83. Laughter

Genre: Paranormal romance, drama

Type: Series

Characters: Leigh, Eloise & Devon

Prompt: 86. Laughter

Word Count:  861+

Warning:  none

Rating:  M- (coarse language, adult situations, nudity. N.B-Applies to the whole series)

Summary: A glimpse of Leigh's and Devon's childhood

86. Laughter

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Bridgeport, present day...

A gentle knock on her door pulled her from the window. Eloise waddled in a second later. She was almost seven months along in her pregnancy, and she complained constantly of being exhausted. She wished the baby was out already.

“Are you okay?” Eloise asked as she eased herself onto the arm chair.

“Yeah, I’m good,” she replied, watching her rub her baby bump.

As big as her friend was, Eloise was still the picture of a healthy pregnancy. She looked gorgeous, and Leigh had never seen her brother, and best friend, so happy. It was a magical time, and she was glad she came home just in time to experience it with them.

“Oh my goodness,” Eloise cried, a shocked look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Leigh asked curiously.

“I think she’s excited to have you home. She’s been kicking nonstop since you came back,” Eloise explained, rubbing her tummy. “She knows you’re back!”

“Can I feel her?” Leigh asked.

Eloise rose from the chair, and placed Leigh’s hand on her bump.

“Whoa,” Leigh laughed softly as she felt the baby’s kicks. At first, the nudges were gentle, but they grew firmer and more frequent.

“I told you she knows you’re back. It’s good to have you home Leigh. Don’t ever disappear on us again.” Eloise drew her in her arms, and held on tightly to her.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m back now. I’m not going anywhere,” Leigh assured her.

“Remember that time you ran away because your parents were fighting so much? For hours we looked for you until Devon suggested we should check the school’s playground?” Eloise took her down memory lane and they both laughed at the memory now.

But Leigh remembered it wasn’t a great time back then for her and Devon…

At fifteen her brother, understood what was going on; he saw the hate between Lisa and Mark, their parents.

But her twelve year old self didn’t, and all she’d wanted then was for everyone to be happy.

The fights were ugly and it didn’t take long for the verbal abuse to get physical. Random, little things would set Mark off, like dinner not being ready on time or his shirt not ironed properly.

One Saturday, Mark beat up Lisa so bad she had to spend a week in hospital, missing Leigh’s 13^th birthday party. It was around that time that Leigh decided to run away.

After that first incident, Mark promised not to hit their mom again. But Leigh and Devon soon found out their father was not only a woman basher, but a liar also. Over the next few years, Lisa still had inexplicable bruises all over her face, and they knew she wore long sleeved clothes to cover up their father’s brutality.

The neighbors knew what was going on but they chose not to get involved. Rose, Eloise’ mom, was the only one who tried her damnedest to get Lisa to leave Mark for good. But her efforts were in vain, and none of them understood the hold Mark had over Lisa.

At some point, Leigh, Devon and Lisa stayed with Eloise and her parents, until Mark came knocking, bearing flowers and gifts, and promising to change. Lisa impulsively shipped all of them back home. For weeks they lived in perfect bliss, until the next cycle of abuse began.

As devastating as it was for Leigh and Devon to come home from school and find their parents’ brains splattered all over the living room walls and floors, they couldn’t say it was unexpected. They all knew that’s where it would end. The cops ruled it as a suicide pact, but Leigh and Devon knew better. Mark had promised, on more than one occasion, to kill their mom.

With no living relatives, Leigh was taken in by Eloise’s parents and they put her through her senior year of high school, while Devon completed his degree in Music…

“Hey, where did you go?” Eloise asked, noting the pained look in her eyes.

“Nowhere happy,” Leigh replied softly. She hated thinking about her parents. They were one thing she never talked about with Krisis. He’d asked on more than one occasion, and she’d given him the bare minimum, the lie she always gave to everyone brave enough to ask about her parents. They died in a car accident. End of story.

Krisis didn’t know about the abuse, or the fact that she was the one who found her parents’ bodies, or that she still had nightmares about that time. He had enough shit going on his life, he didn’t need to know about hers too.

“Speaking about that summer, do you remember James Lockhart, your first crush?” Leigh laughed suddenly, an attempt to lighten the sad mood in the room. Eloise rolled her eyes. She hated being reminded of the many frogs she’d had to kiss before she found prince Devon.

Leigh reached for her photo album inside a shoe box from under her bed, and they both sat down on the soft mattress and leafed through the book.

Devon, watching football in the living room, heard their happy laughter, in between their girlish whispers. He smiled to himself, thankful Leigh was home safe, grateful to have her in one piece, and somewhat happy.

His life at that moment was perfect; he had a gorgeous girlfriend, a baby on the way, and his sister was home. 

Oh, and he had football and beer. There was nothing else he wanted…

Life was great.