*ATTENTION!!!* READ GANGSTA LOVIN', THEN IF YOU LOVE ME, THEN THIS ONE. THIS IS A TRILOGY, SO PLEASE READ IN ORDER!!!!
When things get rough will you give up? Or will you fight?
Things for Michael and Semaj have not always been smooth sailing...
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*** And our love goes round and round Way up high, a joy ride We can touch the stars above We found love And our love was heaven sent From the day we first met We've got something they can't touch We found love
***
Michael looked over at his wife sitting on the couch, staring off into space. Her hands were playing restlessly with the hem of the black skirt she wore.
She looked so small and vulnerable where she sat, and her young age didn't make it any better. At just 20 years old she'd experienced something every woman wanting to bear, or having beared, a child feared; losing their own.
Finally, her blank eyes moved in his direction and his heart broke at the pain that was locked inside of them. She quickly looked away, pushing her hair behind her ear, right as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see his father standing right beside him.
"It's gonna be alright," he said, comforting him the best way he knew how but it was hard.
What did you say to a person when they'd just buried their child?
Michael swallowed and nodded his head. He glanced at Semaj one more time before looking at Joseph and shaking his head. "She didn't cry," he recalled. "She didn't shed one tear."
"It might take a little minute for her to process it. She'll grieve eventually," Joseph replied with much more confidence than intended. "It's going to hit her all at once, so it's gonna be bad, but it'll happen. You'll just have to be there to hold her."
Michael nodded again, making a mental note that he would do just that.
And every day after that he made sure he was within reach if Semaj needed him, but for the rest of the summer she just stayed in the house. Sometimes up in the bedroom and every now and again she would be sitting in the living room watching TV. He'd come home from working with Joseph and she'd give him a small smile. It wasn't much but it was better than the blank stare he had been getting before.
Weeks passed and still no tears had come though he did feel her toss and turn throughout the night.
Then she left a few weeks into August. Convinced them both that going back to school was the best thing for her to do. Coddling wasn't the best thing for him to do and if she was sure then he was okay with it.
"Ima be back next weekend..." He said, grabbing the duffel he'd packed his clothes in. He turned to the door to go to the cab that waited outside for him after the end of her stay. He wanted to send her off to school and also spend a few days alone with her. "Are you sure about this?"
Over time her smile had brightened but those eyes... those eyes had remained the same. "I'm going to be fine. I'll see you next week."
He nodded, and they exchanged a kiss that lingered for a few seconds longer than it had for the past couple months before he pulled back. He gave her one last look before walking out the front door that lead into the on-campus apartment that she shared with her roommates who had yet to return from summer break.
