The Little Decisions Series (Jai Courtney)

Fall to Pieces

"Honey, are you out here?" Jai called through the darkness, the air was chilled and he didn't recall seeing her in a sweat shirt or even long sleeves.

Shivering in the breeze, Jai made a noise that sounded something like a horse and a wounded elephant, fuck it because he didn't care. Another shiver ran through his body, in a heavy hoodie and sweat pants, surely if she were out here she'd be freezing.

"Roo? Come on, Roo!" Jai called into the dimly lit yard. "Honest to god, I swear th..." He paused when a hint of light caught his peripheral vision. The garage light was on and the small side door swung open. Being the last person in the garage, Jai knew that it had been left dark and all doors were shut tight.

His stride ate the grass as his slipper clad feet marched toward the large out building, silently cursing the situation at hand. Was there ever a moment in this family, where somebody wasn't throwing a tantrum or somebody wasn't pissed off by another person's life choices?

"Babe?" He poked his head inside the garage, relief washing over him, seeing his wife sitting in Denzi's big green wagon with a heavy sweater pulled up around her chin.

"What?" She snapped not bothering to look away from her feet. So that's where his high tops had gone.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright." Jai answered, lowering himself to sit on a kid sized skateboard. The same one that he'd demanded be picked up three days ago, the middle of the garage work space was not where such things belonged.

Grunting, she pulled her knees tighter to her chest.

"Why don't we go back inside, it's freezing out, and we can discuss this. Yeah?" Jai tried to coax her.

Everything had been a roller coaster this week, this evening was no exception, frankly Jai was tired and not in the best state to referee this right now.

"I can't do this," She sighed heavily. Her emotions difficult to read with the blank expression she wore. Her eyes were fixed on her feet and her body still. Jai wanted to fix all of this, to say some magic word and have it all erased.

They hadn't prepared for this, their own misjudgment, and it had been proving more difficult than either one had expected. Inside they had a house full of family, waiting for and no doubt gossiping about the husband and wife. Everything about this had been a risk and they had willingly accepted that, knowing that their actions were their own and in some ways there would be a consequence.

This consequence was beyond something neither had predicted.

Earlier in the day, while playing hide and seek with her grandson, Karen had taken note of a photo hanging in the master bedroom. A room which was never strictly off limits, providing Denzi followed the specific instructions and rules, giving way for anyone – within reason – to enter. The closet in the master was the perfect place to hide, with the shelves and chaos of clothing. Tucked behind a big suitcase, Denzi would be impossible to find. Or hidden under the king sized bed, his faithful Dorito laying on the floor beside him in waiting.

The photo in question was in no way professional, nor was it of the best quality, but they hadn't cared when Jai had taken it to be printed. An assigned witness had managed to capture the photo, via a cell phone, of a happy man kissing his bride. From an objective point, the photo was nothing more than the couple embraced in a sweet moment. From a mother's point, the small details gave it a different story.

"I knew we should have just left that photo in the closet," She grumbled inspecting her finely manicured, sparkly nails.

"Oh come on, Roo," Jai scoffed. "It's the only fucking wedding photo we have. I'm not hiding it in the damn closet, besides how were we to know my mum would see it?"