Watch What Burns (30 page)

Pulling away, Austin looked at Tyler with skepticism. “She was locked away before, what if she gets out again?”

“Robert’s dead,” Tyler affirmed the fact to her. “He was her reason for getting out before. Diane refuses to see her. Hell, Diane has plans to move out of state already to be with her sister in Nebraska. Natasha has no contacts outside. She is never getting free again. I can truly promise you that now.”

“I’ll believe it when you get me and your daughter home for good,” Austin snapped playfully at him, and the moment she laid a light-hearted smile on him, she knew everything was going to be back to normal soon.

“I better get you two home soon then,” Tyler murmured, pulling her closer to him to kiss her temple once more before he got up to search for a nurse or doctor who could give them a time-frame on when Grace would be discharged. Stilling, his pushed a hand around the back of his neck, turning
coyly, he looked to his wife who was staring at him. “I love you, Sunny. Forever and always.”

Austin smiled brightly at the sentiment. “I love you too, Tyler Armstrong.” Sitting back, Austin felt pleased with
herself. Whatever happened in life, whatever they had to deal with, they came out the other side loving one another more than ever.

Not even Natasha could take that away from them.

W
AKING with a jolt, Austin felt pain ripple through her shoulder and tired to breathe through the intensity of it. She looked at the clock and groaned seeing it barely reaching four AM. She was more than due for another pain pill. She knew Tyler had told her when he put her to bed, that if she needed anything he would get it for her. However, she wasn’t going to wake him up for a pill which she could get herself. Pulling herself up, she pushed the covers up and watched Tyler for any signs of arousal. She noticed him shift a little, but he wasn’t awake and she was pleased for that.

Heading into the bathroom, she stood before the mirror and just surveyed her own appearance. She looked so gaunt and exhausted as a result of the past week. She had dark marks under her eyes, ones that
rivaled the bruises still on her face. She looked like she hadn’t slept in over a year and even she couldn’t deny the pain that sat heavily in her eyes.

Reaching for the pills on the side of the sink, she popped the lid and threw two tablets into her palm and grabbed the faucet. Turning the cold water on, she leaned down, taking a large gulp of the icy cold water. Pushing the pills into her mouth, she swallowed them and proceeded to push her palm to her chest in the hope that the warmth would mediate the pain a little.

“Mommy,” Grace spoke as she stood in the doorway rubbing her eyes tiredly. She dropped her hand to her side, her other hand clasped firmly onto Clara.

Austin spun around on the spot, looking directly at her daughter. “Baby, you should be sleeping.”

“I couldn’t sweep,” Grace mumbled unhappily.

“Well sleep with daddy and I for tonight,” Austin offered, stepping in and put her hand out to Grace. She knew Grace would be prone to night terrors; if she was at her
age, a three year old was sure going to be!

“No,” Grace disagreed, shaking her head. “I want to sweep in the cubby.” She waited a moment before looking up at her mother with doleful eyes.
“With you.”

“What about daddy?” Austin asked, knowing Grace loved sleeping in the cubby with them both.

“Daddy sweeping,” Grace retorted, having seen her father sleeping. “He’s snorwing too.”

Austin’s heart melted at her daughter’s innocence, and nodded. “Okay,” she relented quickly. “How about you take my pillow and go and wait for me. We’ll leave the door open a little so daddy can see where we’ve gotten to okay?”

“Okay!” Grace exclaimed, exuding too much excitement for four o’clock in the morning.

“
Shh!” Austin quickly reprimanded her, placing a finger to her lips. “We don’t want to wake daddy up.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead before gingerly standing up and pushing her daughter out into the bedroom. She stood, leaning against the doorway, her hand on her chest in a bid to forget her pain, watching Grace pull her pillow from the bed and hug it tightly. Smiling wistfully, Austin felt her heartbeat harden, thrumming against her chest as she realized her life was back together. It wasn’t destroyed, in ruins, or almost gone. It was complete once again. Now was their time to recuperate and rebuild what Natasha had so forcefully tried to take from them all.

“Mommy,” Grace whispered as she made her way to the door to the cubbyhole.

“I’m following,” Austin replied with an encouraging smile. “Go and get comfortable. I’m right behind you.” She waited until Grace was gone before she turned on the spot, heading to the mirror once more to gaze at her reflection. She steadied herself, willing the bruises to lessen their colorful power. She knew she had to let them die out and live like they were nonexistent.

