Chapter 7— Let’s do this!

December 20th! Only a few days to the popular celebration-- Christmas. It had snowed all through the night, the next morning was chilly.

Mermaid street looked stunning with the combination of the snow on every roof top, the paved cobbled roads, the lined up houses on both sides of the street, and on every house, there were red and green flowers and lights. The street glowed in its glory! After all, it is the most popular street in London, its name, unique!

The schools were on holiday, the Rye railway stations, were filled with people, the trains brought in people for the holiday and some traveled out of the town for the season. Hospitals, airports and the Rye museum were beautifully decorated for the holiday season.

It had been ten days since Olivia visited the mansion and left a troubling stain on the hearts of Amelia and William, the problem seemed to have no solution, it was a trying time for the couple, and it dealt with them. For some nights, William could find no sleep, Amelia had not spoken to her husband since that day. Despite the pleas from William, she only ignored him and went on with the rest of her duties as a wife. This troubled William greatly, he had no idea what his wife was thinking, was she going to leave him? Would she ever forgive him? How could he solve the problem and make Amelia happy again? Poor William.

He began drinking again, he sat in a bar for hours; thinking, wishing and hoping. Just like every other night, he crawled into the bed after his bath, and whispered I love you to Amelia, took out the lamp beside him and found peace in his sleep. Amelia too, surrendered to sleep without saying a word to Will.

William was awakened that morning by Amelia, she was sitting up on the bed beside him, she tapped on his arm once or twice and brought William's mind and body into the real world.

"Huh!" William reacted, his eyes blinked, then he saw his beautiful Amelia looking over him with a faint smile, at once, he moved his legs and sat up beside her. His eyes cleared up, the wet mist in his eyes shifted, he admired his wife, he loved her lustrous, auburn hair, her light brown eyes which were so sincere, he loved her small well-rounded nose, her well carved jaw, he remembered the taste of her pink and black soft lips; how he has longed to kiss her for too long now. Her light brown, smooth skin always glowed, and even though she just awoke, she looked like a goddess! She was his queen. Her slim body always invited him in, she made him loose his senses, she was his most valued possession. He feared losing her.

"William, Will are you there?!" She awakened his thoughts.

"Huh, oh! My love".

"Good morning babe, sleep well?", Amelia greeted and tried to force a smile but couldn't.

"Yes I did", they were silent again. William took Amelia's palms in his and pulled himself closer to her. "Forgive my breath, won't you?" He smiled.

"Certainly, only if you forgive mine?", she winked back and they both laughed heartily for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"I missed you babe, so much! You've made me crave for you for too long, do you have to hurt me like this?"

"I missed you too Will, I've been so angry at you-- ", she trailed off and lowered her eyes. William took her soft cheeks in between his palms and played with it.

"Don't let Olivia cause a drift between us, what we have is beautiful, I don't want to lose you!" William breathed out.

"Oh, but you won't lose me", she assured him with a smile and kissed William's cheek, William returned a warm kiss on her forehead. They stared into each other's eyes for 0.5 seconds.

"I've done some thinking babe, I think-- I strongly agree with what Olivia said the other day. I mean, I don't blame any of you, it was all my fault, I left! I never knew what you went through during the time I was away. Olivia healed your heart, she filled the space I bore open. I left an untreated sore in your heart and I'm sorry for that".

"Hey, don't be, it's okay!" William whispered into her face. "It's not anyone's fault", he added.

"You have a daughter and that's beautiful, she's so fragile and innocent and Olivia's right, she needs a home!", she paused and shrugged, "We should give her what she wants, take her as a wife, for the sake of Audrey, you have my permission!"

"You would do that?!" William was shocked at her words, his ears could not believe it, his eyes widened up.

"Yes I would! Everyone knows Olivia would stop at nothing to get what she wants, she'll keep coming back, you can't arrest her, you can't kill her, she doesn't even want to be reasoned with. It's true!" She widened her eyes and the skin on her forehead wrinkled a little. William nodded in agreement.

"Amelia I don't want to marry Olivia, I don't need a second wife! How would I cope? You do realize that your husband would be shared right? Even in bed?" He groaned and stressed the words to give emphasis. Amelia looked away, lost in thoughts, William watched her intently. She stood up from the bed and stood in front of the mirror.

"If it comes to that, so be it!", this time her eyes were filled with an upcoming flood and her voice sounded rough. William quickly moved to her side and held her, her head relaxed on his chest. Amelia released the flood and the water flowed freely down her cheeks falling on Will's shirt.

"I just can't do it Amelia, I can't, I love you too much! There must be another way. They'll come live us, that's it! She can't be my wife", William turned her face to his, he kissed her tears on both cheeks then his palms dried up the tears. "Please don't cry, no more of this".

"I won't-- I won't, I'm sorry", she sniffed in the mucus in her nose and chuckled. "Whether you marry her or they live here as guests it's the same thing Will. But we have to make it legal, Audrey has to be a legitimate child. This is our life now, let's face it. Marry her okay, please", they stared into each other's eyes and fell into a warm hug.

"Alright I'll think about it. I love you!" William whispered closely to her ears.

"I love you back!" She mumbled.