7 What Family Means

Three soft knocks prompted Henry of Aurelia’s arrival. He cleared his table full of documents then allowed entry.

Aurelia entered the room with a servant behind her, carrying a silver tray with a delicate set of teacup and pot. Henry watched as Aurelia directed the servant to prepare a cup of tea, then presented it to him.

Aurelia smiled and her soothing voice flowed gently past her petal-like lips. “Here, dear. Drink this, it’ll help to soothe your migraine.”

While Henry savoured the tea, Aurelia dismissed the maid then stood behind him and gently massaged his shoulders. Henry leaned back into the comfortable massage and closed his eyes as a groan escaped his mouth.

After a moment of serenity, Aurelia lightly probed her husband. “What has gotten you so worked up?”

Henry groaned. His tight frown returned upon remembering Romeo and Alphonse’s rebellious act, and complained. “It’s those brats again. But this time, Alphonse also helped Romeo to disobey me.”

Aurelia’s eyes widened and exclaimed, “oh my. Alphonse did that? He’s normally so obedient and well-behaved.”

“Exactly my point. Despite being the older brother, Romeo is rebellious and stubborn. Even Alphonse who is normally well-behaved has been dragged down by him. How did you raise Romeo for him to become this much of a headache?”

Aurelia’s head drooped and an apology floated out of her mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t raise him well. I will talk to him later.”

Henry snorted, “don’t bother. He won’t even listen to me, you think he’ll listen to you? Go tell Alphonse not to talk to or hang around Romeo outside of work anymore. Romeo is a bad influence on him.”

Aurelia’s heart jumped and her hands stopped moving. Her face grew pale as she flustered over her disagreement, “that won’t do. No matter what, they’re brothers. It wouldn’t be good for them if we separated them like this.”

Henry’s eyes opened and he turned around. His voice deepened as he stared deep into Aurelia’s shaken eyes. “Are you doubting my decision?”

Aurelia’s heart thumped loudly in her ears and her breath quickened. Even though she strongly rejected Henry’s idea of splitting the family apart, she still gave in to her husband’s pressure.

Aurelia’s eyes shifted down to Henry’s shoes as she withdrew her outstretched trembling hands. Her mind was blank, but her hands naturally poised one above the other in front of her. She whispered under her breath, “I would never dare.”

Henry turned back around and leaned back into his chair as he dismissively warnedAurelia. “Never question my orders again. You just need to do as I say.”

Aurelia curtsied to the back of Henry’s chair then dismissed herself to look for Alphonse. Just before the door shut, she heard Henry muttering under his breath. “What kind of lessons have they been giving her…”

Aurelia walked down the long corridor absentmindedly while her thoughts strayed.

‘Has Henry’s shoe colour always been so saturated?’

When her floating mind returned, she was already standing before Alphonse’s room. The door looked bigger than she remembered, but she brushed it off.

She hesitated and doubted Henry’s decision once more, but Henry’s stern warning boomed from behind her and her whole body jumped. She spun around with an apology on the tip of her tongue, only to be faced with a deserted corridor. Aurelia was stunned and froze in place, her heartbeat thud loudly in her ears. The corridor began to twist into itself, and the floor beneath her feet threw her off-balance. She collapsed weakly on the floor and cold sweat slowly gathered on her forehead, hands, and back

Aurelia’s figure remained rooted to the floor, helplessly watching on as the corridor deformed into an unrecognisable and terrifying state. The lights slowly brightened to the point it was painful to her eyes, but it didn’t show any signs of stopping. Instead, it continued to increase in intensity until she could barely see the deformed corridor. Just as she felt faint, a slurred voice seemed to echo from far away.

“Mum?”

Alphonse had heard a loud thud from just outside his door, and got up to investigate it. He least expected to find his mother sitting on the floor, staring into space right in front of his door. He called her, but she didn’t seem to hear him despite their close proximity.

Alphonse’s heart filled with trepidation at her oddity, but braved against his uneasiness to check on his mother. He slowly moved around to stand before her, and the sight of Aurelia barely breathing and her wide panic stricken eyes filled his vision.

Alphonse felt like a dagger had been plunged into his heart, and blamed himself for underestimating the damage Henry would deal to him through Aurelia. However, no matter how guilty he was feeling now, it wasn’t as important as taking care of Aurelia’s immediate needs. So, he shelved his guilt and directed all his attention to attend to Aurelia.

He hurried forward to support his mother to stand, and gently guided her into his room to rest. Alphonse softened his voice to soothe Aurelia as much as possible.

“The floor is cold, it’s not good for you to sit there for too long. Follow me, you can rest in my room for as long as you need to. Be careful of the table leg there. Okay, you can sit down here. It’s much more comfortable than the floor. You must be thirsty, wait for me here, I’ll go get a glass of water for you.”

Aurelia’s surroundings slowly untwisted itself to show that at some point in time, she had entered Alphonse’s room. The faint clinking of glassware that seemed so far away became clearer, and the stinging pain in her lungs was more prominent. She felt a little light-headed, and her hands kneaded her throbbing forehead.

