A Broken Fate (The Beautiful Fate Series book 2) (27 page)

“Yeah, but I am beginning to think it is impossible. The more I work at this, the harder it becomes.”

“I agree. Maybe we should take a break from the decoding until after Christmas and then when we come back to the journal, our minds will be clearer.”

Suddenly we heard Max start to scream from the bedroom. Before I could respond, Ari jumped up and hurried down the hall.

I got up a few minutes later to check on them, but by the time I arrived, they were both curled up in a ball sound asleep.

I stood in the doorway gazing in at my bedroom. Max was curled up in Ari
’s arms. Their heads shared a pillow and Max’s hand rested lightly on Ari’s stubbly cheek. Ari’s lips were softly touching Max’s forehead.

What have I done?

I walked in and pulled the blanket up over the two of them, kissed them both softly and clicked the bedside light off and left, closing the door behind me. Of all of the horrible deeds I have done, bad decisions I have made, and pain I have endured, choosing to place Max in Andy and Aggie’s care is by far my biggest regret. I love Max. Ari loves him.

I worked for a couple more hours and figured out one or two more words, but soon I couldn
’t concentrate. The weight of my decision to place Max next door was baring down on me. Eventually, I gave up, grabbed a throw blanket and made my nest on the couch. I hated not being able to wrap myself up in Ari’s arms, but the possibility of scaring Max again was too likely.

Choosing to sleep alone proved to have been a good idea, too, because my dreams were nasty. I kept dreaming horrible things about Aggie and Max and Ari. I tossed and turned and ultimately I rolled right off the couch and came crashing down to the floor with a loud thump.

I groaned and searched around on the hardwood for my cell. I found it resting under the couch. The time was just a few minutes after five a.m. According to Aggie, that was about the time Max had been waking up. I pulled myself up off the floor, folded my blanket, picked up all the stray papers that were strewn about and put them back in a nice pile in the study. I ventured down the hall to our bedroom and with the creaking of the door, Max’s head shot straight up from the blankets. He had a huge grin on his face. I put my pointer finger up to my lips to keep him from waking Ari, then scooped him up out of bed and carried him to the kitchen.

“Hungry?”

Max shook his head up and down rapidly with his cute just-like-Ari smile.

“Ok, let me see what we have.”

I peeled him an orange and then sliced up my last banana and opened my last yogurt and sat him down at the kitchen table. While Max ate, I cleaned up the kitchen, wiped down the counter tops and put away all the clean dishes.

Max was a sticky mess by the time he finished his breakfast. I picked him up and carried him away to the guest bathroom that Julia had been using since she decided she would not share a bathroom with Rory.

I held Max at an arm’s length, in an attempt to keep his sticky fingers out of my hair while I ran a tub, then stuck him in and scrubbed him down, cleaning all the yogurt and fruit goo from his hair and face. He splashed half the water out of the tub, soaking the tile floor and my stocking feet.

When I pulled him, clean again, out of the tub, I wrapped him in a big towel.

“Well, Max, you smell a little like Julia but you’re better than you were!”

  I got him dressed in the outfit that Aggie packed, a pair of jeans and a
Rolling Stones
tee-shirt, and asked, “How do you feel about going to the market with me?”

  I got no response so I took it that he agreed. I left Ari a note letting him know where we had gone, even though I was certain he would still be asleep when we got home. I fished around for Ari
’s car keys, since his car had the car seat, and then I buckled Max up and we took off down the street.

The store was nice and quiet for seven in the morning. There was one sleepy looking cashier reading a tabloid magazine while tending her post and a man with a push broom slowly making his way down the bread isle. Other than those two
, we were alone. Max and I loaded a cart with all of our favorites and a few of Ari’s. I picked up a couple of items for August and Collin and stocked up on the house necessities we were in danger of running out of. I picked up some bath toys, baby wash, and snacks for Max so that we would be prepared for his occasional visits and then we headed home.

Aggie hadn
’t mentioned when she would be back for him, or maybe she did and I just wasn’t listening, but I was sure she was probably wondering where we were. I called her cell but she didn’t answer so I left a detailed message.

After our buying session, I remembered why I always waited for Ari to come shopping with me – he was the one who always loaded and unloaded the bags and it really stunk having to do it by myself.

