My Life After the Disaster

Chapter Thirty Two

The rest of the day drags on with little talking and a lot of silence, as I didn’t fee; much like talking. We ended up getting pizza for supper so I wouldn’t have to be alone. When the end of the day came, I went to bed with Annabelle and Daniel went to sleep in Annabelle’s parent’s bed.

I climb into the bed while Annabelle does her nightly routine, kissing and hugging Daniel goodnight. I curl up under the blankets and close my eyes, feeling exhausted. This bed us so warm and comfortable that find myself drifting off to sleep. Tomorrow will be a better day.

~Saturday, December 16th, 2023~

I wake up the next morning feeling fresh and ready for a new day. I had a great dream about my beautiful Alexia. I turn in the bed to see that Annabelle is sound asleep beside me. She looks like a beautiful doll, so peaceful and serene, with her little round belly. I reach out and start rubbing her baby bump.

Soon enough her eyes flutter open, and she stares at me, smiling and says, “Good morning, feeling better?”

I smile back at her and say, “Yes. I dreamt of Alexia then I woke up to your little pregnant belly poking me, so I decided to rub it. Do you think you could drive me back home? I don’t want to fly back looking like this.”

She nods her head and says, “Sure, I wouldn’t mind a little road trip. Daniel will insist on driving though so we’ll be taking the truck. Will that be a problem?”

“Could he drive your car?” I ask her, feeling wary of the truck after what happened.

“I can’t see that being a problem. Daniel likes my car. And it’s much better on gas than his truck is. By the way, what time is it?” she asks, noticing the sun coming through the window.

“I’m not really sure. I woke up when it was still dark out. You looked so adorable sleeping, so I didn’t bother to wake you,” I tell her, smiling.

She looks over at the clock on the wall while continue my belly rubbing. I think she looks even more beautiful with this pregnant glow she has going for her. “I guess we should get up and get some breakfast in us. I’m not sure if you’re hungry but I’m starved. I’m constantly hungry with this little munchkin growing inside of me,” she tells me, climbing out of the bed. “I also need to pee something fierce. Another downside to being pregnant.” She walks over to the bedroom door, not bothering to get changed yet and opens it up.

“What’s it like… to be pregnant?” I ask her, getting of the bed, still wrapped in the blanket Annabelle bought for me.

“It’s kind of nice and a bit uncomfortable but I love my little Lauretta. And I can’t wait to meet her. But I still have five months to go,” she tells me, walking across to the bathroom.

I follow her and say, “In what way is it nice?” I walk into the bathroom with her and close the door behind myself.

“It’s just the feeling I get. I like the way it feels when she moves around inside my belly. It’s likes fluttering of a butterfly. But it also feels a little weird at the same time,” she tells me, pulling up her night gown to sit on the toilet.

I walk around the bathroom and walk over to the mirror by the sink. I bring my hand up and touch my face, horrified at how I look. I avoided looking in the mirror all day yesterday. “I couldn’t even imagine how that would feel,” I tell her, turning around to look at her. I’ve seen enough and don’t need to look anymore.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks me, wiping herself. She then pulls up her panties and flushes the toilet.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I look just as horrible as I thought I looked. But it’s okay. It’ll heal,” I say, leaning against the counter. And that is the truth. I just don’t want to look at it cause it’s horrible.

She walks over to the sink and turns the water on, wetting her hands then washes them thoroughly with the hand soap. She grabs her toothbrush and brushes her teeth, after drying off her hands.

“I’m not completely okay. I’m still terrified. I have this voice in the back of my head saying to me, what if he comes back, what if he gets me again, will be kill me next time. Will I be able to survive this. I feel horrible. It hurts everywhere… I have bruises all over my body…” I start crying again, bringing my hands up to her face. Causing the blanket to fall to the floor.

She spits into the sink and washes her face off with water. She then put her toothbrush down on the counter and wraps her arms around me. “I’m so sorry Rose. I wish I could’ve stopped the whole thing from happening. You’ll be okay though. Maybe not today, tomorrow, the day after that or a week from now. But you will get there. You just need to find someone to talk to, likely a therapist of some kind. Someone that specializes in trauma. And I’m always here to talk if you need me,” she tells me, gently rubbing my back.

“Thanks Annabelle. You always know just what to say. Let’s go get some breakfast to feed that baby of yours. Then you can take me home,” I tell her, hugging her in return.

She pulls away from the hug and smiles at me, gently wiping my tears away. “Alright, let’s go downstairs so I can take you back to Alexia. I know she’s probably falling apart over there without you,” she tells me, picking my blanket up off the ground.

I take my blanket and wrap it around myself, half heartily smiling back at her. “I think you’re right. She’s very head strong. When one of my old friends was picking on me at school because of what I went through. I don’t know why she was ever my friend, but when Alexia found out about it, she nearly punched the living s**t out of her. I stopped her though. But that friend doesn’t bother me anymore,” I tell her as we walk out of the bathroom.

