Robert woke up, the sun was filling the room. He looked at his watch and saw it was already 8 o’clock. Elizabeth was sleeping, her arm possessively around his waist. She made her claim, and it was his heart. He gladly gave it to her, as long as his soul, mind and body, like he promised her all those years ago, on Valentine’s day. It wasn’t just a kid’s promise. It was the real thing. And being here, with her, with all he was feeling, was the living proof of that promise. He felt her move and looked at her.
"-Good morning. She whispered with a smile
-Indeed it is. He smiled back. Are you ready to get out of here?
-Ugh, do we have to?
-Well, it’s Saturday. He said, matter-of-factly
-And? We could stay here all day
-We could, until Lucky sends us the mob squad to break the door down
-I’m up, I’m up"
Robert laughed and got dressed. While Elizabeth did, he went and opened the breaker again, allowing them to punch in the code to unlock the door. They arrived home and Lucky jumped on their throats, but Stefan took their sides, saying he saw the security system and Lucky should be glad it was working so well. Lucky shut up and took his mother in his arms. He had been scared to death something happened to her and Robert.
Stefan and Lucky started arguing about who was better at roller hockey, and Robert told them to shut up, because he was the best. Next thing he knew, he was sitting on the last stair, lacing his roller-blade to show the boys who was the best.
"-What the hell are you doing? Asked Elizabeth
-I’m gonna teach the boys who’s the hockey king
-Yeah, you are gonna show them who’s the dork who broke his neck you mean?
-Have a little faith in me will ya?"
He got up and started skating in front of her, on the wooden floor. He started to turn around her fast and she laughed, trying to turn with him.
"-Stop that, you are making me dizzy! She laughed
-Ok, I will be back for my victory kiss"
Before Liz could say anything else he turned around, took his hockey stick near the door and jumped the two steps of the porch, to join Lucky and Stefan in the street, where they had already placed the nets they found in the garage in the middle of the streets. Kiara arrived seconds later with her skates.
"-Baby, you aren’t playing. Said Lucky
-And why not? Asked Robert. She can take any of you
-Yeah, right. Laughed Stefan
-Tell you what. Lucky, you play with smart mouth, I’ll play with Kiara. Loser team has to pay dinner for the winners and the ref
-Who’s the ref? Asked Stefan
-Elizabeth. Who else?
-She doesn’t know anything about hockey!
-Neither do you butthead! Answered Lucky."
Robert threw the whistle to Elizabeth and put his hockey gloves on, skating in front of the boys with the stick in his hand.
"-Let’s set up the rules. Rule number one, he sais, tracing a line a couple of feet away from the goals. No shooting to score before that line. It would be too easy to score otherwise. Rule number two. No contacts, or slap shots. We aren’t equipped to play physical. Rule number three. When someone scores kisses the ref.
-Hey I don’t want to kiss my mother! Said Lucky, smiling
-Me neither! Every time someone scores, you kiss the ref uncle Lucky
-Me? Why do I have to kiss her when someone scores? Asked Robert, outraged
-Because you are dying to find reasons to kiss her! Stefan laughed. Now let’s shut up and play some hockey"
Kiara stayed behind, so did Stefan, while Lucky and Robert went face to face for the orange ball. They were hitting each other’s hockey sticks and Elizabeth said it was enough. She dropped it and Lucky got it to pass it to his brother. Stefan tried to contour Robert but he lost the ball, and Kiara was already near the net to score. Robert gave her the ball and it was 1-0 Jackson team. He smiled and skated towards Elizabeth to give her a nice short kiss. She answered his kiss, a little uneasy to be kissed in front of Stefan two days after she left his father, but he didn’t seem a least hurt by it. In fact, he was the one who suggested it.
She put the ball back on the street and this time Robert didn’t even have time to touch it, Lucky passed it to Stefan and Stefan scored. Robert had an exaggerated sigh and went to Elizabeth, before gently brushing his lips with hers with a smile.
The game was far on, and Robert and Kiara were losing by two points. 17-15. They had decided that it was a 20 points game. Kisses were going all over the place, as Lucky was kissing Kiara with each scores, too. Robert was each time teasing, saying "Hey, I said no contacts" and Lucky would just stick tongue at him.
Finally, the game was over. Robert was leaning forward, his hands on his thigh to cath his breath. Before the last point was scored, him and Kiara had gone to 19, but so did Stefan and Lucky. It took at least 5 minutes for the boys to score, each time coming close but Robert or Kiara would steal the ball and vice versa. Elizabeth went in the house and came back with cold water for everyone and they drank like if they had been in the desert for days. Robert said dinner tonight was his treat and the guys decided on the PC grill.
"-Guys, don’t you think you could choose something less expansive? Asked Elizabeth
-Why? We are famous Hockey stars, we should be treated as such. Answered Stefan with a grin
-No, he’s right, it’ll be fun to play dress up and act like rich people for a change. Robert teased
-Go take a shower, you stink. Elizabeth laughed."
The guys pushed each other to know who was using the shower first and Robert got to it. While he was washing, he smiled at the thought of how much his life was coming together. He was slowly making his way back in Elizabeth’s life, he has his daughter, his son, his soon-to-be-step-son, his house, his job, everything was falling into place. If it wasn’t for Tom’s constant shadow on their shoulders, everything would be perfect.
They arrived at the PC grill around 6 at night. Everyone was showered, changed and dressed like it was a big occasion. Elizabeth and Robert talked about how they had to pitch in together to pay for the salad and chocolate cake they took when they were looking for Eleanor Murty. No one mentioned Nikolas paying for their meals though, because no one wanted him to barge in on their nights.
Lucky was full of attention for Kiara, holding her the doors, pulling her chair, taking her hand, kissing her fingers. Elizabeth smiled at Robert, and Robert smiled back. He was happy for them. They had the kind of love that hurts. The kind of love that would survive everything. The kind of love their parents shared.
Robert asked them to excuse him, he had to use the washroom. Elizabeth and Kiara were talking girls stuff and the brothers were talking girls, period. When their meals arrived, Elizabeth noticed that Robert had been gone quite a while.
"-Lucky, how long does it normally take your father to go to the bathroom?
-Mom, he’s a guy, how long can it be? He doesn’t need to powder his nose and put all of his make-up back into place, why?
-Cause he’s been gone for nearly 15 minutes
-Maybe the game wore him out. Suggested Stefan. Or maybe it was #2.
-Maybe, but I’d still like to find out. Elizabeth said, unaware that she used the same sentence Lucky did with Sarah the night Liz got raped."
She got up and walked to the man’s bathroom. He was nowhere in sight. She waited and when she saw no one coming in or out of the bathroom, she opened the door and peaked her head in.
"-Lucky? Are you OK?"
There was no answer. She opened the door and got in. The bathroom was empty. All the doors were opened and no one was there. Her back was to the door and she didn’t see it open slowly. She didn’t hear someone sneak up on her, just like she didn’t hear it all those years ago. She didn’t realized until it was too late, that a hand clamped over her mouth and dragged her to the nearest open window, put her in a car next to a unconscious Robert, that Tom maintained his promise, that he would find a way to rape her again. And today was promise keeping time.
Previous chapter | Next chapter | Back to fanfic page | Email