LOVE AND SACRIFICES

GRACE POINT OF VIEW

The cab driver stopped in front of an old yet vintage-looking house. This was a place I could once call home, my sanctuary.  I had lived in Summerville since childhood; the residents here were people I could also address as extended members of my family.  The outside had flowers planted everywhere; it made the entire house look like a beautiful garden.

“ Hi, Miss Grace… Welcome home “.  I was greeted by a lady at the house after knocking on the door.   The Lady took in my bags, and I was invited inside as if I were a common stranger.  

“ Where are my Mom and sister?”
I  sat down on the couch and asked her.

“Oh! At the hospital..”
“…. But they'll be back soon “
She told me before resuming her steps towards my room. 

The entire house was just like I remembered, from the cracks in the wall and the old pictures of when our family were actually happy.

Moments later, I heard voices that came from outside.  Emily was seriously arguing, but as the footsteps came nearer, I became tense.

I hadn't seen my family for more than a year; today was going to be the first time we'd seen each other after a long time apart.

The door was pushed open from outside, and Emily was the first person to walk inside the house.  She came with lots of luggage, and  Eric came along with my Mom and my nephew.

“ Aunty Grace!!”
Nathaniel rushed and hugged me.
His ecstatic behavior rubbed off on the others, and one after another, they all came forward and hugged me. 
“ How are you,  Grace?”   Emily hugged me, and it was cold and distant as usual.  I could tell that she didn't want me here by her body language.

“ My child, where have you been!!”
“….. we've all missed you so much “.
Emily went away, and it was Mom's turn.

“ I've been working"
“….. how have you been, Mom"
“ I've missed you".   
I gave her a tight hug before we moved away, and it was Eric’s turn.

Eric Lakewood, my first love, the one I had to convince to get married to my sister.  I thought we would never cross paths, but look where we were,  standing in the same room, and no one could even say what they truly meant.

“ Welcome home, Gracie”. 
He came a little closer, and we hugged. 
“ Thank you “.  I responded, letting his perfume linger longer around me.   Our few moments felt like an eternity; our hearts and bodies touched for the first time after a long time.  

We pulled apart, and he went to his family…

This was supposed to be my life; I would've married Eric and not my sister. Yet here we are, standing in opposite directions.

Rita returned from getting my bedroom prepared, and Mom asked me to head upstairs to change.   I nodded and went upstairs to my bedroom; everything still looked the same.  Mom hadn't touched anything, and it felt like I had previously returned to my old life. 

I got changed and came downstairs. I  met Mom and Rita in the kitchen; they were both preparing something for the entire family.

I came outside and met Eric playing catch with his son.   Eric looked so happy; I couldn't help but feel a little jealous of him and my sister.  Speak of the devil, she arrived and went straight to her husband and son; Emily grazed the cheeks of her husband, taking Eric by surprise.

He saw me staring at them, and Emily rubbed more wounds on my injury by locking protective arms around him.
She meant it as a warning; she, of all people, knew the reason why Eric had married her was because of me.

I left them alone and awkwardly went back to the room.  I needed time alone from seeing Eric; anytime we saw each other, it always felt like we were being dragged towards each other like a magnet.

Evening came, and I went downstairs for dinner.  Mom and Rita served everyone a lavish meal, and  Eric was asked to fetch a wine from the cellar.

We left, and we waited for him to come back.

Fifteen minutes later, Eric hadn't returned.  I was worried, and so was everyone else. My mom, naively, asked me to check on him.

Emily heard this and refused it.   Mom, thinking she was being overly protective of her husband,  gave the job to her.    Emily left, and she handed over her son to me.  

An hour later, neither of them returned.  Scared, Mom asked me to check on them.  I went upstairs and was heading straight to the kitchen when I overheard Emily frantically screaming her husband‘s name.

I came and realized the door of the wine cellar had been jammed, and Eric was locked inside.

He doesn't do well with confined spaces.
Emily turned and asked me to save her husband. For the first time, I saw how worried she was for me.

  I banged on the door twice, but no one responded. 

I assumed Eric must've fainted because of his phobia; I brought out my phone and called a locksmith to open the door. 

The man came and brought Mom along to the scene.  It took him precisely fifteen minutes to open the door, and the second it was pushed open from the outside, Emily rushed inside, and we followed her behind.

We were shocked to find Eric unconscious on the floor, and a few broken wine glasses around him.   Mom asked Emily to call our family doctor, while we helped him up and brought him to his room. 
I entered the bedroom, and next to the bed was his picture with my sister.  He smiled so happily, like a man in love.  

Moments later, the doctor came, and he was Mr Lawrence Haven; he had been our family doctor for as long as I remembered.  We saw each other in the room, and he warmly waved at me.  Mom asked him to examine her son-in-law, while we patiently waited for the result.