Second To Cry. Carys Jones

      ‘You used to hate paternity cases,’ Isla said suddenly as they lay in bed that night, bringing Aiden back from the brink of sleep. It was only just past ten but his body was now conditioned to early nights and early mornings and so it felt much later to him.

      ‘Huh?’ he asked sleepily.

      ‘Back in Chicago, you used to hate paternity cases. You said they made you feel uneasy because you worried about the kids involved. Which I thought was noble of you.’ From the tone of Isla’s voice it was clear that she’d been lying in bed thinking, rather than trying to sleep.

      ‘I did hate them, still do. They’re messy,’ Aiden admitted.

      ‘How old is the child?’

      ‘Two.’

      ‘That sucks.’

      ‘Can I go back to sleep now?’ Aiden asked, his eyes feeling heavy.

      ‘I didn’t even know we had an ex-playmate living here,’ Isla mused half to herself, half to her tired husband.

      ‘Maybe you two could be friends,’ Aiden muttered dreamily.

      ‘What?’ Isla screeched, instantly outraged.

      Sighing, Aiden pulled himself up so that he was sitting and looked at his wife. His body groaned from being pulled from the sweet release of sleep so abruptly.

      ‘She’s an ex-playmate. I imagine she is glamorous. I know they used to live in the city so you two would have a lot in common, that’s all.’ He planted a kiss on Isla’s forehead to further placate her.

      ‘She might know decent places locally to get hair and nails done,’ he added, knowing that Isla was constantly aggrieved by the lack of professional beauticians close by. Or at least ones she deemed competent.

      ‘Hmm,’ Isla mulled on the thought. She had to admit it wasn’t the worst idea she’d ever heard.

      ‘I need to get to sleep,’ Aiden pleaded.

      ‘Okay, fine.’

      They both lay back down and settled themselves in the darkness. Isla’s mind continued to flutter ideas around her head, preventing her from sleeping, but Aiden immediately dropped off and a lazy smile pulled across his lips.

      He was dreaming, as he often did, of Brandy. She was on the beach, by the edge of the sea, playfully dipping her toes into the water. Each time she did, she would squeal girlishly at the cold. Aiden was watching her from afar.

      The wind caught her blonde hair and whipped it around her head. She looked messy and carefree and devastatingly beautiful. Turning, she looked over to Aiden, a sweet smile on her face, and she beckoned him to join her in the water.

      ‘Come on in!’ her voice still held its soft, Southern lilt. She bit her lip playfully as she watched him which set his pulse racing.

      Aiden moved to oblige, his eyes taking in the curves of her petite body in the green bikini she was wearing which glistened with an ethereal glow, as though she were a mermaid.

      As he walked towards her, he was enticed by her gaze, by the sound of her soft laughter. He didn’t want to just play in the ocean with her. He wanted to kiss her, to hold her, to run his hands down her almost bare body. He wanted…

      Aiden woke up suddenly, his breath catching in his throat. As his senses slowly returned, he realized that he was in a full state of arousal and beside him Isla was now fast asleep. He considered waking her and then sighed to himself. He was definitely too tired for that. Shaking off the residues of the dream, Aiden headed for the bathroom, wishing that he had not woken from such a pleasant fantasy.

      *

      The following morning the sun was shining brightly, basking Avalon in a sumptuous golden glow. It was hard to feel anything other than happy when the weather was so nice and the air so fresh. But Isla was not happy.

      ‘Another day with just a two year old for company,’ she moaned as Aiden drank his morning coffee.

      ‘You just need to make some friends around here, that’s all.’

      ‘I’ve tried and no one here wants to be my friend. No one here gets me.’

      ‘I’m sorry, hon, I’m sure you’ll meet someone on your wavelength soon enough.’ Aiden wasn’t paying that much attention to his wife as his mind was already at the office, thinking about the working day which lay ahead of him.

      ‘Aid, I’m lonely.’

      Aiden sighed and placed his mug of hot stimulant down and gave his wife a steady, long look. He was as tired as she was lonely of being caught in the same argument. She didn’t like Avalon, he did. She had come because of him, had sacrificed the life she knew. But in his mind it was done now and she needed to at least try and make the best of it. From where he was standing, Isla seemed reluctant to even try, preferring instead to dig in her heels and just lament about how miserable she was.

      ‘Just give it time,’ he told her sternly, hoping the tone of his voice would encourage her to drop the topic for at least one morning.

      ‘I’ve given it time!’ she exclaimed angrily, not sensing his annoyance.

      ‘A couple of months is nothing. It can years to settle somewhere new. Be patient.’

      ‘Patient! Aid, I’m wasting away here!’ Isla bunched her hands into fists as she spoke and began to pace around the kitchen.

      Aiden gestured towards their daughter who was happily eating her breakfast, oblivious to their heated exchange.

      ‘She is the sole reason we are here,’ he said. ‘Her wellbeing matters more than our own. That’s what happens when you become a parent. So next time you feel lonely, or isolated, or frustrated because you can’t get your nails done how you like them, think of our little girl and how much she is benefitting from being around you, from living somewhere without copious amounts of air pollution.’

      ‘Are you calling me a bad mother?’ Isla’s hands instantly moved to her hips as she delivered the accusation, glaring at her husband.

      ‘Jeez, no,’ Aiden sighed, regretting having tried to even make the point about Meegan’s welfare.

      ‘Because it sounds like you’re calling me a bad mother!’ Isla declared again, becoming confrontational.

      ‘Isla, no. You’re not a bad mother; I’m just suggesting you need to get some perspective on the situation.’

      He rose up and went over to his wife and, placing his hands on her shoulders, bent down and softly kissed her cheek. Her body was stiff beneath his touch but loosened slightly when he kissed her.

      He needed the argument to be over, for Isla to be in a decent mood when he left so that he wouldn’t come home to further animosity.

      ‘Meegan loves it here and you will too,’ he whispered soothingly and Isla managed to smile slightly.

      ‘So you don’t think I’m a bad mother?’

      ‘Of course not. You can just be a little self-involved,’ he added the last part lightly, as a tease, so she wouldn’t get wound up again.

      ‘Whatever, get out of here. Go earn the money to put bread on this table!’ Isla’s bad mood had passed and she was now appearing almost cheerful. She always looked so much prettier when she smiled. Aiden wished her temperament would allow her to do it more often.

      ‘See you later! Bye, princess.’ He kissed both his wife and daughter on their foreheads before stepping out the door and into the sunshine to commence a new working day.

      *

      Aiden drove through Avalon with his windows down and his radio on. The station he was tuned in to was playing a country song about loving someone who was with someone else. Though the lyrics were pained, the melody was upbeat and Aiden