Married Life

Chapter 25: Something wasn't right

The walk home was quiet. A little too quiet. Branch looked over at Poppy as she was focused on making her way home. It wasn't like her to be quiet for this long. Finding the courage to speak up, he asked her

"Hey.. You're not mad at me for taking forever.. right..?" She could hear how upset he was getting in his tone as she looked upward at him.

"Oh, no no no! Not at all! It's okay. I'm sorry if it's about me being quiet that you'd ask that. I'm just ready to go home. I'm pretty beat."

The teal troll sighed in relief as he closed his eyes, the both of them continuing to walk. You could feel the warmth of the bunker as they got closer and closer. Poppy stretched and laid on her side of the bed. Peppy walked over and observed his daughter.

"You doing okay Poppy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just really tired. If you two want you can have dinner without me. I'm gonna rest a bit if that's okay." The former king's eyes widened. She never refuses a meal. Especially if Branch was cooking. Maybe her headache was coming back?

In reality, with all the thoughts swarming in her head, she knew that soon that headache would be back. Let's try and catch a few z's before she wakes up with a sledgehammer.

The orange troll walked over to the teal one as he watched him cook. What he was making included some mixed herbs that he had gathered and some pepper pieces that the bergen's had kindly given to them. Peppy cleared his throat.

"So, how has Poppy been? I haven't seen her since early yesterday and I certainly saw how much she drank."

Branch chuckled as he remembered the night before.

"She had a bit of a migraine, and after some medicine, rest, and steam, she got some relief. But I think it's worn off, since she was really quiet on the way home."

"I guess so. I noticed she was already in bed."

Raising an eyebrow, he walked over to their room and peaked inside. Only to find his wife drifting off to sleep. That was kinda odd. However, he didn't disturb her, since he knew she needed to rest.

     "So it definitely worn off.. I hope she's alright.." Peppy placed a hand on his son-in-law's shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile.

     "I'm sure she'll be. She's a tough cookie."

     Even with Peppy's reassurance, Branch couldn't help but worry. It just, wasn't like her to be totally silent. She typically likes to talk her lungs out on a usual day, and protest when she was sick. Something wasn't right.

     Dinner was quick and quiet without Poppy at the table. Branch slouched as Peppy told him he was off to go home. After he left, Branch sat in the same spot for an hour, with the occasional pacing session in front of the chair. The teal troll was thinking of many things that could be going through her mind. Most of them didn't make sense though. Party, food, glitter, party, dance, party, sing.. the list could go on.

     With hours of contemplating, he decided it was time to head to bed. He could hear the pink troll tossing and turning from the other end of the hall. Eventually getting into the room, he realized she was beginning to swear the more she tossed around. Her eyes were closed shut and Branch began to panic. Picking her up, he back to shake her and call out her name.

     "Poppy?? Poppy?? Wake up!"

     With a gasp, the pink troll's eyes shot open, and the first thing she saw was the absolute terror on her husband's face.

     "Are you alright??" Branch asked, extremely worried.

     Poppy's headache slammed her as she rubbed her head.

     "Yeah.. I'm fine.. Sorry, I was having this really bad dream.."

     "About?"

     "About... the Bergen's..."

     "The bergen's? We made peace with them. Why would you be frightened by them?"

     Poppy shrugged and sighed. She just lied to her husband. Luckily for her, she could keep her act together for hours.

     "I just.. I dunno.. All I saw was us and chef and.. we almost died.." Branch's eyes grew soft as he wrapped his arms around her. Giving her a kiss on the forehead, he spoke.

     "I will never let you get in harm's way.." laying her down in bed wrapped in each other's embrace, the two eventually drifted off to sleep. Unsure what tomorrow had to bring to them.