24
TERA
Isteel myself, mustering up the courage to face all of these people who mean so much to my husband. I can do this.Wecan do this.
Xander takes my hand and squeezes gently.
“Are all the kids napping?” Xan asks.
“Yeah, we put them down a little bit ago,” Jesse answers.
“Shall we?” I ask Xander.
He nods, and we take a seat on some throw pillows adjacent to the fire. This gives everyone in the room a clear view of us.
“Hi,” I begin. “I’m Tera.”
Everyone introduces themselves and, oh boy, Lucy's parents and grandparents, Sera and her husband, Dad and Sandy, Meggie and Trace, Joey Russo—the movie star (I just watched a movie with him in it the other night!), Jace and Summer, Jesse and Lucy, Kennedy, Linc, Ethan, Ben and Nicole, Damian, Celeste, Ernesto, Joan, Nico, Bella, Emilio—all names I've heard but most of whom I've never met. Mama and Papa have gone to their living quarters behind the mansion. Guesthouse? That is so much more than a guest house.
“We’ll start from the beginning,” Xander tells them.
Xander tells them all of it. How he pushed me away and hated himself for it. How he missed out on those firsts with me. How they won the contest, and I was with them every step of the way, their biggest cheerleader next to our dad.
"Hold up," Lucy says, frowning. "Keyboards. Linc played keyboards didn't he?"
Xander nods, smiling.
"Stalkerrrr," Sera teases.
"He did. He also helped with the soundboards. The guy is a genius with the boards," Xander tells them.
He goes on to tell them about touring, spending time apart, asking me to marry him, how I refused the first time. He continues on with the second time he asked and how he had to leave for the tour a couple days later. He starts to explain about me being an artist, how I won that competition and went to LA…
Now it’s my turn.
“I’d won a contest and the gallery that held it, had a showing for all of the finalists and winners. I should clarify. I paint. I’m an artist.” Then I tell them everything that happened. I don’t go into great detail, I won’t subject them to that. Lucy begins to cry. Others gasp. I hate telling this story, but at least I only have to do it once.
Xander wraps an arm around me when my voice begins to crack.
When I finish telling my part, Lucy walks over with a bottle of water and gives me a big hug.
“One day we should talk, Tera. My story isn’t nearly as tragic as yours, but I have one too.”
“I’d like that. Not to hear about your pain—”
She smiles softly and sniffles. “I know.”
“That couldn’t have been easy to share,” Cage says.
I sniffle and wipe beneath my eyes.
“It wasn’t,” Linc answers for me. “She’s had agoraphobia for nearly a decade, anxiety so bad she hyperventilates, and PTSD that can be debilitating.”
“For those who don’t know, agoraphobia is when a person is too afraid to leave their home because of what lies beyond those walls,” Xander informs them. “It’s the main reason Tera hasn’t been with me—us. But two years ago on Christmas, our anniversary, I asked her to say ‘yes’ and be with me. And she said yes. The entire time since, she’s been fighting and slaying those demons. She’s conquered the majority of them to get here. I hope to help her slay them all.”
I smile at him, a tear escaping, as my husband tells his family everything about me, all while looking so proud.
“But, there’s more. Between the attack and Xander asking me to come here, we had some very rough times, times where we weren’t. We both had a lot of growing up to do, and while we did it we realized we didn’t want to be without the other,” I confess.
