*Cate's POV*
Following up behind her, I got ready to add a detail she did not get quite right. May it be on accident or purpose. No matter what it was that drove her, it got me invested. And I began to have an unwell feeling about it. This meant no good news.
Door closed behind my back, Emery was nowhere to be seen. Nevertheless a few noises, such as the running tap water and light footsteps shuffling across the tiled bathroom floor, caught my attention.
Gently pushing against the door, my eyes caught her standing in front of the mirror. Toothbrush in mouth and gaze on her own reflection. I leaned against the doorframe, waiting mischievously for Emery to take note of my presence. Yet, that didn't seem happen hence she was staring forward, barely moving the toothbrush across her teeth.
My lips parted. "You were the one to kiss me." The second I had voiced the first word she had jumped in fright.
Hand flung to the woman's chest, she glared at me with a puzzled and frightened, yet somewhat amused expression. There I recalled the jump scares her brother had given her. Just... I did not mean to do it, which did certainly not mean I was not enjoying myself.
After spitting the white foam into the sink and cleaning her lips form the rest of it, Emery faced me again.
"After you've been sneaking some innocent ones here and there, I gathered it was not much of a big deal." The woman awaited a reply for a few moments and when I simply glared at her, she averted her face and continued her routine. Hairbrush combining through knots.
Sometime mid-action I had left her alone. The situation was getting over my head and the raging headache was no help to the train of thoughts arriving in my brain. How could Emery take this so lightly? She had a fiancé! How could I allow myself to do this? I kissed her. I let her kiss me. And it might not be the last time considering it had to look real to the rest of her relatives. Or didn't it?
Marc mentioned something about her smile. She hadn't appeared as happy as he had seen Emery today for ages. I cannot possibly imagine how heart wrenching it has to be to loose a child. The pain, the endless grief and sorrow... So, what I can do is to give this family a weekend of something joyful. An engagement. A fake one, but who cares?
I cared. I cared about Emery. There were so many questions left unanswered. Mysteries about her behavior and past, I wanted to solve. I wanted to know it all. Every detail about the woman was interesting to me and slowly and I mean slowly I had an idea as to why.
Swallowing heavily, my brows knitted and I dared to walk around in circles. Though my oldest was my rescuer in need. When her gentle face came onto the screen of my phone, my own lightened up.
"Hi baby" I grinned and caught a faint eye roll from my daughter. "Do you need mommy to sing you to sleep?" I teased.
"You would only embarrass yourself mom." Tessa laughed whilst moving her phone oddly.
"I resent your poor judgment baby. Because I—" Interrupted by myself turning onto my stomach on top of the bed, I continued shortly after. "am an extraordinary lullaby singer. You always fell asleep so fast in my arm, when you were little."
The recall of Tessa as a newborn, fitting her whole body onto one of my arms, played in my head. Her little smile...
"Or maybe it was because I pretended, to make you stop?" Tessa giggled, as she caught my reaction. "I must have gotten my intelligence from you, mommy."
"Smart girl." I grinned. "Why did you call? You didn't mean to tease your old mother."
"No, I did not." With a slightly aching ego, hence she didn't correct me, I awaited her to tell me more. "Grace wanted to say good night.."
"She didn't call me for weeks—" Before I knew it I was face to face with my littlest. "Buttercup, are you okay? How was it at daddy's so far?"
Her big eyes looked at me and something seemed off.
"...I miss you." She mumbled, with the biggest pout and my heart dared to shatter all over the carpet around.
"Oh baby... I miss you too. So much, that I will never let go of you when you're back in my arms." I tried to make her smile, which worked out. "It's gonna be such a big cuddly hug on the couch, with a movie on, that you will forget all your worries."
"With Tes!" Grace cheered and pulled her big sister into the screen.
"Yes, if the cool Tes allows her uncool mother to give her a hug." I teased again.
"I might grant one." She laughed.
"How very generous of you baby." I chuckled amused.
"Daddy's food is not good." Grace blurted out and scrunched her face together.
