Nova

April 10, 2023

I had told my mom that I was in Orlando, but told her that it wasn't some luxury visit, more like a "business trip." Because of that, my mom didn't bother me much, but she did ask that Aubrey and I touch down at her place before leaving. Aubrey and I weren't exactly in good standing, as you know, so I was scared to ask. Eventually, I just stated that my mom wanted to see us.

"Okay," Aubrey said casually, and that was that.

Nalani

Getting back on good terms with Celine was a hassle, given all that had happened last year with our daughters, and the not so nice things I said to her mother. But with our kids getting married, Celine's father dying, and the fact that we were of the few family members left in Orlando between both Aubrey and Nova, we figured we had no choice but to be tight knit.

So I was kind of upset with Nova upon hearing that she cheated on Aubrey. I can't say it was hard, or easy, to believe, because quite frankly I never actually paid attention to Nova's love life when she was growing up. I didn't know what type of lover she was, but given her kind, soft hearted demeanor, I figured she was a good one.

And Nova cheating on Aubrey might've just set Celine and I back a little. I mean, of course she was on her kid's side, and I have yet to hear mine, but I had to support Nova regardless. I wasn't gonna team against her and make her handle this on her own.

"Are you sure having her come here, having them both come here, with us four here is a good idea?" Aubrey's father asked. "I mean, you said it yourself Nalani, Nova doesn't even know her dad is back."

"We can slay one dragon at a time," I said in a light tone, though I wasn't sure if I was certain of that. Nova and Aubrey would be here any moment now, and Nova was 17 when she and her father stopped speaking. She was old enough to recognize him.

I heard a knock at the door, and sighed heavily. I looked back at the other three parents and made a "breathe in, breathe out" gesture, to which they followed.

"Hi mom!" Nova said excitedly as she came in, seeming to not notice Aubrey's parents or her dad. She hugged me tight, snuggling her head into my chest, and I started to feel real bad. This poor girl was gonna think she was set up or something.

"What are they doing here?" Aubrey asked, referring to her parents. "Who?" Nova peeled out of my grip and saw Aubrey's parents as well. "Oh."

"Hey honey" Nova's dad said, standing up from behind a chair that he'd been using to conceal his visibility. Nova's face wasn't exactly readable before, but right now? You'd think she had seen a ghost. Aubrey looked back and forth, trying to get some perspective of the situation through Nova's facial expression. "What's going on?"

"Honey, we just wanted to talk to Nova's parents about how you two have been as of late?" Aubrey's mom informed her daughter, to which her brows furrowed. "Why? I didn't ask you to do that."

"Why are you here?" Nova asked, still looking at her father and ignoring the conversation between Aubrey and her parents. Her voice was a low whisper and was shaky. Maybe this was a bad idea after all.

"I've missed you," Nova's father said. "I had been wondering about you for months. Hearing you're doing better than anybody could've imagined was honestly the highlight of my year. I'm so proud of-"

"Bro, shut up!" Nova hissed, as the room got deadly silent and everybody looked at her. "You left with little to no explanation. And I don't wanna hear 'that's between your mom and I,' because it isn't. It was mom that had to tell me what was going on, and she barely did. You eventually stopped picking up my calls. It seemed evident at one point, that you had blocked my number. Let me guess, the woman with three fantastic sons that you began seeing after mom, dumped you?!"

"Nova!" I interrupted, but my daughter's neck quickly, and quite frankly creepily, snapped at me like some shit you'd see in the Poltergeist.

Nova

"What?" I asked my mom, my chest heaving heavily. "Am I wrong? Because correct me if I am, but he had spent years saying he wished he had sons."

"Wait," Aubrey said, "you're Nova's dad?" That dumb ass piss poor excuse of a sperm donor nodded.

"Aubrey," my mother in law warned her daughter, "don't get involved." Aubrey folded her arms.

"What Nova says or does is her choice," Aubrey said, "I was just gonna say it's a little odd that he suddenly comes back amid finding out that his daughter is married and rich." My "dad" looked confused.

