The Sinister Silhouette

When I feel Jules tremble beside me, I pick her up and set her on my lap, making sure she can see everyone, then grab the blanket off the back of the couch and place it over her lap. The tremors aren’t from being cold, but I’m hoping the added warmth coupled with my closeness will help ease her nerves.

Once she’s comfortable, I turn to the others. It takes a solid forty minutes to tell them what happened. I start from the very beginning when Jules and I met, everything that led up to her coma, Theo’s sick role in our lives, him attacking her at his house yesterday, and ending with Jules and me both remembering our past.

Jules inserts the parts of Theo attacking her seven years ago and then what she found in the box yesterday, along with that attack. I brace to hear the details again. She told me in the hospital, but it’s still hard to hear. Dad and Ella stop us periodically to ask questions.

By the time I’m done, Jules is practically bouncing on my lap because her shakes are so bad, and my arm is wet from the tears that’ve fallen from her eyes. If I never see another tear fall from her in my life, it’ll still be too much.

Mom’s silently crying too as Dad holds her. Ella looks livid, but even her eyes are glassy with tears. Vicki has her arm around her shoulders, offering comfort.

“I can’t believe he would do such a thing,” Mom cries softly. “What in the hell has my boy become?”

My jaw clenches. There are so many names I could call him, but I refuse to in front of Mom. This is hard enough on her as it is. I can’t imagine losing a son because he’s become a psychotic bastard. I’m glad I didn’t tell her everything in the waiting room. I know she and Dad visited him in the hospital, and with her not knowing the extent of his crimes, it gave her a chance to see him without all that extra weight mixed in.

I hate to do it, but everyone needs to know. “He’s going to jail after he leaves the hospital and charges are being brought against him.”

Mom nods, but the pain is clear on her face. She understands, but is understandably still upset.

“Of course,” Dad says darkly, his eyes flickering to Jules in understanding.

I pull Jules closer to me.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Dad mutters. “He duped us all.”

“He was always good with computer shit,” Mom says tearfully. “Even as a kid. We’d hoped he’d do something with it, but we never thought he’d do something like this.”

“There’s more,” I tell the group and wait for everyone to look my way. “Jules was pregnant with my baby when she fell into a coma. She had planned to tell me the day Theo attacked her, but obviously never got the chance.” I pause for a moment, and the room turns eerily quiet, shock marring everyone’s features. “She delivered a baby by C-section. The baby was born February 1, 2011.”

“Wait! What?” Ella says loudly, straightening away from Vicki. “That’s Aria’s birthday,” she continues slowly. “Are you saying….”

“Yes,” I answer before she can finish. “Aria’s birth certificate shows Jules as the mother. There’s no way to know for sure, but it seems I’m her father since she was already pregnant by the time Theo raped her.

“Holy fuck,” Vicki mutters.

“We’re waiting a few days to tell her,” Ju

les adds carefully. “We thought about waiting even longer, but we’re hoping with Theo more than likely going to prison, it might help her with knowing she still has parents. I know it’s going to hurt her, but we’re hoping to ease some of the pain.”

Mom and Dad have been quiet, so I glance at them. Mom’s eyes are dry, and I’m shocked to see the blatant anger flaring in her green gaze. I’ve never seen that look in her eyes before. Dad doesn’t look much better.

I close my eyes and think back to all the dreams I’ve had over the years. The silhouette that I couldn’t quite make out, except for her amber eyes. Her voice calling my name, imploring me to save her. They started about a year after Jules went into a coma and drove me bat shit crazy. I wouldn’t have admitted it at the time, but thinking back to when they abruptly stopped, a small part of me missed them. When they started back again six months ago, she was more vivid. I could actually make out her face. I still had no idea who she was, but the haunted look in her eyes called to me. I know now it was because my heart and subconscious knew her, even if I didn’t remember.

I think about the dream in the field. Jules smiling so brightly when Theo walked up. But it wasn’t him, it was me. And that wasn’t just a dream, that scene actually happened. It was the day I asked Jules to marry me. I believed my brother’s story so much that I inserted myself on the outside edges of the dream and put Theo in my place. That’s why I became enraged when I saw them together, because that wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

Another one comes to mind. The one of her pleading with me to not hurt her. Except that wasn’t the case. It was her begging Theo not to hurt her and for me to save her. In my mind, it was my actions that put her in a coma, it was me that hurt her all those years ago, so again, I put myself in Theo’s shoes and he in mine. It fucking burns my insides that I so easily allowed him to fool us. I never questioned him. Not fucking once. I feel like an incompetent fool.

I had always assumed Jules’s dream silhouette was me. She said it was sinister, evil. What happened to her was definitely sinister and evil. In my dreams, she was my silhouette. Always sad and hurt. I realize now she was trying to warn me of the evil surrounding her. Begging me to protect her. To remember her.

Jules moves on my lap, and I realize my grip on her waist has tightened. I loosen my fingers and mutter, “Sorry, baby.”

Mom stands from the couch, and I watch as she visibly pulls herself together. “We’re going to leave and let you both rest.” She grabs Dad’s hand when he takes to his feet beside her. “I brought some food over so neither of you have to worry about cooking. It’s in the fridge.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Always, honey. We’ll pick up Aria from school and keep her for a few of days.”

I nod, knowing it’s for the best. “We’ll come by and we can all tell her together about Theo.”

“I think that’s a good idea. She’s going to need all of us.”