The ride from North Burlington to Rochester was rather silent. Felicia sat with her hands at ten and two, focusing on the road in front of her. Gia sat comfortably reading in the back seat as Erica, slept soundly next to her. Looking back, her little pink lips were slightly pursed as the sun rinsed over her porcelain sleeping face. I'd wondered what she'd been dreaming about. By how peaceful her demeanor remained, I could tell she'd been dreaming of only pleasantries. It was almost an unspoken agreement that we wouldn't talk about what happened back there. It was never to be spoken of.

"It's so quiet." Felicia sighed. I looked back to Gia who peered up from her book.

"What are you reading?" Looking up to me, she slid her glasses up to her face as they slid down to her nose.

"The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." She answered.

"What book are you on?" She looked so sophisticated with her small pair of black, thick rimmed glasses.

"I just started, so I'm half way through the first book." I nodded as she continued reading. Felicia reached over and pushed the button to turn on the radio. Some weird gospel station was turned to a medium volume. She remembered that we were passing Interstate lines and that the stations wouldn't remain the same. With a few more pushes of the forward button, she found a "Classic" Alt. station. Nowadays, "Classic" was considered anything before '94. The radio had a very harsh way of making me feel old. I smiled as she began to softly mimic Liam Gallagher's voice to "Don't Go Away" by Oasis.
How ironic, I thought.


Finally, we entered the town of Rochester. There was a large emerald green sign that sat on the side of the road. "Welcome to Rochester", it greeted as we drove passed.

"How far is the house from here?" Gia put her book down and looked out of the window.

"Not far. About a mile." Felicia turned down a street.

"These houses are huge!" Erica's excited voice piped up. Turning the corner once more, Felicia proudly parked the truck in front of a gray stone, Victorian single. With stain glass windows, a wrap-around porch, and a big lawn. This was our new home.

"Is this it?" Gia stared in amazement.

"Wow!" Erica put her hands up to the window.

"This is home." Felicia smiled to me as I smiled back at her. Resting my hand on hers.

I got out of the car and went around to open Felicia's door. She opened Gia's door as I took Erica out of her booster seat.

"Daddy, it's beautiful!" She mesmerized as I held her on my hip. I looked back and saw both trucks behind one another. The parked in the driveway as Felicia fished for the keys on her chain.

"Ready?" She walked up to the front door anxiously. Putting the key in place and turning it clockwise. She opened the large door to a huge living room with dark cherry wood floors, newly waxed so the shined. The wooden staircase that spiraled and led to the four bedrooms on the second floor was large enough to move awkwardly-sized furniture to the second floor. The dining room had a set of huge pocket doors painted white.. The ceilings were definitely higer and the large crystal chandelier that hung from it proudly, was a sign of a new beginning.

"This is...breathtaking!" Gia stood in the center of the floor with her arms spread outward. Taking in our home. I put Erica down as she did the same.

"So do you love it, or what?" Felicia came over and placed her head on my shoulder.

"It's awesome" They rejoiced. They hugged us and thanked us.

"C'mon, Lady Bug! Let's go check out our rooms!" Gia took her hand as they raced up the steps. Felicia and I turned to smile at each other.

"This feels so right." She whispered. I nodded agreeing with her, truthfully. For the first time in my life, I hadn't walked into a house and sensed an apparition, first thing. This did feel right. "How do you feel?" She surveyed my eyes which had been surveying the whole house.

"There's nothing here." I whispered. She smiled and our lips collided softly. Soft as always, were her pink lips. I wrapped my arms around her as she deepened the kiss. She pulled away and rested her head on my chest, below my shoulder.

"I love you." She whispered

"I love you too." I moved her bangs back, kissing her on her forehead. The door was still left open when Felicia's father entered with the first box. He smiled at us still in our embrace. We separated when she ran up to him and engulfed him in a hug. He put the box down and wrapped his arms around her.

"So what do you think, Daddy?" She smiled. Twirling around with her arms out in the air.

"It's beautiful! I'm so proud of you guys." He resembled Daniel more than ever now. He was only forty-one, but his head was shaved so he had hair but not much of it. He shared the same natural tan complexion that Felicia had. His eyes were a darker brown with a large nose.

"Thanks!" He came over to hug me. He was one of the caring men I've ever met. I was happy she had someone stable in her life to go to when I wasn't of help. He was always there, for anyone he loved, no matter what.