Back at home, I carried Max in, set him down on the floor and turned on some PBS cartoons while I began the daunting task of unloading bags and putting the groceries away. Half way into the job, Aggie rapped on the back door. I waved her in with a smile and she slid open the door.

“Hello, Ava,” she said as her eyes swept across the room looking for the boys.

“Ari is still in bed. Max is in the living room.”

Aggie walked passed me to the living room and sat down to talk with Max.

“Nice to see you, too, Aggie!” I said joking.

She came back a few minutes later and sat down at the island in the kitchen.

“So what did you guys do?” She asked.

I recapped the evening while I packed up Max
’s bag. Ari showed up still looking half-asleep and wrapped his arms around his mom’s shoulders. He kissed Aggie on the cheek then came and wrapped his arms around me. Max ran in from the living room and softly beat his palms on Ari’s legs until Ari picked him up while continuing his conversation with Aggie.

After Aggie reminded us for the hundredth time that Christmas Eve was in a few short days and she expected our presence at her house all day long, she announced that she and Max were leaving. Max locked his arms around Ari
’s neck and refused to go to Aggie. He began to throw a fit.

“Ok,” Ari said, trying to calm Max down, “I
’ll go with you.” He nodded reassuringly at Max and smiled.

“Ava, I
’ll be back in a few.” Ari kissed me on the cheek and walked out the door with Max and Aggie.

I
thought Ari would take longer than “a few” so I opted to use the alone time for a long shower. I turned my music on full blast and let the hot water run through my hair and down my back. I hadn’t realized how tense I was until I tried to relax.

My music was so loud that I didn
’t hear any footsteps or even the opening of the bathroom door. I jumped and let out a yelp when I heard his voice.

“Do you want company?”

I let out a shaky breath as the door pulled open and Ari smiled at me.

“Did I startle you?”

“Very much so.”

“Well?”

“I always want your company, Ari. You know that.”

Ari took my shampoo bottle out of my hand and washed my hair with his dexterous fingers. I closed my eyes and smiled.

Once dry and clothed, Ari and I made a quick trip to town to finish our Christmas shopping. We picked up toys for Max and a few last minute items for various family members along with a ton of wrapping paper, ribbons and bows. We spent the rest of the day at home wrapping up our gifts and listening to
Of Monsters and Men.

August and Collin returned from their visit while we were wrapping gifts and Collin went straight out the back door towards the pool house while August threw himself down on the couch in our living room.

“I thought you guys weren’t coming home until next week.”

“Change of plans.” He mumbled in to the cushion.

“Oh?”

He grunted.

“Well, okay, August, don’t tell me what’s going on between you two. I don’t care. But if you aren’t going to dish on the details then go throw your pity party on someone else’s couch.” I sounded harsh even to my own ears, but I hadn’t said anything he wouldn’t have said to me had the situation been reversed.

August rolled over and faced the other direction and Ari coughed back a laugh. This caused a giggle to burst through my lips, which then irritated an already very angry August.

“So, what? Did you get caught sneaking in to Collin’s bedroom in the middle of the night or something?” I asked, unable to help myself.

“Stop, Ava, everything is fine,” August said, turning back around to face us.

“Yeah, it sure seems that way, August. I guess I’ll just go outside and talk with Collin. He’ll tell me what went down.”

I started to pull myself up off the floor and his eyes grew great big and round.

“Do not go out there, Ava!” he said in a panic.

“Ok, ok fine, don
’t get your panties in a bunch, August. I’ll leave Collin alone… for now.”

He shot me a nasty look.

“Sorry, Ava, our argument is just not something I want to discuss with you. So please, just drop the conversation.”

I relented and gave him an easy smile.

“Ok, August. So… I take it that you guys will be here for Christmas then?”

“It does appear that way,” he said with an eye roll.

I got up, a little annoyed, and grabbed a handful of wrapped boxes and started out the door to take the gifts to Aggie’s and place them under her tree.

I stayed next door for a little while and tried to help Aggie wrap a huge box that was too heavy for just her to handle. Apparently, I wasn
’t doing it the way she wanted me to do it and she finally yelled at me and told me to “just forget it!” She said she would have Andy help her when he got home. She was pretty grouchy and I thought to myself that Christmas has a way of making people tense, but I had never seen Aggie succumb to tension quite so easily.

