Generation 2, Chapter 17: All alone in the world

They had finally fallen asleep. After hours of trying to get them to just have a five minute nap, they finally closed their eyes when we stooped trying to soothe them.

It had been two years since Amelia and Charlotte were born. Amelia was special enough to inherit her grandmother's eyes, and coupled with Aaron's curly hair, she looked beautiful, even as a baby. I found Charlotte incredibly interesting, seeing as her brown eyes were always searching for something to look at. And with my straight hair, Charlotte looked almost exactly like me.

We wouldn't be having anymore kids, a fact that both Aaron and I were alright with. On our first try at having kids, we received the most gorgeous babies ever imagined. That was enough, in our book.

"Can't believe it's their second birthday already... Time passes too fast," I murmured to Aaron as he wrapped his arms around me.

"It does," Aaron whispered against my cheek. "I still remember the day Janelle came to me and said I'm the father of twins... Everyone laughed at me as I went to a corner and fell down in shock. It was such a big shock."

"Imagine the shock I had when I saw you laying on a bed opposite of me! I didn't know what was wrong with you."

"Sorry, couldn't help it," my husband chuckled lightly, but there was an edge to it. Clearing his throat, I could see he had news. Big news. And possibly not good news. "Listen... Could we perhaps talk, in the living room? There's something important that has come up, and I thought I needed to share it with you."

Nodding slightly, Aaron leaves the room, leaving me with the girls. My hand searches for the switch, and my finger softly leans against it, clicking it down.

"Happy birthday, miei cari," I whispered into the darkness, sparing a moment to look at both of them before I sneak out and shut the door.

"I got an opportunity to tour the world," Aaron threw out just as we took our seats.


"Wh-what?" I drew back, trying to decipher the meaning of his words. 


"I...Well, my uncle Dwayne thinks we might be able to brand out my performances, seeing as I'm gaining popularity around town, and there have been requests that I fly to other countries to perform there. Babe, we're talking about a lot of cash, and with that we can send the girls to the best universities for the best education..."

As Aaron's hand slips down to take my hand, I immediately pushed him away. What he was talking about meant leaving us all at home. Leaving me. Leaving the babies. He would miss their entire childhood, just for the sake that someday they might get into a good school? Hell freaking no.

"Aaron, your uncle is insane," I spat at him.

"Why do you think so?" he slowly backed away from me, his face existing entirely out of a puppy dog face. I wasn't going to fall for that this time.

"You don't know that man like my family does, all the things he's done...," I muttered under my breath, hoping he wouldn't hear. He didn't. "I'm just saying, your uncle doesn't think of the consequences. You're never gonna be at home. I'm gonna have to take care of the girls by myself. Don't get me wrong, I love them with all my heart, but do you know how hard it is taking care of them when you're one bloody person?"

"I won't be going immediately...," he said softly, casting his eyes toward the ground. "There's still the issue of gaining enough capital to be able to tour, so it could be a-"

"-But you'd still be leaving us, Aaron!" I cut him off. "You'd be leaving us to pursue your career, your dreams. I put my career on halt so I can be around you more, create a family and all that. I gave it all up, the tours, the interviews. I could have been freaking famous already, my face plastered on billboards all around the world. But oh no, I kissed it goodbye! Worst mistake of my life."

The conversation was over, and I had put in the last word. Success.

Hopping out of my chair, I marched to our bedroom, tears starting to form in my eyes. Screw him and his fantasies. I didn't need him. I was strong enough to live on my own... Or was I?

Don't freaking second guess yourself, you idiot," I tried to force more confidence into my thoughts. You're a Webber, a Rose, whatever. But you come from a family that's strong. Your mother completed a baby challenge all by herself. That's just proof of how strong we can be.

Just before the door to the master bedroom, there hung a picture, picture of two happy souls, with hardly a care of what's going on in the world. Aaron and I.

"I missed when things were like that," whimpering, my hand reached out to touch the photo. "When things were simple, and we didn't give a damn what happened in our careers. When there was only you and I."