"Thank you!" He sincerely meant it. I smiled at him.

"Pop-pop!" Erica ran down the stairs hastily. He smiled up at her, arms wide open to catch her speeding figure.

"Lady Bug!" He greets Picking her up and hugging her tightly. Giving her a kiss on the cheek she wraps his arms around him, tightly. "How do you like your new house?"

"It's HUGE!" She exasperated. Gia appeared at the foot of the stairs and he noticed her. Giving her a warm hug and a kiss. They ventured their way into the kitchen and out to the backyard. We sighed looking to each other again.

"We should start getting everything out of the truck." She took hold of my fingers leading me out of the front doors.

"I almost forgot!" I laughed. Honestly, I had forgotten.

Felicia raced down the porch steps. Her long ponytail bounced with vigor as she hit every step. Her long tan arms draped carelessly by her side, partially erect with small goosebumps. The cool November air brushed passed her as she was unaffected. Her faded yellow, classic Transformers tee wrinkled at the short sleeves. She made her way to the end of the driveway to grab a box from Mikey who had been in the cab of the moving truck.

"You got it, sis?" He bent down handing her a medium-sized cardboard box. In frilly type it read 'Gia's Room'.

"Yep!" She smiled grabbing the box and handed it to me with a wide smirk. I headed back inside the house, up the stairs, down the hall and opened the third door on the left. Putting the box down, I approached Gia's bedroom window seeing her, Erica and Felicia's father playing in the backyard. I smiled to myself. Going back downstairs, to the front door and down the driveway. I approached Felicia who had been chatting with Mikey about something irrelevant.

I was slowly taking everything in. For a long time, in such a while, everything had been going so right. Not counting the small incident that occurred earlier that day. It was just, everyone seemed so happy. Felicia's smile never looked so bright, those days. The sight of her giggling softly and biting her lip was one that only came when she was truly delighted or amused, to say the least. It wasn't that she refused to be happy, she just had a hard time expressing happiness without something unfortunate happening after. Daniel's death still had a hold on her, but she was really trying to move through it at a comfortable pace.
I went down the staircase, and out of the door seeing Felicia and Mikey interact. I stood there for a while, my arm draped comfortably around her waist, her head lie slightly on my chest. They were having a heated debate about He-Man being homosexual or just a guy who liked to wear really tight clothing.

"He couldn't have been gay! He totally wanted on She-Ra!" Mikey argued passionately.

"She-Ra was his sister, Mikey!" I chuckled loudly. Valid point made! I kissed her forehead lightly as I saw a woman approach us from across the street. She had short red hair and she was about forty-five years-old. She wore a multicolored blouse with black slacks and she bared a pie in hand. She looked as if she was cut-out of one of those catalogs with the overly garish Christmas sweaters. She approached us with a wild grin as we giggled at the end of the driveway, hardly noticing her. I snapped my head around to fully get a glance at her.

"Hi!" She had somewhat of a southern drawl. "I'm Arlene Tiller! I heard you guys are new to the neighborhood!" She greeted us with her wide smile that never faltered. Holding the pie in one hand, she lent her hand to shake. I took it and shook it gently. I hesitated to speak. I thought it a little random that she came prepared with a pie.

"Gerard," I shook her hand feeling the odd tension sail through my body "My wife, Felicia and-"

"Felicia Way? You're Daniel DiPansio's sister!" Interrupting me, she exasperates. Felicia shook her head slightly as I saw her smile fade. She lent her small hand to shake.

"Yeah. That's me." She faked a laugh as Arlene gave her the 'I'm really sorry for your loss, but I don't want to rehash any emotional memories' gesture with her face.

"My son David was in his Platoon. He says he was such a fine boy." I looked down at her who had been frazzled the whole time.

"Yeah, he was." She finished quickly. "I'm gonna go see what the kids are doing." She started back to the house as Gia and Erica came bouncing out of the doors. She paused in her footsteps, taking a heavy sigh and bending down to Erica. Gia met my side.

"Oh! And who is this pretty young lady?" Gia smiled up at her.

"This is Gia," And as if on cue, Felicia stood by my side with Erica on her hip.

"And I'm Lady Bug!" She put her small hand out proudly. Arlene laughed nervously.

"Lady Bug, huh?" She paused, thinking that it was her real name. "Well, that's a unique name." She finished nervously.

