Page 34 of Unbreakable
Her eyes narrowed into slits, and her jaw clamped before her voice went low. “You sound just like her.”
Her. My mother.
Jeanine watched me for some sort of rebuttal, but she knew she had me. Holding one hand over her head, she grabbed the first aid kit and went back to the kitchen.
I paused for a moment, sitting on the toilet lid and staring at my toes. From the kitchen, I heard her suck in a weepy breath, and I couldn’t leave her alone like that.
I found her at the sink with her hand upturned, watching the cut bleed and dabbing at it with the paper towel. Her head hung as her tears accelerated.
I stepped to her side and put my arm around her. “I don’t want to split up, baby. We’re just going through a rough patch.”
She sobbed harder, lifting her hand to cover her mouth. I bent to look at her hand.
“Baby. Let me. Please?”
A tear dripped onto the countertop as she nodded. There was no way she was actually mad at me. She was mad at the situation. We got along. We were united against every obstacle. Me and J against the world.
But now it felt like J against me, and that felt pretty lonely.
We’d come through it, though. We’d certainly been through worse.
Her cut was pretty deep. “Baby, I think I’m gonna have to glue it. Unless you want to go to the E.R. by yourself.”
She finally cracked a little, snorting a laugh. “Glue me up, hockey boy.”
I kissed the tip of her nose before I wrapped her hand back up. “See? I am good for some things. You would never have glued your hand if I hadn’t come along.”
I held her shoulders, and her blue doll eyes met mine. “It’s going to be okay, J. I’ve always got you. Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she managed through her tears.
I left to get the skin glue from my hockey bag, rattling around in there since I had a split at my eyebrow a month back. I came back and flicked on the lights under the counter so I could see better. “Let’s get you fixed up, baby.”
“You’re being sweet now,” she said, chancing a glance at me.
“I don’t like fighting with you.”
“Me either,” she said, watching me finish up with her hand. I worked quietly, just the sound of our breath and her occasional giggle at my sloppy work.
“You ready for bed, baby? I feel like we both need some rest.”
“Yeah.” She went to stand but I threw her over my shoulder.
“No way you can walk with a hand like that,” I teased as she giggled and swatted at my ass behind my back.
FIFTEEN
DYLAN
THEN
I marriedmy scrappy cocktail waitress over All-Star weekend at her family’s winery in Temecula. We gathered as many friends and family members as could come on short notice. My parents were not thrilled with the quick wedding, Ma encouraging me to give it a year before rushing into things. But even if Jeanine hadn’t been pregnant, I’d have married her that fast. I didn’t care. I was in love.
Our little secret remained just that during the wedding weekend, even though Jeannie had a tiny bump on our big day. Only I could really tell, but by then, I knew her body as well as my own.
She was the love of my life, the one I’d been waiting for. Yes, everything moved fast, but they say when you know, you know.
I remember the lace of her dress under my fingers as we had our first dance, the glow in her turquoise eyes, and her smile that gave me no doubt about forever.
