The fireplace glowed with beaming golden flames that vaulted with the delight of an eternal dancer and sparks circling as the wood cracked as it burned. The living room becoming incredibly warm as the fire spread its heating. The lights were turned off, only the orange light coming from the magical fire was illuminating the room. A white fur blanket was on the floor and another to cover them. Two black and white cushions were added. The curtains of the large glass windows were totally opened so they could have a vision over the garden and the lake. A bright moon could be seen in the sky flirting perfectly with the dark waters of the lake. It was such a beautiful love dance, that of the moonlight and the slow-moving waters, silvering it gracefully.
"Wow..." He heard her voice and looked back. "You did a great job." Ellie smiled walking up to him, dressed in a white silk robe.
Chris opened his arms as she walked up to him and Ellie dove in his sweet and comfortable embrace, burying her face on the soft skin of his naked chest and inhaling his fragrance. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her from one side to another while he felt her smile against his sensitive skin. Ellie then kissed him right on his left nipple and he shivered and giggled and she did so.
"You smell so good." Chris buried his nose in her hair and inhaled her cocoa scent. Ellie had been in the shower. "What's under this?" He smiled, tugging a hand on the knot of the robe, and then raised his eyes to look in hers.
"Untie it." Ellie defied him.
Chris smiled, pecked her slowly, pulled away and lowered his eyes towards the knot. Then, his fingers began to undo it and he looked in her eyes the moment he was done, letting it fall opened naturally.
"Surprise." Ellie whispered and his eyes lowered to admire her body.
"This is..." He whispered back and looked up in her eyes, cupping her face with both his hands, kissing her without finishing what he was going to say.
Ellie wrapped her arms around his shoulders, clutching her hands on his small back, feeling his warm and soft lips sliding with hers. His lips then parted slightly, allowing her tongue to slip inside his mouth and their bodies pressed together a bit more, with only her belly creating room between them. While their lips moved together, he pulled her robe off her shoulders and Ellie uncrossed her arms from his back to let the robe slid of her arms and then she held onto him again. Just a hand though. The other, she let it slip between them until she reached his crotch. She gave his bulge a light teasing squeeze that made him groan into her mouth. As her hand massaged him, he reached a full erection and that's when he felt her hands pulling his shorts down his ass.
"Come here." He whispered against her lips as he broke the kiss, and he held her hand.
Chris stepped out of his shorts and then he started guiding her to the improvised bed he arranged near the blistering fire. When he got near the fur blanket, Chris kneeled and carefully lied her down on it. He stood on his fours looking down at her with his vivid blue eyes glued on hers and Ellie smiled at him.
"What do you want me to do?" He asked, while his mind was already travelling among all the things he wanted to do to her.
"Everything..." Ellie responded and she bite her lower lip. Chris smiled.
"Everything..." He leaned over her and kissed her lips and then her jaw, spreading moist kisses on her neck after, while his hand reached down there to her core. Ellie closed her eyes and gasped as he touched her. "And how do you want me to do everything?" He then asked and she opened her eyes.
"Rough and raw." She told him. He smiled again.
"Rough and raw it is." He whispered, kissing her lips one more time and then he pulled away, leaving her aching for him.
Chris kneeled in front of her, seeing she was more aroused than ever. Then, he spread her legs and bent over her, and ran his tongue over her intimates parts, making her buck and moan at the sensation. Holding onto her legs, he went down on her, teasing her perfectly with his tongue.
"Oh ..." She wailed in trance. Her whole body getting tense and experiencing bolts of energy running down her spine, concentrating on her groin and then splashing down her legs. "Chris..." She gasped breathing heavily and rapidly.
"What, babe..." He asked as she called her name.
"Oh God..." She moaned again as he came back to her, and he knew she was about to orgasm, but he didn't want her to yet, so he stopped and Ellie's eyes flew opened in seconds. "That is mean, Christopher..." She told him, and he giggled.
"Not yet, babe." He said sweetly, but she was aching for him almost painfully. "Turn on your fours." Chris asked.
Since her belly had grown that positions had been very restricted to them. Ellie did as he asked. Her perfect ass raised up to the level of his hips, and he tasted her by running his fingers once more on her, just to realize she was so incredibly wet.
"Oh fuck... Ellie..." He groaned, grabbing his erection in his hand, and guiding himself inside of her.
He entered her in one full move, and she yelped and bucked and moaned right after. Almost all at once, which pleased him to say the least.
