Rose

As she gazed at me, her face immediately fell and tears welled up into her eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand that was shaking, taking a step back as she gazed at me.

She held back from crying, and before I knew it, tears came into my eyes too. I wiped the traitor tears that slipped out of my eyes and I sniffed, a cold glare on my face.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, trying my hardest not to burst into tears. She was there. My sister was right in front of me.

I held back from sobbing and snapped, "you said you would come back for me and you didn't. I waited months, years and still had hope that you, you selfish person, would come back for me but you didn't! You left me with that monster for so many years! How could you leave me? Why didn't you come back? Answer me!"

Then tears streamed down my cheeks and I couldn't control them. I wiped them as much as I could, keeping a hard glare on my face but I found it difficult to be angry with her. She was my sister and all I wanted to do was hug her. But I needed to know the truth that had been killing me for years.

She wiped her cheeks, sniffing before replying, "I didn't leave you." A soft gasp left my mouth at the sound of her voice, the voice that had comforted me for years in my childhood, the voice that was always there for me. She still sounded the same, more matured but still the same. She had a little more of a French accent behind her words but it wasn't too obvious.

"I didn't leave you," she repeated, sniffing and wiping her cheeks as she took one step forward, her teary eyes filled with honesty. "I was coming back for you - I was! But he found out," she helplessly told me, and I wiped my cheeks, my face crumpling up.

"I was on my way to you. I was never, ever going to leave you. How could I? You're my sister and I love you - I would die for you! He had someone to take me a-and before I knew it, I was in an arranged marriage with a-an older man. So many things happened to me that I'm glad didn't happen to you."

"I was on my way to get you," she whispered, her voice shaky and cracking a little from the tears. "I was! You have to know that. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that you waited all these years for an answer. I'm so sorry, ma soeur. I am." {my sister}.

I sniffed, wiping my cheeks more tears ran down my cheeks.

She didn't leave me. She was in an arranged marriage all those years.

"Are you still with him?" I asked, my voice wavering. "Are those your kids?" I glanced over at them and they were still playing had laughing, the baby giggling on the blanket.

She shook her head, sniffing. "It took a lot but I managed to get out of it. I'm married to someone else. They're my kids." Then a soft chuckle left her mouth as she gazed at me, "you're an aunt."

"I missed you," she told me, tears rolling down her cheeks. She exhaled deeply as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "I missed you so, so, so much!

Then I couldn't stop myself anymore. I started walking, turning into a jog, then a run and I wrapped my arms around her as I finally approached her, clinging onto my sister as I sobbed, all the pain from all those years coming out.

"I thought you l-left m-me. . .all t-these. .y-years, y-you had it w-worse than me!" I cried, my tears soaking her clothes as she held onto me, kissing my temple. "Y-You were always there for m-me. Juliet, I'm sorry - I miss you - I'm so sorry I hated you!"

Juliet was crying too, her arms squeezing me tightly. "It's okay - Rose, it's okay. I missed you, God, I missed you!"

"Are you okay?" She asked me, her voice filled with love. "Do you still live with him?" She pulled away, lifting my chin and examining your face. "God, you look just like mama."

I sniffed as she wiped my tears, just like she always did. "N-No. I don't. I'm fine - better now. You're still so pretty, no wonder you're married!"

She laughed, the sweet sound filling my ears and smiling me smile. "Merci! You're so grown up! Please tell me you're engaged or something, beautiful."

I shook my head, smiling at my sister. "No, I'm not, but I have a boyfriend."

"Ooo!" Juliet teased, wriggling her eyebrows and I chuckled, wiping the remainder of my tears.

"He's actually here. I came with him and my friends. Do you want to meet them?" I asked, beaming at her.

"Yes! Of course!" She replied, a wide smile on her face. "Has he been treating you well?"

I nodded. "He'd never hurt a hair on me. Your husband. . ?"

She nodded too, though her eyes averted elsewhere, "I love him. Come on, show me your friends."

I turned and waved as a signal.

The doors opened and all of the men I knew in the car stepped out. After paying, the driver drove off which left the men stood awkwardly on the quiet road. They started walking and I started talking.

"The one in the Gucci tracksuit is Jordan. He is so funny and nice, he's annoying but a big sweetheart. Now, the one wearing shorts is Gage. He's so sweet, Juliet. He'll never let you down. The one wearing taking off his sunglasses is Dax. When I met him, he had a wall up but now I've kinda broken them down and he's such a playful person if you let him be." I smiled as I realised that I have amazing friends that were reliable and sweet. I could always trust them and they were family to me.

"That's Cristiano - Cris. He's my boyfriend and I. .care for him, so much. I can't imagine my life without him. There are so many ways to describe him, Juliet but they're too much. He's my everything," I softly explained, my eyes gazing at him. I smiled, my heart warming at the sight of him. My eyes ran across his body as I realised how much I appreciated that man.

"Do you love him?"

The question was spinning around in my mind and as I looked at Cris, a soft chuckle left my mouth. "Yeah. . .I think I do. ."

They approached and I smiled, turning to face my sister. "Juliet, this. . .well, this. . ." I gazed at each of the men's faces in front of me. I smiled and finished, "this is my family, Gage, Dax, Jordan and Cris."

"Nice to meet you, Juliet."

"Pleasure to meet you, Juliet."

"Heard great things about you, Juliet."

"You're really pretty, Juliet."

Dax and Gage simultaneously groaned as we all looked at Jordan. I couldn't help but chuckle as he went over to my sister, who blushed, and kissed her hand.