“Are you feeling better?”

Aurelia looked up to see Alphonse kneeling before her with a cup of water in his hands.

The concern in her son’s eyes made Aurelia feel embarrassed. She looked down at her lap and played with her fingers as she smiled awkwardly. “Much better. I’m sorry you had to see such an embarrassing display.”

Alphonse gently pushed the cup of water into Aurelia’s hands as he firmly stated, “it’s not embarrassing.”

Aurelia’s eyes teared at Alphonse’s gentleness, and she squeezed her eyes shut to prevent making an embarrassment of herself any further.

Alphonse watched as his mother withdrew into her shell once more, and sighed helplessly in his heart. He stopped pushing and decided to divert Aurelia’s attention to a different topic.

“You came looking for me?”

At Alphonse’s reminder, Henry’s orders repeated in Aurelia’s head, and the sourness she held inside ate away at her heart. However, she knew better than to disobey Henry. So she reluctantly looked up, and delivered the bad news with teary eyes.

“Your father has something to tell you.”

Alphonse’s heart sank. He knew it was never a good sign to see his mother after being scolded by Henry, but Aurelia’s panic attack blew this important point far away and he had forgotten about it.

Silently taking in his mother’s struggling and tearing eyes, he swallowed back and hid his own pain and irritation. He smiled warmly in response as he held on to Aurelia’s trembling hands in assurance. He wasn’t even sure if it was an act to assure himself, or his mother anymore.

“What is it?” Alphonse waited to hear what unreasonable demand Henry expects of him this time.

Aurelia’s breath hitched, and she clutched her hands in a futile attempt to stop the trembling. She took a few sharp breaths and with her tears falling together with her heart, she squeezed out the following words.

“Your father wishes for you to cut off all interactions with your older brother outside of work.”

Alphonse’s eyes widened, but before he could fully process his own emotions he directed his efforts into comforting his distraught mother.

Alphonse leaned forward and embraced his mother in his arms. He softly patted her back as he soothed, “it’ll be alright. We’ll be alright. No matter what happens, I won’t let Romeo and I drift apart. We’re family and I won’t let anything tear us apart. Don’t worry, everything will be okay.”

Aurelia sniffled and wiped her tears away, she leaned out of Alphonse’s embrace and cupped his face. “I’m sorry, your mother is too weak. I can’t help you and can only burden you.”

Alphonse’s heart cracked under the pressure that Aurelia had unknowingly pushed onto him, but he continued smiling anyway. “It’s okay, I understand it’s not easy for you to speak up against father’s wishes.”

Aurelia smiled in relief, then kissed Alphonse’s forehead as she whispered. “You’re such an understanding boy, I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

Alphonse’s heart bled from Aurelia’s praise. He asked if she had any other business with him. Aurelia denied, then Alphonse prompted for Aurelia to leave his room.

“Alright, I won’t take up any more of your time. You rest, you had a hard day.” Aurelia stood up with Alphonse’s help, and walked to the door. Just before leaving, she recalled one last thing.

“Oh, me and my forgetfulness. There was one more thing I had to tell you.”

Aurelia turned around and held Alphonse’s hands as she looked at him with concern. “Henry told me about how you went along with your brother’s antics. Did something happen? You’re usually so well-behaved.”

Aurelia’s genuine concern burned his eyes and his heart felt strangled. His smile became strained as he dusted off her probing. “Nothing happened. I genuinely believed it was a good idea and supported my older brother. I wish I could talk more with you, but I truly am really tired right now. Let’s find another time to chat more leisurely?”

“Oh, poor you. Rest well dear, goodnight and sweet dreams.”

Alphonse successfully wrestled back his personal space, and the breath stuck in his throat could finally be released. Tears fell from his eyes like a broken tap and he laid on the cold marble floor, curling into himself. He stifled his cries in fear of alerting any passerby outside.

The day’s events played in his head like a movie on replay. The sound was muted and only the pictures remained moving. The raw and unprocessed emotions from before rode over him wave after wave. He opened his mouth wide, struggling for oxygen like a drowning man.

His thoughts flew by too fast for him to catch, but it didn’t negate the damage it brought. The guilt ate at him from inside. The pressure crushed his bones into dust. His hopes and dreams chained him to this never ending cycle of disappointment and pain.

Alphonse cried till he had no more tears to shed, all used to form the tiny pool on the cold marble floor. His limbs still twitched from the pain that shot through his nerves throughout his entire body. After being thrown around like a ragdoll in the cyclone of fear, disappointment, anger, and resignation, Alphonse was left drained of energy.

In a vain attempt of soothing his heart from falling apart, he pulled up all memories of Audrey and watched them mindlessly. Alphonse ignored the passage of time, only desiring for a moment of peace to fix the cracks in his heart again.

As he stared at a memory from long ago, a wry smile appeared painfully and he closed his eyes. He allowed the darkness to pull his consciousness away, numbing him and giving him a moment of respite.