Till death do us part

Chapter 31: I forgot - Age 31

Cora's POV

I parked the car and quickly got into Hope's school. I rushed to get to the central place where they kept the kids.

I arrived and saw Hope stand there with her tiny backpack on her back. She looked rather upset, it seemed she thought we had forgotten about her. And the sad truth is: we had...

"I'm here," I said and looked at Hope. "I'm here, muffin."

Hope looked at me and smiled a bit. She was clearly upset, and I couldn't blame her.

I looked at the person that was still here with Hope. The person who had stayed overtime for me. "My apologies," I said, still trying to catch my breath. "There was a miscommunication between me and my wife."

He simply nodded but didn't seem to care at all. I guessed he probably just wanted to go home. I couldn't blame him. He should've been home already...

I smiled awkwardly at him before looking at Hope. "Let's go, muffin," I guided her out of the school and to the car. "Get in."

She got in the car and sat down. She then looked outside the window. It seemed she avoided contact with me altogether.

I sat down too. I wanted to start the car but, when I saw her in my rear-mirror, I stopped. I sighed deeply and looked at her. "I'm so sorry, muffin," I paused a bit. "I should've been here sooner."

She frowned a bit. "I thought mom was getting me?"

I gulped and turned around again. What was I supposed to do or say? I couldn't tell her Rose had forgotten about her, could I? "Let's go home." So instead, I said nothing.

The drive back home was peaceful. Hope didn't say a word, I thought she was thinking about the whole situation. She seemed confused about it all, and I couldn't blame her. I wonder what Rose will say to her. Will she be honest?

I wonder what I will say when we get home. Will I confront Rose? Will I ask for an explanation? What is the right thing to do here? She probably simply forgot. But how? I didn't understand that...

We got home a couple of minutes later. I parked the car and helped Hope get out of the car. We walked to the front door. I glanced at Hope and could tell how she was upset. I wondered what she would say or do when she sees Rose. She must feel abandoned... Poor girl.

I opened the front door and immediately looked for Rose. I found her in the kitchen, preparing dinner for us.

"Hey, Cora," She walked to me and kissed me on the cheek. "I hope you are hungry."

I stood there, jaw dropped a bit. "You're making dinner?"

She looked at me. She seemed confused. It seemed she genuinely didn't know why I was acting this way.

"Didn't you forget anything?" I asked, I couldn't hide the fact I was frustrated. And Rose seemed to catch on to that.

She gulped immediately. It seemed she was getting worried. She once told me how she never wanted to forget things so hearing this must be hard for her.

But everything changed when Hope appeared. She slowly walked to Rose. "Where were you, mom?"

I could see how she suddenly realized what she had forgotten. Without ever answering Hope, Rose started crying and ran upstairs.

Hope once again looked down.

"Hey, muffin," I picked her up. "It's ok," I hugged her tightly. "Mom has a lot on her mind," I put her down on the couch in the living room. "You know how forgetful she can be, right?" I showed her a small smile.

Hope smiled a bit, she was clearly trying her best to be a good girl about the whole situation. "Yes, she is."

"I'll go talk to your mom, will you stay here and watch some tv in the mean time?"

Hope looked from me to the tv. She nodded.

"Good girl," I kissed her head before walking upstairs. I walked to the bedroom as I knew Rose would be there. I let out a deep sigh before I entered the room. There, I saw Rose crying. She was seating in front of the bed, on the ground. I gulped. "What happened?" I tried calmly.

She didn't respond. She just continued crying.

I tried my best to stay calm but the whole situation got me so irritated. Without thinking much about it, I said: "Why didn't you get Hope? She was left at school till 6 pm!"

Rose kept crying.

"I don't get you, Rose, how could you do this to her?!" I paused. "Was it because I didn't understand you this morning? Was it really all about that?"

Rose shook her head.

"Then explain it to me, because I really don't understand this."

She gulped and looked down. Under her breath, she whispered: "I forgot."

When I heard that, I raised my eyebrows. "You forgot to get your daughter?"

Immediately as I has said that sentence, she cried more. When I saw her reaction, I realized then that she was serious. She really did forget about Hope. She didn't intend to. This wasn't just Rose being forgetful, this was more.

I walked to and sat down next to her. I wrapped my arms around her. "It's ok," I tried hugging Rose as best as I could. "It's ok."

Rose looked up at me. "How is this ok?" She sniffled. "I forgot Hope," She shook her head and looked away a bit. "I forgot my daughter," She looked back at me then. "Why did I forget, Cora?"

I gulped when I heard that question. I wanted to help her so badly but I didn't know what to answer. I didn't know why this was happening. But I would love to. "I don't know," I said honestly. "But we'll work on this together."

She slowly nodded.

I wiped away her tears, trying to make her calm down. "Maybe we can go to the doctor," I said gently. "To have this checked out. What do you think?"

She immediately nodded. "This has to stop," She sniffled some more. "I can't forget my daughter," She looked at me. "I don't want to forget things anymore."

"Ok," I showed her a small smile. "I'll call tomorrow for an appointment and we'll get this checked out," I reached for her hand and held it in mine. "We'll get through this together."

She smiled a bit. "I love you."

"I love you too, Rose."