Five Crowns and a Rose II

I sigh as I look through my hazy window. The rain starts to pour as the wind begins to blow wild. And so my nightmare reappears. It has been hunting me for years, making me a captive of my own unfortunate past.

When I was young, I enjoyed running under the rain and play and splash in a puddle. However, it all changed in just one rainy unfateful night.

I drink my whiskey on the rocks as I hold on to the window pane tight. Tears begin to flow mimicking the raindrops that streak down the glass window as those painful memories flash in my mind.

The thunder claps. I gasp.

I leave one window half- open, allowing the rain and wind wash away this unforgiving memory. I shiver when the cold wind caresses my frail body.

"Mom~ what are you doing here?" Leo asks while closing the window. Then, he leads and sits me down at the foot of my bed.

I immediately wipe my tears with my palm and take a deep breath.

Leo looks at me with sadness in his eyes and and wipes the traces of tears on my cheeks.

"Mom~ does it still bother you?" he asks in a warm voice, holding my trembling hands. I nod and I close my eyes, preventing my tears to fall down.

He sighs and hugs me tight, reassuring me that everything's gonna be fine.

"It wasn't your fault, mom. Let it go," he whispers as I cry on my son's shoulder.

I cry and cry until there's nothing left to fall. Then, there is a knock on my door.

"Come in~" Leo says as he fixes my pillow.

Mon and the other lords enter my room with scented candles, a bouquet of red roses and a bottle of red wine.

"What's this?!" I ask, surprised.

"Are you already preparing for my funeral?" I say sardonically.

Leo hits my forehead and yells, "Eish! Stop talking nonsense!"

I grin as I touch my forehead.

"We just wanna spend time with you here, aunt Merideth!" Jay says while beaming at me.

"Yeah~ we will sleep over," Ron adds excitedly.

"Just like the old days~ when we were little," Ben says.

"Hesh! I am okay now, boys!" I scold as I get up to shoo them out.

"Mom! Na--- ah! Just lie down there and we will take care of everything. Right, boys?" Mon says while pushing me lightly back to my bed.

I watch them as they set the table. Ron puts the stem of a budding rose in the center table vase while Ben scatters some petals on the floor.

"I am not really sure if this is necessary," I utter.

"Eish! You are always stubborn as ever, aunty!" Ben scolds as he lights up the two scented candles.

"Wrong! She's more stubborn as she grows ol~"

"Jay!" I shout before I throw one of my pillows at him. He catches it and throws it back on my bed.

"Ah~ go down and get the pizza I ordered," Leo tells Ron, who hurriedly goes down.

"It's really amazing that aunty has a hidden bar in her room," Ben exclaims.

"Yeah~ my alcoholic mom needs it!" Mon teases. I raise my brow at him. He playfully winks and blows me a kiss. They laugh at his gesture as I smile and shake my head.

"NO wonder YOU are rumored as a bunch of notorious playboys~" I state.

"Uh! Correction, aunty... we are ROMANTICS not PLAYBOYS~" Ron corrects my statement.

"Hmmm... we do play sometimes," Ben adds.

"YOU!" all the other lords exclaim.

"Ah~ are you and Letizia an item?" I ask Ben out of curiosity. Ben shrugs. I smirk.

"I like her but~"

"No--- no! You like her body!" Ron comments.

"Fine! At least I don't need to do some LOUSY tricks to get closer to the woman I like," Ben hisses.

I clear my throat. "What do you mean?" I ask.

They all look at Ron in a mischievous way as he gulps. I am certain that something crazy happened.

I can't stop myself from laughing when they tell me what Ron did to get Camille's attention. And the teasing continues.

"That's enough~" I exclaim when Ron becomes uneasy, obviously guilty of what he did. "And apologize to her as soon as possible."

Leo pours some wine into our glasses while Ron and Ben prepare the pizza.

We chat as we enjoy some wine and pizza. They do try their best to make me feel better and temporarily forget my problem.

Leo found out first when he discovered a mat of Xanax under my pillow three years ago. At that time, he was taking his pre- med course in Biochemistry. He confronted me. I denied everything, saying that I was just having sleep problems.

That night, he found me on my bed having seizures after taking it with my shot of whiskey, so he called 911 and rushed me to the hospital. After that incident, I didn't have a choice but to tell him the truth.

Fearing that I might take my own life, Leo told his brother and cousins to take turns in watching my every move. Until it becomes their habit to sleep in my room whenever there is a gloomy weather, especially when it rains.

"You can go back to your rooms now. I feel better already!" I say, but they just ignore me. After fixing everything, they dive on my bed. Given their body builts and heights, my king- size bed looks tiny. We cram, but no one complains.

"Thank you guys for your efforts," I say.

"Mom~ I hope you're really happy. We will do our best to give you the happiness you deserve. Something that dad and Founder failed to give," Leo whispers. I hit his arm, but his words strike me.

"Are you making me happy by making me sad?" I scold.

"Leo and I will always be here for you. To protect you and love you just like how you took care of us when we were little," Mon says as he removes the loose fringes covering my face.

"Oi~ oi~... that's bias. Leo and you? Seriously? As if we don't love aunty as much as you do," Jay complains while shaking Mon excessively.

"Alright~ alright! I know you all love me. And I love you all so very much!" I say. We stay like that until the rays of new hope beams on the horizon.