Max was taking nap and Luke and Lauren were at a movie. I stayed another hour or so trying to be of some help to Aggie and had lost track of time when Ari came through the back door lugging more gifts. He called out a hello to his mother, who had just gone to the laundry room and was more than likely out of earshot.

“What did you do that for?” he asked with an irritated look.

“Do what? I didn
’t do anything.”

“You left me alone with August.”

“So…?”

“So, you left me alone with August when he was having guy problems.”

I laughed aloud. “Oh, please, Ari, I am sure his issue wasn’t that bad.”

“Ava, he made me blush.”

I was smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.

“So, are you going to tell me what the conversation was all about?”

“Absolutely not, there is no way I can relive that talk.”

“That bad, huh? Well did you manage at least to help him out?”

Ari sighed and sat down at the island next to me.

“I think so. Maybe. Heck, I don
’t know. Just don’t ever do that to me again.”

I ran my fingers through his hair.

“I am so sorry, Ari. I promise to make it up to you.”

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and a mischievous
and salacious smile spread across his face. My stomach did a little flip and Ari picked me up off my stool and threw me over his shoulder. I screamed in fake protest as he ran with me out the back door.

Aggie came through the kitchen in time to see our hasty departure. She held the laundry basket against her hip and looked less than pleased.

Chapter 24

Anti-anxiety

Ari woke me up at the crack of dawn Christmas Eve morning. His lips were on my ear, whispering a quiet good morning. I let out a sleepy moan and stretched my arms up above my head. A bead of water from Ari’s freshly washed hair dropped on my cheek and the chill from the water forced my eyes open.

“I should have woken you up a while ago. We have to get moving.”

Aggie wanted us at her place all day Christmas Eve and then all day on Christmas. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she asked us to stay the night, and she probably would have if it weren’t for the fact that Max had taken up residence in Ari’s old bedroom.

I groggily made my way to the showe
r and tried to wake myself up; the warm water and Ari’s clean smelling soap didn’t do the trick. I wrapped myself in a towel and climbed out, Ari greeted me on the other side, holding a hot cup of coffee. I took it with a sleepy smile, sat in our bedroom chair, and watched Ari move about the bedroom. I could hear Rory and Julia moving around down the hall. Christmas Eve dinner is always spent at Gianna’s, so I was sure she had a list a mile long of things she wanted the two of them to do. I sat there lazily and watched Ari pick out his clothes. He still had his towel wrapped around his waist.

“Are you going to stare at me all morning or are you going to start moving?” he asked with a cute smile.

I blinked my eyes a few times and tried to shake my head clear of thoughts of him with no shirt on but I wasn’t having much luck.

“If you
’d just hurry up and get dressed, I would be less distracted,” I answered him honestly.

Ari cocked his head to the side and licked his bottom lip, causing my jaw to
go slack. He let out a sigh, “my mom will kill us if we’re late again.”

“Please don
’t talk about your mom right now,” I requested as the deep brown in his eyes began to make my body melt.

Ari ran his fingers through his hair and I swooned. He sauntered over to the chair, took my mug out of my hand, and set it on the dresser. He put his hands on each of the armrests and leaned down to place his forehead gently on mine. I thought he was going to give me a lecture about always causing him to be late, but instead he kissed me. Ari moved a hand off the armrest and cupped the back of my head in his palm while his other hand worked on loosening the towel that was wrapped around my body.

Once free from my towel, his hand traced smoothly across my skin. I opened my mouth as a small moan escaped and Ari quickly but gently moved his other hand from the back of my head and covered my lips with his fingers.

“Shh,” he said with a husky breath. I bit down hard on my tongue, closed my eyes, and let my ache for Ari take
control.

****

I untangled my fingers from Ari’s hair. I was covered in a sweaty sheen and my hair was a half-dry, uncombed mess.

“Better?” Ari smiled.

My cheeks flushed with heat and I nodded shyly.

“Me too.”

Ari joined me in the shower since he wasn’t much better off and after, I redid my makeup and stood in front of the closet trying to figure out something to wear. We were already over an hour late.

Ari was in a hurry and threw on a shirt and a pair of jeans along with some flip-flops. His attire, I was sure, would make his mother mad. I dressed a little more nicely since I already knew I was going to make her really mad by causing us both to be late. We grabbed the rest of the gifts and we were the last couple to leave the house.

