Post by Lluvia/Zara/Jamie/Others on Aug 13, 2022 20:48:23 GMT -8
August 8th, 2022
Isabella Salvatore was lulled into a trance as she sat in the passenger seat of the van that she and Matt owned. He had told her that he would drive…he didn’t want her to with what she was dealing with. She sighed as she glanced back at her son and their twins…no, not her son, their children. Chris Jr. had fallen asleep back to sleep with ease while she could hear the gentle babbling that came from her sweet little Tristan. She had assumed that Raven had fallen back asleep given that only one of their 10-month-old babies could be heard making noise. The brunette-haired woman sighed gently, sadly before she returned her gaze out of the window. She felt a rough hand take her soft one in it ever so gently. Bella knew that Matt had heard her; they were so in tune with each other that she wasn’t surprised when his thumb began running ever so gently over the palm of her hand to try and soothe her breaking heart. The radio was playing softly in the background, a new “classic” country station that had come on the air. Her eyes snapped shut as memories from her childhood began racing through her mind.
“Isabella, dear, come and meet your new pony!” A young Isabella Luna, no more than maybe 7 years of age, heard her ‘mother’ calling out to her from inside the corral they had on their land. They lived in Tennesee but they had money…usually, whatever she asked for, she ended up with. When she had spied some ponies, and of course, she had said she wanted one just like any little girl would. However, she knew that her parents would have nothing to do with teaching her to ride the animal…they would just be there to present her with it then leave her care to their butler/keeper, Alexander and his wife, who was also Bella’s nanny/caretaker, Marisol. They were the parents that her own weren’t and she was the darling daughter that Marisol had so badly wanted but was unable to have. They treated her like their daughter more than her parents did, but she didn’t mind it…she preferred the two of them over her parents as it was.
Alexander had sent her to change into some pants in order to keep her nice clothes clean for later. She didn’t have any of her own gear yet, but she knew it had been ordered and was coming. As a pony, the horse was already quite a bit bigger than Bella was, something that frightened her, but Marisol comforted her as she was aided in her climb onto the saddle, making sure to hold tight. Before she knew it, Isabella had fallen off of the house numerous times, so many that she had lost count. But they encouraged her to get right back on, knowing that she never would otherwise. By the time dinner was ready, she was a mess of dirt and yuck, but the tears had long since ceased in staining her dirty face.
“You’re doing so well, Isabella! We knew you would do amazing!” Isabella looked over at the married couple that was cheering for her, smiling at them. She and her pony were older, both still young, but old enough to know that life enjoyed kicking them when they were down. She had found out about being adopted while Gray Feather had battled a tendon injury in his back leg…thankfully it was something that he was able to heal from. As they were rounding a curve, Gray Feather saw something that startled her and caused her to rear, sending Bella tumbling to the ground. While the tumbles were rare now, they still happened. But unlike when they were younger, Feather was more trained and didn’t leave where she was standing while Isabella got back to her feet after a few moments.
Marisol had gasped when poor Bella had fallen and started making her way to her to make sure she wasn’t hurt, but Alexander had stopped her knowing that Bella would let them know if something was seriously wrong. There was a fire in the young woman’s eye when she got to her feet, brushing her jeans and purple/black plaid shirt off before getting ahold of Feather’s reigns, sliding a foot in the stirrup to hoist her back up and the other leg over. Not a tear rolled down her face like they had when she was young. Sure she was sore from the impact now, but she knew that she had to get back on and keep riding. While she didn’t know it at the time, Alexander was preparing her for the rough life that was ahead of her. And if they had only known what she was going to endure, they would have prepared her so much more in any way that they could.
“Here we go again…” Bella sighed as she looked at the clock on her cellphone, seeing that it was well after midnight and also making note of the lack of messages. She pushed herself off of her couch, a dejected look on her face over him not being home yet, turning off the living room lights as she left the room. She had gotten away from her abusive ex just to fall in love with someone that was turning out toxic for her as well. After getting into wrestling and finding her biological brother, all she wanted was to have a house and kids…well more kids. She had Lluvia, of course, but she had always wanted more than one child. Isabella knew what her other half was up to; she wasn’t stupid and he didn’t exactly try to hide anything from her. It broke her heart into a million pieces, one little piece at a time, but she would never let him know it.