"I'm Jordan."

We all laughed and I smiled as I looked around at my family.

"So," Juliet began, a beaming smile on her face as Jordan continued to gaze at her. "Who's hungry?"

Outside, we were sat on the grass, talking and laughing as we all engaged in a funny conversation.

On my lap, was my youngest niece. I cooed and played with her as I fed her some food.

I hadn't been so happy in a long time. Besides meeting Cris, seeing my sister was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I finally had my answer and I was happy with her. We talked as if we had been with each other the entire time. It was like nothing happened.

Juliet had never forgotten about me. Juliet had twins first and in memory of me, she named her daughter Rose, short for Rosemary, but everyone called her Ro. I felt like crying at the news and she named her son Toulouse, though everyone called him Tou. His middle name was Ross, similar to my name. They were five years old and adorable - I loved them already. They could speak French and English and Italian!

Toulouse was currently sat on Gage's lap and Gage was showing him a game on his phone. He seemed pretty comfortable on his lap.

Ro was with her mother. Juliet was braiding her daughter's hair whilst talking.

The baby in my arms. She was named Paris and was absolutely adorable. She was a year old and was a very curious child.

I held her up and kissed her cheek, cuddling my niece. She giggled, her cute, little hands going to my face as I blew raspberries on her stomach, making the child squeal.

My sister was young and already had three children and I was sure she was going to have more. It made me wonder about my life. Why hadn't I settled down yet? I had been through such a crazy life, it would be nice to have a family of my own.

Kids. Did I want kids? Of course I did. If I had someone I trusted and loved, I would definitely have kids. Did Cristiano want kids, was the question I was wondering. But we weren't ready yet. We didn't have a family house and lived with three other guys. We weren't married and our relationship had just started. We needed to sort all of that out before we thought about children.

Then I caught Cris watching me and the baby. I stopped and gave him a smile, his eyes twinkling as they gazed at me. He smiled back, though his eyes seemed distracted. I licked my lips as our eyes locked and for some reason, my heart rate quickened. He always stole my breath away. He gazed into my eyes and mouthed, 'you look beautiful.'

I smiled, bouncing the baby on my lap as I mouthed back, 'thank you'. He looked away.

But inside, three little words were attacking me and I couldn't get them out of my head.

~~~

That night, Juliet and I were in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner. Dinner was amazing. We had fun and talked about almost everything. I had so much fun with my sister and I didn't want to leave France any time soon.

But I couldn't help but notice an empty space at the table, how she always avoided talking about her husband and when I turned, I saw her sitting down, her eyes on her wedding ring.

I bit my lip, before asking, "so, when does your husband come back from work?"

Her eyes automatically snapped up and looked into mine. She slid her ring back onto her finger and gave me a beaming smile. Her lips parted but I shook my head, knowing what was coming. "The truth, Juliet. I'm here, don't worry."

Then her smile faded and she sighed, looking away. "He's not coming home. He moved out."

"Why?" I softly questioned, my heart going out for her.

Exhaling softly, she answered, "we took a break. We realised that we were arguing more than we were loving each other. He said things, I said things and the kids were noticing, so, we decided to take a break to figure things out. So, he moved out. He just visits the kids now or takes them out."

"What do you want?"

She shrugged softly, giving me a small, sad smile. "Him. I miss him so much, Rose, and I love him. But I don't know if he wants me back." She sighed and smiled at me, "you don't need to hear this."

"I do," I seriously told her, "you're my sister and next time you see him, I want you to tell him how you feel."

She chuckled before smirking at me, "okay. If you tell Italian Dream how you feel too."

I rolled my eyes, folding my arms. "No. It's too early in the relationship. He'll freak out."

"You can't hold in your feelings forever," she said in singsong voice, a large grin on her face. I chuckled, shaking my head.

"I'm gonna head to bed," I told her, walking over and giving her a warm hug. "Thanks for letting us all stay. I'm surprised you have room."

"Please," Juliet said, chuckling. "I have too many empty rooms for future children."

"Goodnight, Juliet."

"Sweet dreams, Rose. We'll explore Paris tomorrow."

I smiled at her before going upstairs and finding my room.

When I opened my bedroom door, there was my man standing by the dresser, taking off his shirt while talking on the phone.

My eyes shamelessly ran down his muscular bag, my lips parting at the sight of my handsome boyfriend. I still couldn't believe he was mine. I shut the door behind me as he turned, noticing me.

He gave me a small smile before walking over to the window, talking on the phone.

I walked into the bathroom and took off my makeup before brushing my teeth. I then grabbed my pyjama dress and put it on, taking off my bra under my dress. I put my clothes away and looked over at Cris who was still on the phone.

I laid on the top of the bed, going on my phone, waiting for him. I zoned out and as time went by, I didn't realise that he was gazing at me.

"What?" I softly asked, wondering why he had such an intense gaze on me. He closed the curtains and leaned against the wall, his hazel eyes intimidating me. "You're just so beautiful."

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head as he watched over, practically jumping on the bed. He placed his chin on my leg and gazed up at me.

I couldn't help but smile as I looked down at him. "We're gonna explore Paris tomorrow. Where should we go first?" I asked, making conversation.

"The bed."

I rolled my eyes again before pushing him off my leg and moving under the duvet, chuckling. He smiled as he went under to, pulling me body close to his. His arms wrapped around me and he caressed my cheek, his eyes never leaving mine. "You mean the world to me."

I gave him a smile as he leaned in and we kissed. In that moment, it felt like we were the only ones in the world and nothing else mattered.

________

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