Going into the bedroom, she spied on Tyler who was still sleeping soundly. Drawing the sheets up to cover him, she headed to where Grace had disappeared to. As she opened the door, she saw Grace sitting in the wall space, the duvets and sheets already pulled up around her as she pat her pillow into the perfect shape. She threw herself down against it seeing her mother crawling in beside her; she reached out and patted her mother’s pillow encouragingly.

“C’mon, mommy, we need to get to sweep before the sun comes up!” Grace exclaimed in a heightened whisper, trying to keep a lid on her excitement.

“I’m here,” Austin calmed her, falling down onto the padded flooring that Tyler had implemented into the room. There was a moment of silence as the pair
got comfortable, Grace naturally falling into her mother’s embrace to sleep, and the pair even remained silent as they waited for sleep to take them.

“She said mean things about you, Mommy,” Grace admitted sadly, abruptly tearing into the silence, rolling onto her stomach to look at her mother better. “She even told me how you got those,” she said softly, before pointing to the burns on her mother’s arm. “She told me she did them. Did she?”

“Yeah, baby, she did,” Austin whispered, not willing to let her insecurity over her burns win right now. She pulled her daughter into her side, making her curl up. “But I’m here to tell the tale, like you are too, so I guess we won eh, baby girl?”

“Yeah, mommy, we did.” Grace yawned heavily before snuggling in furthermore to her mother’s side. “I’m
gwad you saved me, mommy. Both you and daddy are my hewos.”

Austin’s eyes watered heavily at that statement, and she could only kiss her daughter’s head and beg herself to not cry. She bit her lip hard to stop herself, but she was failing. She didn’t feel like a hero, she was a mother who would go to hell and back for her child.

“I love you, Grace,” Austin murmured. It was all she knew to say in the moment. She was too choked up for anything more, but her heart was bleeding undying amounts of gratitude for having her daughter back, and having seen her husband cheat death twice.

Settling, Austin laid still, listening to Grace breathing heavily in her sleep, Tyler snoring quietly in the background, and waited for the drugs to drag her into a peaceful slumber.

***

When Tyler woke up, he rolled over, putting his hand out to touch his wife, but when he found her side stone cold, he bolted upright and panicked. He listened for noises in house - a radio on, Austin singing, Grace giggling, food cooking -
nothing
. When he noticed his and Austin’s side to the cubbyhole open, he knew exactly where his wife had disappeared to.

Crawling across the bed to climb out, he trod lightly across the floor, mindful of each step he took. Slipping down the wall, he copied his actions of the other night, but this time it wasn’t to dwell. This time, he was watching his wife and daughter sleeping peacefully in one another’s arms through the opened doorway.

Tyler’s heart blossomed at the sight, unable to comprehend properly the sight of his daughter once again sleeping in her rightful place. He knew it would take some getting used to, but he could sit and stare forever at her sleeping peacefully.

He found himself unwilling to move, his body exhausted by the backlash of events. He knew he should get up, make breakfast, and rouse the women in his life with the smell of cooking bacon and pancakes. However, he just sat and watched them, drinking in the blissful sight. For the first time in days, Tyler found
himself relaxing and remained where he was.

He barely even noticed Austin waking up and staring at Grace for a moment before twisting to look at him.

“Hey,” Austin welcomed the sight of her husband.

“Morning,” he replied, giving her a serene smile. “When did you move in here?” he asked, moving closer to the comfort of the hiding place.

“Erm, a little after four. I took some pills before she found me,” Austin mumbled sleepily, reaching up to rub some of the sleep out of her eyes. “I guess they knocked me out. I was going to put her to bed after she fell back to sleep.”

“You need to rest as well,” Tyler scolded her, his tone loving yet stern, his worry begging for an escape. “I know you. I know you will fight to have a regular life back, but this time you need to rest more than anything.
Even if it is only for a couple of days.”

Moving a little, Austin stilled, and nodded. “Yeah, apparently sleeping in here agrees with you.”

Tyler chuckled and opened the door, leaning into the cubbyhole. “Think I can get you back into bed, Mrs. Armstrong? I’ll come back for Gracie once you’re comfortable.”

“I guess I can do that,” Austin mumbled, trying to slip away from her daughter’s sleeping form in order to climb out of the cubbyhole space.

