Mrs Jones (GxG)

22. {Take a Drink...}

Guess who? Picture above is_________?
                                                                               ✨✨✨

August was a woman of her word because I woke up to white roses and a bottle of wine for extra measure. Drea carried the wine in, all three boys tailing behind her. Sammy carried the roses over but a single rose was in Alex's grasp. He passed it to me first, his bright eyes full of hope. I took it with a smile. "Thank you, Squishy."

"These are for you, baby girl," Sammy said, offering the bouquet with a huge grin. I took it, my eyes already seeking out the attached card, Sammy's words lost among the beating of my heart. The words were simple.

Love August.

"Anti-climatic, right?" Drea said snickering.

I shrugged, feigning nonchalance as I got up to put them in water. "Did she send you flowers too?"

"Christmas roses," she confirmed.

"Julia, can you build Legos with me today?" Max was asking. "Because it's raining and we can't go outside."

"It depends on how small those Legos are and how much we can keep them away from Alex." I was saying.

"I'll take him," Drea said, coming to my rescue. "And we can hang out in my zone for a while while you play with these boys. But breakfast first."

The older boys groaned. Alex grinned. It was food and so long as food is mentioned, he's a happy baby.

The weekend passed quickly and it gave me first-hand experience of what it was like having three boys in the house and no. Nope. They almost killed me. They weren't badly behaving, they were just hyperactive and fearless and rough. Alex loved it and so did Drea. With his teething troubles behind us, the cheerful sounds of his laughter were a refreshing sign of normalcy that I welcomed.

After the boys left, the house felt abnormally quiet and empty. The following days felt odd. Alex was unbelievably bored and tormented Rose a lot more than usual. By midweek, things started to feel normal again. On Wednesday, Drea and Antoinette had a session with Grace. Although still cautious, my wife was starting to lean more into repairing the relationship with her mother.

Objectively, I could say that Antoinette was trying. With Grace's help, Drea revealed who she really was. Not human, but an alien species. An Egralite. Antoinette in turn, could express all her worries and fears in an environment around people who, instead of ridiculing her, understood her. And that, I think, was the game changer. To be believed. To be validated. To be understood. She wasn't crazy all this time.

The transparency in their relationship opened up a path for Antoinette to view her daughter's abilities in a new light, as something to be appreciative of rather than to fear. She started seeing the beauty in it rather than the harm and started seeing what I'd been seeing since the very start. That her daughter was a great woman.

It was Thursday, the day before Halloween and we were home. Drea and Alex were busy carving pumpkins. I was busy videoing the whole thing. All Alex wanted to do was grab everything she scooped out and stuff it in his mouth.

"What do you think Willow and August are doing today?" She wondered as she tried to carve the eye out.

"I don't know," I ended the video and pulled Alex onto my lap. He babbled and protested, trying to get free again.

"Babe, you can put him down," she said, her eyes still focused on her carving.

"He's going to eat the seeds, Adreanna." I reasoned.