Bella had tried going to sleep, Lord knows that she had tried, but when he came stumbling in after 2 in the morning, smelling like her perfume, she knew there was no way it was happening. He hadn’t bothered showing the smell of her and the beer off of him before getting into their bed next to her. Her stomach churned with each growing second that she remained in the bed, thankful she didn’t have to fend off any advances from him. At least there was that benefit of the situation because she just didn’t have the strength or energy to do it, not at night at least. She used it all during the day to keep Lluv from knowing anything was wrong, from letting her little girl’s world shatter from knowing how the man that had adopted her really was. But each night, Bella vowed that she would leave one day though she didn’t know when. She had been raised to bite back at life’s hard lessons, to continue on no matter how broken she felt. It was something that she thanked Alexander and Marisol for every day of her life.
The tears threatened to spill after she knew he was asleep and she thought about what Alexander and Marisol would think of her situation. Every time they spoke, she never told them what she was going through. She didn’t want them to worry…she didn’t want them to be disappointed in her for staying in the situation. She wasn’t sure how long she remained in the bed next to him…minutes, maybe even hours, but Isabella couldn’t stay in it. She threw the blanket off of her and found herself returning to the living room where she had already spent so much of her night. She pushed her hands against her eyes, trying to keep the tears from falling as she took shaky breaths. There was no chance that she would take the risk of him seeing her like that, of giving him the satisfaction of knowing that he had caused her to end up that way.
For years, she allowed herself to be toyed with like a yo-yo. Always thinking that she had finally found someone that wanted to settle down for good only to have them leave her for no reason. When it happened again a few years after her oldest son was born, that was when she finally had more than enough. She had let Lluvia see her be treated that way, something she regretted with each passing day, but she wasn’t going to allow another child to live through that. Another round of late nights, someone else’s perfume, and she was just done. She changed the locks to the house while he was away for work…filed for divorce and custody. She was finally living the way she had been raised…to fight back and get back on for the ride no matter what. The wear and tear over the years had definitely done a number on her heart and soul, but allowing it to continue any longer was just simply out of the question.
But it hurt…God did it hurt…she felt shattered, betrayed beyond belief. But no one would know how she felt on the inside other than Marisol. She had called her like she did every day, and as hard as Bella fought to keep it in, she couldn’t. The motherly figure that had been in her life since the day she had been adopted (which was when she was only a few days old) was there for her, told her that she would heal…reminded her of how strong she was, of who she truly was. She was a respected Cherokee Chieftan’s daughter, after all, even if her biological parents were gone as well. Oh the elation that Alexander and Marisol had so long ago when she told them about her biological parents…they were almost as happy as she was to have found her family, but she had always assured them that they could never be replaced in her life by anyone, not that they had ever worried about their places in her life. But Marisol helped her heal her soul to where she didn’t have to put on a facade in front of people to make them think she was alright, and Alexander helped her heal the physical pain. He reminded her of all the injuries she had gotten as a young child while she and Gray Feather were growing and learning together. He reminded her of how she battled through the pain, through the injuries, and came back stronger than ever…both as a child and in her wrestling career.
Oh and then she met Matt…a monster too some, maybe, but to her, he was simply her love, her life. They made each other whole again, and the millions of little cracks that had been in her heart from her past seemed to meld together as if they had never been formed in the first place. They would reference Black Widow getting through to The Hulk often because that’s who they were…he could be a monster when needed, something that had been seen not long after they initially started dating and was known way before they came into the other's life, but she could always seem to bring him back to her and their families. They brought out the best in each other, helped each other with the worst, and he helped her realize that she didn’t have to handle the pains, the hard lessons, of life alone like she had done for so long. She had found her forever, truthfully and sincerely her forever, finally. Marisol and Alexander had been their witnesses when they had married, the older couple had been there not long after Bella had given birth to Tristan and Raven…they had been there for everything important in her life.
Alexander had gotten sick when the twins were about 6 months old…a couple of weeks before is when Bella got the original call. There wasn’t anything the doctors could do for him…it had spread too much, it was too far advanced. A year or less to live…the man that had basically raised her in place of her actual father, the one who had taught her the most important lesson in life, started becoming frail and weak, something he had never been in her life. Since then, she had been visiting more than she ever had, sometimes alone, sometimes with the kids, and sometimes the whole family, but the worse he got, the more she started feeling bad about having that version of him potentially being the last memory of him that Chris Jr. had. That wasn’t what she wanted for their son…she wanted him to remember the man as strong, healthy…able to start teaching him some of the lessons that he had taught her.
