Dinner Disasters: Sebastian and Layana

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

My overriding concern had been to calm Layana down, help her to feel safe and secure by any means possible and to eliminate all of the stress that had been building up for weeks. The first step had been to make a plan that she felt comfortable with, to do whatever was necessary to get her whatever she needed.

Since Layana always felt better with the immediate future laid out, I'd tried to anticipate what she'd tell me her next steps were when she woke up this morning. That way, I could have the big issues already handled and then I could focus on whatever else came up during our discussion. Yesterday had been sheer hell for Layana, and the weeks leading up to it had been the worst in our marriage.

Given what she'd been going through, my wife needed calm and she needed it now, and I'd do whatever it took to give her what she needed. Layana and the baby were top priority, and I didn't want her worrying about anything else since she'd already done enough of that. My role was to make life easy for her. Protect her. Guard her.

By day's end, I'd found someone to clean our house, and I'd found a furnished condo that would rent to us monthly, which Layana had approved after a virtual tour. 

"It's clean and bright but what I like best is that no crazy lady has ever infiltrated it," she said seriously. Layana was still subdued, which I understood but didn't like to see.

The next day, I'd left her resting in the hotel and went to sign the rental agreement. On the way back, I'd stopped at the house to let the cleaners in and I'd looked in our bedroom and discovered Renee had ripped up all of the pictures in our bedroom. I took note of the wedding pictures she'd destroyed so I could print them off the flash drive, and the other ones she'd ruined were from various vacations Layana and I had been on that I knew I had on my phone. Fortunately, everything could be replaced.

All of Layana's clothes in the closet had been destroyed, and all of mine had been moved so I didn't even want to think about why. New clothes all around. The clothes in the dresser drawers hadn't been touched for some reason, but I knew Layana wouldn't want them, so they needed to go. 

When I'd gone out to get the heavy-duty trash bags and boxes I'd picked up, I'd noticed the cleaners making good progress on the stains. That meant if I could get the house cleaned out in the next two days, removing the few things we wanted, I could have an estate sale company come in and hold a sale. What didn't sell, they would remove from the house and donate to charity. At that point, we'd put the house on the market and hope it sold quickly. We could begin house hunting seriously once our place was on the market.

For the entire afternoon, I worked steadily, checking in with Layana every hour to make sure she was OK and taking it easy. 

"I've been napping a lot," she told me.

"You need to," I said. "I want you to take it easy."

Assured that she was doing well, I tossed the ruined clothes and pictures into the trash bags, the salvageable clothes went into the donate bags, and I gathered Layana's family heirlooms and other personal items that she'd wanted from throughout the house and put them in the boxes. Those went in the back of the SUV, while the clothes to donate went in the backseat, and the clothes to throw out went in the garage.

Next was removing the secretary that had belonged to Layana's grandmother, as well as the old fashioned breakfast-nook table and chairs. When her grandparents had moved into a small condo in a senior citizen facility two years ago, they'd given Layana whatever furniture she'd wanted. I grabbed the two end tables that had belonged to them and moved those into the garage, along with their old coffee table. Last out was a small cedar hope chest that held Layana's grandmother's hat and glove collection, and her grandmother's carefully preserved wedding dress. For our wedding, Layana had worn the dress, a pair of the fancier gloves, and a white hat with what she called a nose-tip veil. Her grandparents had been absolutely beaming at their only granddaughter as she walked up the aisle to me.

That memory gave me an idea to distract Layana. I nosed through the hope chest and withdrew a packet of letters. I'd heard about these, but Layana told me her grandmother had given them to her with the understanding that they were to be read when the time was right.

Maybe now the time was right, when my wife needed something to occupy her thoughts and turn her focus from the horror of yesterday. My plan was to do something special for my wife every day and this would be the start.

The cleaners were just finishing up, and they'd done such a thorough job that you couldn't tell anything violent had happened in the house. After paying them, I locked up and headed for the hotel, stopping to get Layana's favorite Chinese takeout on the way. 

When I walked into the room, the TV was on and Layana was sitting up in bed, watching it.

"I have dinner," I told her, and when she saw the familiar white plastic bag with bright red printing, she smiled happily.

"And what are those?" she asked, pointing to the large packet of letters I had that were tied with a pale blue bow.

"I raided your grandmother's hope chest. I know she told you to wait to read these until the time was right." With a shrug, I placed the letters on the nightstand next to Layana. "Maybe now would be a good time."

Trailing her elegant fingers along the yellowing envelopes, she lightly touched the satiny bow.

"Maybe."

"Let's eat first," I suggested as I started to pull the containers and drinks from the bag.

We ate and watched what I found out was the newest season of Bridgerton, and, as always, I got drawn into it because Layana was so into it. Once the episode finished, I stretched out and turned on my side facing my wife, my head propped on my hand.

"What do you think about the letters?" 

All through dinner and the episode, I saw her either sneaking glances at the packet or actually gently touching the ribbon.

"I'm scared to read them, I think."

"Do you want me to read them to you? Or do you just want to forget about them for a while longer?"

"I think I'd love you to read them to me."

She quickly grabbed them off the nightstand, untied the ribbon and handed the letters to me.

Picking up the first envelope, I saw it was addressed only to Michael.

Opening it up, when I took out the two-page letter, a smaller piece of paper fluttered to the bed. Layana picked it up and smiled.

"Layana, darling," she read, "you know how much your grandfather and I love each other. Don't be afraid of these letters. Some are difficult to read, but each one was necessary to our story. We wouldn't be where we are today if we hadn't gone through this. That is to say, we persevered. Love, Nana. P.S. Don't despair; your grandfather eventually got smarter and wiser."

For a minute, Layana just read the note over and over, trying to puzzle out what she was about to hear. Determining if she was ready for whatever secrets were about to be revealed.

"OK, Sebastian. I'm ready," she said with a nod.

Unfolding the letter, I began. 

"Dear Michael, I wasn't sure how to begin this letter. Emily Post doesn't address leaving one's husband in her etiquette book, so I will attempt to do this properly with no guidance."

I read to her for almost two hours, each of us mesmerized by what was playing out on paper.

Her grandmother had somehow known; we read the letters when the time was right.

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA