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Post by Kelli-wa on Jul 3, 2011 1:21:17 GMT -5
Gracie shook her head at his question, "Not until after lunch," she stated. "The twins will have to eat in another couple hours. I've cleaned every room in the house already, minus vacuuming. I didn't want the girls to wake up. It makes too much noise..." She sighed. Their house hadn't been lived in long enough to have enough distractions to keep her mind away from Avery for too long. Even when she was taking care of the girls all she could see in their little faces was Avery. His silver eyes, staring up at her from either one of her daughters. "So what sounds good. Mac and Cheese? I know. I'll boil some hot dogs, make Mac and Cheese and a salad..." She bit her lip. "Actually, I do have something that you can do..." She walked to the kitchen and grabbed an envelope. "Will you get the mail and leave this in the mailbox?" It was just a letter that she wrote to Lexington with pictures of the girls. She'd gotten the address from Avery's mother and she wanted him to see his nieces.
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Post by Tiff on Jul 3, 2011 1:39:50 GMT -5
Monte lowered his eyes to the floor and then as she moved away from him, his eyes sprung from the floor to her backside, making his situation worse and a little harder to hide. He stood when she handed him the letter to Lexington, a move that could have and should have exposed him, but miraculously it wasn't obvious enough. "Whatever you fix is fine." He turned for the door and once outside he had to stop himself from belittling the heavens and tearing up the letter to Lexington. He had no reason to resent Lexington, he'd removed himself to Chicago and stayed there year round and as far as Monte was concerned had never held much place in Gracie's heart. He retrieved the mail and tossed Lexington's letter into the mailbox, slammed the door closed and angrily pushed the flag up. He took a second outside to cool his heels before he ventured back into Avery's perfect place.
"There's nothing important, just a flyer from the market." He set the flyer on the counter and remained standing, wondering what he might have done if a letter from Avery had been an occupant of the mailbox. He felt bad, but he was looking for a reaction out of her. Disappointment that Avery hadn't been thoughtful enough to write a letter to her and mail it before he left so she'd have something on one of her hardest day. He didn't really expect her to look disappointed or angry, maybe just sad an emotion he wanted to see least of all.
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jul 3, 2011 10:01:58 GMT -5
The face Gracie had on didn't change when he told her it was only a flier. She just nodded and filled a pan with water, setting it on a hot burner to boil. She let a sigh slide out from under her breath trying to keep herself happy so she didn't make Monte feel any worse. She worked on getting another pot of water boiling and set it right next to the other. Glancing up at Monte she smiled weakly. The baby monitor was silent so she really had nothing to do but wait. She ran a hand through her hair again and shook her head. A tear escaped from her eye but she wiped it away quickly, hoping Monte hadn't spotted it. She wondered what time Tally and Zane would get here, Tally promised to take her out to dinner. It would be later. Much later." Her head was spinning and she looked back to her water which was boiling. She put her noodles in first and started to stir before she moved to the other pan and put the hot dogs in.
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Post by Tiff on Jul 3, 2011 10:38:39 GMT -5
Monte watched her, looking for any emotion, but there was nothing and no words. He remained standing and only looked away when she looked up at him. Cowardly, he knew but there couldn't be much pride when it came to loving his future sister-in-law in a romantic way. He glanced up just as she wiped the tear away, he didn't see the tear but he could draw from past experiences. If Cadence cried for whatever reason in front of them she'd quickly brush the tear away, though her face remained set in the sad expression, Gracie's was in now. Monte wanted to comfort her, hug her and let her know it would be alright, but his words would fall like bricks, because Avery was her comforter. She turned her back to him again to start the pasta and he stepped forward, right behind her. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, but wasn't sure how she'd interpret the hug. He hesitated another second and cautiously put his arms around her shoulders, careful of his hands, he didn't want any accidental breast touching, he couldn't reveal to her how strongly he wanted her, he needed her to find the hug as a friendly gesture and that alone or he might not be allowed back. Her hair smelled sweet, her skin was smooth and warm, and though the hug was meant to make her feel better, it made him feel better. "You're gorgeous today." He found himself smiling, but hadn't realized all his precaution had just been for nothing with his admission.
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jul 3, 2011 12:06:57 GMT -5
His hug seemed to come out of nowhere but she couldn't do anything because, well, it made her feel better. It was supposed to, she supposed, but she didn't think anything of his words, although it was rather odd. She didn't think she looked good at all today. She was without makeup, she'd been crying, she needed to start losing her pregnancy weight and on top of it all, she still felt strange in her lower half, and she was still quite a bit sore. "Thank you," she said quietly, letting her hand lift to rest on his forearm. Her jaw shook a bit as she tried to hold her tears inside. "Monte, I can't force you to stay, but if it makes a difference, please don't go. I don't want you to."
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Post by Tiff on Jul 3, 2011 12:17:49 GMT -5
Monte relaxed, her hand on his arm was even more comforting, he was relieved that she wasn't pushing him away. He didn't know what to say to her, she didn't want him to go, she'd stopped using the pronoun 'we' but he couldn't read anything into it. Her feelings didn't match his for her and he shouldn't even attempt to try to see it that way. He didn't want to release her, but he did, he took a step back and found a chair to plant himself in. "I'm not leaving yet..." He glanced at the table top, that wasn't what she meant and he knew it.