"I never said anything about her financial status," he said to Aubrey, "why'd that get brought up?"

"You said Nova was doing better than anybody would've ever imagined" Aubrey retorted. "Given the fact that she has always been a good, quiet kid with decent grades, you sure as hell weren't talking about her behavior or education." Damn, this woman is smart as hell. I married the right one.

"Nova, people go through things," my sperm donor said to me. "Your mom and I, we went through something serious." I rolled my eyes, "this isn't about mom." I said, folding my arms. "You're using your fall out with her as a decoy for whatever happened between you and I. You can be going through a war in your marriage and still be a parent."

"I was immature, had some growing up to do," I scowled. "You're in your 40s" I shot at my mom's ex husband. "Just accept you messed up as a father, and move on. Damn." My mom huffed.

"Nova," she said, "this isn't easy for either one of us. But your dad is gonna be around a lot more than you probably hope as of. You've just gotta accept it." I laughed, "I don't live here, mom." I retorted, "so quite frankly, I won't have to accept shit."

"You know what?" Aubrey's mom said suddenly as she stood. "I don't think now is a good time to discuss all that's happening within Nova and Aubrey's marriage."

Aubrey

Nova's mouth did this weird open and close motion for a few seconds as her eyes darted everywhere around the room. It seemed almost as if she were trying to speak, but she didn't.

"What the hell is this?" she finally asked, looking at me. "You arraigned some fucking AA meeting, but for a failing marriage instead or something?" I pushed hair back behind my ear. "No."

"So what's going on?" Nova asked, "why is my dad suddenly here, and why is your mom talking about our marriage that is in fact in shambles?" Nova did a small chuckle, though it was a chuckle of panic, before carrying on. "I must've been a dictator, or a mass murderer in my past life or something," she said, "because no way is this my fucking luck."

"I think we need to calm down" I suggested to the parents. "We can plan a time to talk, about separate things, but just not right now. I'll see you guys later." Without another sound, I gripped Nova's wrist and firmly, though carefully, took her outside.

***
Nova

"Where are we going?" I asked my wife as she drove her in what seemed like the complete opposite of Tallahassee. We had just spent a good 10 minutes "calming down" outside, and she told me that she was gonna take me somewhere, but I didn't have any say. I really hope Aubrey isn't about to go to a secluded area and kill me or something.

"I wanna show you something" she answered. Trust me, I was glad that Aubrey was actually speaking to me without it being in regards to Maddie or the fact that I cheated, but I was also worried because that could be sarcasm and she could be getting ready to harm me. "Uh" I said, "okay."

I tried to relax, so I leaned back in my passenger seat and let Aubrey do her thing. I sighed as I closed my eyes. I wasn't sleeping or anything, just concerned out of my mind, and felt that anticipation would grow more if my eyes were open.

"Here" Aubrey said after like five minutes, as I slowly opened my eyes. "Norwood?" I asked.

It was the parking lot of our high school. Due to it being Sunday, the lot was empty. "Come on!" Aubrey insisted, and I nodded.

I didn't ask questions, although I had many. I just followed Aubrey's lead, which led up to the football field. "Remember the game where I met Jason's ex, Britney?" she asked me as we walked up onto the stands. I nodded, followed after a quick chuckle. "Yeah," I said, "I remember." That day is vivid in my memory for a few reasons. It was the first game, it was when I met Nick's mom, it was when Brynn made her first jab at me through Aubrey, it was when Aubrey and Britney fought, but most importantly, it when Aubrey and I had our first kiss.

The kiss that made me realize that I wanted her.

I could feel my face heating up as Aubrey looked at me. "What's wrong?" she asked, as I folded my lips in, fighting off tears. "Nothing bad" I truthfully stated, "it's just, this is where it all started. You know?" Aubrey smiled sheepishly. "Yeah."

"Who would've thought that we'd go on to be best friends, then get married?" I asked my wife, quickly remembering that she filed to divorce me, which forced the tears that I had been fighting off, to seep out.