“No, mommy!” Grace whined out in a sleepy tone, grabbing out at her mother. “Don’t leave me!”

Looking to her husband, Austin’s eyes watered and she immediately drew Grace closer to her. “Hey, baby, daddy and I were just moving into our bed. He’s promised us breakfast if you want it.”

Grace frowned as her sleep dispersed from her and she slowly nodded.

“
C’mere, baby,” Tyler said, putting his arms out for her to get to him. He waited for her to relinquish her hold on Austin and clamber towards him, climbing onto his lap. “We need to look after, mommy, right?” he asked his daughter, who nodded vigorously at him. “So we need to be extra good today and make her breakfast in bed.”

“Breakfast on the couch,” Austin countered with a soft sigh. After the way Grace reacted to her leaving her so soon, even if she were asleep, she found herself unable to let Grace out of her sight for a little while.

Tyler rolled his eyes at his wife. “Breakfast on the couch, so what do you think we should make?”

“Pancakes!”
Grace screamed, jumping up and down on her spot.

“Is that a final decision?” Tyler asked, watching his daughter for a definitive answer.

“Always!” Grace smiled up at him, her happiness showing that, for the most part, she was left unscathed by Natasha’s advances to implement her into a new family life.

“Right, come on then, baby girl. We’re going to get the couch comfortable for mommy, and cook a big, fat breakfast for us all to eat.” He watched Austin nod, accepting the plan and even though he knew she would try and pull some independence, he knew she wouldn’t do anything stupid. “Right, I’ll meet you and Clara downstairs in two minutes.”

He waited for her to run out of the room before he opened the door completely, and stood up, ready to help his wife. When he had her entrusted in his arms, he led her to bed, sat her down and headed to get some clothes.

“Only a top and bra?” she asked, confusion lacing her tone.

“Yup.” Tyler smirked at her. “You’re staying in pajama bottoms; the top of you can look seemingly presentable.” He watched her laugh, letting the sound of her laughter ignite hope in him that everything was settling back into normalcy quicker than he had anticipated. “I plan to look after you.”

“You always do,” Austin answered him with the same claim. “I don’t expect special treatment.”

“Well tough,” he reacted to her affection of not letting him looking after her. “Let me do this, and we can call it a truce.”

“Fine,” she responded, relenting easily to him. She knew he was looking for a way to grip onto control and to be the man of the house again. She would grant him that in order to give him his sanity. She allowed him to get her changed and she pushed him to start breakfast once he had her dressed. Even though she was willing to let him smother her slightly, she wasn’t ready to just become a weaker counterpart.

He left her to come downstairs when she was ready.

Austin didn’t hesitate, she went and grabbed a cardigan from the closest, not bothering to attempt to put it on and headed out of the room. She felt a strong dose of nostalgia hit her as she remembered what had happened on the landing, but she knew she would never give this house up for the ghosts Natasha had a hand in making. Heading down the stairs, she paid no attention to the niggling memory that wanted to engulf her and torture her. When she made it to the bottom, she was happy to just head to her husband and daughter.

“Who was that?” Austin asked as she saw him putting his phone away. She had heard him on the phone as she headed down the stairs, but hadn’t really caught a word of what was  said.

“Your dad,” Tyler alerted her. “Michael’s home,” Tyler called out as Austin came into the kitchen. “He’s staying with your parents, so we’ll see how he enjoys that experience.”

Austin giggled at the thought. “He won’t get the treatment you do that’s for sure.” She kissed him as she reached for the cup of tea. “Is this mine?”

“Yup,” Tyler replied, taking the cup from her. “Go and sit down, I’ll bring this in for you.”

“I can carry a cup of tea, Ty. I’m not a complete invalid,” Austin argued back tirelessly. She didn’t want to be sheltered and have all elements of everyday life stolen from her. “Next you’ll be wrapping me in bubble wrap.”

“Lap up the attention,” Tyler told her, taking her hand and drawing her into the living room where Grace was plumping pillows. “And spend some time with your daughter. You deserve it.”

That stopped Austin in her tracks. She made him face her, her face full of thunder. “What about you?” she asked her husband, her voice cracking with emotions. “You deserve time with her too. You almost lost her too.”

“I almost lost you both, so let me look after you both first and then we can cuddle on the couch together. Just let me give a little back,” Tyler near enough begged her to listen to him.