"You're so hard..." She moaned as she felt him inside. "And it's so good..." She said right after pushing herself against him for a more powerful sensation.
Chris pulled out and then in powerfully. He repeated it almost in slow motion, to let his full length be caressed by her inner walls and to let her feel him entirely too.
"Oh babe..." He let out with his eyes closed receiving deeply every single sensation of pleasure . He pumped again... even stronger. Ellie contorted and released a long moan.
"Chris..." She moaned feeling him deliciously. "Harder, babe." She asked.
"Like this?" He asked, gripping firmer onto her hips, and starting ramming into her rapidly and intensely. Her body being thrown forward every time his hips clasped onto her. "Fuck... " He grunted with clenched jaw and eyes closed. His hips coming back and forth mercilessly. "Are you ok?" Some sane consciousness made him ask her, and Ellie just nodded.
"Oh..." Ellie moaned loud. "It's feeling so good."
Her sounds of delight speeding his pleasure. She knew what to tell him. She knew how to trigger him even more. He was always so turned on by the things she sometimes told him while he'd do her. Chris bent over and approached his lips to her ear
"I love to fuck you like this..." He whispered, knowing she would be stirred too.
"God... yes..." Ellie moaned as he thrust deep into her. He was sending vibrant quivers all over her body with his hips' dance. "Oh baby..." She cried dragging her words in pure delight. "Fuck..."
"Oh fuck..." He breathed pushing into her even faster. His body clasping into hers ferociously. He grunted imperceptible sounds unable to spit out words anymore and Ellie just moaned out loud completely washed away by the frenzy happening along her body. Her inner muscles cramming him impossibly good. Chris wanted to yell with the fire forming on his groin. "OH..." He was finally able to let out with his head thrown back and eyes closed. Pleasure invading every single pore of his entire body. His mind was clouded. His brain had shut down that instant. Little tips of his hair glued to his temples.
"Chris..." Ellie called him feeling her body getting weaker and weaker. Her hands closing tight around the fur for support. That moment, she was strangling him so much and so deliciously good that he didn't want it to end.
"Can you hold on, Ellie?" He told her stroking her roughly, deep, and raw. Ellie moaned again in absolute frenzy.
"I can't..." She gasped contorting as the pleasure was splashing all over her body.
"Come on babe... hang in there..." He said doing her as raw as he possibly could and as he knew she had asked.
"Oh fuck..." She whimpered beginning to feel the muscles in her belly contracting little by little.
Her groin was almost numb, her vision blurred. She was blank for a moment. Suddenly, her whole body started trembling and she couldn't even make a sound.
"Jesus, Ellie..." Chris said feeling her come around him. Ellie's inner muscles sucked him in and trembled at the same time. The thrill of her insides pleasured him even more. "Oh fuck..." He literally cursed praying it wouldn't bring him to the boiling point too. He didn't want it to end just yet.
"Oh my God..." She was finally able to let out pushing herself against him to prolong her pleasure.
"Christ Ellie..." He cursed a bit feeling her coming so hard, but still thrusting into her into her.
She had run out of words again, just her erratic breathing was heard, and the sensation of her shaky muscles let him know she was still orgasming.
"Stop..." She asked him. "Chris, please stop..." Ellie pulled away and Chris did too. Her body still trembling though he was not inside her anymore.
"Are you alright?" Chris asked tenderly and she smiled. Ellie's smile was fainted but one of satisfaction, and he smiled too. "Couldn't take it anymore?" He giggled, teasing her. Ellie slapped his arm
"No..." She confessed. Then she got to her knees. "What now?" She asked him after recomposing herself. "What's next, wild boy?" She grabbed his jaw between her fingers and smooched him.
"I am not done." Chris said against her lips.
"What do you want me to do?" Ellie asked, but she had an idea.
Chris got up and Ellie stayed on her knees, looking up at him. She shot him a smile when she saw his eyes constricting while he caressed her face. Then, he held the back of her head and pulled her on him. Ellie gave him a wicked smile first, and she took him in her hand and ran her tongue along his length, making him bite his lower lip. Then, her lips closed around the tip and Chris closed his eyes preparing to just enjoy the ride. Ellie's lips finally closed around him tightly and she began to work on him expertly. Her lips and tongue delighting him, then he rested one hand on her head and the other gripped on the dinner table near them.
"Oh... fuck..." Chris trembled as pleasure began to settle alarmingly again. "That's so good babe..."