Aggie started griping at us from the moment we walked through the door. She shot me a nasty look, muttering under her breath about responsibility and respect for others. The fact that August and Collin, neither of them family, had arrived at Aggie’s before us, made matters worse. I instantly tuned her out and Ari smoothed Aggie over by giving her a huge hug and secretly passing her one of her Christmas gifts from him early. She immediately backed off and tore into the paper. Inside was a new bottle of perfume. I stole a glance at the label. It was “
baio
for Women.”
Great
. Now every time I’m near Aggie I’ll want to puke.

I started in on making the half dozen or so pies I wouldn
’t be eating and was thankful for Collin’s help. August and Ari played with Max at the table. Max had the table top covered with Legos and they were making all kinds of little castles and moats. They talked excitedly about a Lego joust with their knights.

When they tired of Legos, they built a tent with blankets, and when they grew bored with the tent, Ari read Max a few
of his storybooks, while I continued to bake. Ari’s soothing voice put Max to sleep in the middle of the afternoon, once he was sleeping, August and Collin left for Gianna’s. I snuck away from Aggie and her kitchen and found Ari on the back deck. He had his legs propped up on the rail and was staring off at sea.

“Hey.”

Ari moved his feet off the rail, turned and smiled.

“Hey, Baby. Come sit with me.”

I looked back at the house and then looked down at Ari’s watch. I had fifteen minutes before I needed to take the last pie out of the oven.

“Okay.”

Ari pulled me down onto his lap and I leaned my head back on his chest and enjoyed the view with him until my eyes grew heavy and I let them shut.

Ari must have fallen asleep, too, because when Aggie started yelling from the back door, we both jumped. I grabbed Ari
’s wrist and looked down at his watch.

“Crap! The pie!” I yelled. “Sorry, Aggie! Here I come!”

I tried an apology while I was running up the deck steps but Aggie kept yelling about responsibility and respect until Ari stepped in to save me. I did feel sincerely remorseful about the pie, though.

“Ma, it was just a rhubarb pie. No one likes that kind anyway. You end up throwing it away every year. Ava just saved you a step.”

Aggie looked away from me and softened at Ari’s words.

“People do too eat it,” she laughed.

“No,” he laughed back. “No one does, Ma. Sometimes I cut a piece and toss it just so you don’t feel bad.” He walked up the deck and kissed her cheek. “Calm down, it was an accident.”

They walked into the house together, leaving me behind and speechless.

****

Dinner at Gianna
’s started off as loud and fun, then it turned into just loud. A thousand different conversations seemed to be going on and through the noise, I heard Collin quietly thank Ari for helping August when they had been arguing a few days earlier. I saw Ari’s cheeks turn a tiny shade of pink and I nearly choked on my food. The sight of Ari blushing was a very first for me. Ari elbowed me pretty energetically in the ribs to quiet me, forgetting that they were still sore from having been broken a few months ago and I let out a cry of pain. All joking aside, it hurt like hell. He was stronger than he thought most times. Ari’s face went pale and he jumped up out of his seat causing the chair to rub loudly against the floor. His hands flew to his mouth as I closed my eyes and choked back tears.

“What the heck just happened?” Andy said from across the table. All conversation had stopped and all eyes were on the two of us.

“I just broke Ava’s ribs,” Ari said as he got on his knees and put his hand on my side.

“No way,” Rory said with a laugh. “How
’s that possible?”

I couldn
’t find my breath; I felt as though the wind had been knocked out of me. Ari hadn’t nudged me that hard, but his elbow had caught me in the very spot where the ribs cracked the first time.

“Ava and I were playing around and I elbowed her to keep quiet and I heard a crack. Ava, I am so sorry.”

I finally was able to take in a breath and look at Ari.

“It
’s fine, Ari. Would you just go get me some Tylenol?”

He looked horrified as he went to Gianna
’s medicine cabinet and brought me back the whole bottle.

Ari stood at my side and watched me while I downed three red-and-white capsules with my glass of water. I looked at him as if he were nuts, not sure why he wouldn
’t just sit down. The entire family was quiet as they stared at us in disbelief.

“Ari, I
’ll be fine, sit down,” I said forcing a smile.

“No way, I am taking you to the hospital.”

