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"As you can see- nothing is going according to plan, Jim! Bring them the fuck over here, now!," Thomas, the little prick, who does he really think he's scaring?

"I'm not going a meter closer until I get my pay- you have an hour. I'll wait.,"

Yes. I'll admit. I do feel a bit badly about bargaining with children, aside from the little spawn of satan in pink sitting in the back seat.

Anyway- this part of the plan was a big one to agree to at first. Even now, my stomach feels a twinge or two as I look at Lily through the review mirror.

"Let's all go about for some ice cream- whatdya say, hmm?," I announce our new destination trying my best to disguise my irritation with a chipper tone of voice.

"I don't want any bloody ice cream! I want to see Papi RIGHT NOW!," Charlie then begins to screech in a shrill pitch that I'm sure all the dogs of London can hear!

"C-Can we still see Papi, Jimmy?," Richie pipes up, trying his best to speak above the noise of a now extremely disgruntled Charlie who is mumbling something about hating "that fat ugly liar."

"....is he all better now?," Richie asks, this time with a quiver to his tone.

———————————————————

How do you react when the love of your life comes back from the dead? How the bloody hell should I know?!

I don't want to waste time with further questioning. With all the tears in my eyes clouding my vision, I never miss my mark.

I lift my head away from her chest as she's cradled me inside of her arms, letting me claw her sides. Ive basically been sinking my nails into her flesh to be sure that this is real. That this isn't just some dream, like all the others where I would wake up from my dreamers ball and be alone again. But this is real. This is her. She's come back to me now and I haven't the slightest care in the world of how. At least not in this moment.

As gently as my trembling hands can manage, I slide my palm along her bruised jaw until my fingers reach behind her ear. I want to murder whoever the culprit is for damaging her this way. She's beaten with marks of black and blue. The memories of yesterday's long ago, fly back to me. I stare in her eyes and my heart just know what to do next.

And in the seconds it takes for my lips to reach hers, I feel the strips of my tattered heart begin to string together again. Her kiss is the sweetest taste I've ever known. Her lips are still in-sync with mine despite all the thoughts that run through me. I push them away and only focus on the here and now. I try to press all of me into her through our kiss— a kiss that time has stopped for. A steamy, ferocious kiss that could melt the whole planet into a puddle.

Her fingers comb through my hair and I feel that static electrifying my love back to life again. I feel the fire burning through her fingertips and the shockwave of two souls reconnecting. I pull her close to me, wrapping my arms around her waist even tighter— I'll never let her go.

Too many bitter tears are raining down and in between our lips. My whimpering won't cease no matter how hard I try to convince myself of this reality— it could very well just be another hellish dream. But she's never felt this real before, she's never responded in this way. With her heart—her whole heart. Not in my dreams anyway..

I'm emerged in our own little world of bliss and in this moment, everything that has happened over the last year doesn't even matter. The heart ache, the struggling, depression, nightmares, the pain— she washes it all away from me now. All I want to do is cling together forever.

Her lips are full and warm. So soft and delicate in contrast to the way we grip on to each other, trying desperately to consume one another all in one long awaited kiss.

"I love you-"

"Are you here-"

"I love you so much, please be real-,"

I hurriedly say my words between the pulls of kisses that connect us in ways only lovers can understand. But at the last thing I say, she presses away from me, putting her hand onto my shoulder to hold us back from our reunion that was only starting to heat up. I watch her eyes, keeping my stare into the windows of her soul the whole time that she's trying to think of something to say.

Her face is much too beautiful to be shamed with the marks that splash across her gorgeous features. Whatever she's been going through has obviously been far more difficult than my reality. She doesn't deserve this.

"I'm really here, Papi. It's true— I...I'm so sorry that I was too scared to come back to you! I'm scared even now. I don't-,"

"Scared?," I clutch onto her hips as she sits more comfortably on top of my lap, "You don't have to be scared anymore darling—you're home where you belong and I can't have you ever leave again..,"

My voice betrays as it quivers and cracks underneath the strain of trying to hold in my tears. I want to be strong for her.

I twirl a piece of her hair around my fingertip. My hand slides down and rest on the small of her back. To place my lips on her skin once again— it's all I've ever dreamed about.

"What if he comes back? He...he said there would be consequences. He threatened you and our babies, Freddie I don't know what to do. I should go back, but I can't leave you again— it was hard enough the other day that's why it was easy to decide to come back tonight with Roger-,"

"What do you mean the other day?,"

Her words stop just a second before my interruption, like she let out more information that she should have. Here I thought I was just mad or drunk or high— but it was her!

"It was you wasn't it? At my party...Marie?," I knew once the questions started to pour out of my mouth that I should just push them back down I knew asking these things would only break the moment, but I needed to know.

She nods her head, her fingers traces my knuckles as she holds my hand. Though her touch is comforting and I want so badly to stay like this with her forever... reality clicks.

