WHO: Xo Valdez Munroe and Rafael Valdez WHEN: Sunday, June 17th, 2018, early evening before his shift at Last Shot. WHERE: Xo's house. SUMMARY: Rafael sees his wife for the first time since they've been married and realizes that he needs to tell Xo before someone else does. WARNINGS: Sadness. Xo's brief rage. Rafael being emotionally open.
[1] Hey. [2] I need to talk to you about something important. [3] It can’t really wait. Do you have a few minutes tonight?
As Rafael guided his beat-to-hell truck down the roads of Fall City toward Xo’s house, he couldn’t help feeling guilty and nervous. It was time to tell his sister something he really didn’t expect to tell her. At least not for a much longer period of time.
There had been moments in town where he’d caught the shine of her hair out of the corner of his eye. He’d mistaken the laugh of another woman for her’s. He’d seen someone in the same outfit she’d worn walking down the street. Rafael had gently touched the arm of plenty of women only to apologize when they turned. They were never her.
Until now. For whatever reason, Serena had found her way back to town and it was only a matter of time before his sister found out the truth.
His fingers were shaking with his anxiety, but the rumbling of the steering wheel made it impossible to tell. He found the driveway and pulled in. He stayed there in his seat, the gentle beep beep beep reminding him he’d left the keys in the ignition. He closed his eyes and sucked in a calming breath before his rubbed his hands over his face. It was time.
Knocking on the door, he stood on the doormat, waiting to start the conversation he’d been withholding for over ten years.
There was that worry that gnawed at Xo’s gut. Worry was a natural thing for her, especially with a text like that. Which of course she had invited Raf over as soon as he could get here. She had a simple dinner put together if it was something food would help. With the knock on the door she made sure Olly was sitting on the couch before going to the door.
Before Raf even said anything Xo stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him to squeeze tight. “Come in,” she breathed and then pulled away to let him in.
The hug lasted just a hair longer than it normally would and he was grateful for it. But he imagined there wouldn’t be many after he told Xo what he’d come to tell her. He didn’t ask as he gently slipped his hand into hers and guided her from the door to the kitchen. The soft sound of the television meant they’d have privacy--Olly was likely involved in a show or a game.
Once they were, hopefully, out of earshot, Raf let her go and pointed to the table. “You might need a drink.” He paused and laughed shortly. “Hell, I might need a drink.”
“Ok.” Xo answered, confused and worried as it twisted at her stomach. But she went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine. Two glasses were poured and one handed to her brother as she put the bottle away. “Is this something I should be sitting for?” she asked as she walked towards the table. “Is someone pregnant?”
“Sitting, yes,” he said, taking the glass with a sigh. “Pregnant, no.” Instead, he took out his wallet and fished inside the pocket for a second, wiggling a finger back and forth until he found the object. Pushing the simple, gold ring onto the table between them, he sighed again and took a gulp of wine. “But I am married. Well, to a degree. She said yes, Elvis sang something, the next morning she was gone. Haven’t seen her in ten years.” The first sip of wine was chased by several more. For once, his glass was empty before hers.
Xo really shouldn’t have tried taking a sip. Because she heard the words coming out of his mouth but it didn’t seem that they processed until she had a mouthful of wine. Her body’s immediate reaction was to reject the information provided, and the easiest way was to spit said wine back into the glass as she coughed, feeling like she was almost choking. “What?”
Admittedly, he had warned her. But he still felt a pang of guilt as she coughed. “I’m technically married to Serena,” he explained, his voice dropping as he said her name for the first time in a long time. “It’s a lot of information to take in. I’m sorry.”
“Wait.” Xo held out her hand, setting the glass down as she tried to process this. Her brother, her nearly twin brother, was married. For ten years. To Serena. “How can you only be to a degree married to someone?!” she demanded.
“She took off, Xo,” he said. “The next morning, she was just gone. Left a letter apologizing, but couldn’t get a call through to her phone. She didn’t answer emails. Wasn’t at home,” he shrugged a little as if trying to minimize the pain the entire ordeal had caused him. “I looked for her for years. But I haven’t seen her since that night.”
“Okay.” she went quiet as she steadied herself. Xo took a breath. It wasn’t like she told Raf everything either. But this seemed like a pretty big thing to not mention. “So. Are you asking for a divorce attorney?”
He shook his head, sighing again before he tilted his head back to watch the ceiling for just a moment. “No, nothing like that. I figured that when she was ready to come back or move on, she would show up.” He offered her a sad smile now as he leveled his gaze with hers. “I just ran into her in town. She’s part of the film crew.”
Sweet flower child Raf, he had been sitting here waiting for ten years for some girl to make up her mind when clearly she already had. The thought that Serena was in town now too with the film, well Xo could feel the boil in the back of her neck from anger on her brother’s behalf. “She’s what?” Xo stood up in that moment and started pacing. “Do you need me to go down to that hotel? I can rip her hair out.”
“Hey,” he called quietly as she paced and threatened. “It’s okay. I just didn’t want you to find out about it from someone else. I don’t know what she’s told other people. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
That caused Xo to stop immediately in her tracks. Walking over to her brother, she wrapped her arms around him from behind, hugging onto him as her cheek rested atop his head. Of course that’s what he was worried about, never mind that she was already immediately more concerned with him. Because someone had to look out for Raf and make sure he wasn’t hurt, and Xo had been willing to take on that cause since she could walk. “Are you okay?” she asked quietly.
“I will be eventually,” he said. He rested his hands on her arms, holding her closer, as he realized that he wasn’t okay. He hadn’t been okay for over ten years. He’d been holding the truth so close to his chest that the relief was nearly blinding. He took several deep breaths, calming and centering himself, before attempting to speak again. “I just wanted to make sure you knew,” he repeated. “But I don’t want to upset anyone else. If you could please keep this between us?”
Xo lifted her head just enough to kiss the top of Raf’s head as she squeezed him tighter. She let him breathe, gather himself. It was a lot. It was a lot just for Xo to process now and at least now he wasn’t alone in it. “I can do that. Do you need anything?”
“I’m okay,” he reassured her. “I was just caught off-guard.” Now that Xo knew he could rest knowing she wouldn’t storm his apartment some night with papers, demanding to know how and why he’d kept it from her. “Can I stay a while longer? I don’t have to be at the bar for a little while and I’d love to spend some time with you and Olly.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. Raf wasn’t ready to be alone.
Another kiss and squeeze and she let go with a pat to Raf’s chest. “I’ve got dinner, I’ll get some food in you. Go hang out with Olly while I put it together.”
He nodded at the instructions, climbing out of the chair to wander in his nephew’s direction. He normally wouldn’t have interrupted, but he couldn’t help it as he lifted Olly off of the couch, took his place, and settled him on his lap instead. He wrapped his arms around the boy gently in a hug of greeting and affection. “Whatcha playing, kiddo?” he asked, leaning in to see what the boy was into. He welcomed both the time with two of his favorite people in the entire world and the distraction from what existed beyond them.