The call came from Mariso around 4am…Bella knew that the older woman didn’t sleep much as Alexander continued to decline. She had answered the phone sleepily, but as soon as she heard Marisol’s trembling voice she woke right up…her sudden departure from the bed waking Matt up in the process. Her husband watched her leave the room in a hurry, probably not realizing that he had woken up already. She was followed into the kitchen, carefully at first until he saw her knees buckle…it didn’t take him but a second to reach her and keep her from the floor at that point. He had helped her to a chair, inadvertently listening in on the phone conversation and hearing Marisol’s shaky voice for himself. Without a word, he immediately began rubbing the small of Bella’s back, trying to comfort her as he heard, “It’s going to be today, Bell…I-I know you’ll try to get here. He, uh, he was asking for you…knew I had to call you ju-just in case.” Bella barely remembered that she nodded, didn’t remember Matt’s gentle shoulder squeeze that made her find her voice, albeit much quieter and softer than normal. “However you can…put him on the phone, Mari….please.”
When her own voice cracked was when Matt placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head, holding her as close as he could without disrupting the call. He heard Marisol gently tell Alexander that Isabella was on the phone and heard a gentle rustling before a frail, male voice said hello. “Hey Alex…I’ll, I’ll see you soon, I promise. Just…try to hang on, pl-please.” “Don’t cry, Isabella…remember what I taught you, sweet child. We knew this day was coming soon. You were always the daughter we wanted but couldn’t have…you made us grandparents…thank you. You grew into such a strong, beautiful woman.” A quiet sob escaped Bella’s lips as she listened to Alexander cough. She knew he didn’t talk much anymore, knew that he was in pain constantly, and it killed her knowing that the last energy he had, he was using to talk to her instead of spending it on Marisol.
“Listen to me, Isabella. You are strong for yourself and your children, and that is all I ever wanted for you. I wanted you to be happy, find true love, have a family, but most of all, I wanted you to be able to rely on your strength alone when needed. I hoped you wouldn’t ever need to but knew you needed to be able to. Remember that…remember that I love you, sweet Isabella.” As she listened to him, the tears steadily rained down her face, no desire left in Bella to try and keep Alexander’s gift in mind. Once upon a time, it would have annoyed her to continuously be called Isabella, Alexander had been the only one to ever do it other than her adoptive parents when they bothered interacting with her, but he had never once had a desire to call her by anything else…calling her name fitting for such a spiritual child and young woman. The softness in Alexander’s voice felt and sounded so wrong to Bella…so wrong that it made her physically hurt. But the biggest was hearing Marisol start weeping…then she knew. She didn’t need to woman to get back on the phone, she didn’t need verbal confirmation…Marisol’s sobs were enough to tell her that Alexander was gone. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything else and felt Matt take her phone from her, saying a quiet goodbye and reassurance they’d be there as soon as possible to Marisol for her.
Bella’s phone was placed beside her before her husband silently wrapped her in his arms, her face buried in his chest. She wanted to scream, yell, something but no sound would come from her. Despite the ache in her heart, her tears had slowed and dried but Matt hadn’t released her. He knew…as quiet as Alexander’s voice had been, he had heard the reminder of the strength he had helped Bella build. She had learned never to let another see her break, and while she had let him in, there were times that those old lessons were pushed to the front of her mind despite knowing in her heart that she didn’t have to fight the hard times alone anymore. She didn’t know how long he held her, and quite frankly, she didn’t care…she was too numb, too broken to care at the time. Eventually, he had to let her go…they all needed bags for a few days and the kids needed to be woken up so they could get on the road. Only when Bella knew her husband had left the room did her tears start freely flowing again, as silent as possible.
Isabella Salvatore was lulled into a trance as she sat in the passenger seat of the van that she and Matt owned. He had told her that he would drive…he didn’t want her to with what she was dealing with. She sighed as she glanced back at her son and their twins…no, not her son, their children. Chris Jr. had fallen asleep back to sleep with ease while she could hear the gentle babbling that came from her sweet little Tristan. She had assumed that Raven had fallen back asleep given that only one of their 10-month-old babies could be heard making noise. The brunette-haired woman sighed gently, sadly before she returned her gaze out of the window. She felt a rough hand take her soft one in it ever so gently. Bella knew that Matt had heard her; they were so in tune with each other that she wasn’t surprised when his thumb began running ever so gently over the palm of her hand to try and soothe her breaking heart. The radio was playing softly in the background, a new “classic” country station that had come on the air. Her eyes snapped shut as memories from her childhood began racing through her mind.