"Freddie—Uh, sorry to interrupt, mate. Charlie's on the phone for you," Roger comes into the doorway. I hadn't even noticed the odd coloring of his hair until now.

"I must've left my phone at home..," I respond, reluctantly letting Cherie up from my lap, I stand to grab the phone from Roger. "Thank you," I nod to him before he leaves the room, but my mind is numb and spinning with too many thoughts at one time.

"Hello?," trying time keep my voice even only makes my body tremble more. But at least it isn't visible for my daughter to witness.

"Papi! Are you okay?!," She whispers her words in a quick hiss.

"Charlie, what are you doing up at this hour?," what does she mean 'are you okay?' How does she know that I'm gone and how to find me?

"Jim took us for ice cream. He says you were hurt in the hospital and Nino took you home," Her little voice sounds so sleepy and worried.

Why the hell would Jim say such things?! And ice cream? The children were sleeping!

"He what? Ooh..no, darling. Everything is alright..," I look up from my fidgeting hand to Cherie who is sitting and listening intently by my side. Her hand clutches my thigh as she tries to listen in on our conversation. She's biting her lip so hard to fight her tears, but they roll down her cheeks anyway. "Everything is more than alright, Char. I'll be home soon, go back to bed," I reach over and wipe away the tears drops from her face.

After hanging up the phone, i feel the atmosphere in the room has changed. Almost suffocating now with the words I have yet to spill. The one thing that I don't want to admit to her.

"So...Jim, the man from your party..he's um, he's with the children, is he?,"

Great. I knew it it- I knew I should have waited longer. I knew things with Jim were far too soon. But how did she know his name?

"Why didn't you tell me? At the party, why didn't you just tell me?,"

That night at the party was when I had decided to open my heart fully and completely to Jim. It's where I decided to let her go...

"I couldn't tell you, it was too dangerous. I wasn't even supposed to be there,"

"It doesn't matter- never mind. None of that matters," I scoot closer to her on the bed, reaching to grab her hands in mine again. "You're here now, you're all I ever need. I can... Jim will understand.,"

I lean in to kiss her, but she turns her head so suddenly that my lips brush against her cheek instead.

"Cherie..please. Don't be like that...," I whisper into her ear, letting my nose nuzzle into her hair and begin to kiss the side her face softly. Repeatedly, wordlessly attempting to convince her.

"My heart has always been yours. He and I...we're nothing serious- you're the love of my life," lifting my head back to see her expression, it's hard to read and I feel my chest tightening with worry.

"Let's just go home- let me take you home,"

She begins to shake her head, her hair falling in front of her face as she lowers her head. She looks so devastated in this moment I know I've disappointed her and I'll do anything to make it better.

"I can't go home, Freddie. The children...they won't understand. They'll hate me. They'll think me a liar and a horrible mother.," She begins to choke back her sobs when she speaks of the children being untrusting of her. Her words are laced with regret and a brokenness that I don't know how to fix.

"You should go home... maybe we can figure out how to tell them. But-," She sniffles her nose, her face highlighted to a pink tint from crying. "But you don't have to tell Jim to leave... if you love him, then really you don't need to-,"

"I love ," I cut her off, staring into her beautiful brown eyes before pressing my lips to hers again.

I use my body to push her down on the bed. She immediately responds, tying her legs around my hips, one hand clutching my shoulder, the other caressing the back of my head.

Our kiss is full of the years lost passion that our tongues express with tasteful swirls. We haven't even begun, yet our mouths moan into each other's, feeling the heated yearning. I want to stay this way forever- we deserve to stay like this forever.

She breaks away from me, holding me back from kissing her again. I stay on top of her even though her legs have dropped from my waist and lay on the sides of me.

"You have to get back to them," She flicks her tongue over her swollen lips. My body responds without my control, I feel my jeans tightening around me as my hose begins to stiffen.

"I won't let go til you tell me to," I smirk down at her, my arms on either side of her head, holding me up. I bend down to reach for her kiss only to be granted one quick little peck.

"You should go, I'll see you tomorrow... we'll see how you feel then," Her whisper is hoarse and breathy as her chest rises and falls quickly.

"Don't do this to me," I plead as she scrambles out from underneath me, now standing at the side of the bed.

"I'm not trying to hurt you anymore, my love. If you're happy now- I don't want to ruin that. Not for you, not for our children... your happiness means everything to me and I don't want to put you all in danger if-,"

"Cherie! Do you hear yourself?! Don't be ridiculous- of course we all want nothing more than to have you back with us!,"

She's got to be joking. She can't possibly think that I'd choose anyone else over her.

She backs away from me a bit, her hands held in front of her. I've only seen her this way once before-

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell, I just-,"

"No, it okay- I get it. This is hard for me, too... let's just think things through tonight. You go back home and figure out what you want to do and I'll think of a way that we can explain all of this to Charlie and Richie..."

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