CHAPTER XII : Every rose has its thorn

Persephonè wanted to believe her fears about Katrina were only ghosts from her first marriage. Yet, the same behavior she emitted around men surfaced. Overly loud giggles, unusually positive and bubbly behavior. She was married now and it seemed inappropriate so it surprised Persephonè that this game would even be played. She started to become paranoid of Katrina's actions to Matthias. Worse, she noticed the positive response he returned back to her. Matthias didn't react to Katrina the way Mitch did. When her whole family went to spend the day together, Matthias seemed to want to be next to Katrina. He drifted towards her while walking, His eyes wandered toward her, checking on her frequently.

Persephonè deliberately slowed her pace.

Would he wait for her...

or even notice she'd fallen behind?

It seemed she was invisible. She had lost her spark somewhere along the way. She talked to Matthias about her concerns on the way home, but he said that was not the way it was, so she tried hard to forget it.

About this time, Anne was turning eighteen months old and Persephonè was going to wean her off breast milk. She only nursed to put her to sleep, but it was enough that it kept her from having a monthly cycle. She wanted to be completely honest with Matthias and told him that it meant she could get pregnant again. She let him know she was not on any birth control yet and they should be careful. She had actually never been on birth control and was somewhat uneasy about going to get it. She hated pills, always had a hard time swallowing them and she didn't know how they would make her feel. To her surprise, he didn't seem to care about it at all. In fact, he mentioned always wanting kids and a family. She thought he was letting her know he wasn't worried and everything would be fine. Looking back, she realized she had been filling in the silence with hope. Perhaps she was only hearing what she wanted to hear. Perhaps he was just saying that because she already had a daughter. Whatever it was, when she became pregnant, he seemed happy...but something under the surface didn't seem real to her.

Next came the hardest part...letting her parents know she was expecting...again. She felt like she was a teenager coming home late from curfew, hoping her punishment wouldn't be too harsh. The only thing that took some of the weight away was that she didn't have to do it alone, Matthias came with her. Her parents always liked him though, so she hoped his presence would soften their blow. But she was wrong. Her parents' faces dropped in disappointment. They spoke with concern but their voices held shame. This much she had feared, but was also expected. What happened next though, she didn't see coming. They demanded that he marry her.

Having a man being forced to marry her made Persephonè feel like she had stepped into medieval times. More than anything, she felt sorry for him. Being forced to marry someone was not the beginning either of them had imagined.

He asked her one day if she could bring her to his house so he could grab something. Not asking why or what for, she just obliged. It seemed like a normal day. She wasn't sure if it was the stress, pregnancy, or perhaps just Katrina getting under her skin, but an argument arose about her sister on the way. Persephonè was really just trying to force proof of love into existence. Matthias was more than irritated by it though. Nothing he said really eased her mind. He reached into his pocket and tossed a small box across the dashboard.

It slid to a stop in front of her.

She didn't need to open it.

She already knew.

She was caught off guard, she was not expecting him to have a ring so soon. His next words explained everything. It was not a ring he went out and bought. It was more special than that. It belonged to his mother. She had given it to him for his future wife. Her heart sank. It was too valuable to his family. It would be wasted on her. She blinked herself back into the moment. He did not put it on her finger, she put it on herself. She had always preferred silver, yet the gold looked beautiful on her skin. For a moment, she could almost believe she belonged inside someone else's future.

She looked up at Matthias

His face held obligation, not love.