(18+) The Punishment (Complete)

Ch. 9: Final goodbye

"Leah! Michael! Oh, my God! We've been worried sick about you!"

Mary-Lou was kissing and hugging us over and over again, while she bawled her eyes out. Paul was too, although not at the same level.

"We heard the sound yesterday and saw the size of that avalanche... We thought you were dead. We've been calling the entire town to help us come and search for you, but..."

"I know, mom. But we're safe now. Calm down," Leah said, but it looked like she was reliving the whole thing inside her head, just like her mother.

"We couldn't reach there in time. It would be dark already before we got to the lake, and Lord knows how dangerous it is to be in a place like that and not see anything. Landslides and avalanches are as unpredictable as it gets, and..."

"Mom! Please!"

Paul was the one who stopped her rant.

"What happened up there?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"I don't know, dad. It wasn't triggered by us. It started above us, and I guess we were just unfortunate to be at the wrong place."

Paul hugged his daughter, and I could see him squeeze his eyes shut while he looked to the sky, as a silent appreciation to God.

"Patrick has been working on his snowmobile the whole night. He knew that would be the best way to get up there," he explained, and as if Patrick knew we'd been talking about him, he rounded the corner of the garage where he'd parked his beloved, but ancient Ski-Doo.

"It was a great idea to let the fire burn, so we could see you were there. Whose idea was that?"

Leah and I looked at each other and I pointed at Leah.

"That's my clever girl," Paul said proudly and hugged Leah's shoulders the way dads do when they're proud of their offspring. Well, most dads at least. But there was someone who didn't share the smiles and the laughter with us. For some reason, Patrick looked livid. And I didn't understand why his anger seemed to be directed at me. But when he grabbed the collar of my ski suit and pushed me hard enough to almost knock me out of balance, there was no doubt.

"You couldn't keep it in your pants, huh?"

His eyes were black with rage, and he looked like he wanted to kill me. But he shifted his anger out to his sister instead.

"And you! How the hell could you let that prick do that to you?"

Paul was stepping in between them and tried to calm his son, but neither him nor Mary-Lou seemed to understand what Patrick was talking about.

"Do what?" Mary-Lou asked bewildered.

"He fucked you, didn't he?" Patrick yelled and pointed at her as if his pointing finger was a gun.

"Patrick, calm down," Paul intervened, but his gaze shifted between Patrick and me. There was something strange about the way he reacted. That's when I realized that he probably already knew.

"Leah... She's a grown... Uhm. A grown woman now. It's nothing illegal about that," he stuttered, and I could see he was feeling extremely awkward about the situation. Then he turned to me and gave me a somewhat sharp eye.

"I don't approve of it, but there's nothing that can keep you from... You know... If that's what you both want."

Mary-Lou was chewing on her lip and tried really hard to hide a smile. She was still shaken by the close call and her eyes were still swollen, but eventually she gave up.

"I KNEW IT!" she exclaimed and clapped her hands in joy. "I knew you guys were in love. Oh, Gosh! That's such wonderful news."

She gave me a warm hug and kissed my forehead. Patrick, on the other hand, looked like he was about to snap any minute. That's why Paul sent him off with a warning look, and we could all hear him swearing and throwing things around in the garage moments after. And that's when Jack came running from the house to find out what all the fuss was about.