Four Broken Pieces ✓

Forty Four

We decided that with the little sleep we'd gotten, we would leave the following evening after sleeping in and spending whatever time we had left with the rest of the family. Most of my relatives flew out the following morning and by lunch it was only my mother, my grandpa and the four of us remaining once more. My grandpa and the boys were in the kitchen talking and my mom and I were sitting in silence in front of the TV. We'd shared a few words over breakfast but we hadn't had time or the privacy for the real conversation we both wanted.

"Before you leave to go home can we go have coffee somewhere? Just the two of us." It was like my mother heard my thoughts. A part of me desperately wanted to go to hear whatever she had to say but I also wanted to spend this time with the boys. Even amongst family, we'd almost constantly gravitated towards each other to spend whatever little time we had in each other's company before all hell broke loose. I hesitated in deliberation and looked towards the kitchen in question.

Mikhail gave me a thumbs up since he was standing the closest to me and most likely heard. It was like they knew that if anything happened to them, my mother would be the only one who could put me together. I quickly shut the thought down. Just the thought of something happening to them made my heart race with fear. Why couldn't they just be safe? Would I even be safe if I went with my mother? I suppose if Ivan's father hadn't acted yet, he wouldn't be acting until Ivan confronted him first. Besides, why would he come after me instead of them?

"Please darling." My mother was begging to spend time with me for the first time in her life. I'd be a fool to turn her down. It would just be a quick coffee and then I'd drive myself down to the house to get my stuff and then head straight to the log cabin. There were a few things I needed to pick up before I spent 3-4 days trapped in a log cabin with no way of knowing what was happening since Ivan wasn't prepared to risk his father tracking me down.

I'd called Troy and Violet this morning itself and told them the barest details of why I needed the log cabin. For the sake of our friendship, they hadn't questioned anything when I said vague things like "I need a safe place." Or perhaps they'd put some of the pieces together. They knew Ivan's father wasn't the kindest person. Violet had been there when I'd stormed out of their house in tears.

They'd already gone down to the log cabin this morning. Violet had barely gotten time to drop of his luggage before she'd gotten there. When I'd called Troy, she'd been passed out in the car as Troy was driving them there.

"Roe?" I realized I'd zoned out completely and my mother was giving me a slightly exasperated look as she snapped her fingers in front of my face.

"I'll come. We should go now then. My luggage is already in the car so I'll go straight home afterwards." She looked overjoyed. I shot her a small smile in return but I couldn't be completely joyous. This reunion was all I'd wanted once upon a time but now my heart was begging me to go back to the boys. The two of us fetched our coats and were out the door before I could voice the direction my thoughts were taking. At the threshold, I stopped to look back at the boys. From last night, every moment between us had begun to matter a thousand times more. Every time they were out of my sight I was constantly on edge. This was what love did. It made me worry, made me laugh, made me cry.

And it would make me grieve far more than I'd ever done in life if I ever lost them.

"I love you. I'll see you soon." They just nodded but the way they were looking at me. Oh god it broke my heart. Alexei head was bowed like he was trying to memorize my voice and the other two were just staring at my face. For a split second I debated staying. I was just about to reach out to them and hug them tight enough to never let them go. God, I loved them so much.