It was almost as if Aubrey could read my mind. "Come here" she said, as she pulled me into a hug. "Let's just remember the good times for now" she whispered in my ear. "That's what I brought you here for. We'll talk about our reality later."

I couldn't believe that I had even done what I did to Aubrey. She housed me, supported me, defended me, and loved me through everything. She didn't deserve any of what I put her through. And the fact that she was still able to sit here and do good things for me after I cheated on her, shows the type of heart she has. I really will not get anything better than her.

"Remember the championship game?" Aubrey asked randomly. I took a second to think, "that's the one where Nick looked dead for a moment right?" I asked, and Aubrey chuckled, "yeah" she said. "Not gonna lie, I sometimes wish he had died that moment." I laughed, genuinely, and I understood. If he had, I would have never slept with him.

"I know I said I wouldn't bring it up" Aubrey continued, "but now I'm just wondering. Was it good? Like, did it make you reminisce and miss him?" I shook my head, "maybe in the moment" I admitted, "but I don't see Nick and think 'damn, I miss him' or 'he's fine as hell', it's kind of just something that happened and never really crossed my mind again." Aubrey nodded.

"Did you regret it after?" she asked, "and be honest. Don't tell me what I wanna hear." I shrugged, "I didn't think of it after" I said simply. "I mean, it didn't really relieve the stress that I was feeling from our fight earlier that day like I thought it would, but it's sex. Sex... honestly feels good, you know?" Aubrey just stared into the distance.

"Good enough to do it again?" she asked, not answering my question, and I shook my head no. "It wasn't premeditated or thought of before it happened" I assured my wife. "It wasn't about you or because you did something wrong. Sex with you is great. The greatest I've ever had."

"How?" Aubrey turned to look at me.

"You don't just care about sex" I answered, "you care about the intimacy. You care about my needs as well as yours. You care about after-care. You know exactly what I like, which nobody else does. It doesn't matter that you don't have a dick. You really are the best I ever had." Aubrey tried not to smile, but her intense blushing showed that she was hiding a happy feeling of some sort.

"Nova I really don't know what to do" Aubrey admitted, "seriously. I love you, like genuinely, genuinely love you. But, that hurt so bad. And the fact that I found out from Rico instead of you, seeing that you had a chance to tell me when I questioned you about the STI, made it hurt that much more. I know it's not exactly about me but I just don't understand why or how you could do that to somebody that you love."

"I don't understand either" I replied, "and I've been asking myself the same shit for a while now. Because I swear I love you Aubrey, but I just don't know why I did that." Aubrey looked into the distance for a split second, before looking back at me.

"You love me?" she asked, "like legitimately?"

"Yeah," I said, kind of surprised. "Of course I do."

"If I did that to you, would you question my love for you?" I nodded, "one hundred percent" I admitted.

"But I'm a human Aubrey" I stated. "One time is a mistake, two times is a decision, and three times is a habit. I'm not a cheater, and don't wanna be labeled as one. I don't walk the streets of Tallahassee in my free time wondering how I can cheat on you again."

"You're right" Aubrey said after a moment of silence as she reached out to hold my hand. "But I'm not dropping the whole divorce filing yet. I wanna keep it up for some months to see how you act, because that'll show me if you're serious about your words."

"That's fine" I said, in defeat. "I'm sorry Aubrey. I know you're probably sick of hearing it but I really will never hurt you like that again." She nodded, "I can't say 'I know', but I'll say 'I hope not'. I have faith in you Nova." I smiled.

"And while we're here," I whispered as if we'd been in the halls of nosey, busy Norwood, "I have a question, too." Aubrey didn't say anything, she just looked on at me, not even daring to blink.

"What made you decide you liked me?"

It was silent for a minute, and in a way I had believed that maybe I overstepped a boundary. I mean, here Aubrey was hurting, and I'm asking her what made her like me? What if that's something that she's trying to let go of right now? What if it's something that's really hard to discuss?

