Page 44 of Frosty Felicity
“Yes.” Felicity crossed her arms and glared right back at her.
“He’s in the dining room. You won.” The woman now looked more saddened than angry. Within a twinkle of an eye, the lady’s stern disposition seemed to melt right before her eyes.
“I had no idea I was playing a game. Won what, exactly?”
“Him. He doesn’t want me. He wants you.” The woman stormed off, leaving her there. Felicity turned towards the uncle. He shrugged his shoulders, looking as confused as she was.
“That’s Brett’s—”
“I know who she is. The ex-wife. Just take me to the dining room, please. Sorry you had to witness this drama.”
“Oh, no problem!” He cackled. “I miss the days when women used to fight over me. I’m a navy man. Those days are long gone. Now, I’ve got two ex-wives, alimony, and an ex-girlfriend I wish would go straight to Hell. Hey, Brett! Your lady is here… uh, not the old one, the new one… not the one you divor—”
“I know, I know.” Brett shooed his uncle away and hurried to her as if he had wings. She overdosed on his love and affection, and damn did he smell so good. She cradled her chin in the crevice of his neck, as ‘Silver Bells’ by Dean Martin started to play.
He pulled back, kissed her, and smiled.
“I’m so glad you could make it.”
“Yeah… me too. Brett, what’s going on? Liza seemed pretty upset.”
He huffed and put his hands on his hip. “I told you she wanted to reconcile. I still wanted to maintain a friendship with her, for Andrew’s sake if nothing else.” She nodded in understanding. “That was going fine for years, and then, we went out for dinner about a year ago, right after my mother passed away. Neither of us were in a relationship at the time. She came over afterwards.” He shrugged. “We started drinking, one thing led to another… but we promised each other it wouldn’t happen again. Well, I moved on from that, but she was holding out hope still. I made a mistake. I should’ve never slept with her again, especially so long after our divorce, but I still—”
“Cared about her.”
“Yeah.” He took a deep breath and shoved his hands in his pockets. “And I still do, but tonight, she was insistent. I had to tell her that I met someone, and that I was in love with her, and I wanted a future with her. That future is you.” He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. She shivered in his grip, blinking back tears.
She’d never admit this to him, but for a fleeting second, when she saw his ex-wife in the flesh, she felt small. She worried things would go as they did with her ex-boyfriend, and that a black cloud of bad luck loomed above her head when it came to love.
She’d never tell him how her decision to not have children cost her a couple of potentially good relationships, and how it intimidated her that this woman, who wanted him back so badly, who was in love with him, not only shared a history with him, but had given him something that she would not: a child.
Felicity never took herself as insecure or jealous, but life had done a number on her, making her question the simplest of things. Brett introduced her to many family members, including his son, Andrew, who apparently had stayed behind despite his mother’s departure. The boy explained he was being driven home by a cousin and wanted to stay a bit longer.
Andrew seemed like a nice boy, a bit shy, mannerly, with big blue eyes and a cheery disposition. She knew that this kid would be a part of her life, from here on out. She could just feel it in her bones.
He led her outside onto the massive snow-covered deck, complete with firepit, a covered jacuzzi, and a shed she presumed housed snow shovels, lawnmowers, and the like. The sky was filled with stars. Standing behind her, he wrapped his strong, muscular arms around her and squeezed. The warmth of his body made her feel good all over. They stood that way for a long while, though it felt like only a couple of minutes.
“I love you, Brett.”
“I love you too, Felicity. You make me feel young… free… happy.” He kissed the top of her head.
“I have to confess something.” She blinked back tears, and kept her back to him as she spoke.
“What’s that?”
“I’ve realized since we’ve been together, how terrible I’ve been. How scathing and unyielding. I’ve been angry… and… for some reason, despite being pretty self-aware, I didn’t look deeper and realize it was me that was the problem, not everyone else. It was always me.”
He slowly turned her around to face him.
“What are you talking about?”
“I was the common denominator in my problems. I was the one who told my ex I didn’t want kids, and then became irritated at his reaction. That wasn’t the only thing that broke us up, but it played a part in it. It was no coincidence that he then turned around and got someone else pregnant. My father is marrying someone I can’t stand, but maybe if I hadn’t been so bossy with him, and treated him like a child, he wouldn’t have dug his heels in. And then, there’s my job. Maybe I haven’t been promoted because I can be standoffish. I… I don’t fraternize much, either. I just get in there and do my job. I’m not much of a people person, or team player.” She hung her head and sniffed. “It’s probably me, Brent. It’s always been me.”
He took her hands and squeezed them as he sighed.
“Felicity, whenever something bad happens, we make a choice. We choose if we’re going to let it define us, or if we’re going to define IT, and grow from it, and move on. We’ve all made mistakes, but you can’t fault yourself for what your ex-boyfriend did with your best friend, of all people. He had a right to end the relationship if he really wanted children, and you made it clear you were dead set against it. What he didn’t have the right to do is have an affair with your best friend. There are billions of women in the world. There was no excuse for that, and the way they told you was cruel.”
She blinked back more tears.
