Chapter 1-8: Midnight Shadows

                Life once again settled into a routine. Though not an easy one by any means, having a routine made life a bit easier for both Rebecca and Shane. Since his birth, she had only been to work one day and found that it was rather hard being away from him. She couldn’t stop herself from worrying that something bad would happen while she was away. However, Krystal was great with Shane and would play with him and help him with his games.

                Sometimes, out of the corner of her eye, she would swear that she saw Justin. She felt that he was watching over them, making sure things were working out and were going okay. Of course, she had no proof of this, had never seen him on her own but she liked to believe that she was right.

                She started to go a bit stir crazy one night from staying in the house all the time. Justin died in that house which just went to show that tragedy can certainly strike at home. Before she could dwell too much on it, she decided that she and Shane would head over to the park. Once there, she discovered how much she missed being outside, with beautiful views. She was finally fully reminded that she had a life to live. Her broken heart eased a bit and she decided to relish this time with her son.

                Rebecca wanted to make sure that Shane grew up to be a happy, well-adjusted adult so she set out teaching him all the things he needed to know. That day in the park, he took his first steps.

Shortly after, she taught him his first words.

They were still working on potty training but he was almost there. He seemed to have a proficiency for blocks and loved playing at home.

                Just before his birthday, Shane was finally potty trained. He and Rebecca spent most of the day playing and reading, respectively.

They also went outside to garden. Well, Rebecca did the gardening while Shane enjoyed sitting outside, playing with his blocks. They even finally had enough money to split the left side of the house into two bedrooms. Shane finally had his own room, right before his next birthday too.

                Rebecca decided to throw Shane a beach birthday party. Sure, he was just a toddler and wouldn’t remember the party but she would. Plus, it would be a good way to try to reconnect with people. It had been so long since she had actually done something with other adults. So she packed up Shane and a birthday cake and invited a few people. Her new boss showed up, fresh faced, barely out of high school and so did Goodwin. They had been keeping in touch as time passed. He and Jenni were doing well; they had 2 more children together and were quite happy.

                Seeing Goodwin made Rebecca feel nostalgic for her early days in Twinbrook. If she had kept up the affair, would that be HER life? Would she be happy, with multiple children and a nice house? Or would Goodwin have come to his senses anyway, leaving her where she was now? Of everything though, she still missed Justin. If things hadn’t gone so wrong, he would still be here; maybe they would have another baby, a girl like he wanted, they would have had Shane’s birthday party at home with friends and family, everything would be better.

                She closed her eyes and took a breath, mentally shaking all of her thoughts of self-pity from her head. She opened her eyes and smiled and blew out the candle with Shane. Today was what she had and tomorrow would be a new day.

Chapter 1-7                                                                                                                                             Chapter 1-9