"He never was a chef." I smiled. "Did you eat something though?" My littlest nodded. "Yes, that's my girl. Why do we have to eat?" Head tilted, I saw her mirroring my motion.
"...for energy."
I nodded. "That's right, buttercup. We need to nurture our body to do all that we love. What do we love?"
"Dance!" Gracie exclaimed.
Widely smiling, I replied. "What a beautiful thing. I'm proud of you. Proud of the both of you. My girls." Before I had the chance to fall into another flashback of memories, my girls suddenly got all quiet and big smug grins painted over their lips. "What—"
"Now who are these pretty girls." A voice from behind me cheered and the mattress to my left digged in. Then she just laid next to me. Hip to hip. Thigh to thigh. Shoulder to shoulder. My breath was sucked out of me for just a few seconds too long. Not good. "Tessa, how are you?"
"Great Miss Williams... and you?" Her eyes switched from left to right. Emery and me.
"Couldn't be better." The woman next to me beamed and leaned onto her arm.
"Wow! So pretty!" Grace gasped and came closer to the screen. "Mommy where are you two?"
"Good night, baby."
"Mom." Tessa got nosey too.
"Bye darlings. Mommy loves you two very much!" I waved and their complains didn't stop me.
Groaning, I closed my eyes and rolled over to lay on my back.
"Hey!"
A frown on my face, I cracked an eye open. "Hey to you too." And I closed it again.
A gentle nudge hit my shoulder, yet I didn't react. A few moments nothing else happened. It seemed Emery understood something was off. Yet the fact that I knew she was beating herself up over it in that pretty head of hers, made it hard to keep ignoring her.
So, to overcome my ego, I turned my head and decided to look at the woman. Her face was drowned in anxiety, yet the unconscious biting on the skin of her lip gave it away the most.
I wanted to prevent her from it, but she was once again daydreaming and not aware of me speaking to her whatsoever. Reluctantly my fingertips reached to touch her chin, to distract her. Emery responded well to physical touch as a distraction... it brought her back to reality.
And for my part? I was a big lover for cuddles and touching. This time though... I knew something I didn't before all these exchanged touches previously. So placing my fingertips on her skin was ultimately a bad idea.
However, I dared to do it, when my third attempt to talk to her failed. Brushing along her jawline, Emery's head twitched directly to look at me.
"I didn't mean to make you mad. So if it's something I've said or done..."
I shook my head and leaned onto my arm, to cup her face with my free hand. "It's not you."
"What is it then?" When my lips parted and I dared to tell her to leave it be, she continued. "You always say it's okay to open up and to be vulnerable."
"You actually listen to me." I scoffed.
"Of course I do. I'm not always a fan of what you have to say, cause you're honest... but I listen."
"Truth is a bitch, Williams." I winked and my hand fell to her knee.
"Won't you spill some of your drama, so I can forget about mine? Pretty please, wifey?" She begged and blinked way too often, while her lip pouted.
Unbelievable she was doing this! Unbelievable this was working.
Sighing, I glared at Emery. "Under one condition."
With excitement gleaming orbs, the woman glimpsed. "Which would be?"
"I share something. You share something."
"Oh this is giving camp vibes." Emery giggled.
"You decide."
"Fine." There it was.
I knew it would work or let's say, I had an idea. That's on being always right. I could kiss me right now.
"First we get ready for bed. I will not stay in these tight pants any longer."
When it was done, I couldn't help the smile spreading across my lips. Lotion smudging over my arms, I sat down on the side of the bed, I had chosen.
"What's so funny?" Emery grinned, whilst coming from the bathroom.
Her hair braided together for the night and the sleeping shirt just covering her ass by a fortune of luck. Evil move. Meeting her eyes again, she had a smirk on her face and moved her hips a bit more while strutting closer.
Bitch. Hot bitch.
"I was reminded of the class trip." Gosh, how easy it is to not be a brat. Emery really should learn that too.
"But that's not it, right?"