"Her name's Erica, but her nickname's Lady Bug." Felicia corrected. Arlene made a soft sigh of relief.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Sometimes these kids these days have children and name them the craziest things! By the way, how old are they?"

"Well, Gia's eight and Lady Bug's six."

"Well, isn't that pleasant! My David's the only child. At the time I had him, one of him was enough!" She laughed loudly. Apparently, thinking her joke was funnier than it rally was. It was something odd about her that didn't sit well with me. She seemed nice, don't get me wrong, and I wasn't judging her straight off of the bat. But something was off about her. She was one of those people that thought they could say anything they wanted and be right, all the time. I could almost feel it coming...

"I know your mother must be so proud," We looked to one another briefly. Felicia makes a delayed sigh, rolling her eyes to the side. Her vocal chords trembled slightly. She raised one eyebrow. "Is she still..." She, without hesitation, runs her thumb and index finger across her lips to indicate a zipper. I could feel her tremble slightly with anger, beside me. Her whole body tensed up and her eyes grew narrow. Right then I knew, every assumption I had made about her was absolute. She should have stayed in her home, drew up the shades and flip us off the entire time we proceeded to move-in; displeasing us in advance.

We stood there in the most awkward silence ever created. It enveloped everyone standing out there. Felicia puts Erica down. I could feel the rage emanating off of her body.

"As a matter of fact, yes, she's out of her fucking mind and hopped up on meds," She hissed as poisonous adjectives flicked from the surface of her tongue. The woman clutched her make-believe pearls as she gasped. "Beg my pardon, fucking idiot!" She finishes, tutting off back inside of the house. Arlene turned around and did the same as Mikey jumped out of the truck. Felicia tore away from me and stormed off through the foyer, and up the stairs.

"I'll start taking some of these boxes in. You go calm her down." Without a protest, I followed right behind her. She was never this much of a hot-head. It usually took a while for her to blow her gasket. I think it was all pent up aggression from everything she's been through. Mrs. Tiller had been way out of line even bringing up Felicia's mother.

We made our way up to our empty bedroom. She stormed in pacing around folding her arms across her chest. I slowly shut the door behind us. She ran her stressed fingers through her long, black tresses. I wrapped my arms around her as her body relaxed in my embrace.

"Baby," I rubbed her back reassuringly. Letting her know that I was in her corner. I'd always be there.

"Don't 'baby' me like I've done something wrong." Her light brown, doe eyes peered up to me. I could see that she felt down on her luck.

"I'm not, and I don't feel like you've done anything wrong," She sighed against my chest as she temporarily shut her eyes. "She was way out of line; and if you ask me, I'm sure the world wouldn't suffer if she didn't speak for a few years," She laughed a little. "Just can't let them fuck with you. You can't let them push your buttons." She nodded her head against my chest slowly.

"It just seems like..." I felt a moist spot where her head rest on my chest. "Like every time I try to be happy something just comes to shit on my parade infinitely." She tore away from me and sat on the floor. Her back sat up against the wall as her knees rose to her chest. Her long hair covered her face as a tear made its way down. I sat right next to her, holding her hand.

"Is it because I abandoned my mother? Is it because I had two children before getting married? It's like I can never fucking win, Gee!" Her sorrowful eyes looked to me for help. I knew I couldn't do anything literally but I couldn't let her give up, she'd come too far.

"You didn't do anything wrong. We didn't do anything wrong, okay." Her upper torso collapsed itself onto my lap. I sat there stroking her hair. "I can't promise you that things'll get better but what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. We have two amazing children and a family, that's got a few screws loose, but their good for us. You can't let them see you fly off the handle so quickly. They just get pleasure from it." A thoughtful silence passed through the huge room. She sat up sighing and pushing her hair up into a high ponytail. Her bangs sat perfectly in place across her forehead. She smiled up at me as though I found the right words to say. Her big, brown eyes shined with the light that left them moments ago.

"Thanks, Gee." She gave me a tight hug. My thumb found her cheeks and wiped the remaining tears away.

"I love you, Felicia."

"I love you too, Gee." I looked to the large bay window that sat across from us. Alarmed to see a small boy, maybe five or six years, dark brown hair shaped his innocent, round face. I recognized the light behind his eyes. It hadn't dimmed from the time I first met him. His demeanor conveyed worry, as if he was afraid to be noticed by me. I smiled letting him know that it was okay. He smiled back at me nearing Felicia.