I shook my head no and he pursed his lips.

“Ari, they can
’t do anything for a cracked rib. I’ll be fine as soon as the Tylenol starts to work.”

“What if you punctured a lung?” he asked, looking even more horrified.

I shrugged my shoulders then winced at the pain it caused.

“I promise to let you know if I start to have difficulty breathing.”

My promise was only a half-truth because I was already having a hard time breathing. I just wasn’t sure if the trouble was because of my ribs or because of something else and I didn’t feel like going to the hospital on Christmas Eve. He looked at me, a little unsure at first, and then took a seat next to me at the table. Conversation picked back up; I was in too much pain to eat and Ari refused to take his eyes off me.

After dinner, Ari left the table to clean Max
’s sticky hands and face in the bathroom. Aggie asked me to help Gianna with the dishes while Lauren and Julia wiped counters and stowed leftovers. I tried to stand up from my chair but the pain was starting to become unbearable. My side hurt much more than I remembered from the last time my ribs were broken, when No. 6 kicked me over and over, but that was probably because then I had been drugged the whole time.

I stood next to the table and attempted to catch my breath. My chest was tight and my lungs were burning. Aggie set a stack of dirty dishes in front of me with a “get moving” look on her face. I steadied the stack with a white-knuckled grip.

Ari appeared from the hallway with Max in his arms.

“You are ghostly pale, Ava. There is no way you should be up moving around right now. What are you doing?”

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out from between my parted lips.

He had an anxious look on his face and turned to Aggie.

“Mom, how can you make her help you right now? Her ribs are probably broken. I think she should stay sitting down.”

Aggie gave Ari an indulgent little smile and an eye roll.

“Oh, I’m sure she’s fine, Ari.”

Ari
’s jaw clenched tight and he set Max down on his feet. Max quickly fled the kitchen in search of August.

“Obviously, Ava is not fine,” he said through his teeth.

“Ava’s been through worse. A little more pain is good for her, considering the anguish she has caused my family over the past year,” Aggie said, laughing at her own bad joke. Ari was angrier than I have ever seen him before.

“You think it
’s funny that she nearly died half a dozen times trying to save our lives? Not to mention that last year when she was in London she saved you from cancer. Did you even thank her? You must have forgotten that someday Ava will be the end of us all. One day, she will come for you and if she is feeling kind, perhaps she will show you mercy. I don’t know what your beef is with Ava right now, but you had better get over it or you’re going to think it’s really funny tomorrow when the two of us don’t show up for your stupid Christmas.”

I saw Aggie
’s face blanch as I made my way, unnoticed, to the kitchen counter. I grabbed the garbage can from under the sink and started to get sick from both pain and shock. Ari yelled a bit more and used a couple of foul words I was fairly certain he had not used in front of his mother before. Aggie lost her nerve but then quickly found it again and started yelling back at him. The whole kitchen erupted into chaos around me. I began to feel dizzy and got on my knees as I continued to get sick in the garbage. I heard someone trying to calm Aggie and Ari down but I couldn’t concentrate on voices or words. I tried to get sick again but my lungs would not let me take in any more air. I finally gave up, put my head down on the cool kitchen floor and closed my eyes. I did not pass out but I was weak and my lungs were screaming for oxygen. The pain was overwhelming.

“Hey, Ava, are you okay?”

I looked up and saw Julia standing over me. I shook my head no and she hollered for Rory. He rushed over and picked me off the floor and cradled me in his arms then started to yell through the screaming to get someone’s attention. He bumped my ribs against his body. I let out a little cry with the pain it caused. Rory started to freak out, his booming voice outdid everyone else and the room finally fell quiet.

Ari took me out of Rory
’s arms and went straight to Gianna’s garage. He put me in the front seat of her tiny sports car. He peeled out onto the street and sped all the way to the closest hospital.

Emergency personnel took a chest X-ray as soon as I arrived and confirmed that I had three fractured ribs, but couldn
’t determine if my lung was collapsed. The on-call doctor kept me under observation for a few hours.

After quite a wait in a dim hospital room, the doctor finally determined that my lung was unharmed and that I had had an anxiety attack. I tried to convince Ari, whose jaw was still tightly clenched, to apologize to his mother, whom I could hear crying, perhaps a bit too dramatically, in the waiting room. But he refused.