"No."
"What causes the great Cate to toss and turn at night?" The woman crawled onto the bed, placed a pillow behind her head, on the edge of the bed and laid down comfortably on her side.
Her little exaggerations were something I was living for.
Smile on my lips, I unconsciously mirrored her position. "A lot of women keep me busy." Grinning devilishly at the woman in the same bed as me, I watched her rolling her eyes.
"Yeah and some even more than just once."
"Yeah, although she was such a bad lay..." I muttered and the toothy beam was back.
"So why did you think banging her in our shared hotel room was a good idea?"
"I believe it's my turn with the 20-questions game, kitten." A gentle blush painted over her face, as if she just realized how she was the one asking all the questions.
"It was just—" Emery stopped herself when I cocked a brow at her. "Fine. What do you want to know?"
"What happened between you and Eve?"
Startled, the woman swallowed. "I just don't like her.."
Laughing at the silliness of that statement, I said: "yeah, right. As if that's possible!"
"I can make the impossible possible."
"I'm sure you can, but honestly... what happened?"
It couldn't possibly be anything bad. I mean, Eve basically was a saint. And Emery was sweet as sugar.
Then Emery slowly began to share. "Eve overheard a conversation I had with my mother and it was not a pretty one. So when I lowered my phone, I possibly have been crying and there she stood in the doorframe. As stupid as it sounds... I" She exhaled and played with her fingers uneasily. "I blamed her."
"You blamed her for the argument?" I asked and she nodded.
"Among other things."
Eyebrows lifting my lips parted. Now guess who was right again? I knew it couldn't be such a nasty fight or thing Eve started.
Tongue wetting my lips, I spoke. "Are you still believing that it was her fault?"
"No, gosh no!" Emery laughed. "No, no, I don't think I ever blamed her for it to be honest. Yes, I've told her it was her fault, but it wasn't. What's the much harder part to do, is to now keep being mad at her, when I clearly was not in the right."
"I think, you will be surprised as to how open Eve would be."
She looked at me. Just a simple look of her eyes for a moment. "... but I think I am mad at her." When I frowned she elaborated. "Or my mother. I just..." Emery sighed and threw her head back, so she was directly staring at the ceiling. "I don't get how she can care for me, but my own mother..."
"Can't?" The woman nodded and I slowly crawled closer to her. Her eyes attentively roamed my actions, whilst I grinned. My arms sneaked underneath her body and pulled her into mine. At the unexpected weight, we were thrown back onto the bed. Emery landed on top of me, giggling and hugging onto me. "Not everyone is born to be a mother." I smiled and the woman leaned her chin in-between my breasts. Hands stroking up and down her back, I tilted my head gently. "That doesn't make it okay, how she treated you. But if you feel like you want to tell me about anything more, I'll be happy to listen. Families are complicated, but when the rest of yours is only half as lovely as your father and Eve, it'll be a nice weekend."
Emery scoffed and fell into a set of laughter. "They are not. Aunt Cassie is one of the few. Dad's only sibling. She had no kids, last time I checked. That was a few years ago so who knows."
"Will your mother show up as well?"
"Oh she hasn't done that in years. Same as me, but there are no children for whose shake she could attend, so..."
"You. For you.." I carefully stated. Mother-daughter relationships could be difficult. In general parent-children relationships. If the communication is not done well, it goes down the drain at a pretty early point.
"Yeah, no." She scoffed. "I may be the only one left, but her favorite died years ago."
"Honey..."
"It's the truth, Cate. That's just how things are. When Cayden left, he took a part of everyone with him. Some bigger than others." The way Emery allowed herself to talk about her brother's death was mesmerizing. It was flowing so easily off her lips, although it was an unbearably hard topic for her. Yet she made it seem okay to talk about loss, which it was of course. Her gorgeous smile suddenly spread over those plum lips. "Actually, just recently, I remembered that he was sketching nonstop in this stupid journal. It had this horrible blinding orange color." She chuckled in her dreamy state.
