Two Pieces of a Broken Heart

“Mommy!” I heard Faith yell at the same time Aspen yelled “Daddy!”

I pulled the blanket over my head and heard Alex groan. Probably from one or both of the girls jumping on him. “Wake up! Wake up!” They chanted as they jumped on the bed.

“Okay, okay.” Alex grumbled.

“Grandma said it's time for breakfast.” Faith told us.

We spent the night at my mom’s house last night since it was such a long and emotional day. Aspen and Faith ended up sleeping downstairs with Izzy, Jase, Logan, Amy and Vanessa. Jack helped them build a fort last night and they didn't want to get out of it. So Alex and I slept in their room. Lucky for us that my mom never redecorated Faith’s room when I got her back. She just got a new bed when Aspen was born for when she gets grandma time.

“We will be down in a minute okay.” I told the girls. “Go wake up uncle Zack.”

“Okay!” Faith cheered then both girls ran out of the room.

“Guess it's time to get up.” I groaned as I rolled over and snuggled into Alex’s chest. He instantly wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead.

“Yeah it is.” He chuckled. He knows how much I hate mornings. “Let's go have breakfast with the family.”

“How did everyone sleep?” my mom asked us once everyone was downstairs and in the kitchen.

“Pretty good. Thanks for letting us stay, Ma.” Zack told my mom. Him, Lena, Jack and Rae all stayed as well. They all slept in the basement while Brie and Drew stayed in her old room. Liam and Savannah slept in the living room with the kids.

“Of course, honey. This is your home as much as anyone else here.” she smiled at him and handed him a plate of eggs, bacon and pancakes. “The same goes for you, Alex. You’re apart of this family so you’re always welcome here.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” he smiled politely.
‘
“Oh you know to call me Olivia.” she smacked his shoulder playfully before handing him a plate.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After breakfast asked if I would take a drive with him. I said of course I would go with him. He went to get the girls dressed while I took a quick shower and got dressed. Luckily I am here enough that I leave clothes here. I had an old shirt of Alex’s stuffed in the back of the girls closet so he at least got to change his shirt. About five minutes into the drive I knew exactly where we were going. To his parents house. I was confused to why we were going there tho.

“Why are we going to your parent’s house?” I asked him.

“I have to pick up the pups. My mom took them to the groomers the other day and with everything that happened yesterday I didn’t pick them up.” he told me.

“Oh, okay.” I said. I felt bad that his parents got stuck with the dogs an extra day. I know that his mom wouldn’t mind but I still felt bad.

“We get to see grandma and papa?” Faith asked from the backseat.

“Yeah, baby girl.” Alex looked up at her through the rearview mirror. Both girls squealed with excitement. They love their grandparents so much.

“Grandma!” Aspen and Faith yelled and ran to the house where Isobel was standing at the door. She bent down and hugged both girls tightly.

“Oh it’s so good to see you girls.” she gushed.

After Alex and I greeted his mom we went inside. Of course the girls immediately went out back to play with the dogs. Alex followed them while me and Isobel sat on the patio chairs and watched them. “I’m taking you being here with Alex that you guys are working things out?” she asked me hopefully.

“We haven’t discussed everything but we are.” I smiled. “I didn’t think I could get passed the Lisa situation but then I realized do I want to sit and dwell on the past or just move forward.”

“I know you’re scared of getting close to him and having Lisa meddle again,” she started then looked over at Alex playing with the girls and dogs, “but I can tell you that my son loves those girls to death. I don’t see him screwing this up again. He really was heartbroken when you guys broke up. I will tell you what I told him, Lisa was his security blanket, you my dear are his one true love. You and those babies.”

“Thank you, Isobel.” I smiled. “That means a lot to me.”

“Just no more grandbabies until you’re married.” she laughed.

I laughed and shook my head, “trust me no more for awhile. My mom told him the same thing last night.”

“How is she doing? Alex told me about Johnny when he called me last night about not coming after the dogs.” Isobel and my mom had gotten close over the years. We were like a little family.

“She’s doing as well as she can be.” I sighed. “I think the news took us all back to when my brother was diagnosed. It was so hard on all of us.”

“You guys will get through this.” she rubbed my shoulder. “Let your mum know if theres anything she needs to just let me know.

“I will, thanks.”

“Okay girls say bye to grandma.” I heard Alex say. “We have somewhere to go.” I was confused to where we had to go. I thought this was the drive he was taking us on.

“Where do we have to go?” I asked him curiously.

“It's a surprise.” He winked at me. Okay he is up to something but I'm not going to question it.

After we all said bye to Alex’s parents we got the girls in the car and Alex started driving. He had a smile the whole time. Where ever he was taking us he was super excited about it. The drive took about forty minutes and we pulled up to a house surrounded by trees. It was kind of secluded, but nonetheless a pretty house.

“Who lives here daddy?” Faith was the first to speak up.

“Nobody baby girl.” He told her.

“Then why are we here?” I asked curiously.

“I wanted you to see it.” He smiled then proceeded to get out of the car. The girls followed suit and unbuckled their car seats to get out of the car. I just shrugged and got out as well.

The house was beautiful on the inside. It had a nice size kitchen, a big living room and dining room. Four bedrooms. Three and a half bathrooms. An open layout at the top of the stairs that would make a good reading area since there was built in bookshelves. There was also a room downstairs that would make a good office or library. The backyard had a big shed, pool and sun room.

“Okay again why are we here.” I asked Alex. “This house is amazing but I'm not understanding why we are here.”

“I bought it.” He blurted out. “It was finalized a couple days ago. I was hoping one day we can make this our home.”

I was completely in shock that Alex did this. I mean we haven't really talked about what is going to happen. Hell we just discussed this yesterday! And he said he did this awhile ago. Either he's extremely confident or extremely crazy. I'm not sure how I should be reacting right now. Should I be pissed that he did this? Or appreciate that he did this for us?

“Why?” Was all I could think of to say.

“I'm sorry if it's all too much, but I knew the moment that I found out about Aspen that I wanted us to be a family. Hell I wanted you back since we broke up. We both made mistakes. And we have pushed and ran away. But we have made our way back to each other and I am not going down without a fight. Whether you move into this house with me now or in five years I don't care but I see our future here. I even thought the shed in the back can be your very own black room so you can develop your pictures here and be with the girls more instead of paying for a space.”

“Looks like I'll be doing a lot of decorating.” I smiled at Alex.

He did a double take like he didn't believe what he just heard. “Really?”

“I mean I'm not saying I'm going to move in right now. This is all still very new and we still have a long way to go. I don't want to rush this. But I think it's time for us to have a fresh start. The girls can be here as much as they want. And I won't be opposed to sleep overs myself.” I bit my bottom lip.

“Oh my god.” Alex said excitedly before picking me up and twirling me around.

“You happy, daddy?” Aspen asked curiously.

“Daddy is very happy.” He told her as he put me back in my feet. “Girls this is gonna be daddy’s new house.”

“Ours too?” Faith asked.

“One day honey.” I told her honestly.

The girls squealed and started running around the yard. I was about to chase them with Alex when my phone rang. I saw it was Rae and almost didn't answer but realized she was supposed to be at work so it might be important so I accepted the call.

“Rae you've got to calm the hell down! I can't understand a word you're saying.” I told her. When she finally calmed down and told me what happened my mouth dropped open in shock. “Oh my god!”