Forced Marriage: Escaping Her Monster

Jerlina felt rejected. Not because he refused to have a baby with her, but because he is not willing to speak what's in his mind. If he is speaking about convenience…

"There never will be a "convenient" time to have a baby, Joel. There never will be! Raising a baby is going to be hard work whenever we have our baby, but it is not impossible. We have a lot of help and we can get through this. And…" Jerlina let out a sigh seeing him still unwilling to speak.

"It's fine. I get it. It was my fault to get excited on my own here," she said and walked away.

She did not want to start a fight on Christmas day.

Jeremy sighed looking at the stairs.. He winced a little hearing the door lock with a thud. She turned to a teenager throwing tantrum just now. Or is she just walking away mid-fight?

He rubbed his forehead. She probably left to compose herself.

At least she spoke her mind! While I…

Who is the teenager here?

His heart does waver between wanting a child and wanting to wait.  If he tells her that he fears if she could handle another miscarriage, that definitely will cause a big fight. Or else, it will hurt her heart. She might think that he is implying that she cannot give birth to a child ever.

But that's not what he thinks for sure.

He decided to stay quiet on this issue. She is not an irrational person. She'd calm down on her own. And maybe he can try and find the right words to say the next time she brings it up.

Jeremy knew he is hiding, but he didn't have the courage to speak to her about this. The image of her almost falling down from the cliff stays in his mind still.

He cleaned up the kitchen and stood by the window watching the branches of the tree move. His heart started to fill with sadness that he couldn't shake off.

Jerlina is still so affected by her miscarriage and Emma… He couldn't forget the rage in Emma's eyes as she destroyed the planter. The look of contempt and the victorious pride on her face when she finished damaging the planter...

Terrifying!

He made it clear that Emma is not to be allowed near any of his properties and it should be informed everywhere that his protection on his sister is lifted.

He doesn't know. She has done a lot of damage to him in the past which he didn't realize. But others might have. She might have showed her ugly face to others too. Now that he washed his hands off of her, her enemies will start to move – probably.

What will happen to her? Will she suffer a lot?

Jeremy ran his finger through his hair closing his eyes. Emma's face when she was little, came to his mind. Even when he pushed her away, she'd cling to him and would keep on talking to him. She used to make his mood better back in those times. That little sister he loved…

He just wanted to take everything back and give back her protection for old times' sake. But does she deserve his grace?

No!

But even still, he didn't trust himself. If she gets in a bind and calls him, he'd rush to help her, probably. But he decided to think of her contempt-filled face each time she smiles at him again. It is the only way he can escape her clutches.

He suddenly felt gloomy in his heart and let out a sigh.

Maybe I should prepare eggnog!

Jeremy decided not to get so caught up in his sad thoughts. If he fights with his wife, he ends up getting filled with negative emotions. It is not good.

As he was about to turn, he felt a soft embrace around his waist and his lips bloomed to a smile. He thought it would take at least an hour for her to calm down but she came down in minutes.

"I am sorry," Jerlina rested her cheek on his back. "I shouldn't have insisted on it too much… I got very excited seeing Cia and… I don't want us to fight about this. We still have time and so… I won't talk about it again," she said.

Having children is something both of them should decide together. She cannot push her wishes on him just because she is excited. And they've sorted everything between them just now and it might be too soon for a baby.

It was her fault for getting excited hearing everyone talking about the baby with her and seeing the cute baby Cia.

She still wants to have a baby soon though. But if he is not willing to, she doesn't want to force him.

"Is the offer still valid? Can we go back to the peak?" she asked.

He wasn't saying anything and she could feel her blood pressure rising. She decided to change her surroundings to change her mood.

Will it hurt him to say something? Just for the sake of it, can't he just say that he is willing to have kids with me and explain to me the reason he doesn't want to right now? And he didn't give me a present! Did he forget about it?

Well, it's fine if he forgot to get me a  present but he could try and be honest with me regarding the baby issue…

"I was going to prepare eggnog," Jeremy said and hugged her. "but since my little wife wants to go out, we can go out."

In his embrace, Jerlina found her anger dissipating slowly. And when he placed a kiss on her head, all her anger went away and it got replaced with happiness.

I have no shame, she grumbled in her heart.

They walked to the peak once more. This time Jeremy was holding her hand and walked to her pace. They reached the top and Jerlina found a rock to sit.  The sky was clear and she figured that they could watch the sunset together.

Jeremy sat behind her. The cold wind blew and it brought calm to the troubled souls.

"Tell me if you need anything," he said and Jerlina nodded.

Leaning on him, she looked at the valley. At the distance she could see a group of horses grazing on the grass, They all had long hair and there were some little horses and they followed around their respective mothers.

This scene looked familiar and she figured this is why she got this place in her dream, but how did he know of this place?

"This used to be the secret spot our mothers would come to when they bunked classes," Jeremy said as if he knew what Jerlina is thinking.

"Really? Our mothers bunked classes?" she asked looking at him with her eyes widened.

"Mmm," Jeremy nodded. "Ask anyone here, they'll tell you how naughty those two were," Jeremy chuckled.

"I knew they were naughty. But bunking classes..? That's something I didn't know… Grandpa never told me that…" Jerlina leaned on his shoulders.