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jul 4, 2011 9:33:46 GMT -5
Gracie sighed as he moved and stirred her macaroni a little, licking her lips before she glanced back toward him. "I know, but... She shook her head lightly again and then sighed. She was obviously going to have to spit out her thoughts to him or he wouldn't understand. "Look, I've lost every stable man in my life. My dad, my brother, Avery..." She shook her head gently. "I know I haven't lost Avery yet, and I know he'll be back, but I feel like he's gone." She put her hand over her mouth, quite shocked that she finally admitted it and she shook her head, moving her palm to her forehead. She didn't say anything else, just waited for him to answer her.
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Post by Tiff on Jul 4, 2011 10:24:15 GMT -5
His head snapped up from the table top and his mouth fell open briefly before he snapped it closed and gave her a good hard look. He was reading into everything and knew he shouldn't. He had no right to do so and deep down he knew she didn't mean it. "Am I a stable man in your life?" He asked, a feeling of great happiness welling in his chest. He stood back up and approached her again, he couldn't help thinking she was beautiful standing there with her hand on her forehead, he put one gentle hand on her upper back and waited. He wanted permission to hold her, maybe even to kiss her again. If she felt like Avery had abandoned her...he didn't know if that meant anything, but her statement felt like something to him.
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jul 4, 2011 22:48:11 GMT -5
Gracie shrugged lightly, "Well, yeah. I mean, before Avery came along, all I had was Martin, but he's gone now and..." She was losing her composure, a sob escaping from behind her mask. She sniffed and shook her head lightly. "And then Avery came and you came with him. I mean, that seems pretty stable to me..." She took a deep breath and shook her head lightly. "I know Avery's coming back, but I can't even function without him here, I mean look at me. I'm a blubbering mess and he's not even been gone one day." She shook her head again and looked down at the ground, letting another sob escape. She'd never cried in front of Monte, not that she remembered, anyway and this wasn't exactly the best time to be doing it. "I just... I can't lose someone else."
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Post by Tiff on Jul 5, 2011 0:21:33 GMT -5
Monte lowered the hand on her shoulder down to her waist and pulled her into his arms. He placed his other hand on the back of her head and slowly threaded his fingers through her head. "Come on Gracie." His lips touched her forehead. "I'm not going to leave you, I'll be here every day if need be, you have a guest bedroom? I'll sleep in there or on the couch or even the floor. I won't leave." Not until Avery comes back at least... "Gracie, you're gorgeous, you're not a mess." He licked his bottom lip and continued a little haphazardly. "I'm his twin..." He offered.
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jul 5, 2011 0:55:22 GMT -5
Gracie didn't know what to do, so she just leaned into him. It felt close enough to Avery for her to feel like it could be him, but she knew it wasn't." She felt herself take in three quick spurts of air. She was still crying as she shook her head slowly. She couldn't understand what was happening or what it meant to Monte. She was only concerned about not losing another brother. He might not understand that, but in her mind he got that they were basically brother and sister. This was alright." She shook her head, "You don't have to stay here 24/7. It's not fair of me to ask that." She shook her head, "But I am a mess. I'm a huge mess. You're being ridiculous." She took in two more short breaths and set her head on his shoulder, trying to calm down.
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Post by Tiff on Jul 5, 2011 1:49:30 GMT -5
Monte ran his fingers through her hair and rested his head on top of hers. "I'd do it willingly." He admitted. "I don't believe I'm being ridiculous, just trying to help and you didn't have to ask I offered." Maybe his offer wasn't as innocent and sincere as she was going to take it, but he wouldn't openly admit that to her, not right now, maybe not ever, unless somewhere down the road she admitted to feelings for him that he desired and that she really only had for Avery. He noticed the water was starting to boil over and moved so he could continue to hold her but also take care of the macaroni. "I'll finish up here if you want to relax.." He didn't want her to leave him, but he also didn't want to trap her.
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jul 5, 2011 13:28:47 GMT -5
Gracie shook her head and pulled away, "No, I'll finish. I need something to keep my mind occupied or I'll go insane." She watched the pots for a second before she got out the things to make her salad. She sighed lightly and poured the contents of the pre-made salad into a bowl. So really she didn't have to do much for that. It was ready then, though. She moved back to the stove and turned off the hot dog burner, moving the pot so it four cool. She did the same with the Macaroni and moved to the sink, getting out her strainer. She got the water out and then put the macaroni in the pot again before mixing in the ingredients.
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Post by Tiff on Jul 5, 2011 14:23:20 GMT -5
Monte licked his lips as she pulled away from him and busied herself with finishing their lunch. He didn't know what to do with himself as she finished. "What do you want me to do?" He asked, finding he had nothing to do while she worked. "Have anymore laundry I can fold?" He'd offer to do the dishes after they ate, but he guessed she wouldn't let him do that either.
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Post by Kelli-wa on Jul 6, 2011 3:54:51 GMT -5
Gracie shook her head lightly. She had nothing for him to do. She'd already cleaned everything that needed to be cleaned. She didn't have any more laundry and she'd finished the daily chores all before he got there. She sighed and shook her head again, in case he didn't see it the first time. She moved the macaroni and cheese to the table and then moved to get the hot dogs out of their water. She put them on a plate and took them to the table, getting all of the things to put on the dogs after. She carried the salad bowl and two different dressings over before she grabbed a couple of plates and forks. "Alright, eat up..."
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