Her daddy gave her first pony
Then told her to ride
She climbed high in that saddle
Fell I don't know how many times
Taught her a lesson that she learned
Maybe a little too well
“Isabella, dear, come and meet your new pony!” A young Isabella Luna, no more than maybe 7 years of age, heard her ‘mother’ calling out to her from inside the corral they had on their land. They lived in Tennesee but they had money…usually, whatever she asked for, she ended up with. When she had spied some ponies, and of course, she had said she wanted one just like any little girl would. However, she knew that her parents would have nothing to do with teaching her to ride the animal…they would just be there to present her with it then leave her care to their butler/keeper, Alexander and his wife, who was also Bella’s nanny/caretaker, Marisol. They were the parents that her own weren’t and she was the darling daughter that Marisol had so badly wanted but was unable to have. They treated her like their daughter more than her parents did, but she didn’t mind it…she preferred the two of them over her parents as it was.
Alexander had sent her to change into some pants in order to keep her nice clothes clean for later. She didn’t have any of her own gear yet, but she knew it had been ordered and was coming. As a pony, the horse was already quite a bit bigger than Bella was, something that frightened her, but Marisol comforted her as she was aided in her climb onto the saddle, making sure to hold tight. Before she knew it, Isabella had fallen off of the house numerous times, so many that she had lost count. But they encouraged her to get right back on, knowing that she never would otherwise. By the time dinner was ready, she was a mess of dirt and yuck, but the tears had long since ceased in staining her dirty face.
Cowgirls don't cry
Ride, baby, ride
Lessons in life are going to show you in time
Soon enough your gonna know why
It's gonna hurt every now and then
If you fall get back on again
Cowgirls don't cry
“You’re doing so well, Isabella! We knew you would do amazing!” Isabella looked over at the married couple that was cheering for her, smiling at them. She and her pony were older, both still young, but old enough to know that life enjoyed kicking them when they were down. She had found out about being adopted while Gray Feather had battled a tendon injury in his back leg…thankfully it was something that he was able to heal from. As they were rounding a curve, Gray Feather saw something that startled her and caused her to rear, sending Bella tumbling to the ground. While the tumbles were rare now, they still happened. But unlike when they were younger, Feather was more trained and didn’t leave where she was standing while Isabella got back to her feet after a few moments.
Marisol had gasped when poor Bella had fallen and started making her way to her to make sure she wasn’t hurt, but Alexander had stopped her knowing that Bella would let them know if something was seriously wrong. There was a fire in the young woman’s eye when she got to her feet, brushing her jeans and purple/black plaid shirt off before getting ahold of Feather’s reigns, sliding a foot in the stirrup to hoist her back up and the other leg over. Not a tear rolled down her face like they had when she was young. Sure she was sore from the impact now, but she knew that she had to get back on and keep riding. While she didn’t know it at the time, Alexander was preparing her for the rough life that was ahead of her. And if they had only known what she was going to endure, they would have prepared her so much more in any way that they could.
She grew up
She got married
Never was quite right
She wanted a house, a home and babies
He started coming home late at night
She didn't let him see it break her heart
She didn't let him see her fall apart
“Here we go again…” Bella sighed as she looked at the clock on her cellphone, seeing that it was well after midnight and also making note of the lack of messages. She pushed herself off of her couch, a dejected look on her face over him not being home yet, turning off the living room lights as she left the room. She had gotten away from her abusive ex just to fall in love with someone that was turning out toxic for her as well. After getting into wrestling and finding her biological brother, all she wanted was to have a house and kids…well more kids. She had Lluvia, of course, but she had always wanted more than one child. Isabella knew what her other half was up to; she wasn’t stupid and he didn’t exactly try to hide anything from her. It broke her heart into a million pieces, one little piece at a time, but she would never let him know it.
