From the Embers

by Aly Martinez

You and the kids. You’re going to be fine. Let’s be honest, you were always the four-hundred-horsepower engine behind this family. I was just the hood ornament.

Having company in hell didn’t change the fact that you were still actually in hell.

That man—always a hugger. He rocked us from side to side, more like he was trying to calm a crying baby than slow dance. “We got this, Bree. Me and you. We got this.” And for the first time since our world had exploded, I felt like maybe he was right.

But carved into my soul for all my days to come was the life-altering moment when a naked photo of my wife appeared on the screen.

And as I flipped the page to the next set of their messages, my lids almost as heavy as my heart, the embers of their betrayal suddenly ignited into a conflagration that would consume us all.

His mouth hovered over mine while he searched my face. “You’re all I have left, Bree. And dammit, you were his too.” As he straightened, I fisted a hand in the front of his shirt. “No, I wasn’t. You know it as well as I do. I was a fucking puppet in his show, and I’m done wearing the strings.”

He must have had a million hilarious and heartwarming images he could have used instead, but right then, his home screen was a picture of me sitting on the floor, Luna in my lap, Madison at my side. My mouth was open with laughter as Asher clung to my neck from behind.

Bree was mine. My friend, my family, and if I had my way about it, my everything.

There were so many nights when everything hurt and I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to breathe again. But there you were. With me every step of the way.” I tapped the screen again when it started to dim. “This picture, Bree. It’s not what we have to lose. It’s what I’ve already gained.”

I’m mad at them. I’m hurt. I’m embarrassed. And I can’t even begin to imagine the agony that’s going to follow over the next few weeks as we sort this shit out with Luna. But there are two things I know for sure: I want you, Bree, and I’m not waiting one fucking second longer to make my move.”

Chin to chin. Eye to eye. She said the words I’d wanted to hear at the beginning of all this. The words I’d needed to hear straight from her mouth.

In what should have been the worst of days, with the road ahead bound to be rockier than ever, I couldn’t help but feel like with this woman by my side, together, we’d get through it all.

Nothing had been solved. There wasn’t enough furniture or paint in the world to cure the pain Rob and Jessica had carved into our souls. But there was something to be said about having space to breathe. Something promising in the fresh start of it all. Something that simply moving Rob’s things out hadn’t done. We were making it ours, and despite how scary it was to let go and have faith again, with Eason and our small family happy, I was happy too.

He was demanding and gentle, but above all else, he didn’t hold back. Eason gave. I took.

But nothing was different. He was still attentive and kind. Thoughtful and selfless. The world’s sexiest goofball. And I was his. What more could I ask for?

“For now though,” Eason continued, “she’s my girlfriend. This means we’re getting to know each other and spending time together. But, Ash, if and when your mom and I ever do decide to get married, and even if we don’t, I’m here for you in every way you could possibly need me. But I’m never going to replace your dad, okay? You already have a pretty amazing dad. Him being in heaven doesn’t change that.” And that was the exact moment I fell all-the-way, head-over-heels, unapologetically in love with Eason Maxwell.

I’m terrified that, if we keep screaming into the past, the future is going to become nothing but an echo.”

Being in love with Eason Maxwell was the easiest thing I’d ever done. I’d spent so many years trying to build the perfect life with the perfect husband, the perfect kids, and the perfect company. But mastering the perception of perfect isn’t the same as finding genuine happiness.

bond might have been forged through tragedy, but our love flourished through patience, genuine respect, and understanding.

Life was never easy, and ours had been harder than most. However ugly it might have been at times, there was beauty to be found when looking back at all the pain and heartache and devastation, knowing we’d come out the other end better off and more in love than I had ever known possible.

And you want to hear my favorite part? Now, Bree is mine too. Your boy Asher? Mine. Madison? Mine. A life free and easy, not rotting in a prison cell?” I dropped my voice low and declared, “Mine. So tell me, Rob. Who’s the fucking winner in this situation?”

PERIODDTTTTTTT EASON YASSS

Too many nights, I’d lain awake in bed, replaying the fire in my head over and over, the sour of guilt churning in my stomach because I’d thought I’d saved the wrong woman. But with my daughter on my hip and Bree at my side as we headed home to our family, I knew I’d saved exactly the right one.

lowkey a lil fucked up but eh.... she was a bitch

“I have loved you since before I knew I loved you. I have loved you since before I was supposed to love you. And I will continue to love you every single day for the rest of eternity. I cannot tell you life will always be easy. Let’s be honest, I’m still going to call you Sug sometimes.”

“From the Embers, Eason Maxwell.”

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