*Forever and Always*

                                           Chapter Three

‘’Taylor, honey.’’ I heard someone call. I felt them shaking me awake.

I groaned. I liked the darkness, it was serene.

My eyelids fluttered open and I saw Seth leaning over me looking exasperated.

I sat up against the pillows and rubbed my eyes.

‘’What’s wrong?’’ I asked sleepily.

‘’You’ve been asleep for a long time. I wasn’t sure if you were hungry or anything.’’ He sighed.

‘’Are you mad at me?’’ I asked warily.

‘’No.’’ he was being evasive I could feel it.

‘’Talk to me! I can’t handle this please. It feels like I’m falling apart and you’re being so equivocal…’’ I only realized I started crying when Seth pulled me against his chest and started soothing me all over again.

‘’Yeah I’m mad… I’m pissed. But not at you.’’ He explained calmly.

‘’Seth. I know this is the second time something like this happened. Don’t worry I’ve been through it before. I can do it again. I’ll deal with it after the wedding.’’ I sniffed against his shoulder.

‘’Do you still want to have the wedding?’’ he asked flabbergasted.

I nodded.

‘’Did Jake come home yet?’’ I asked sleepily.

‘’No, not yet but he will and when he does. God help him. I’ll kill him I swear I will. This has gone too far. I’m done warning him. He needs to learn his lesson.’’ I felt him clenching his muscles.

I yawned. ‘’Are your family here yet?’’

‘’Yeah. I didn’t tell them what happened. I figured you’d be mad if I did. They are all very exited to meet you.’’ He kissed my hair and stood.

‘’Good. I’ll take a shower and get dressed. Meet you downstairs?’’

He nodded as I went into the bathroom shutting the door.

I showered and washed my hair.

I got dressed in a knee length pink silk dress and silver sandals.

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and sighed.

My cheek was a little red, my nose didn’t bleed anymore. I was grateful my face didn’t get any damage. My wedding was tomorrow.

I powdered my cheek with a bit of make up making the redness disappear.

I went down stairs.

Seth was leaning against the stairs looking unbelievably gorgeous in a pink shirt and his blue jeans.

When he heard me descending the stairs his face lit up with warmth.

‘’You look so beautiful.’’ He took my hand at the last step helping me down.

‘’I love you Seth.’’ I smiled warmly at him.

‘’I love you.’’ His smile widened.

We walked hand in hand to the living room. My heart raced.

Would his family like me?  

The room was filled with unfamiliar people. They all seemed friendly. Everyone looked up at our arrival and the room went silent.

Wow. Awkward.

‘’You must be Taylor. I’ve heard so much.’’ A shrill voice said next to me. Funny I thought. I didn’t see any one move.

I looked to the left where she stood and smiled.

She was wearing a funny looking outfit that didn’t match. Her black hair was tied in a bun above her head.

‘’Sweetie this is my dad’s brother, Uncle Bobbie,’’ he showed to a bald old man dressed in a tux, ‘’and this is his wife Aunt Anna.’’ He showed to the woman in the funny outfit.

‘’And this is my cousin Johnny.’’ He showed to the guy with short black hair, dressed in a red shirt and khaki pants, rubbing the guy’s head messing his hair.

Every one he introduced so far smiled warmly at me. It made me feel so much better.

‘’And this is my mom’s sister and her husband, Aunt Susan and Uncle Allan and their daughter Stacy.’’ He laughed.

Aunt Susan was short and fat with gray hair curled around her meaty face. Uncle Allan was long and thin with blond hair. They both were dressed very fancy.

And Stacy was long, longer than me, she had long blond hair with black highlights. She wore a green shirt and black pants with blue sneakers.

‘’It’s very nice to meet you all.’’ I smiled.

I received hugs from the entire family. When they were done I went back to Seth’s side.

He kissed my head.

Dinner was very nice. Seth’s mom and my mom made food or should I say my mom only carved because her food was always burned or salt less.

Stacy seemed to like me. She was eighteen and was going to college next fall.

I got asked all kinds of questions like; where did I live before Springfield? What was going to be my major in college? Which I didn’t know myself.

Johnny talked to me through the entire dinner. He was seventeen.

I liked Seth’s family a lot.

When it was almost midnight, I said goodbye to Seth and went home with my parents.

My mom didn’t stop fidgeting about Jake until my father basically scream for her to leave it alone because he could see it unsettled me.

Eventually she kept her mouth shut. Every now and then I heard her talking to her self muttering stuff like, ‘’making mistake.’’

I went to bed when we got home. She only pissed me off.

But before I could switch the light off, there was a knock on my door.

‘’Come in.’’ I sighed and sat up again.

My dad came in and smiled. ‘’I haven’t even got a chance to talk to you lately. You’ve been so busy.’’

‘’Sorry dad. My life is just one big rush.’’ I apologized and took his hand in mine.

‘’Mom told me she asked you to wait a while. Think she was right?’’

‘’No dad. I’m not making a mistake and no I don’t want to wait.’’

He nodded. ‘’What happened today?’’

I sighed and told him the whole story.

He sighed deeply. ‘’I heard Seth called the cops, he’s gonna have Jake arrested for attempted rape.’’

‘’Why didn’t he tell me this?’’ I asked frowning.

‘’Honey, don’t you get it?’’ He smiled.

‘’Get what dad?’’ I frowned bamboozled.

‘’Seth is crazy about you. Did you think he would just leave it like he did the first time? Do you have any idea how hard it was for him not to have killed Brandon last time?’’ he explained.

I knew he loved me but was he really this crazy about me. Would he really kill someone who tried to hurt me? ‘Yes’ I answered my own question.

‘’How do you know this dad?’’

He shrugged. ‘’He talked to me earlier when you were asleep. Sleep tight sweetheart, I love you.’’

‘’Love you too dad.’’

He kissed my head and closed the door behind him.

I fell asleep thinking about what my dad said.

Maybe Seth loved me more than I knew.

©2012 by Monica Coetzer