Chapter 129

Rowan smile at me. “Flowers for a beautiful lady”

He then surprises me when he bends down and kisses my cheek. I stare at his throat in shock. See what I mean when I say he’s different?

The Rowan I know, wouldn’t be caught dead kissing me even if it’s just a peck on the cheek. So this was at new development. One I wasn’t sure I was ready.

“Thank you,” I shake my head to clear out the confusion.

“Are you ready to leave?”

Noah gently takes Iris from my hands. He stares at her so adoringly. Like she lit up his world. While he whispers sweet nothings, Iris wakes up. Surprisingly, she doesn’t cry. Just stares at her brother in fascination. I guess she is used to him.

“Yes. Everything’s packed”

“Great, we’ll make it home in time for dinner”

He helps me out of the bed. Then he picks up our bags and we leave the room that has been my home for the past three months.

Before leaving, I say goodbye to the doctors and nurses. Most of them were so teary. It touched my heart. to see them happy because I was finally leaving. They’d thought I wouldn’t wake up. For them, this is a freaking miracle.

“What about the bills? I pull Rowan’s sleeves to catch his attention.

“Don’t worry about that. It’s already been taken care of that”

He then takes my hand and we follow Noah who was walking ahead of us. I stare at our joined hands, completely mesmerized.

Maybe this is all a dream. Because what in the twilight zone is this? Why does he keep holding my hand?

Before I can think of pulling my hand from his, we get outside to the parking lot. The car wasn’t that far.

Noah gets in while still talking to his sister. Her eyes were fixed on him. It is as if she is actually listening to him.

Where did Herbert go?” I ask Rowan after noticing the new driver.

“He took an early retirement, so we got someone else” he answers as he ushers me into the car.

The moment we get in, the driver begins driving.

The drive is silent. Well except for Noah who was still talking to his Iris. It’s like we don’t exist in his and Iris’s world as he told her stories of all the things he has done and all they will do together once she’s old enough.

I’m lost in thought as the drive flies by. Without even realizing it, we get home. It takes Rowan nudging me, for me to come back to myself.

“We’re here” he says as he opens the door.

Iris chooses that moment to start screaming her lungs out. I take her from Noah, but she still doesn’t keep stop.

“Maybe she’s hungry” I tell no one in particular.

“Just go on inside. I’ll bring in the bags”

I nod my head and step outside the door. I slowly start walking towards the huge mansion. It looks the same as always, but I can’t help feeling like this wasn’t my home anymore.

I don’t understand why I felt that way all over a sudden.

When I get inside, things are different. The painting. The décor. Everything. I stop dead in my tracks. As survey the entire place. Something feels different, and not just because the house looks unrecognizable.

It lacked a certain warmth. A kind of warmth that it had yesterday (or what my brain now considers to be yesterday)

I continue taking hesitant steps. The feeling of being somewhere foreign intensifies. My mind told me this is my home though it’s different, but my heart and soul didn’t recognize it.

Another bout of screaming from Iris pulls me from the weirdness I felt. I walk quickly till I get to the extra bedroom that was downstairs.

What matters right now is feeding Iris. I can always figure out why something feels wrong later on.