Bella had tried going to sleep, Lord knows that she had tried, but when he came stumbling in after 2 in the morning, smelling like her perfume, she knew there was no way it was happening. He hadn’t bothered showing the smell of her and the beer off of him before getting into their bed next to her. Her stomach churned with each growing second that she remained in the bed, thankful she didn’t have to fend off any advances from him. At least there was that benefit of the situation because she just didn’t have the strength or energy to do it, not at night at least. She used it all during the day to keep Lluv from knowing anything was wrong, from letting her little girl’s world shatter from knowing how the man that had adopted her really was. But each night, Bella vowed that she would leave one day though she didn’t know when. She had been raised to bite back at life’s hard lessons, to continue on no matter how broken she felt. It was something that she thanked Alexander and Marisol for every day of her life.
The tears threatened to spill after she knew he was asleep and she thought about what Alexander and Marisol would think of her situation. Every time they spoke, she never told them what she was going through. She didn’t want them to worry…she didn’t want them to be disappointed in her for staying in the situation. She wasn’t sure how long she remained in the bed next to him…minutes, maybe even hours, but Isabella couldn’t stay in it. She threw the blanket off of her and found herself returning to the living room where she had already spent so much of her night. She pushed her hands against her eyes, trying to keep the tears from falling as she took shaky breaths. There was no chance that she would take the risk of him seeing her like that, of giving him the satisfaction of knowing that he had caused her to end up that way.
'Cause cowgirls don't cry
Ride, baby, ride
Lessons in life are going to show you in time
Soon enough your gonna know why
It's gonna hurt every now and then
If you fall get back on again
Cowgirls don't cry
For years, she allowed herself to be toyed with like a yo-yo. Always thinking that she had finally found someone that wanted to settle down for good only to have them leave her for no reason. When it happened again a few years after her oldest son was born, that was when she finally had more than enough. She had let Lluvia see her be treated that way, something she regretted with each passing day, but she wasn’t going to allow another child to live through that. Another round of late nights, someone else’s perfume, and she was just done. She changed the locks to the house while he was away for work…filed for divorce and custody. She was finally living the way she had been raised…to fight back and get back on for the ride no matter what. The wear and tear over the years had definitely done a number on her heart and soul, but allowing it to continue any longer was just simply out of the question.
But it hurt…God did it hurt…she felt shattered, betrayed beyond belief. But no one would know how she felt on the inside other than Marisol. She had called her like she did every day, and as hard as Bella fought to keep it in, she couldn’t. The motherly figure that had been in her life since the day she had been adopted (which was when she was only a few days old) was there for her, told her that she would heal…reminded her of how strong she was, of who she truly was. She was a respected Cherokee Chieftan’s daughter, after all, even if her biological parents were gone as well. Oh the elation that Alexander and Marisol had so long ago when she told them about her biological parents…they were almost as happy as she was to have found her family, but she had always assured them that they could never be replaced in her life by anyone, not that they had ever worried about their places in her life. But Marisol helped her heal her soul to where she didn’t have to put on a facade in front of people to make them think she was alright, and Alexander helped her heal the physical pain. He reminded her of all the injuries she had gotten as a young child while she and Gray Feather were growing and learning together. He reminded her of how she battled through the pain, through the injuries, and came back stronger than ever…both as a child and in her wrestling career.
Oh and then she met Matt…a monster too some, maybe, but to her, he was simply her love, her life. They made each other whole again, and the millions of little cracks that had been in her heart from her past seemed to meld together as if they had never been formed in the first place. They would reference Black Widow getting through to The Hulk often because that’s who they were…he could be a monster when needed, something that had been seen not long after they initially started dating and was known way before they came into the other's life, but she could always seem to bring him back to her and their families. They brought out the best in each other, helped each other with the worst, and he helped her realize that she didn’t have to handle the pains, the hard lessons, of life alone like she had done for so long. She had found her forever, truthfully and sincerely her forever, finally. Marisol and Alexander had been their witnesses when they had married, the older couple had been there not long after Bella had given birth to Tristan and Raven…they had been there for everything important in her life.