Ellie was being lullabied by his faded and trembling voice. That was music to her ears. She kept her hand running up and down and her lips working on him and the more she did so, the more Chris felt his legs weakening and failing on him.
"Ooh..." Chris moaned unable to control himself, she had that power over him. "Right there." He said holding her head still, right at that spot and when he felt she understood his message, he stopped holding her and she remained bopping her head back and forth, insisting on that spot that pleased him the most. Her lips tighter than ever around him were almost yanking screams of pleasure from him.
"So good..." Chris gasped gripping with his two hands gripping onto table that moment. He was just so close to exploding that he needed support. "Yes, babe..." He said breathlessly with his fingers gripping even more onto the table.
Ellie noticed how his body was becoming stiffer and stiffer, for he was just about to peak high, and energy bolts were running through it. Chris was feeling the intense pleasure around his groin being splattered all over his body. She fastened her speed to bring him to the edge and he clenched his jaw.
"Oh god..." He moaned in between teeth. "Ellie, babe..." He called her as if in pain.
There, he opened his eyes and looked down at her and she looked up in his eyes too. Ellie closed her lips on the tip and her tongue flickered around it provocatively. Her hand stroking what was left, and Chris just rolled his eyes at the back of his head as she was just making him come in the most insane way ever. He felt his body strain a bit more, and this need to hold tight onto the table even more if that was even possible.
"God... fuck." He groaned a bit louder than he thought it was gonna be, but there they didn't have any neighbors to worry about. "I'm gonna come. Oh fuck... I'm gonna come so hard..." He said and Ellie swallowed him deeper too.
As his tip touched the back of her throat a couple of times, Chris just came unable to release a sound due to the ecstasy running over his body. He opened his lips, but no sound came out of it. When the hugest rush abandoned his body, he opened his eyes and found Ellie smiling at him.
"Holy fuck, babe." He said still out of breath. Chris stretched out his hand at her to pull her up and then he took a hand to the back of her neck and pulled her for a kiss. Her mouth still a bit salty, but he didn't care. "Jesus..." He breathed against her lips still trying to process it all in his mind.
"Now... tell me..." Ellie giggled and he crocked up an eyebrow. "This is why you decided not to go on tour, so you could have this every day..." He laughed loud as she said so. "Wasn't it?" Ellie teased, running a hand over his hair. His chest was still coming up and down a bit fast.
"I love you." He said and kissed her lips again. "Like above anything or anyone..."
"My wild boy..." She pecked him sweetly. "Love of my life..."
"Are you feeling alright?" Chris asked, the smile disappearing from his lips.
"I am." Ellie told him. Her voice failing a bit as tears came to her eyes and she looked away. "Come..." She wrapped her fingers in his and they came back to the fur bed on the floor.
They lied down and pulled the cover over their bodies. Ellie rested her head on his chest and placed a kiss on it and he kissed the top of her head, wrapping his arms around her, not wanting to let go of her, ever.
"No pain?" He asked just to be sure.
"No." Ellie responded. "My mother told me the rate of success of the surgery is quite high." She told him. "She is a doctor... I mean she wouldn't lie."
"Did the doctor talk about a certain procedure that we have to follow?" Chris asked.
"Chris..." Ellie whispered and then looked in his eyes. "I don's wanna talk about this..."
"But we need to talk about it, babe." He told her while running his hand over her face. "I need to know everything." She ended up nodding, because deep inside, Ellie knew she should divide all details with him.
"If I feel an insistent pain on my chest, I should go to the hospital immediately." Ellie started, trying to control herself. "What I feel are these fast pains, like stabs. They're quick and they disappear after a few seconds."
"Ok..." Chris said, listening attentively.
"If I feel a weight on my chest and find it difficult to breathe, I should also go." She continued.
"Ellie..." He closed his eyes and then opened them. "You should have told me you were feeling worse since the beginning, babe."
"I didn't want to think that I was worse, Chris." She confessed. "It's so scary..." He raised his head and kissed her lips.
"What else?" He asked instead of fearing her fear while she nested on his chest again.
"I still have to have company all the time, now even more." She told him. "I must avoid labor at all costs. Heaven is going to be born as soon as her lungs are ready. This is what we are waiting for."
"Ok..." He whispered, feeling his heart beating faster. Ellie was hearing it under her ear and she raised her head again and looked in his eyes.
"Don't be nervous." She asked him.