"Danny..." I whispered. Her head shot up and looked all around the room. I grabbed her fingers and stuck them out for him to touch. "Do you feel that?" He laced his fingers within hers and smiled even wider.

"Feels so cold. What does he look like?" He looked at me to tell her.

"He's about five." She shut her eyes imagining him in her mind.

"Blue Spider Man shirt, khaki shorts, Spider Man sneakers that light up on the bottom." She whispered. She had just described everything he wore. "With those doe-y brown eyes we share and that dark brown hair that hung around his ears." It was the memory that she kept of him. Her fondest memory of him was what he looked like as an apparition. Something like a manifestation in physical form.

"Amazing." She opened her eyes and like smoke in clouds, he disappeared.

Closure.


A few hours after, we were done moving everything in. We hadn't unpacked yet but the beds and dressers were put into place in every room. Felicia was waiting for the next day to unpack everything of Daniel's and decorate his room. I really thought she had a sense of closure feeling his presence in our room earlier that day.

I stood in front of the window in Gia's room again. Shutting the window as the forceful November winds tore through her curtains. She was curled up in her comforter snuggly waiting to be tucked in. I lied down next to her on top of her thick blanket. She was still so young to me. Even if she read novels and spoke like she was eight going on twenty-four, she was still my little girl.


"So how do you like your new room, Gigi?" I pushed a dark lock behind her ear. Her beautiful green eyes illuminated, and all in the world was peaceful.

"I love it, Daddy! It's huge, I have a walk-in closet and there's enough room for a Wurlitzer piano in here!" She smiled suggestively.

"We're glad you're pleased, Gigi. But we'll have to see about that piano." She laughed.

"At least I tried."

"That you did, and it was a great try!" She laughed for a moment then her demeanor turned to worry. "What's bothering you?"

"Daddy...What happened with Lady Bug this morning?" I wasn't expecting her to ask. I sighed. Her eyes displayed pure fear in actually knowing.

"Gia, it's a little complicated to explain right now. But I can promise you that whatever it was, it didn't follow us."

"How do you know?" Her big green eyes were glazed over in worry.

"I just do." She smiled.

"Well I trust you." She gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you." I wasn't sure what she was thanking me for but I accepted generously.

"I love you, Gigi." I gave her a kiss on the forehead and tucked her in.

"Love you too, Daddy." Her head lie comfortably on her pillow.

"Night, baby." I left hearing her murmur a small goodnight. I shut her door three-quarters of the way. Returning to our bedroom and retiring to the bathroom mirror. I scrutinized every detail on my face.

My thick, midnight-color hair grew over my ears, down my neck, the front was almost passed my eyebrows at this point and was almost curled. My eyes, a hazel green, almond shaped. Shaped with thick eyebrows that arched less than midway. Then I thought what I would look like with fire-engine red hair...Nah.

I turned away before I became dissatisfied. Sliding the frosted glass doors to the left and turning on the hot faucet. I let the water run until it was almost scolding until I added cold water and sat adjusting it. I stripped out of my clothing, sliding the doors back, I turned on the shower and walked in. Whilst washing my hair, I heard the door shut softly, and then footsteps. Cloth was being bustled around as I grabbed the soap from dish in the caddy. The doors slid open to reveal a totally nude Felicia. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around my neck and began to kiss me softly. Her pouted pink lips felt like two moist pillows. I held her close to me, the fingers on my left hand trailing down the arch of her back. She paused looking to me.

"How'd you like dinner?" Her head lie comfortably on my chest. Her body was completely relaxed as the water cascaded down our bodies.

"Dinner was amazing! I'd been craving baked ziti for weeks!" She laughed.

"I'm happy I could satisfy that for you."

"Mhm. Among other things..." She shook her head, rolling her eyes and trying to hold back a laugh.

"Gee?" That had been her name for me. She'd only call me Gerard when she was peeved.

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to tell you something for a few days now..." My heart speed slowed down as anxiety set in. I was really curious as to what it was. She wasn't looking me in the eyes when she spoke, this made me nervous.

"What's that?" She took my hand from around her hip and placed it on her stomach.

"I'm pregnant." She smiled against my skin.


Surprise!

Notes

Sorry for the filler chapter, guys! I promise, next chapter will be much more eventful! Thanks again to all of my Subscribers. Trying my best to update Cash Machine and Near Morning as soon as I can. I also have a Killjoy Story to upload as well!

(:
-Kourt.