I Won't See You Tonight

I woke up to the sun creeping through the curtains of my stark white bedroom. After laying in bed, dreading the thought of moving from my warm confines, I heard whispering voices outside my door.

“No baby girl, let’s let Momma sleep. You can show her when she wakes up.”

“But daddy, I want to show her now!” I giggled at my daughter’s stubbornness.

“It’s okay Bri, I’m already up. You both can come in.” The door flew open, as I sat up, and I watched Gloria climb up next to me on the bed, and look up to me.

“Close your eyes Mommy, I has a surprise!” I covered my eyes with my hands, and after promising my daughter that I couldn’t see a thing, I heard Brian’s quiet steps as he came closer to the bed and whisper something in Gloria’s ear. I felt the bed shift in front of me, indicating Brian probably sat down as well. After a few more seconds, Gloria told me to uncover my eyes.

In front of me sat Brian and Gloria, both with matching smiles and gleaming eyes. But what drew my attention was what they held in their hands. In Brian’s, sat a large bouquet of flowers, in varying shades of red and purple, adorned with white, my favorite color combination. In Gloria’s were three or four smaller bouquets of smaller flowers, enough to refill the vases I had set out throughout our living room.

“We picked you flowers Momma! You like them?” Gloria asked, nearly bouncing from excitement from her gift.

“I love them sweetie, they’re gorgeous,” I replied, taking the smaller bouquets from my daughter, giving her a small kiss on the cheek, and brought them up to my nose, breathing in their sweet scent. After setting the flowers next to me, I looked up at Brian, who returned my smile, before looking to our daughter, and telling her to go get changed for breakfast. Gloria quickly set off towards her room, her new puppy taking off after her. As Brian’s gaze was set back at me, he smiled even brighter than before.

“I woke up early to pick these for you. I noticed the ones on the kitchen table were a little droopy, and I know you love your flowers to be as fresh as possible. The munchkin just so happened to catch me as I finishing, and wanted to pick some for you too,” he replied, holding the bouquet out for me to take. I reached over the take them, kissing him on the cheek as well, before breathing in their scent. As I examined them, I noticed they not only were my favorite colors, but was composed of all my favorite flowers. As I was about to say another thank you, Gloria came bounding back into the room, and climbed onto the bed. After setting Brian’s gift next to the others, Gloria climbed onto my lap, and whispered in my ear,

“Momma, now that daddy is back, will you sing that song for me? Pretty please?” I looked from my daughter, up to Brian, who was starring at us with a look of sheer happiness. He smiled wider as our eyes met. Returning the smile, I looked back to Gloria.

“You’ll have to ask your daddy if it’s okay. If it’s okay with him, it’s okay with me,” I whispered back, and watched as she climbed into Brian’s lap and whispered in his ear. After a few seconds, his eyes met mine, seeking complete permission to our daughter’s request. I nodded my head, and walked into my closet to grab my guitar. As I walked back into my room, Gloria was nearly bouncing with excitement. I handed the guitar to Brian, as well as a pick off my nightstand, and waited as he strummed a few chords, before looking to me. Again, I nodded my head, and he began to strum the opening chords of the song.

It's written on our palms and it's written on our hearts
It's written in our songs and it's written in the stars
Sometimes all we can do is stand up tall
They're standing in line just to watch us fall

Wooooah,
We can't forget these are the days…
Don't be afraid
We can't forget these are the days

Brian continued to strum the song, and then began to sing, proving my memory hadn’t done his voice any justice.

Well, we got each other and that's all we need
From here on out it's just you and me
Two hometown hearts up against the world
That don't stand a chance against this boy and girl.

Our eyes met as I joined with him, smiling at how right it felt singing with him again.

We've faced em down, fought bigger fights
And I know, babe, we're gonna be alright

It feels like we're living from paycheck to check
And we wake up wondering what might happen next
Yeah, sometimes it feels like we won't make it through
But the hard times pass like the good ones do
Baby, wrap your fingers and hold on tight
I'll be right here beside you tonight

Baby, climb up here, watch the city glow
Let's make a wish on the fireworks below
We're making moments we won't forget
We fill in ones that haven't happened yet

We finished, and looked to Gloria who was clapping and rambling about how pretty the song was. Brian caught my attention and mouthed,

“Should we tell her now?”

I nodded my head, and pulled a still-rambling Gloria into my lap. After Gloria had settled down, I looked down to our smiling child, knowing these next few minutes would change her life forever.

“Sweetie, your daddy and I want to talk to you about something. Do you remember a few days ago, you asked after we got home from the grocery story, if it was normal that you could carry so much weight for your little size?” Gloria looked from me, to Brian, and back to me, and nodded her head, looking worried.

“Well sweetie, you’re, umm…you’re what’s called a demigod.” She turned to look at me, her brown eyes wide as saucers.

“A…a what?”

“Do you remember a few months ago, we are walking about the gods that live on Mount Vergina. We learned about Maxxus, and Zacharius, and Briax, and a few others? You remember that?” She quickly nodded her head yes, clearly confused.

“Well, Brian,” I said, pointing at him, “Is Briax. Your daddy is a god sweetie. That’s why he’s been gone for so long. See, gods aren’t suppose to be able to have children with human’s. It’s very rare. So after you were born, your daddy went back home to make sure it would be safe for you. Four straight years without a visit was a bit much,” my voice turned bitter, and I gave Brian a pointed look, who quiltily turned his gaze downward, “but now he’s back for awhile.” She sat quietly for a few minutes, taking everything in, before she spoke.

“So will I have to go back with Daddy? Momma, will I ever see you again?” she cried, throwing her arms around my neck and clinging to me. Shocked, I looked up to Brian for help, who quickly moved next to me, placing a hand on the small of my back to calm me, and his other on our daughter’s face to gain her attention.

“You’re not going anywhere baby girl. The three of us are going to stay here for awhile. Nothing is going to change. Your Momma isn’t going anywhere. And neither am I,” he spoke quietly, calming us both. His arms enveloped me and Gloria, holding me to his chest, and lacing my hand that rested on Gloria’s back, with his. Finally, her cries subsided, and she climbed from my lap into Brian’s.

“Daddy, you promise you not gonna leave again?” she asked, stray tears still rimming her red eyes. Brian wiped her remaining tears, and pulled her into a hug.

“I promise baby girl. I might have to leave for a few days at a time, but I will always come back to you and mommy. I promise.” He hugged her tighter to his chest, and I silently slipped off the bed, grabbing my camera, and snapping the first shot of them together.

Hopefully the first of many…

As I reviewed the photos I took, I was broke from my thoughts by Gloria’s tiny voice.

“Mommy, come join hug?” she asked, bringing out the pout I’ve never been able to resist. I crawled over to them, setting the camera beside us, and slipping into Brian’s open embrace. We sat in his arms, allowing the events of the past few days to finally sink in.

After a few minutes, Brian shifted Gloria so she was in my lap, and me in his, reaching for the camera, and taking a photo of us locked in his embrace, the first since Gloria had been born.

We can’t forget, these are the days…