"Oh no..." He smiled right after, trying not to cry. "I am scared shitless of our little girl. That's what I am scared of. Wanna bet she is going to terrorize us?" Ellie ended up laughing with him.
"Are you ready for diapers and sleepless nights, loud crying..." She smiled, but her eyes were about to water. She wanted to have all that. Ellie wanted to hold her girl in her arms.
"No!" Chris responded promptly. "I am going to leave all that for you." He pinched her nose and smiled to divert her thoughts and distract her, though he was dying inside too. Everything inside him was shattering. His heart was dust. He felt incredibly lost and impotent.
"That's not fair!" Ellie tapped him and ended up laughing. "You are her father!"
"Exactly!" He affirmed with that cocky look he could make that melted her anyway. "That's women work!"
"Since when have you become so sexist?" Ellie laughed and he did too.
"Since now." He continued laughing and she pressed her lips on his. "Now, on a serious note, I am scared..."
"I am too. I don't know if I know how to take care of a baby..." Ellie confessed. "What if I don't know how? What if I don't understand what she needs or wants?"
"Exactly!" Chris nodded. "We should have thought about all that before we made her." He joked again.
"They say it comes naturally." Ellie sat and looked down at him. "What if I am not a natural?"
"I am quite sure you are going to be wonderful." He said. "I don't doubt that at all."
"Hey... shouldn't we order our dinner?" She proposed.
"I am not hungry." He told her.
"Chris..." Ellie breathed, looking into his bright eyes. "You barely ate all day, babe. Please..."
"I'd rather have something light then, like a salad ..." He suggested for he felt he could not eat more than that. What he was showing her, it was not what he was feeling and it was corroding him.
"I'll go make it then." Ellie said, getting up, but Chris stopped her by grabbing her hand.
"No." He sat up. "You stay here resting and I'll go." Chris kissed her forehead, knowing she was about to protest. "Don't even try to say anything. Stay here resting."
"Ok." She nodded.
As Chris left, Ellie crossed her legs in Yoga position and stared at the fire in front of her. The quietness with which she was left brought all thoughts back to her mind and it all started eating her alive, as every time she was left alone. She buried her face in her hands and started crying. She had been holding it for quite a while for she didn't want to cry in front of Chris, though it was so hard. She just wanted to wake up from that nightmare she was living and shake away the immense fear she now felt constantly. She cried... openly... shaking... sobbing even, but low and quietly trying not to be heard. Nevertheless, Chris took less time in the kitchen than she expected, or maybe she cried more than she expected and he entered the living room suddenly. Hearing his steps, she started cleaning her face with her hands, but it was too late. Next thing, Chris is resting the trays on the dinner table quite fast and kneeling in front of her.
"Ellie..." He breathed, cupping her face with his hands, and resting his forehead against hers.
"I'm sorry." She whispered with her lips trembling.
"No need to be sorry, babe." He told her and his tears also streamed down his cheeks. They cried together once more, just like at the beach earlier that day. "It's scary... so scary..." Ellie nodded as she heard him.
"I don't want to die." Her shoulders shook and he held her close. "I want to grow old by your side and raise our kids and meet our grandkids..."
"And we'll have that." Chris kissed her temple and started controlling himself to stop his crying.
He was quite sure none of that was healthy for her, and he remembered how everyone told him to be her rock and he knew he had to step up. Even if it was so hard, he had to be the one stepping up. So, Chris took a deep breath and dried his tears though he was tearing up apart inside, he kissed her temple once more and pulled away, taking his hands to her face, and cleaning her eyes with his thumbs. Then, he kissed her lips.
"The salads are getting cold." He told her and immediately Ellie giggled.
"Dork!" She kissed his lips.
Chris got up and went to grab the tray where he had two bowls with tuna salad, two cups filled with orange juice and the cutlery. He came back to put the tray between them, and sat in front of her, and they both grabbed their blue bowl in one hand and a fork in the other.
"Hey..." Ellie called for his attention and he looked up at her while chewing the first amount of the meal. "So... we haven't talked about the biggest event of today." She smiled, also tasting the salad. Chris rolled his eyes.
"You are talking about the visit to my mother." He said just to be sure, while Ellie nodded her head enthusiastically. "I needed a mother... my real mother..." He confessed.
"How was it?" She continued eating, and he smiled seeing her devouring his food.
"Intense." He said. "But she was so great..." He continued. "She took care of me."
