Little Shelby Girl

Part 19. Noose prints

Vive's POV

The sun penetrates through the curtains and causes me to wake up from a, finally peaceful sleep. When I look besides me I see Tommy already left. I look around his room, still a little disoriented from the sleep. Then I remember again... all the trouble from this morning. The good thing is that I don't feel sick anymore and I feel like I have back a bit of my strength.

I rub my eyes as I sit up in his bed. What shall I do now. I go out of Tommy's bed and make my way to my own room where my clothes are. While I'm getting dressed I hear high heels crossing around the kitchen downstairs. Must be Polly.

I take my boots to the bathroom and clean them both. Right now, I have one mission and that's to check on Arthur and apologize. Now I can think more clearly I'm even more embarrassed about my reaction last night. I won't be like my mother anymore, nor my father, from now on I will be like my brothers and that means I'm going to be a strong Shelby just like them.

I put on my shoes and go downstairs. The kitchen door is open and to my surprise I see Ada sitting on the table. She's drinking a cup of tea and as soon as she sees me she stands up from her chair.

When I see her standing up I'm in shock, she's huge, but in a really, really beautiful way. It's so weird to see her like this. She almost looks like a complete different person from the last time I saw her.

"Hey" is all I can bring out as I walk up to her.

"Hey Vive, god it's been a long time." She says while giving me a hug. I can't help but feel very awkward right now. I can't get my eyes off her belly too.

"What'd ya think eh?" she says while rubbing over her shirt with both hands.

"You look... different, beautiful" I respond, giving her a smile. It's getting so real now, the fact that there's going to be a new family member very soon.

"Come, have a seat." She says, pointing to the chair next to hers.

Then Polly walks into the kitchen straight up to me, pulling me into a hug with both arms while letting out a deep sigh.

"God, Vive. You scared me. Tommy told me everything about yesterday. You okay?"

I look at her in confusing. "Am I okay?"

"I'm not the one who got beat up... I'm fine."

She nods. "I know about Arthur, but I also know about you" giving me a look and pointing her finger in my face.

I feel myself already turning red again. I feel embarrassed and especially now Ada is here.

"I'm fine." I say, trying to close the topic.

"Are you staying here Ada?" I ask.

"For now" she responds, turning her gaze to the table again.

"Freddy needed to go out of town for a while, and since I'm close to my due date, I'd rather not be alone at the house.." As she says it, I hear a sad undertone.

"So, he won't be here when the baby comes?" I conclude.

She lets out a small sigh. "Probably not." giving me a fake smile. I can see she's hurt and although I don't have that much empathy for Ada in general, I feel bad for her right now. She doesn't deserve to be alone and what does 'out of town' means? That he just left? What can be more important than being with Ada right now?

There's an awkward silence in the kitchen, which makes me remember what I wanted to do in the first place. Go to Arthur. The clock in the kitchen says it's 4 p.m. I didn't expected it to be this late, so I have no time to lose.