phone in it and walked down stairs. "Yes?"
"I want daddy," he said as tears filled his eyes.
"Uncle Joel is looking for him."
"Okay."
I put him in his stroller and grabbed my keys. I pushed him out the door, the diaper bag on the handle of the stroller, and closed the door. I locked it quickly and started down the path to get to the road. I started turned right when I got to the road, noticing a tan Buick with a woman who looked like she was angry at someone on the phone that was pushed against her ear. She was giving me too many glances, too close together.
"Mommy, I see daddy."
I looked to where Terence was pointing. I saw Valentine arguing with his brother in front of Trevor's house. I gave a small, barely there shake of my head and the two stopped. Joel walked into the house as Valentine walked over to Terence and me.
"Daddy," Terence squealed as I started to walk toward Valentine.
"Hey buddy," he chuckled as I stopped in front of him. He glanced at me and then grabbed Terence from the stroller like I wasn't even there. "Let's go get you some Coco Puffs."
I just sighed and walked after them with the stroller. I bit my lip, wanting to call his name, but I couldn't bring myself to make a scene out here with people who ever trying to hurt us, or kill us.
"Oh," I heard Val say. "You're back."
"Wow, hostile much?"
"I think we all have the right to be," Joel cut in.
As soon as I walked in, I silenced them with a nod. I walked over to Joel and whispered in his ear, "What language does The Ring not know?"
"Mandarin and Latin," he whispered back.
I pulled away from him. "We're being watched," I said in Mandarin.
"How do you know?"
"Trust her," Valentine said. "She knows things," he gave me a sharp look. "She may lie a lot, but she knows these things."
I gave him a sharp look in return. "Not now!"
"Then when?!" he hissed.
"When you won't walk out in the middle of it!"
"Grow up!"
"You first," I hissed.
"Mommy," Terence whined, his eyes tearing up. "Daddy, stop fighting."
He started to cry and I took him from Valentine. I glared at Valentine and started bouncing him gently. He sniffled and laid his head on my shoulder while I rubbed his back.
"Val," I said softly, switching to English. "Will you put him down?"
"Yeah."
She took Terence and brought him up stairs. I glared at Valentine. "Nice ass hole," I said in Mandarin.
"Well, I did spend about a year with you. I learned from the best."
"I kind of wish you didn't come back."
He shook his head. "Whatever you say," he started in Mandarin. "Fairytale," he finished in English.
I let out a small, soft, frustrated scream. "Stop! I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I tried damn it! I tried!" Tears were falling down my face. "I get that you're angry, but I lost him too! Not only that, but I lost you too!" My voice got lower, "I lost you too." The tears wouldn't stop. "I just wanted someone, and you were that someone."
He threw his hands in the air. "So you guilt trip me when I don't forgive you?"
I gave a frustrated scream and walked outside. I couldn't take it. I walked to the side of the house and took out the loose brick that hid my cigarettes and lighter. I rarely smoked, but he was pissing me off. I put the cancer stick between my lips and lit it. I put the rest of the cigarettes and the lighter away and the toxic smoke filled my lungs.
"Since when do you smoke?" I heard Carlos ask from behind me.
"Since Valentine has pissed me the fuck off that I actually might consider killing him. He already thinks I'm a heartless bitch, why not prove him right?"
"Because the kids would be devastated, and so would you."
I kept my back to him and started walking towards the back of the house. "Yeah, I'm not really sure about that."
I just wanted to know what Valentine was thinking when he ran away.
I vaguely heard Carlos scream my name as someone put a rag with chloroform over my mouth and someone else grabbed my arms, causing me to drop my cigarette and immobilizing my hands. But, I could still kick.
I brought my foot back, kicking the person with the chloroform over my mouth, causing them to drop it and curse. I wiggled out of the other person's loose grip and fought back the black dots that were swimming in my vision. Carlos had made it to me, and was fighting the two people with ease as I fell to the ground.

I was vaguely aware of the fact that someone was lightly stoking the scar on my lower abdomen. I wanted to hit their hand away, but it felt oddly calming. It was like the person was telling me something with just a touch. That it was all going to be okay.
I cracked my eyes opened, ignoring the splitting head ache the chloroform caused. I was lying on the couch with my head in Valentine's lap and my shirt bunched to under my bra. He was lightly stroking the scar while staring at the TV with a blank expression.
"Okay," he said lightly. "I'll listen to what you have to say."
"I've already said all that I need to," I croaked out after a few moments.
"Are you sure?"
"Just ask what you want to."
"Can you still have children?"
"No," I choked out. "It didn't heal correctly, so I don't have my period, and I can't have any children of my own."
He just stayed silent, continuing to stare at the TV. I looked over and saw it was some old movie with John Wayne in it. Hatari, I think. He never stopped his soft caressing of the scar. Thinking about it all, I wanted to scream, but I only let myself cry silently. The tears fell down and soaked into Valentine's pants.
He stopped caressing my scar and pulled my tank-top down. He brought his hand up and started to run his hand through my hair. It always calmed me down.
"I never stopped," he whispered.
"Never stopped what?" I whispered back, afraid to break the slight peacefulness of it all.
"Loving you, and I doubt I could ever really stop."
"Don't leave me again. Please, don't," I begged softly.
"When the fuck did you turn so emotional?" he asked.
"Her hormones are still fucked up from the change," Johnathan answered for me.
"What change?"
"The one I just told you about," I said softly. "Having a period is a natural thing, and I had one, but I was still getting used to it since I'm only sixteen. My body hasn't adjusted yet."
Valentine didn't say anything; he just continued to stroke my hair. His silence, though I wouldn't admit it, had scared me. I would rather have him yelling and fighting me, that I was trained to deal with. Moody, teenage guys weren't
The months without him, yeah, they sucks ass. But I got through it. I wasn't one of those girls who sat and wallowed while her ex ran around fucking every girl he saw. I was never that girl; I was always the strong one that could hide my emotions better than a statue. I was always the first one to tell people to suck it up. So when Carlos had come into my room one day and told me to suck it up, I was pissed, at myself.
"Is Savannah here?" I asked, sitting up, just to hold my head seconds later when my world started to spin.
"Yeah, she's sweeping."
"How many dust bunnies?" I asked, using the code word for bugs.
"Ten so far."
"Let's get home," I said, reaching my hand out for him help me. "What time is it?"
"About nine thirty," Valentine said.
"We should go have brunch at my house," I said loudly, so Valentine's family heard me.
"Let's do it," I heard Val say from upstairs.
I located my shoes and waited for everyone. They took a while, but I didn't care, I was waiting for the damned head ache to dull a bit.
When we got the house, Savannah did a quick sweep, and the house was clean, thankfully.
"So, why did you need us all here?" Joel asked.
"Your father has been kidnapped."
There was silence. "Is it technically still kidnap if he's over forty?"