Hours passed as I sat by myself in the bedroom. 4 AM, 5 AM, and finally 6 AM. Three hours I sat contemplating my reaction, contemplating whether or not I was perhaps being the one that was wrong. So I wasn't able to hit the big time in my career. Was I being selfish, denying Aaron the things I could never experience? At least one of us should be living his or her dream.

The door knob turned silently. I knew who it was, obviously. Only one person was tall enough to be able to open a door.

"Listen...," he cleared his throat quietly, "I'm, uh, sorry that I threw that on you like that.  I know now that I'm an ass who considered leaving his family for his own selfish hopes. I'll call my uncle in the morning...uh, excuse me, it's already morning...in a few hours, and tell him the whole deal is off. I don't want you to suffer, babe. I love you too much."

"How long would you be gone if you went on this tour?" looking down at my sneakers, I forced the words out of my mouth a minute after his brave speech.

"Huh?" he blinked, dumbfounded.

"If I let you go on this tour, to let you live your dream... How long will you be away?"

"I, um, uh, maybe...," he stuttered nervously. "Maybe a few months. Six, at the bare minimum."

"Then I can't deny you what you want, Aaron. I can probably cope without your help for that long. I mean, I have Bridget, Cameo, Janelle and Charlie to help out, and if things get any worse, I could always call my parents... I'm just worried about the fact that you'll be missing key moments in their life. When they learn to talk in full sentences, when they start discovering things outside..."

"That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. It might be years before they even start the tour. The agents still have to spread the word, start saving capital, arrange events. You know, the usual kind of crap. So I'm not gonna miss out on their lives too much, Kay-Kay. I'll still be here to help you through the hard times.

The toddler years aren't the only hard times, Aaron, thinking to myself, I shook my head slightly. There's the transition to childhood and then teenage years. Then the issue of them getting boyfriends...

"We'll iron out the details later," I quickly uttered as I heard cries coming from the toddlers' room.

The girls were up and hungry a lot earlier than usual. Maybe they could sense the distress hanging in the air. Maybe they also didn't want their daddy leaving them. Or maybe I was just insane.

"Momma! We want blocks!" Amelia cried as soon as I took her out of her crib. Charlotte soon joined in the chanting.

"Alrighty," I chuckled. "I'll let you play with the blocks today. But as soon as that's done with, we're gonna go back to learning how to talk a lot better, okay?"

As I watched them doodling around with the green blocks, sometimes pausing to bite at it, I started wondering. How long would the peace last? How long would it be till Dwayne rips Aaron away from us?

The answer came eventually, but took a lot longer than all of us had been expecting. Three and a half years. The peace quickly crumbled.

~*~

Charlotte and Amelia were never best friends, like many siblings were at times. In fact, they down right hated each other. And when the time came that Aaron would be leaving home for his tour, thins got even more hostile. Amelia, usually the quiet and introverted one, blew up at her sister, blaming her for everything that went wrong in her life. Charlotte did the exact same.

"It's YOUR fault, YOURS and only YOURS! You argued with daddy last night, and now he's going away," Amelia started the assault on her sister that awful morning.

"Oh yeah? I wasn't the one who spilled red soda all over daddy's favorite shirt and broke some of the photos on the wall of him and mommy. THAT's what put him over the edge! Tell her, mommy! Tell her it's all her fault!" Charlotte bit back, trying to pull me into the fight. They both looked at me with awaiting eyes, hoping that I would take one of their sides. For six and a half year olds, they were freaking hostile towards their parents.

I knew that if I did take a side, the other would hate me. But in this case, they were both wrong.

Before I could even start explaining the situation, Aaron intervened, saving me. "Girls, you're fighting over the silliest things in the world. Daddy is leaving because... Well, I got the opportunity to fly to many other countries and spread the word of how great my family is."

"That's a stupid reason...," Charlotte grumbled to herself. Amelia subsequently punched her on the arm. "HEY! Daddy, look what she just did. She's so immature."