Phone rang early one morning
Her momma's voice, she'd been crying
Said it's your daddy, you need to come home
This is it, I think he's dying
She laid the phone down by his head
The last words that he said
Alexander had gotten sick when the twins were about 6 months old…a couple of weeks before is when Bella got the original call. There wasn’t anything the doctors could do for him…it had spread too much, it was too far advanced. A year or less to live…the man that had basically raised her in place of her actual father, the one who had taught her the most important lesson in life, started becoming frail and weak, something he had never been in her life. Since then, she had been visiting more than she ever had, sometimes alone, sometimes with the kids, and sometimes the whole family, but the worse he got, the more she started feeling bad about having that version of him potentially being the last memory of him that Chris Jr. had. That wasn’t what she wanted for their son…she wanted him to remember the man as strong, healthy…able to start teaching him some of the lessons that he had taught her.
The call came from Mariso around 4am…Bella knew that the older woman didn’t sleep much as Alexander continued to decline. She had answered the phone sleepily, but as soon as she heard Marisol’s trembling voice she woke right up…her sudden departure from the bed waking Matt up in the process. Her husband watched her leave the room in a hurry, probably not realizing that he had woken up already. She was followed into the kitchen, carefully at first until he saw her knees buckle…it didn’t take him but a second to reach her and keep her from the floor at that point. He had helped her to a chair, inadvertently listening in on the phone conversation and hearing Marisol’s shaky voice for himself. Without a word, he immediately began rubbing the small of Bella’s back, trying to comfort her as he heard, “It’s going to be today, Bell…I-I know you’ll try to get here. He, uh, he was asking for you…knew I had to call you ju-just in case.” Bella barely remembered that she nodded, didn’t remember Matt’s gentle shoulder squeeze that made her find her voice, albeit much quieter and softer than normal. “However you can…put him on the phone, Mari….please.”
When her own voice cracked was when Matt placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head, holding her as close as he could without disrupting the call. He heard Marisol gently tell Alexander that Isabella was on the phone and heard a gentle rustling before a frail, male voice said hello. “Hey Alex…I’ll, I’ll see you soon, I promise. Just…try to hang on, pl-please.” “Don’t cry, Isabella…remember what I taught you, sweet child. We knew this day was coming soon. You were always the daughter we wanted but couldn’t have…you made us grandparents…thank you. You grew into such a strong, beautiful woman.” A quiet sob escaped Bella’s lips as she listened to Alexander cough. She knew he didn’t talk much anymore, knew that he was in pain constantly, and it killed her knowing that the last energy he had, he was using to talk to her instead of spending it on Marisol.
Cowgirl don't cry
Ride, baby, ride
Lessons in life show us all in time
Too soon God lets you know why
If you fall get right back on
Good Lord calls everybody home
Cowgirl don't cry
“Listen to me, Isabella. You are strong for yourself and your children, and that is all I ever wanted for you. I wanted you to be happy, find true love, have a family, but most of all, I wanted you to be able to rely on your strength alone when needed. I hoped you wouldn’t ever need to but knew you needed to be able to. Remember that…remember that I love you, sweet Isabella.” As she listened to him, the tears steadily rained down her face, no desire left in Bella to try and keep Alexander’s gift in mind. Once upon a time, it would have annoyed her to continuously be called Isabella, Alexander had been the only one to ever do it other than her adoptive parents when they bothered interacting with her, but he had never once had a desire to call her by anything else…calling her name fitting for such a spiritual child and young woman. The softness in Alexander’s voice felt and sounded so wrong to Bella…so wrong that it made her physically hurt. But the biggest was hearing Marisol start weeping…then she knew. She didn’t need to woman to get back on the phone, she didn’t need verbal confirmation…Marisol’s sobs were enough to tell her that Alexander was gone. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything else and felt Matt take her phone from her, saying a quiet goodbye and reassurance they’d be there as soon as possible to Marisol for her.
Bella’s phone was placed beside her before her husband silently wrapped her in his arms, her face buried in his chest. She wanted to scream, yell, something but no sound would come from her. Despite the ache in her heart, her tears had slowed and dried but Matt hadn’t released her. He knew…as quiet as Alexander’s voice had been, he had heard the reminder of the strength he had helped Bella build. She had learned never to let another see her break, and while she had let him in, there were times that those old lessons were pushed to the front of her mind despite knowing in her heart that she didn’t have to fight the hard times alone anymore. She didn’t know how long he held her, and quite frankly, she didn’t care…she was too numb, too broken to care at the time. Eventually, he had to let her go…they all needed bags for a few days and the kids needed to be woken up so they could get on the road. Only when Bella knew her husband had left the room did her tears start freely flowing again, as silent as possible.
