Chapter 165 #165

Chapter 165 #165
Chapter 165
~Shailyn~

I was sitting on the bed when my mind slipped back to last night. From one news to another. 

We've been working with Mr.  Dante Belmar, as part of his continued rehabilitation programme. As part of that process, our clinical team has reviewed his progress and deemed it necessary for a facilitated closure session to take place. We believe it would be beneficial. For him. And for you.

I hadn't said anything for a few seconds.

We understand this is a significant ask, Mrs. Belmar. There is absolutely no obligation. But if you're open to it, we'd like to schedule a time for you to come in.

I'd told them I would think about it. I gave them nothing else.

Then I'd gone back inside and watched my best friend dance with her new husband and tried very hard to be present.

Dwayne came in from the bathroom and stopped when he saw my face.

"What's wrong?"

I looked at him. There was no point pretending. He could read me better than anyone, and trying to hide something from him at this point in our marriage felt like a waste of both our time.

"The rehab called," I said.

He sat down beside me slowly. "When?"

"Tonight. During the reception. I stepped out for a minute."

"They said their clinical team has been reviewing Dante's progress." I kept my voice even. "They've decided it would be beneficial for me to come in. For a facilitated closure session. For both of us apparently."

The silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable. It was just Dwayne processing, which he did quietly and thoroughly.

"What do you think?" he finally asked.

I let out a slow breath. "I think I don't know what I think."

"That's fair."

"I spent so long trying to get away from everything connected to him. The case. The trial. The whole nightmare of it." I looked at the wall across from us. "And I thought I had. I thought we were past it."

"We are past it."

"Then why does one phone call make me feel like I'm standing right back in the middle of it? I mean we just left one issue."

Dwayne didn't try to answer that immediately. He reached over and took my hand instead.

"What did you actually want to ask me?" he said.

I turned to look at him. He was watching me with that particular expression he had when he already knew what was coming and was just waiting for me to get there.

"What do you think I should do?" I asked.

He held my gaze for a moment. Then, without hesitation "Go."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. Go, and you will know that you never have to step foot there again." He squeezed my hand. 

"It's not that simple."

"I know it's not simple. I'm not saying it's simple." His voice was calm.

"And if it's hard?"

"That is not a big deal, you'll come home and I'll be here."

I looked at him for a long moment.

"You're very calm about this."

"I trust you," he said simply. "And I want you to have peace. Actual peace. Not just the part where you don't think about it unless something reminds you." He brought my hand up briefly. "Anything for your peace. Always."

Something loosened in my chest.

I leaned into him and he shifted to make room, arm coming around me like it belonged there, which it did.

"Okay," I said quietly.

"Okay."

"I'll call them back tomorrow."

"Good."

We sat like that for a while.  Just the faint sound of the baby monitor on the nightstand.

"Thank you," I said.

"For what?"

"For not making it weird. For not being, I don't know. Strange about it."

"Why would I be strange about it?"

"Some people would be."

"I'm not some people. I am your husband." He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. "Now go to sleep. You're growing a human and you were on your feet for hours."

"Go to sleep, Shailyn."

I did.

\---

He didn't bring it up again the next morning.

I woke up to the sound of the girls being fed in the kitchen, and Dwayne had clearly been up for a while because there was coffee ready, the twins were already in their high chairs, and he had that expression he got when he had a plan.

"Get dressed," he said when I appeared in the doorway.

"Good morning to you too."

"Good morning. Get dressed. Something comfortable. We're going out."

I looked at the twins, who were enthusiastically destroying their scrambled eggs. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Dwayne."

"You'll see," he said again, unbothered.

\---

The Elly Ice Cream Factory was about forty minutes outside the city. 

Lily pressed her entire face against the glass.

"Mama," she said. "Mama, look."

"I see it, baby."

"Mama.

"I can see it, Lily."

Lucy was in Dwayne's arms.

A staff member in a blue apron gave us a brief tour, how the flavors were developed, what went into each batch, the temperature of the mixing process, the difference between gelato and regular ice cream.

Then they sat us at a long wooden table in the tasting room and brought out small dishes. Six flavors.

Lily tasted the strawberry and her expression was one of pure, full joy.

"More," she said.

"More please," I corrected.

"More please."

They brought her more.

Lucy worked her way through the vanilla with great seriousness, occasionally looking at Dwayne as if checking that he was also noting how good this was.

"You good?" Dwayne asked, spooning salted caramel into a small cone.

"More than good." I looked around the room. Families at other tables. The soft sounds of the production floor in the background. Lily already reaching for the chocolate. "How did you know about this place?"

"Luke mentioned it months ago. Said Hannah had been wanting to come." He passed me the cone. "Try this one."

I took it. "Did you call ahead?"

"I booked it last night. After you fell asleep."

I looked at him.

"You had a lot on your mind," he said simply. "I figured you needed a day that didn't feel heavy."

"So you booked an ice cream factory."

"I booked an ice cream factory."

I laughed. Actually laughed, the kind that came up without warning. "You're something else, you know that?"

"You tell me regularly."

"I mean it as a compliment."

"I know you do."

I leaned across the table and kissed him quickly, which made Lily look up from her chocolate and looked interested. Trying to make a kissing face.

"That's right, how could I leave out my princesses?" Dwayne said.

And then pecked their forehead.

We stayed for almost two hours. I tried every flavor. Bought two tubs to take home, dark chocolate for Dwayne, banana for me, and a small container of strawberry that Lily had grabbed.

On the way back to the car, Lily walked between us, holding one hand each.

Lucy was on Dwayne's hip, chewing the corner of a napkin she'd somehow acquired.

"Don't eat that," Dwayne told her.

She continued eating it.

"Lucy."

She looked at him. Did not stop eating the napkin.

"She's your daughter," I said.

"She's your daughter when she does things like that."

"That is not how genetics works."

I strapped Lily into her car seat and she was asleep before we'd even left the car park. Lucy followed ten minutes later.

Dwayne found my hand on the center console.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said honestly. "Better."

He turned the radio on low.

We drove home.