"Mom do you have to go with Dad?"
"Yeah, this is something I must do together with your father."
"Mom, I don't want you to go."
"Oh C'mon now Angel, I'll only be gone just for the weekend. You will be staying with my sister and you will get to spend time with your cousins and have fun as well."
"Aunt stella wouldn't tell me bedtime stories, or kiss me goodnight and all those stuffs we do together."
"I know my love. Remember what I taught you, distance yourself from people once in a while, and they will value you more."
"Does it mean you value daddy more than me, because he is always away."
"Is this the interview section now? I love and value you both very much. Let's get you tucked in for bed."
"Mommy which story will you be telling me tonight?"
"Let's see, have you heard of snow white and the seven dwarfs?"
There I sat in my daughters bed in the dead silence of the night, telling her stories to make her go to sleep. In her arms was her favorite barbie doll out of the 20+ dolls that decorated her pink room. On the walls were portraits from when she was a baby, and some which she sketched by herself. Her passion for art was cute, strangely she had no picture of her dad in her room.
The drive to the cabin was quiet, My husband Jack has never been the talking type. It always seems like he is calculating his next ten moves beyond those grey hairs of his. The car drove through the hill country, with an old record of Rasta-Joe playing in the radio. We drove pass more trees than humans and vehicles.
Family Is Everything
That was the sign mounted in front of the driveway that led to the four hectres of land owned My husband and his brothers. In this massive land was just three cabins, and without His brothers around, that's a lot of space for just two people. Nevertheless, I always enjoyed the peace and quiet, and of cause you could scream at each other without anybody hearing your voice.
"Here we are. Never gets old." Jack said as he stepped down from the car.
It was almost night when we got to the cabin, you could hear the sounds of night owls and wolves howling from time to time. Here used to be a great hunting spot when the Houstons were still in good terms. Security wasn't an issue because the house security system was top notch, fingerprint, alarm and all.
"Jack will you have dinner?"
"I'm fine honey, I'll take my shower and call it in for the night."
I stayed awake a couple hours, made myself coffee and sat in the kitchen watching some YouTube videos. Outside the house, the clouds were rumbling like there was going to be a storm. I heard the sound of a door creak.
"Jack did you lock all the doors?"
I got no reply, so I decided to check all the doors. Front door, kitchen door were all locked, but then the back door was slightly open. 'How could Jack forget to lock the backdoors' I said to myself as I locked up the doors and confirmed that the alarms were set. I decided to get some sleep and prepare for the big day tomorrow.
For some reasons I couldn't sleep. I kept hearing voices in my head, was hard to tell if I was dreaming or not. I forced my eyes open and noticed that Jack wasn't by myside. The large clock that hung next to the Tv indicated 1am. I got up from bed and went in search of Jack.
"Jack!" I echoed his name as I made my way to the kitchen then to the parlor.
"Oh My God Jack, What is going on here."
"Mrs houston, nice of you to Join us."
"Who are you and what are you doing in our house?"
"Honey just sit down" Jack said to me from the corner of the parlor where he was tied to a chair.
"Jack are you okay, did they hurt you?"
"Mrs houston, I think you need to listen to your husband and sit down." The intruder with a masked face said.
I reluctantly sat on a chair next to my husband.
"Take whatever you want. Don't hurt my wife please."
"It is Irritating how people think they can solve everything with money and riches. Not today sir, today you will pay by doing the right thing."
The intruder opened the door, and two masked men carrying a box walked in.
"Now I believe today is your anniversary, permit me to be the first to present you with a gift."
They placed the box on the center table and uncovered it to reveal a cake with our names on it.
"You see where I come from, it is improper to celebrate such anniversaries with lies and deceit. Therefore I think we should play a game."
He walked towards me, bringing out a gun from his waist. I screamed as loud as I could.
"Please don't kill me. Somebody please help me!"
"Mrs houston, screaming wouldn't do you any good. We both know that nobody can hear you out here."
"What are you doing psycho. Kill me and leave my wife."
"We will get to you Romeo. Now Mrs houston, I have a simple question for you, and I'll give you two trials to get the answer right. If you get it wrong twice, I'd have to shoot you, so think carefully before you answer."
"Mrs Houston, have you in any way been unfaithful to your husband?"
'No. I'll never cheat on Jack."
I heard the gun click, my heart stopped. I touched myself, I was still alive.
"Last chance Mrs Houston. Before we continue, you might want to know that I have two videos of infidelity with me, I guess we will find out who they belong to soon enough."
He cocked the gun again pointing it to my head.
"Honestly I would never cheat on my husband, I mean there is a guy at work that's always flirting with me. But we flirt as colleagues that's all, I always remind him that I'm married."
I spoke really fast with my heart beating faster with every word and stammering all through.
The intruder gave out a loud laugh.
"It seems Mrs houston here has always been faithful after all. Your turn now Mr houston. Same question, two chances."
He walked over to Jack pointing the gun to his head.
"You are crazy Man, I'm not cheating on my wife."
"You might want to be really careful with your next answer." The intruder said.
"There is this girl, but it's all over now. I was going to tell my wife today."
"I'm glad you finally admit to being unfaithful, but your answer wasn't entirely correct."
I heard the sound of gun shot go off. I couldn't stand the sight so I closed my eyes. The shots kept going off, then there was a Loud scream;
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!
I opened my eyes and realized that the sounds where bottles of champagne being popped and fireworks outside the house.
"What is going on here?" I asked in confusion.
"Did you see the look on your faces." My sister laughed as she removed the mask she was wearing.
The whole family was in on this, my siblings, Jack's siblings. In a couple minutes, the house was filled up with our relatives and we had a loud party. That day might have been the scariest days of life, but after that day my husband turned a new leave, or more like blossomed into a new flower.
DoubleWorld To The Multiverse🌀🌀