The bright moonlight peeked through the window and Darryl, in his sleep, rolled in the bed reaching for his wife only to find out that she wasn"t there and what was left were all cold sheets."Babba?" He called for her, but no one responded. A shred of panic came on him knowing Xhemin must have left while he was asleep so he immediately stood up but he was welcomed right away by a cold gus.h.i.+ng wind from an open window making him aware that he was still naked. He went forward with the intention to close it but just as he was about to, he saw a silhouette outside, sitting in front of their son"s grave and he knew right then he had found what he was looking for. He was bit relieved knowing Xhemin was just outside but there was something about the air that made him too aware that something wasn"t going right.
***
Xhemin sat there for an hour already, staring at their dead son"s grave wis.h.i.+ng fervently she can hold him again, even just for a second. In her mind, what was running was the view of his little lovely face at the time she first met and held him and Xhemin could only sobbed at the memory. It was really heart breaking and the same memory haunted her every night for the last six years.
"My baby," Xhemin whispered in the air as her tears were freely falling from her face. It was fascinating how her tears never ran dry knowing she cried terribly that day yet despite the countless droplets that she shed, her pain never left.
"What did you name him?" Darryl"s voice disturbed her solitude. He was already standing few meters from her, dressed with nothing but his trousers. He looked at his own wife with pity, for he knew how terrible burying their own son caused her pain beyond one could imagine.
"What did you name my son?" Darryl repeated when Xhemin did not respond. He knew she gave him a name somehow and that"s the reason why he didn"t transcribe a name on their son"s grave. "I want to know,"
Xhemin swallowed another cry remembering it. She closed her eyes for a while before she uttered the name she gave the child she lost.
"Winter," Xhemin gathered her strength to say it. She hasn"t mentioned his name for a while although she whispered it every night in her prayers and dreams. "I named him Winter,"
"…he was soo cold when I held him," Xhemin added as she tried to wipe her tears away but ended up covering her mouth to refrain herself from sobbing hard, "…soo cold…very cold that it froze and struck my heart deep…. Yet he was beautiful… Cold but very very beautiful….just like a winter season…cold but beautiful,"
"Winter," Darryl uttered the name and found himself staring at the grave, repeating the name again, "Winter…"
Darryl moved closer to where Xhemin was and kneeled beside her to honor the child they lost. "Winter, my son. Finally I had known your name. How I wish I could have held you just like how your mother was able to,"
There was a great silence after. Xhemin and Darryl just sat there without a word as if taking time to commemorate and celebrate the life of their son. It was a very emotional moment and they both let go of their emotions right there, holding nothing more inside but just prayers and hope and all will be well in the future.
Xhemin herself didn"t withhold her sorrow. She thought she had to let it go right there or else things wouldn"t go smooth on her. Being right there in front of her son"s grave gave her more determination to do better and harder to make sure the history will not repeat itself. She had lost so much already, she couldn"t bear to lose more.
When the dawn broke the first light, Xhemin wiped her tears completely and stood up, wearing all her guard and pride this time. Their little getaway was over and it was time to face reality now.
"I want L Empire President D," Xhemin spoke rigidly facing Darryl who was very surprise with the sudden change of ambiance.
"You need not to ask me that," Darryl told her, giving her the same hard tone that she was giving him, "You are my wife Xhemin, whatever is mine is yours,"
"Ava," She corrected him, very much determined to have this sort of conversation with him, "I would appreciate it very much if you could address me correctly and also I want to buy L Empire from your hands so please name your price,"
"My wife," Darryl pointed, giving Xhemin a hard look, "I can call you whatever I want and you probably are very aware how much I prefer calling you with an endearment than a name I didn"t know,"
"President Dee please!" Xhemin begged, asking Darryl to get serious with him, "I came here with you hoping to have a conversation about business and as a seasoned businessman; I"m expecting you could treat this conversation with thorough professionalism,"
"I"m only professional at making my wife moan in bed my dear," Darryl"s jaw was already hard and a fire of anger was slowly rising to his stem, "So if you are demanding some kind of professionalism from me, then perhaps we should go back to bed right now, or would you rather we do it again on table?"
Xhemin was already expecting that kind of confrontation and although her cheeks warmed red instantly at the thought of their lovemaking, Xhemin tried real hard swept it off her mind completely. Truth be told, what happened last night was something she never planned to do yet she also did not regret, although of course she can"t let Darryl know that or she"ll surely lost her case for sure.
Xhemin put up a face and met Darryl"s hazel eyes without wavering, "Look what happened last night was something that shouldn"t have happened. We were both sad, confused and tired and well, let"s just move on from it get to back to business now,"
"What happened last night was something you shouldn"t be worried about my pretty little wife. It"s a marriage couple"s things and we can do it over and over again if we wanted to. We can even do it again right now as I prefer it than this f.u.c.king conversation we have right here! G.o.d dear! You know how much a I wanted you every morning, might as well start early so we can have as many as you like," Darryl said it shamelessly to her face, making Xhemin"s cheeks more red, but out of annoyance and anger this time.