"Never mind" I began to say, but Aubrey stuck out her index finger. "I was thinking" she said, seeming to read my mind. "Brains been foggy as of late."

I nodded.

"Did you mean when I proposed to you?" Aubrey continued, "or when we first kissed and shit?"

"Kissed."

Aubrey smiled, though it was a small smile. "Uh, I kind of just started having these intrusive, inappropriate thoughts. I'd have dreams and you'd be in them, I'd see people on the street and would say 'her nose is kind of like Nova's nose' or 'she and Nova are like the same height.' I hadn't even realized it, because I was able to control myself and therefore wasn't doing it around Jason or anything, but once I did notice, I was like..."

"Like?" I asked.

"Scared," Aubrey answered. "Scared, confused, and couldn't really register my feelings. I didn't get it. I kept saying I disliked you and I kept convincing myself that you were all these bad things, but I didn't feel that inside of me. I didn't see you and get mad, I'd see you and get butterflies."

"Then why didn't you ever seem, thrilled to be talking to me?" I asked. "Like, at the beginning of senior year you seemed really annoyed with me."

"Nova, coming out was really hard" Aubrey admitted. "And I mean hell, you out of all people know that I'm sure, but everybody has their own story. For me, I wasn't worried about family looking at me funny, because I knew they'd accept me. I was more worried about me not accepting myself." I looked on at my wife, not really saying anything.

"In my mind, I had a part to play" Aubrey said. "I had already shown you that I was that bitchy girl from the twenty-thousand dollar school. If I changed that narrative, you'd know that I was warming up to you, even if it wasn't romantic. I was scared of that. I was scared of you knowing, and then making it clear that you knew. I was scared of you potentially feeling a way back, because then I'd have no choice but to face that demon called 'out of the closet'." I looked down at my hands and started playing with my fingers.

"So that day you kissed me, was that the day you came to the realization of your feelings?" I asked, looking up only to see Aubrey's expression. She made a "so and so" motion with her hands.

"Kissing you was impulsive" Aubrey told me. "I figured that maybe if I just tried it, I'd realize this whole thing was really dumb and I didn't really like you. It was very in the moment, everything in my mind went by really fast." I nodded.

"But on the other hand," Aubrey continued, "I had already understood that I saw you in a different light than other girls at that point. What that light was? I don't know, and I honestly don't think I wanted to know then. But I couldn't ignore the fact that something differentiated you."

"So did you come to a conclusion after kissing me?" I asked, and Aubrey shook her head "no."

"If you remember, the aftermath that day was hectic," Aubrey reminded me, causing a giggle out of both of us. Nick had dropped me home, gone to a party without my knowledge, drank a ton, and outed Aubrey and I to everybody. Trust me when I say I will never forget that.

"So I was mad, and I believed then that I definitely didn't like you. But once people moved on, you were on my mind again. Hell, even during it all, I wondered about you." I smiled, this was sweet.

"I honestly couldn't tell you when I first realized that I wanted you Nova" Aubrey said. "I really don't know the specifics. But I know that whatever I was feeling soon grew twice as big some time after that kiss. Even during our bad times I couldn't stop thinking about you in a positive manner. I wanted to protect you from Nick, I wanted you to beat May's ass, and I wanted you to feel safe at whatever place you considered to be home. It was in all those moments that I realized I loved you. I don't know when I started to, or precisely how I started to, but I did." I could feel my eyes well up.

"That answer your question?" Aubrey asked in a whisper, "or should I keep going?"

A tear rolled down my cheek, "no" I whispered back as my wife's face seemed to be inching closer to mine. "That answers it. Thank you." She looked at me as if she was really debating kissing me. Aubrey and I had little to no intimate moments since that day in the park when Rico exposed me.

Aubrey lightly cupped my face, and I naturally grabbed her wrists, though not aggressively. She began to plant several soft, quick kisses on my lips.

"You're welcome" she whispered,
"You are so very welcome."