Forever More, Chapter 6

I set two glasses of wine on the coffee table and sit down beside Draco. "So.." The look that he was wearing at lunch comes back to his face.

"I asked her why she seemed so skittish and quiet. She didn't want to tell me at first, but with a few well worded threats I finally got it out of her." He sighs and drains the entire glass of wine.

"And what was that?" He looks over at me, pain evident on his face.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions and not heard you out. I just had no idea that what you were telling me was what was actually going on. She told me that Alex was planning to drop in, in the middle of the night, she just didn't know when. I told her she can tell him to forget it, he's not coming, especially in the middle of the night."

"Did she know what he was coming here for?" Draco shakes his head. I shove my glass over to him and he downs it.

"No, she didn't seem to have any idea. I didn't ask her outright, but kinda hinted. You know, I never did like Alex much, and now I'm liking him less and less." I nod.

"When I was talking to Bridget earlier she told me that Cheyenne never talks to anyone anymore, that she spends all her time with Alex. She doesn't even talk to Bridget anymore." Draco's eyebrows raise, just as surprised to hear that as I was. He gets up and goes into the kitchen, coming back with the bottle of wine. I frown and give him a disapproving look. "Since when do you drink so much?" He shrugs.

"I dunno. Anyway, so what do we do?"

"I don't know. We can't forbid her from seeing him, they're in the same house. But maybe we can talk some sense into her." Instead of pouring the wine into one of the glasses he takes a drink right from the bottle. I narrow my eyes at him but he doesn't seem to notice. He's usually so careful with how much he drinks. I make a mental note to talk to him about it when he's sober. He burps and I wrinkle my nose in distaste. "I think that's enough. Time for you to go to bed."

I take the bottle from him and go into the kitchen, pouring what's left of it down the drain. After locking the liquor cabinet and hiding the key somewhere Draco can't find it, I go back to the living room and roll my eyes. He's asleep on the couch, snoring loudly. I wonder if I should move him, but decide against it. I won't get any sleep if he's snoring beside me like that.

I head up the stairs and check in on the kids. All 4 are sleeping despite Draco's snoring downstairs. I decide to have a shower before going to sleep, hoping it'll calm me down so I can actually get some sleep. I have a theory that since Cheyenne knows about Alex sneaking here in the middle of the night, it won't happen, so the dreams will stop.

After my very hot and relaxing shower I climb into bed and sigh. It seems like my family is coming apart at the seams and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Except for today Draco and I have barely talked in a week. I suspect he's been drinking behind my back. I'm afraid that Cheyenne is in an abusive relationship. I wonder if 14 is too young for that. I feel like crying. Before I can wonder what I'm going to do about it, I fall asleep, completely exhausted.

**

I wake up, look at the clock, and groan mentally. Not again! It's been almost a week. I thought these dreams were over with. I get up and walk to the bedroom door, opening it and walking down the hall. This is different. I stop in front of Cheyenne's room. There's no light at the bottom of the door. My eyebrows knit together in confusion. I open the door not knowing what to expect anymore when I'm hit with cold air. It's freezing in here! I look around and suddenly realize why. Cheyenne snuck out and left her window open. I run to the window, trying to see past the trees that run along the side of the house. Nothing. No!

"No!" I jerk awake and run to the bathroom, getting there just in time to throw up.

"Bell? What's wrong?" I feel Draco kneel beside me. He pulls my hair back from my face as I wipe my forehead.

"Another dream. Cheyenne's gone."

"Gone? Gone where?" I shake my head.

"I don't know. I went into her room and she was just gone."

"Mommy?" I look behind me and almost cry with relief when I see all 4 of my children standing behind Draco. They're all looking at me with worried, sleepy faces. All except Cheyenne. Her eyes are wide and I notice she's wearing clothes and not pyjamas. Draco notices this too because his eyes narrow. I grab his hand and shake my head.

"Later." He nods reluctantly and gets up.

"Okay you kids, you can go back to bed. Mom's fine, she's just feeling a little sick." I smile reassuringly at Keera, who looks the most worried.

"I'm fine, honey. You go back to bed, okay?" She finally nods and follows her brother and sisters out of the bedroom. I get up and brush my teeth, climbing back into bed, and flopping down on my back. Why me? Why these dreams? It's only now that I notice Draco's not in the room. I'm about to call out to him when he appears at the door, dragging Cheyenne behind him.

"I think Cheyenne has a few things to say to you." She looks up at her dad and he nods toward me. She walks slowly over to the bed and sits at my feet. "Go on." She sighs and looks down at her hands then looks over at me. "We don't have all night, Cheyenne." She gets that defiant look on her face and I look at Draco, giving him my shut-up-and-let-her-talk look.

"Um, well.." She pauses.

"Were you planning to sneak out tonight?" She nods slowly. "Did you not think that I'd catch you?" She doesn't answer but I can tell by the look on her face that she hadn't thought about that. "Well I did catch you and you know you're in trouble, right?" She nods again. I sigh and look over at Draco. I assume he's already thought about a few punishments.

"Your mother and I need to talk about what your punishment is going to be. But for the time being you can expect to be cut off from everything. No owl, no t.v, no phone, no internet. If you so much as touch a pen you'll be hearing about it. Understand?" Cheyenne nods again. "Now go to bed." She looks at me as if she thinks I'll help her, but I just shake my head.

"You heard your dad." She gets up and leaves the room. A few seconds later I hear her door slam. I sigh as Draco shuts our door and comes back to lay beside me. "Think we should lock her window?" He chuckles and scoots over so he's laying right beside me. I turn the bedside lamp off and lay back down, resting my forehead against his. "Casper's still in her room."

"We'll let her have tonight. Let her warn Alex not to step 100 feet near the house." I sigh again. I'm exhausted and all I wanna do is go back to sleep.

"You're in trouble too, you know." He looks at me, confused. "The drinking. I locked the cabinet and hid the key." I feel his forehead get hot and assume he's blushing.

"I know. I looked for it the next morning."

"Did you not think I was going to catch you?" Unknowingly, I said the same words to him that I'd said to Cheyenne not 5 minutes ago.

"I was hoping you would. After our fight I'd drink after you went to bed every night." I shake my head.

"Why didn't you just talk to me?" I feel him shrug.

"Didn't think you'd listen."

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore. You've got forever and then some to make it up to me." He laughs and his hand traces down my arm.

"Speaking of making up." I roll my eyes but smile.

"Oh you men, is that all you think about?" Even in the dark I can see him smile. He takes my chin in his hand and leads my lips to his. I'm hesitant at first, afraid that anything I let myself feel for him will just be because of that dream. But as things progress I realize that everything I'm feeling right now are because of right now. With that realization I give myself over to him entirely.