"Where's the sketchbook?" I skimmed my palms along her body and watched as the goosebumps sent shivers of relaxation down her spine.
Eyes shooting open, the woman stared at me. "I have no idea... when my dad moved, he didn't take much with him. But what he took was essential. Items that made the house feel a little more like a home."
"Your mother still lives in the house?"
"I think so... but she could be dead and I wouldn't know." It did not even seem sarcastic.
"Did you try to reach out?" Every ounce of her body tensed. Every fiber in her muscles clenched. "You feared she didn't answer."
"No, I am scared nothing changed."
Brows knitting, the lines on my face became clearer. Hands coming up to her cheeks, I let them rest on her face, the soft fur gliding along my palms.
"What you did downstairs was very brave." Now it was her turn to frown and glare at me with a puzzled expression. "You ate. I'm proud of you, honey. So very proud." I smiled and took in her reaction, which was utterly surprised. "I know, no comments, but I needed to tell you—"
Emery had flung her arms around my neck.
"Thank you." She whispered into my ear.
"You're we—" Her finger pressed onto my lips and she just sat there, straddling my waist.
"It's my turn." Eyes rolling, I rose an brow. "...I appreciate you. So very much. Thank you for not hating me as much as you used to." Emery slowly took her finger from my lips.
"May I now?" She nodded agreeing, with a smirk on her lips. "Very generous. Oh you know... I wanted to hate on you longer, but you unfortunately had that breakdown— ouch." I chuckled when she hit my shoulder.
"You won't be smiling anymore, when you meet my mother's side of the family."
"Wait." My hand rose in the air. "Your parents are divorced." She nodded. "You have basically no contact to your family." A nod. "Your father, who got the divorce from your mother, has a new partner and still gathers them all together?" A last nod. "Odd."
The edges of her mouth stretched into a curve. "Yes." Emery smiled. "But I think they do it for the sake of my brother's death. Meet up and pretend we were a happy family like when he was with us."
"That's actually quite nice, if you think about it."
"Most of them don't even know what happened or they don't want to acknowledge it. No one talks about him. Even at the funeral they called it an accident."
"It can be easier to lie."
"But he didn't just die. Cayden took his own life and if we all had payed more attention..." The woman breathed.
"You think you could have saved him? Honey, I am sure because of you he was struggling to not attempt anything before. Big siblings love to protect. I'm sure he wasn't different?"
"No he was like that. Caring..."
Why settle for less than her brother provided all along? He showed Emery how to be the perfect role model of a big brother, as it seemed to me. Brows pulling into a frown, I kept thinking. Gently shaking my shoulders, the woman smiled at me.
"Did you say anything, kitten?" I asked quietly and the teasing of the nickname earned her cheeks to flush red.
"I was just swaying in memories. You seemed pretty in thought too. Care to share?" The woman's fingertip mindlessly drew patterns on my skin, leaving trails of heat underneath.
I wasn't sure if scratching on the topic was too much of a smart move. Yet it left me wondering. Why Mateo? Why this man?
"Cayden, at least as you described him, was an honorable young man."
"He was my hero. What about it?"
"Why settle for less then? Is it possible you allowed Mateo to be in your life, because you thought you didn't deserve better?" All her expression fell like a mask tossed from the stage and the woman's smile was gone for good.
She lifted herself from my body and brought distance between us. As if this would provide anything from happening...
"I think we should sleep. Tomorrow will be exhausting enough."
"Em..." I tried to get her attention. It was useless since she had decided it was over. Our conversation was over. "Em come on..." She had crawled underneath a tiny spot on the edge of the bed and I stroke my hand along her silhouette.
Leaning onto my elbows, I hoped for a reaction. Without anything else being said, I gave up.
I got off the bed and gave Emery a chance to scoop further into the middle of the mattress. Laying underneath the covers as well, my fingertips roamed her side again. My actions earned unwanted shivers to run down her body. However no reaction apart from that followed.
Oh my sweet girl...