"I am so glad, babe." Ellie tried to bend forward with pouty lips to kiss him, but her seven months belly didn't allow it, so Chris came forward and smooched her. "This girl is getting too big." Ellie complained and they released a laughter. "What about the band? Susan?"
"They were great." He responded. "I got the fully support. I knew they wouldn't say no at all. Susan is going to reschedule everything to the summer... mid-summer to give us some range of time."
"Yeah... we don't know how my recovery is going to be." Ellie tried to take it the light way.
"Your mother didn't say anything about it?" He asked her.
"She says if everything goes well, the recovery is quite fast. I need a pacemaker... It is as simple as that." Ellie explained. "What is complicated is that I have to wait."
Chris nodded understanding. It was a simple procedure, but Ellie could have a heart attack while waiting for it. Her heart was in effort and a blockage stage three was not an innocent thing anymore. Her heart could stop beating in seconds. That was the real danger. He shook his thoughts away.
"How's the food?" He asked.
"Delicious, I told you." She smiled. "You look tired, Chris." Ellie added after. "We are going to bed after we're done here."
"Ok." He agreed. He felt exhausted indeed.
When they finished their meal, Ellie took the trays with the cutlery to the kitchen while Chris put down the fire and put the cushions back on the couch and the covers in the drawer under the couch. When he was done, he put his shorts back on and went to meet Ellie in the kitchen. Barefoot, he had been completely silent so he just leaned against the door's frame watching her as she cleaned the kitchen's counter. He admired her beauty even if she was just wrapped around a white silk robe. For a few seconds, the memory of the night they met came to his mind. Andy started introducing her to their friends while he was already mesmerized by her, waiting anxiously for his turn. Ellie greeted everyone nicely, with her warm smile, but when her eyes met his, he knew it had been different. She took longer while shaking his hand. Their eyes were locked the entire time and he remembered her telling him something about his band, which she didn't to others who were in bands too. Then, somehow they spent the night at the old terrace talking, just the two of them.
"Hey!" Ellie smiled as she turned around and Chris shook his head. "Where were you?" Ellie approached him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"The night we met." He pecked her. Ellie started laughing.
"Chris Cornell..." She breathed. "I thought you were hot... but when I saw you for the first time... holy shit..." Chris laughed loud. "All these girls around you and you not giving a fuck..."
"I was never the type of hooking up much." He said. "I'd get a girlfriend."
"Except for Susan." Ellie said firmly and Chris started giggling.
"I can't believe you're still picking up on that." He kissed the tip of her nose. "You know that's very similar to your sister asking Eddie not to play Black anymore..."
"No, it's not" Ellie protested, but she was smiling. "You actually had sex with her."
"So did Eddie with his ex." Chris claimed and Ellie tapped his chest twice.
"Don't you dare!" Ellie joked and Chris raised both his hands as if surrendering. "I wanted to have sex with you that night, Chris." She confessed.
"I know." He kissed her. "I wanted it too, but I didn't have the courage to make the move, and you told me you had a fucking boyfriend and I was so let down."
"It took you a week to get over it though." Ellie laughed remembering the first time he called her.
"I couldn't stop thinking about you." He rubbed his nose on hers.
"Let's go to sleep?" She said then and he nodded.
Hand in hand, they climbed the stairs and went to their bedroom. Ellie grabbed a nightgown and took it to the bathroom and Chris followed her. He saw her hang the robe on the hanger behind the door and then put the black satin nightgown on. He went to her and kissed the back of her shoulder.
"I love to see you in these." He said.
"With this belly?" She laughed, placing her hands on her belly. "It's enormous!"
"She's kicking." Chris laughed as he felt his daughter in Ellie's belly. "Jesus... if she's this skittish... we're so in trouble."
"I guess." Ellie said and then pulled away.
Chris noticed how she turned sad suddenly, but he didn't say anything not to stir it even more. Instead, he also went to the basin and grabbed his toothbrush, beginning to brush his teeth right by her side and looking at her through the mirror. Ellie turned sad. Her semblance turned heavy and she fell silent. It broke his heart. When he rinsed his mouth and was cleaning the toothbrush, Chris turned to her.
"Are you taking long?" He asked her and Ellie simply nodded, not facing him.
Chris opened the cabinet above the sink and put his toothbrush on one of the shelves and closed the door. Then, he turned to her, leaning against the sink and grabbed her hand, pulling her to him. He pulled her hair away from her face and looked in her eyes, while his palms rested on her cheeks and his thumbs caressed her near her ears.