"Lia, that wasn't very nice," Aaron scolded her quietly. "And Charlotte, at your age, it's acceptable to be immature. You're only seven, there's still plenty of time to grow up."

"Six and a half years, not seven," I corrected from afar, moving around the furniture to see if anything was out of order. It was the only thing keeping me from going crazy.

"Six and a half, then," he accepted graciously. "But enough of that of the mature speeches. The bottom line is that it's not Amelia's fault, nor is it Charlotte's. Now go play in your room please, daddy has to speak to your mom for a minute."

The two girls weren't satisfied, and before running to their rooms, I noticed that Amelia gave Charlotte a soft shove against the arm. They would continue their fight at another time, that much was certain.

"Still her fault," Charlotte grumbled, walking past me to go to her room. It's a good things their rooms were entirely separated from each other.

The loud shutting of doors echoed through the house. I would have to deal with that later. But now, there was something else to deal with. Saying goodbye to my husband.

"I'm gonna miss you so much, even if you're gonna be gone for a short time... Are you sure we can't come along? The girls are old enough, I'm sure they can handle moving around."

"No, sweetheart," he whispered into my ear, "they need to continue school. It's too important. If you all came along, they wouldn't get that sort of education. they could turn into slackers, and at the same time become celebrities. No child should be a celeb at 6 years of age. They have to decide when they want to become famous."

Behind us, his uncle cleared his throat. I tensed, holding onto Aaron for dear life. I didn't want to let him go.

"Um, Aaron... It's time you go get your suitcases. We have to go in about ten minutes, otherwise we could miss the flight." God, I hated that man. hated him for taking Aaron away, hated him for cutting our last moments short. Why did my mother ever get into a relationship with that bastard?

Aaron slowly pried my fingers loose, silently walking over to our room. Feeling my legs ready to give in under me, I stumbled towards the couch, curling up on it.

"You know, when I first saw that my nephew had decided to date you... Destiny's girl... I was angered beyond imagination. To see that you, her child, was happy... I never wanted Destiny's children to be happy, not after how she left me," Dwayne spoke quietly, not making the effort to look me in the eyes. I didn't either.

"But then...," he paused, the words lingering in the air. "I saw Aaron smile. It was a genuinely happy smile, something he got from being around you. Aaron never smiled when he was at home. That's his father's fault who is and always will be a bastard of a man. I realized that I had to leave the two of you alone, and forget my lust for vengeance. I wasn't going to let my nephew suffer just to make you suffer."

"Then why are you taking him away from me? Why make us both feel unhappy?" I cried out.

"I want him to live, to succeed while he's still young. Being an acrobat means you have to rely on your muscles. He might not have that when he hits forty. Can you relate to that much at least? You, who use your voice to entertain, will still have that for a long time."

We both fell silent as Aaron re-entered the room with his suitcases. "I, uh, said goodbye to the girls already. They still seem miffed, but it'll pass eventually. I hope."

He looked so cool, so calm and collected... Wasn't he effected by the idea that  he'd be gone from his family for who knows how long?

"Come, Aaron. I think it's been a little longer than 10 minutes. You'll need to push down hard on those pedals to make it before the traffic sets in," Dwayne started chatting as he moved through the doorway. Aaron followed, without saying a word. Without so much as a "goodbye". He never was good with goodbyes, so perhaps that's why he avoided them.

"Hey, guys, wait up!" I called, but seeing they weren't gonna stop, I ran after them. "Could I... Could I perhaps drive you to the airport, to see you off when you catch your flight? Please?" I almost begged at the end. Looking down at my feet, I prayed silently. Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave.

Aaron caught the tip of my chin, tilting my head up. "It would only make things a lot harder, Kay-Kay," he whispered, wrapping his arms around me. We kissed, but it wasn't out of affection. It was out of desperation. "Goodbye, Kay. I love you so much, and I'll be thinking of you everyday."

Two cars sped away from the house, but my eyes were only fixated on one: the red Volkswagen.

Tears were falling, and fast.

Had I just made the biggest mistake of my life, letting my husband go on to live his dream like that?