Aiden exhales loudly. “He’s not worth your anguish. Try to ignore him… for me?”
“I’m trying. Really, I am.”
His soft lips kiss my cheek again, and we stand in the moonlight holding onto each other. I turn and put my arms around his waist, and then he leans in and kisses me passionately under the silver streaks of the glowing moon against the onyx night sky.
“Aiden… Aiden… Aiden!” We wake with a start to Niall yelling like a damn madman.
Aiden slowly rises from his childhood bed, kissing me on the forehead. He rolls out, then slowly walks off to his father’s room. I rub my eyes, glancing at the clock and can’t believe he woke us up at six thirty on a Saturday morning. Still, I guess it could have been worse.
I make my way down the hall to Niall’s room where Aiden’s helping his father into a shirt.
“You a fucking pervert now?” Niall calls out when he notices me watching.
Averting my eyes, I cringe at his words but then think, Yeah, Niall, I think you’re so sexy, and I can’t keep my fucking eyes off you. You gross little man!
He looks pathetic—his skin is pale and wrinkled, and his man boobs make me want to laugh. Even though I know it’s wrong, inwardly, I’m laughing inside. For someone who demands authority in everything he does, he really is struggling to pull on any of my sympathy strings right now.
“Father, keep it up, and you know what will happen,” Aiden warns, his shoulders tensing as a bored look crosses his face.
“What, Aiden? You’ll leave? Then fucking leave! I don’t need you or that little tramp in my house anyway.”
I watch Aiden place his father’s shirt on the bed. “You know what, Father? I am going to leave. You can’t even manage to put a shirt on by yourself. I hope you enjoy doing everything on your own…” Aiden grunts out sternly. Standing and storming toward me, I open my eyes wide in shock. “Jeni, let’s go,”
Niall sits taller, puffing out his flabby chest. “You can’t leave me here like this, you ungrateful ingrate, especially after everything I’ve done for you.”
Aiden turns to face him with a stern glare. “Everything you’ve done for me. Like, stand by me at my trial? You were the first to quit on me! Help me at work? You’re always pushing me, telling me I can do better. What exactly is it you’ve done for me, Father? And don’t even get me started on how you’ve acted toward Jeni. What you have done is made me resent you…” Aiden scrubs a hand through his hair. “You did this to yourself. There’s no one to blame but you… Jeni, c’mon.” He takes my hand, and even though I’m in complete and utter shock, I walk with him down the staircase to the front door.
“Aiden!” Niall yells, but we keep walking.
Aiden slams the door hard behind us, and we walk in silence to the car.
I’ve never seen Aiden stand up like this toward his father. I’m glad he’s finally sticking up for himself and for me as well, but now probably isn’t the right time. Even though Niall aggravates me, I still don’t like seeing the man so helpless. “Are you sure we should be leaving him here on his own? He can’t do anything for himself.”
Aiden opens my door and exhales. “I know. We can’t leave him by himself. I’ll send Marissa over to care for him. But until she gets here, he can sweat it on his own… see what it’s like to have no one for a change. I’ve had enough of him treating you the way he does. I don’t want to hear any more of his caustic tone,” he raises his voice.
We get in the car, and I simply nod even though Aiden can’t see me. He’s angry, and I get why. We drive off as an awkward tension fills the air. I’m disheartened, and Aiden’s silence only serves to heighten my emotions. I turn to look at him, his brows are furrowed, and his hands on the steering wheel are clenched so tightly that his knuckles are turning white. I bite my bottom lip and exhale in exasperation knowing now is not the time to say anything. Aiden needs to calm down.
Once we’ve arrive home, we walk quietly to our room, trying not to wake Sarah and Chris.
Aiden’s still silent as we take off our clothes and crawl into bed together. The fact he’s touching me puts my mind at ease as he cuddles into my back while stroking my arm. “I love you, Jeni, more than anything in this world. You know that, right?” he whispers in my ear.
I close my eyes and smile, taking his hand in mine and holding it to my chest. “I know, and I feel exactly the same,” I reply, bringing his hand up to my lips to kiss.
Aiden embraces me, and with our love confessed and tensions eased, we both drift off to sleep with no more thoughts of Niall. At least, not tonight.
My eyelids flutter awake, feeling utterly relaxed in the arms of the man I love. After a long stretch, my mind instantly reverts back to last night and how badly all that could have gone. The dulcet tones of birds chirping in the morning sun sound outside the house, making the morning even more glorious as I lay here in complete contented bliss. Nothing could ruin this morning’s happy glow.
We get up, dress, and head to the kitchen where Sarah is finishing her breakfast.
Sarah looks up. “Morning… I’ve been thinking about some ideas for the invitations. You want to see them?” Sarah gets straight to it as Aiden goes to work making the coffee.
“What invitations?” I rub my forehead in confusion.
“For the wedding, duh.” Sarah taps on her forehead, walks to the buffet, and pulls out some paper designs.
I look at Aiden. He winks at me. I can’t believe Sarah’s started wedding planning already.
“You know we haven’t even picked a date, right?”