"Hey." He said low and rested his forehead against hers.
"Hey." Ellie whispered.
"So, are you coming to bed with me?" He asked again. "Because let's face it..." He smirked. "... I am a pretty hot guy." Ellie smiled and then giggled. "That's my girl." He kissed her lips.
"Is that some indecent proposal?" She adhered to his playing, but Chris shook his head.
"Not at all." He told her. "This is an indecent proposal..." He leaned over her and approached her lobe with his lips. "Wanna fuck?" He whispered, brushing his lips on her ear, and then he looked in her eyes and coked up an eyebrow. Ellie didn't say a word. "What?" He asked then, not expecting that silent reaction.
"I do." She told him.
"See..." He winked. "... I am serious though." Chris looked in her eyes.
"I am too." She dared.
"Well..." He curled up an eyebrow.
"Take me to bed already." She said.
Chris wrapped an arm around her knees and pulled her up, making her crack a loud laughter. He carried her in his arms to their bed and then rested her on it very gently. They made love again, and after it they talked for a while and then Ellie fell into deep sleep. Even before he turned the light out. Chris, on the other hand, was unable to close his eyes though he truly felt exhausted. In the darkness and quietness of their bedroom, he spent quite some time admiring her shadow while she slept and while doing all that, he cried the entire time, imagining he could turn around on that bed one day and she wouldn't be there. As more and more despair began to eat him alive, he decided to leave the bed. He did so carefully not to wake her up, and tiptoeing, he left the bedroom. Chris went straight to the living room and sat on the couch feeling that sense of being empty and lost and feeling immeasurable pain. He pulled his feet up on the couch and wrapped his arms around his legs, resting his forehead against his knees, he cried some more. Then, not taking it anymore, he got up and went to their small bar. Chris grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels, opened it, and took a huge gulp from the bottle. Not feeling anything, he took another, and then another, and he stayed there drinking from the bottle until he felt completely numb. Eventually, he passed out after half a bottle was gone.
It was when rays of light already pierced inside the bedroom that Ellie turned around to realize the bed was empty by her side. Her eyes flew opened instantly and she raised her head, still blinking her eyes a little to shake her sleep away. The red light of the alarm clock twinkled 9 am and no one was in the bathroom, for there was no noise coming from it. His side of the bed was cold, which meant he hadn't been there in a while.
"Shit." Ellie whispered, knowing he had probably spent another night awake.
She pulled the sheet away and got up, sliding her feet in her slippers. Then, she opened the door and peeked at the hallway. The common bathroom had no one in there for the door was slightly opened and the light was out. Ellie then left towards the stairs and perceived again how everything was silent and descended the stairs. When she got near the living room, she saw his feet hanging from the couch. Right after, her eyes hit the bottle of whisky on the floor and Ellie gasped.
"Fuck." She said low, walking up to him.
Chris was sleeping on his back. His lips slightly parted, and his hair spread across one of the cushions. When she crouched near him, she perceived all the alcohol on his breath. If the bottle wasn't enough evidence, that should certainly be it.
"Oh, Chris..." Ellie breathed, pulling some hair away from his face. Then, she decided to call him. "Chris..." Ellie shook him lightly. "Chris..." She insisted.
"What?" He mumbled, turning to the other side, not even opening his eyes,
"Let's go to bed." She insisted, for she didn't know for how long he had been sleeping, but she knew probably not much,
"I'm fine here." He complained, for he didn't want to move.
"Come on, babe." She shook him again. "You're more comfortable in there."
"Ellie!" He whimpered.
"Let's go, come on." Ellie grabbed his hand and pulled him up holding onto his harm.
"Fine." He surrendered and fought to sit with her help.
Though he had been sleeping, she could see how he still stumbled a bit on his feet and the slurry speech was not just because he was sleepy. Chris was still drunk, confirming that he hadn't been sleeping for long. Holding onto to her, he managed to make his way up to their bedroom and in there, he just threw himself on the bed. Ellie pulled the covers over him and pulled the blinders down, so it could be darker in the bedroom and when she was about to leave to leave the bedroom, he was sleeping again. She wanted to brew some tea for she was feeling a bit sick that morning, so she went to the kitchen. In there, she put the water to boil and grabbed a cup from the cupboard and a chamomile tea bag and then rested against the kitchen's counter waiting. Meanwhile, their doorbell rang.