“She threatened to beat the s**t out of Andy if he did anything to you. Obviously, she’s not actually going to do that because she can’t. But if she could, I bet you she would,” she tells me as we make our way down the stairs.

I half laugh and say, “That sounds like my Alexia. She’d do anything for me. Even kill a dude… I really miss her.”

We walk into the kitchen to find breakfast was already made. There was a stack of blueberry pancakes on the table and the syrup was right beside it. Annabelle spots Daniel standing over by the sink, making his coffee. “Good morning, Daniel, how did you sleep?” she asks him.

Daniel looks over at the two of us and says, “Not really. It was very lonely and cold. I missed feeling your body next to mine.”

“You’re so pathetic. You can’t seriously have a terrible night’s sleep without Annabelle. I mean how did you sleep before you met her?” I ask, sitting down at the table.

“Not so great, actually. But since being with Annabelle I’ve had amazing sleep,” he tells me, grabbing his coffee to come over to the table.

Annabelle sits down beside me and puts three pancakes onto her plate, dumping a ton of syrup over top of it. “I love sleeping in bed with you Daniel. You always make me feel comfortable and safe. I slept alright with Rose, but it wasn’t quite the same as being with you. Does that make me pathetic Rose?” She asks, cutting her pancakes.

“Not at all. You went through a trauma, so you need that comfort to feel safe and sleep. You were taken from your home. Daniel’s a man and nothing has ever happened to him,” I tell her, placing a pancake on my plate.

“That’s sexist Rose. And you don’t know what happened to me in my life. I could’ve been r***d by my aunt for five years with no one to help me. Then when I turned to my mother about it, she just called me a liar. I could’ve been hit by a car and had to stay in the hospital for five months at the age of thirteen. I could’ve been beaten every day of my life by my father because he was drunk and didn’t know any better. I lived in fear all my life because of all the s**t that happened to me. I grew up, got stronger and got the heck out of there. So don’t you put me down with your sexiest point of views because it just pisses me off,” Daniel tells me, sounding infuriated.

Annabelle drops her fork and jumps up from the kitchen table, throwing her arms around Daniel. She hugs him tightly and buries her face into his chest. “I had no idea any of that happened to you Daniel. I’m sorry you had to go through that,” she tells him, as she starts to cry.

Daniel returns her hug with his own and says, “It’s okay Annabelle. I’m just all that more grateful that you came into my life.”

She looks back at me and sees that my expression has changed, now looking horrified, she nods her head and sits back down to eat her pancakes.

“I’m sorry Daniel. I really didn’t know. I should never assume that I know anything,” I say as I pick at her pancake.

Daniel sits down at the table beside Annabelle and says, “It’s okay Rose. Just please, keep your sexist remarks to yourself from now on.”

“Oh, Rose doesn’t feel comfortable flying in her condition so we’re going to drive her home. But she’s a bit traumatized by the truck so we’ll have to take my car,” she tells Daniel, shoving some pancake into her mouth.

Daniel runs his hand through his hair, sighing. “I guess we can do that. But I’m driving. I don’t want you behind the wheel for long drives,” he tells her, picking his coffee up to drink it. He then gets up from the table and disappears around the corner without another word.

Annabelle turns her attention to me and says, “I didn’t think you could be so insensitive after going through what you went through yesterday. It wasn’t nice.”

“I know. I feel horrible,” I say, sighing. Then I stick my hand to my face and shake my head.

Julian and Molly come running into the kitchen, looking tired. Molly rubbed her eyes and Julian stifled a yawn.

Daniel walks into the kitchen, walking back over to Annabelle. “Since we’re taking Rose home, I figured I would get these two up out of bed so they could eat something,” he says, sitting back down beside Annabelle.

Molly and Julian sit down at the table, sitting across from us. Molly eyes the pancakes and smiles. She grabs one and starts eating it with nothing on it.

Julian places two pancakes onto his plate and puts a bit of syrup on them, cutting it with his fork. “We’re talking a road trip?” he asks, shoving the pancake into his mouth.

Annabelle looks over at Julian, already half finished her pancakes and says, “Yes. As soon as we’re all finished eating.”

I put my hands down and continue eating my food, not really having much of an appetite now.

We all sit around the table eating breakfast, talking casually.

Annabelle finishes up and pushes away from the table. She picks up her syrup covered plate and rinse it off in the sink.

I bring my plate over to her and so does Daniel. Soon enough Julian and Molly finish too. Annabelle puts all the plates into the dish washer then start it up. “If anyone needs to use the bathroom I suggest, you do it now, before we leave.

Julian and Molly run to the bathroom then I go to the bathroom, quickly doing my business.

Everyone comes back from the bathroom. We put on our jackets on and grab our stuff then we head out the door. Annabelle hands her keys to Daniel and runs back inside. A few minutes later she comes back outside with a change of clothes on. She locks the door behind her and heads to the garage.