Chapter Text
The morning rain woke her, pounding down on the roof. Ali opened her eyes. It was still dark outside, and normally she loved the sound of rain hitting the roof, but not this morning. She looked toward the clock. The red digits read 6:23. It was amazing that no matter how tired she felt on Saturday mornings, she could not sleep in. She rolled over and laid her arm across the king bed. The other half of the bed had not been touched, let alone slept in.
She never come home, Ali thought to herself. This was not the first time her wife had not come home. In fact, this was probably the fourth…or fifth…or sixth time in the past two weeks. She couldn’t remember anymore. Last night was also not the first time Ashlyn had missed dinner. Recently, it had become an every evening venture; Ali would make dinner for herself, and put leftovers for Ashlyn in the refrigerator. Sometimes, if she came home later that night, she ate them; otherwise Ali took them for lunch the next day.
Yearning for something to hold, Ali grabbed her brown velvet teddy bear off of the shelf above her head. Ashlyn had given her the bear for their first Valentine’s Day, almost thirteen years ago. Ali just held the bear and cried.
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Alexandra Krieger and Ashlyn Harris had been high school sweethearts. Although Ashlyn played on the varsity soccer team since her freshman year, she never took on the stereotypical jock role. In fact, Ali was what other jocks and cheerleaders would call a ‘nerd’, but Ashlyn didn’t care. She was never one who went looking for superficial girls. It took awhile, but once the soccer team saw how serious Ashlyn was over Ali, the team accepted her as one of its own.
Ali was just a sophomore, fifteen years old when Ashlyn, a junior at the time, had first asked her out. Although she was a year older, and went off to college first, their relationship blossomed over time.
Upon receiving her Bachelors degree in biology, Ashlyn went on to medical school to pursue a degree in Neurosurgery, while Ali finished up college with a bachelors degree in secondary education.
The summer after Ali graduated, Ashlyn took her to an MLS game. It had become one of their favorite pastimes. It was an extra special day for Ali because the local team was playing her favorite team. It turned out to be the best game Ali had ever been to. It wasn't because her favorite team tied the game in the 89' or that in stoppage time, they scored the game winning goal. No, the reason that Ali will always remember the game is because right after the first half, Ashlyn knelt down and proposed to Ali. It was cliche, but Ash knew how much Ali loved soccer, and she could not think of a better way to propose.
Ashlyn and Ali married the following summer. They had a small ceremony, inviting only close family and friends. There was only a maid of honor and a best man. No bridesmaids or groomsmen. Most of their income was going toward Ashlyn’s schooling, so they could not afford to throw a big party. Although both sets of parents wanted to help out with the wedding, they were not able to give much for financial reasons. Both women promised each other that as soon as Ashlyn got the high-paying surgeon job…and school loans paid off, they would throw a huge wedding reception to make up for the meager one they had. It was nice and all, but not what they had dreamed about.
The first four years of their marriage were wonderful. While Ashlyn continued her studies in medical school, Ali taught English at a high school two towns away. The pay there was adequate and they were able to buy a decent sized house to get out of their cramped apartment. Their days were filled with work and school, and like any newly wed couple, their nights were filled with candlelit dinners and lots of lovemaking. They tried to take a nice walk around the neighborhood as many evenings as possible, but with Ashlyn going to school it sometimes got hard, especially around exam time.
However, Ashlyn and Ali both loved the winter and snow, and everything else that went along with it. When the season came to look at houses decorated for Christmas, they always made time to take walks to look at the decorations. They also always make time to find a hill and go sledding when there was enough snow on the ground. There was not a better way to end an evening sledding than with a good snowball fight. When their hands froze, and their ears were numb, Ashlyn and Ali would come home, light a fire in the fireplace, and curl up next to each other with hot chocolate in hand. Those were the ‘good ole’ days, and things changed quickly after that.
When Ashlyn graduated two years ago, she got a full time job working at the local hospital. At first, everything was great, they had more money to go more places, and they began to explore the theaters and museums that the downtown city had to offer. However, not long after, Ashlyn began to change.
She came into work very early in the morning and continued late into the night; well past the time her original shift was over. Because she worked these double, and some times triple shifts so often, when she was home, all she ever did was sleep. Ali could not remember the last time they just sat and talked. When was their last walk around the neighborhood? Or when was their last dinner together? Where was the woman she married?