Rating: PG
Summary: A little boy makes a Christmas wish.
Type of fic: Story
***
Part Two
27 November 2010
�Out with your boyfriend again?� a cold voice greeted her as she closed the door behind her.
Unable to help herself, Stephanie felt the almost familiar surge of anger rise. �I�m not even going to dignify that with an answer,� she said evenly as she turned to look at her estranged husband.
�What�s the matter, Steph?� Dwayne taunted. �Afraid of the truth?�
�What truth? You know Chris is nothing more than a friend.�
�So you say.�
�You-�
�Mommy! Daddy�s here!�
Stephanie quickly swallowed her anger and faced her son, who had just run out of the lounge room, with a forced smile. �I know, baby.�
Bryce had a huge grin on his face. �Can Daddy sleep here tonight, like before?� he asked, his voice hopeful.
She glanced at Dwayne. The question had surprised her, and she was unsure of how to answer.
�Bryce, you know I can�t,� Dwayne finally answered for her as he bent down to Bryce�s eye level.
�But you said you weren�t doing anything important,� Bryce said, his face falling.
Stephanie hated seeing him let down again by his own father. She looked hard at her husband, but tried to keep her voice light. �We have plenty of room, you know that Dwayne. It won�t be any trouble having you stay the night. And a lot of your stuff is still here.�
Dwayne�s eyes narrowed at her slightly. �Are you sure?�
She smiled hesitantly. �Of course.�
Bryce cheered loudly, and he wrapped his arms tightly around his father, who smiled at his son softly. However, hard eyes greeted Stephanie when Dwayne lifted his head to look at her.
*
Dwayne was surprised to see Stephanie standing in his doorway. He scowled, not wanting her to know that she had gotten the better of him.
�An insult you forgot to fling at me?� he asked sarcastically.
Her face hardened. �I just wanted to stop by and say thank you for staying, but obviously I�m wasting my time.�
�It didn�t seem like I had much choice,� Dwayne shot back.
�Well, I guess it�s too much to even ask you to pretend to be gracious for a mere couple of minutes.�
�Gracious?� he said, incredulous. �You want me to be gracious after I come home to an empty house and-�
�What exactly are you doing here?� Stephanie interrupted. �I thought you had some majorly important meeting you just couldn�t miss.�
Dwayne didn�t miss the sarcasm in her voice. He stared at her. �I came to see my son.�
Her implacable mask suddenly fell, and she sighed tiredly. �I wish you�d been here earlier then. Bryce would have liked that.�
He was surprised at the sudden gentleness in Stephanie�s voice. �I am sorry about that,� he said sincerely. Filled with feelings of shame and self-reproach, he looked down at the floor. �I felt- I wanted to try and make it up to him, so I came ho- here.�
Dwayne had been about to say �home�. It wasn�t really home anymore. He had moved out two months ago. Furious at her, he had packed a small suitcase of clothes and walked out. Home was now a hotel room.
He could feel his wife�s eyes watching him, and he looked up at her. He was stunned to see a small smile on her lips.
�It�s good to have you back,� she said softly, then turned and walked away.
*
Stephanie couldn�t sleep. For the first time in over two months she and Dwayne were spending the night in the same house. God, how she had missed him! All those fights and arguments suddenly didn�t matter anymore. All she wanted to do was have him in her arms again.
She turned to face his side of the bed, and her arms reached out to touch the empty space. It was cold. It had been cold for the past three months. Three long months of cold, lonely nights spent crying and wondering what had gone so terribly wrong in their marriage.
It seemed like they had just woken up one morning and decided that fighting would be the only thing they would ever do from that moment on. Stephanie couldn�t even remember what it was that set off the initial argument. But it had started, and for some reason it just never seemed to stop. The insults were low, the taunts non-stop, and the criticisms cruel. It had been exceedingly stupid.
It still was.
Stephanie wondered if there was anything she could do to fix things. She did love Dwayne, more than she ever thought possible, and she missed him desperately. Surely things weren�t that bad that a couple of calm, mature conversations couldn�t fix? She had to fix things, or at least try to. Besides, they had a son to think about.
But she knew that her reasons towards reconciliation were far more selfish.
end part two.
