The Falling of Love by Marisa Oldham Read Free Book Online Page B

Ian, who has insisted on carrying all of her things in by himself .
    “I’m going to miss you,” she says, as she kisses him goodbye.
    Ian puts his hand over his heart. “It already hurts, and I haven’t even left you yet,” he says before kissing her one last time. “I’ll talk to you tonight?”
    “Please.” She smiles.
    She waves to Brandon and Bailey who are still in the car. Unable to resist she gives Ian one last kiss. She throws her arms around him and holds him tightly. The feeling of not wanting to let go of him overwhelms her.
    “Talk to you later,” he says, as he waves to her and walks backwards down the walkway.
    Grace closes the door and falls onto it, holding her heart. She lets out a deep breath, “I’m so in love.”

 
 
 
    Ian and his siblings turn into their driveway. He fills with horror at the sight of his father's car.
    “I’ll go in first,” Ian says.
    “No, we’ll all go in at the same time,” Brandon says firmly.
    “I don’t understand why he’s home already, it’s only noon!” whimpers Bailey.
    They all pile out of the car with a sense of doom about them. Ian opens the door to their house, and sitting on the couch with an infuriated look on his face is their father. Ian turns around. Brandon stands directly behind him and Bailey is in the doorway, looking terrified and too afraid to come inside.
    “Get in this house now, young, lady!” screams their father.
    Ian looks at Bailey and nods at her that it’s okay to come inside, although he’d rather she run away and never come back. Bailey comes inside and shuts the door behind her, carefully.
    Ian’s mother is sitting on the couch next to her husband. Her posture is perfect and her hands are folded on her skirt. Her red hair is pulled back into a tight bun, and she wears a light blue cardigan sweater over a white blouse. She does not look up at her children.
    “Where have you little fuckers been?” demands their father, as he stands up and walks over to Ian.
    “We just went to the lake, sir,” Ian replies before either of his siblings has time to.
    “You just went to the lake! Who gave you permission to do such a thing?” he growls in Ian’s face.
    Ian looks at his mother, who has not changed her position and sits immobile on the couch.
    “Mother said we could go!” Bailey cries out.
    Ian’s father walks over to his wife and smacks her across the face. Ian rushes at him and beats him on the face and shoulders, to which his father responds to by lashing out his fist. His father takes a few good blows from him, but he is much larger than Ian. He pins Ian to the ground with his knee, causing him to gasp for breath.
    Brandon sprints at his father as his mother cries out, “Please stop, John!”
    “Stay out of it, Rose!” his father screams.
    With one swift backhanded motion, his father hits Brandon. Brandon goes flying and hits the fireplace, which knocks him to the ground. Ian watches Bailey cradle herself in the corner by the front door, where she is crying hysterically. Ian is still gasping for breath and becoming pale as his father pushes harder into his chest with his knee. With his fist, he pounds into Ian’s ribs.
    “John,” his mother pleads, “I told the children they could get fresh air at the lake!”
    “You should know better!” he snarls at her as he rises to his feet and then grabs her by the hair, making her tight bun come loose in his fisted hand.
    His father overpowers his mother’s tiny frame as he drags her by the hair, down the hall to their bedroom. Ian lies on the floor grabbing at his chest and choking for breath. Brandon slowly lifts his body up from the ground. The home fills with their mother’s screams while Brandon and Bailey huddle close to Ian.

 
 
 
    That evening, sitting at the dining room table, Grace cannot wipe her smile from her face.
    “You’re annoying when you’re in love,” Michelle says, as she reaches for the salad dressing.
    James looks at Grace,