{A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages! There hasn't been much time to update with all the holiday festivities, but I'm trying my hardest to write as much as possible. Where I live, the new school year is starting, so I might go back to posting only once a week. Thanks again for reading, voting and commenting!}
Grace's POV
Our journey home is quick, and we are all shortly seated in the living room. My mom is on the couch, with Sophie by her side and Charlotte on her lap, whilst I make her a cup of tea.
"What do you think of our poster?" I catch segments of Sophie's conversation with my mom from the kitchen, where I remove the teabag from the cup.
"It's so beautiful! I love it. Thank you very much!" My mom kisses both girls on the forehead and admires the poster.
"Here's your tea." I announce as I cautiously enter the room with a teacup, filled to the brim, on a saucer.
"Thanks, Grace." My mom nods her head in appreciation, when I hand her the cup and sit down on the couch.
"Be careful! It's very hot." Charlotte warns my mom, and we exchange humoured looks, whilst the little girl observes the cup.
"Girls, why don't you go play quietly in your room for a bit?" My mom offers, once she's had a sip of the piping hot beverage.
"Alright. Come on, Charlie. Let's go." Sophie slips off of the couch and holds her hand out for her little sister, who promptly takes hold of it and is led to the room.
My mother and I sit in silence for a moment, neither one of us wanting to have to start the conversation about my current, emotionally tiring situation with Chester. I fiddle awkwardly with my hands, avoiding eye contact, in attempt to delay discussing the ordeal.
"Grace, what is going on?" My mom places her cup on the edge of the coffee table and folds her hands on her lap.
"Well, it is what it is. Chester and I are getting divorced." I almost feel winded as I say the words.
"I know that, but why? He's such a good guy." She sounds shocked and wounded, just as I feel.
"He-" I bite my lip as hard as I can to prevent any tears. "He cheated on me, I think."
"You think?" The skepticism is evident in her voice.
"He was wasted and spent the night at his ex's place. What else am I supposed to think happened?" I wring my wrists with my fingers. The sadness is now being replaced with the same anger I felt on the morning that Chester came home.
"Alright. Is there anything else?" Her hand hovers over my knee, about to comfort me, but retracts when she realises it might make me even more uncomfortable.
"It's just not working anymore. We fight all the time, and I always feel like I'm the only one who's responsible for the consequences." I admit, still looking down at my feet.
"What about the girls? What've you told them about this?" She asks.
"I told them that we don't think it's good for our family for the two of us to be married." I remember telling them in the hotel room in Disneyland.
"Don't you think this is all a little unfair for them? I mean, I understand if you want to get a divorce, but they need to see their dad too." My mom informs me.
"It's unfair for them? What about me? Don't you think it hurts to know that he betrayed me? Or to fight with him in front of my kids?" I can't force my tears back any longer, and they spill freely down my cheeks.
"Oh, Gracie." My mom shifts over to me and pulls my head over onto her shoulder, where my cries are muffled. "I know it's unfair. Divorces suck."
Everything is silent for a while, as I sit in my mom's arms like a little girl.
"I know this is difficult, but I think you need to tell Chester to come over this evening. Not to reconcile, or talk or anything. Just so that he can put the girls to bed. It's important that things stay the same for them." She strokes my hair soothingly.
"Do I have to?" I look up at my mom and she nods. "I'll text him."
Chester's POV
I arrive at Taryn's house and knock on the front door. She opens it almost immediately, as if she was waiting for me on the other side.
"Hey Chester." She beams.
"Hi." My tone is flat, as I am trying to make it clear that I am not here for social purposes.
Taryn moves aside and opens the door, allowing me to move inside. I follow her to the living room, where we sit opposite each other in armchairs. Tension is evident in the lack of conversation between us.
"So, why am I here?" I repress a sigh, because although I am not interested in maintaining a friendship, nor any relation with Taryn, I take pride in being kind to everyone I am with.
"To be honest, I didn't call you here to talk about what I said I was concerned about. I wanted to talk about-" She pauses. "That night."
"The night that ruined my marriage?" I raise an eyebrow and she looks at me guiltily in response.
"I don't get you. I mean, you were so drunk and you were alone with me, but no matter what I did, you weren't interested in me." She stares at me with desperate eyes. "Am I repulsive to you? Unattractive? What's wrong with me?"
"Nothing's wrong with you, I'm just not in love with you anymore. Whatever we had, or whatever we were, is something of the past." I announce to Taryn, who now moves her gaze to her hands on her lap.
She remains silent.
"I need you to understand that you can't keep contacting me. I have kids, and I had an amazing marriage, which you still haven't apologised for meddling in." I feel more confident and able to say what I want, when I think of the pain this whole situation with Taryn has caused to Grace and I.
Taryn stays silent, when my phone buzzes in my pocket and I step out of the conversation to check it. My heart leaps with joy and fear when I notice it's from Grace. I open it rapidly, reading her request for me to put the girls to bed.
"Chester, I'm sorry. I can't say that I didn't mean to cause some kind of conflict, but I never meant for things to be this serious." She chokes on her words. "I wish I could fix this, somehow."
"Taryn, I accept your apology, but I guess there's just not much more I can do to fix the damage I've caused to my relationship with Grace." I sigh, as my eyes well up with tears. "Look, I've gotta go. Thank you for apologising."
I get up from the armchair and walk out of the room and out the front door, almost jogging to get into my car and see my daughters. Words can't describe how much I miss them.
YOU ARE READING
Consequences - Grester
Fanfiction{Continuation of What If-Grester, my previous fanfiction} "With every extreme action, comes an extreme consequence." Grace and Chester's two young daughters, Sophie and Charlotte, are caught in a world of adult conflict, grief, troubles and relation...
