The Green Rising

Chapter Two

Chapter Two: September 2017

“Do we have to go?” I whined to Luc as I looked at the boxes piled in our townhouse. I’d done little besides unpack and be nauseated since our move two weeks ago, but there was still plenty to do. And with Luc reporting for duty on Tuesday, that meant I only had his help for another five days.

Luc stood in the kitchen, lips pursed, with a suitcase in one hand. “Yes, hon, we do. I don’t think Sheila checked on the cottage once since Uncle Burt passed away five years ago.” He noticed dread creeping across my face. “It’ll be fun.”

“It smells like camping,” I muttered. Camping made me sick on a non-pregnant day.

“It’s not going to be camping, Lily. It’s a cottage on a mountain. Sheila’d been paying the electric bill and there’s a high enough balance forward that we won’t have to pay anything for probably another year.”

I made a mental note to start speaking under my breath when I had an appointment and needed him to watch the kids because he seemed to have very selective hearing. “I’m sorry, Luc, but it reeks of camping. No one’s been there for five years so you don’t know if the electricity or water even work. And it's going to be nasty. I'm going to be stuck cleaning the place for the entire weekend.”

“Lily, it’ll be fun. Just think of the family bonding time.”

“I’m bonded fine with my family, it’s Jessa that needs the bonding with us, and she’s not here.” Jessa was visiting friends and family in Indiana, Luc’s bribe for her to come live with us. He hadn't told me about his deal with her until two days before I took her to the airport, and it still bothered me. I hoped that she wouldn’t use the opportunity to run away. We’d made good progress with her, but she was still a teenage girl who’d just lost her mother and been forced to move away from all that was familiar to her twice in the past three months. Who would blame her if she did?

Luc gave me The Look: eyes squinty and pointing at me like lasers, nostrils slightly flared, and mouth clenched. I expected him to stamp his feet and charge at me, but he’d never hurt me. Sometimes I steered him close to that cliff of insanity, but never quite to the edge.

I probably shouldn’t have made the bonding comment about Jessa, but it was true. She should be here with us and I felt Luc was foolish for letting her go. I made sure to tell him that every time the opportunity arose, too. I decided I wouldn’t apologize for my comment.

“Lily, come on. Seriously, it’ll be a good time. I haven’t been able to enjoy the outdoors in years. The girls’ll have so much fun and you’re going to love the peace and quiet,” he begged. “I’ll make you a deal. If the cottage doesn’t meet your standards, we’ll stay in a hotel, but you should know I called the Parrishes. They’re coming up after Mike gets off work tomorrow night. It’ll be just like old times in Florida.”

My belly began to dance and I gave it a pat as I considered feigning morning sickness to supply another reason for not going. I looked into Luc’s eyes that begged me to join them. Between being with me and his myriad deployments, Luc’s excursions into the outdoors were practically non-existent. And I really missed Carrie. I’d only seen her once after we returned from Indiana, and that was over two months ago.

I exhaled and said, “Okay, but you’re going to help me unpack the rest of these boxes on Monday night and we’re going into the city next weekend. I want to go to the Mall and to the Smithsonian.”

He lit up like a kid in a candy store and tossed the suitcase aside. He walked over to the table, wrapped his arms around me, and said, “That’s a deal. Thank you, Honey. It means so much to me that you’re coming with us. You won’t regret it” as he twirled me around.