"Great..." She muttered, feeling like she didn't want to talk to anyone and she was still in her nightgown, without brushing her hair or her teeth and without a shower. She was in no condition to receive anyone.
Still, when she got near the door and she looked at the camera, she saw Brooke near the gate. Her sister was different. She was always ready to receive her and she could look like shit, because it didn't matter. She pushed the button to open the gate and grabbed Chris's jacket and put it on. Just then, she stepped outside. The air was chilly and she closed the jacket around her while waiting.
"You're looking very elegant!" Brooke shot her a smile, seeing her outfit.
"I just got out of bed." Ellie told her.
The first thing Brooke did when she got near her sister was to hold her really close. The two sisters held onto each other in silence for quite some time.
"I guess you know." Ellie said when they broke apart.
"Mom, told me." Brooke confirmed. "So, I came here to tell you that it's going to be alright."
"I really need to hear that and believe in it." Ellie smiled. "Let's go inside. I am brewing some tea."
Brooke followed Ellie to the kitchen and sat at the table, while Ellie grabbed another cup from the cupboard.
"How's Chris?" Brooked asked while Ellie poured some tea in the cups. Ellie looked back at her.
"In bed." Ellie said. Then, she grabbed both cups and joined Brooke at the table, putting one cup in front of her. "He drank all night..."
"Shit..." Brooke whispered and Ellie nodded.
"I found him passed out on our couch just a while ago and a bottle of Jack Daniels on the floor." Then, she took a sip of the hot beverage. "I fear for him..."
"Mom says everything is going to be alright. I believe in her." Brooke affirmed.
"Yeah..." Ellie nodded. "But is Chris going to be alright after all this fucking mess that is happening to us?"
"It's a shitty situation and I know what I am going to say it's really selfish, but you shouldn't be worrying about him now." Brooke said and Ellie looked at her in disbelief.
"What the fuck are you saying, B?" She shrugged. "I cannot even not worry about him. Not even if I tried. Things trigger him in a different way. I thought about hiding everything from him, but I failed. Chris knows me well..."
"So, you didn't want to tell him at all?" Brooke frowned.
"No." Ellie confessed. "Exactly because I fear how his mind is going to take all this."
"But that would not even be fair to him." Brooke argued.
"See what is doing to him?" Ellie pointed upstairs. "He didn't sleep at all yesterday and he is sleeping now because he drank himself to sleep. What is worse?" Then, she took a deep breath. "Please, let's talk about something else... I don't want to talk about my illness at all. I want to forget it..." Brooke nodded, but her eyes filled with tears which made Ellie almost cry too.
"I am thinking about taking Eddie to meet mom and dad." Brooke then said and Ellie smiled.
"Already?" She asked her.
"Do you think it's too soon?" Her sister asked, feeling unsure.
"Well... mom is dying to meet him." Ellie stated. "Does Eddie know about this?"
Brooke nodded. "Things between us are going great." Ellie smiled hearing her. "We spend every night together." There, Ellie raised a hand.
"I don't want fucking details." She protested, giggling. "No... I do want details..." Both girls laughed.
"He is..." Brooke paused and then smiled. "... something..."
"I know the type." They laughed again. "Shy at first and then someone else is born."
"Right." Brooke agreed. "But so... should I introduce him to mom and dad?"
"Are you sure about him?" Ellie asked her. "I mean... about how you feel. Is it serious?" Brooke nodded as Ellie made the questions. "Then, I guess you should. It took me a while longer with Chris because... well..."
"You had a boyfriend." Her sister said.
"That." Ellie looked away and sipped on her tea again. She was not proud of it at all.
"I guess I'm gonna do it. But you and Chris must be there too, so Eddie can have some support." She said.
"I think Eddie will be quite fine. First, because they know who he is already, I've shown them Pearl Jam. It was much worse for Chris. They had no clue about who he was or how he looked like." Ellie paused. "He is fucking hot. They have one hell of a hot son in law." More laughter.
"You could also have shown them. Soundgarden was already a thing." Brooke smiled. "You were afraid."
"Brooke, I am so cared." Ellie said suddenly, holding onto her sisters hand.
"It's going to be alright," Brooke responded, not knowing exactly what to say.
"If I am not here, please look after my girl and Chris." Ellie asked her.
"Ellie..." Brooke protested, knowing she was going to cry if that conversation went on.
"Promise me." Ellie looked in her eyes. "I need to know, please."
"I promise." Brooke said. "I swear, I'll look after them."