Let It Be: A Sequel to So Be It

Chapter Fifty-Seven

AN: My photo from Wednesday aye

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Alex's POV

At the crack of dawn the following morning, Olli jostled me awake. It started out with gentle shakes, but the longer it took, the more force he put behind it.

"Alexandra, honey, wake up," His accent was thick in my ear. It was always at its worst in the morning -- sometimes, if I was really groggy, I couldn't even tell what the hell he was trying to tell me. It was the perks of loving a Finn when you were a Canadian, I would always joke.

"What?" I groaned, burying my face deep into the mattress. Mornings were the bane of my existence, even when I was younger. "I'm sleeping."

Under his breath, he chuckled. "No you aren't, silly. Now get up, we have plans for today." He tugged the blankets off my shoulders, exposing me to the cold air of our bedroom.

We must've forgotten to turn up the thermostat the night before, since it was like an icebox.

Before goosebumps could even form, Olli scooped me into his arms, pulling my body in tight to his chest. It reminded me of one of those hugs you get from your weird aunt with the facial hair at the family Christmas party where it isn't exactly voluntary, so your arms are pinned to their chest instead of around them.

"You smell like a hotel minibar." He laughed again, kissing my cheek. "I'm never letting you drink wine ever again. Or beer. Or whisky. Although, I can't imagine you downing hard liquor."

He released me from the strangling embrace, letting me sit back down on the bed. "What's gotten into you?" I asked him, still half out of everything.

"I don't want to mope," He admitted, timidly. "Like, we lost our daughter. And that sucks. It fucking sucks. But we can't fall apart over this, Alex. She wouldn't have wanted that. We're her parents, and parents are supposed to stand tall. Protect her, you know? If we lose ourselves in pits of despair, we can't protect her anymore."

Olli swung his legs over the side of the bed, then reached out to grab my hand. "Now, before you can say something that changes my mind, we need to go out. I want to go on a drive. It's still dark out, but that's okay. Do you have any place you want to go?"

Married to Olli, I was convinced, was the best thing I could possible be. But sometimes, it really was a struggle, since he was so forward-thinking.

One word to define him would've been stoic -- he hated showing any emotion, especially with those closest to him. While I wanted to grieve over Amelia, he wanted to drive. That hardly seemed like the proper coping technique.

But, I wasn't going to be the one to tell him that. He seemed into the idea of trying to protect Amelia, so I knew I had to go along with it. There was no chance in hell I would fight with him over it; I just had to bite the bullet.

"Wherever you want to," I offered a smile, knowing I had to give Ol a chance. There was always the possibility he'd be right.

My husband tugged me up from the bed, then helped me to the floor. As he started to get dressed -in the world's rattiest sweatpants and oldest sweatshirt- he jabbered away. "I was thinking we could drive through Mount Lebanon, and all those cobblestone streets, you know? Then maybe go to Robinson, see if any of those stores are open?"