Coming Clean

[Sky]

OOC: Follows the Confusion thread in which Aurelie tells Demetrius that she is pregnant

Standing on the front palace steps, Demetrius silently bore the chilly morning air as he stared out at the long cobblestone driveway before him. In the three days that had passed since he had learned from Aurelie that she was expecting their child, he must have rehearsed this meeting between himself and his wife a thousand times. He had imagined that Philomena was standing before him and he would say things like: "There is something I must speak to you about immediately," or "Darling, there is no easy way to say this but . . ." The thing was, each time he practiced, nothing seemed right, let alone mildly adequate. And the reason for that? Because there wasn't supposed to be a 'right' way to tell your wife that you're having a child with someone else. Because it wasn't supposed to happen. Ever. When somebody takes his wedding vows, it's supposed to mean something - it's supposed to show commitment, loyalty, love.

His heart twisting painfully, Demetrius continued to stare down the empty drive. Mena didn't deserve this. For as many troubles as they had had recently in their marriage, nothing gave him the right to have an affair. Nothing. But it was too late to change that. Too late to do anything besides apologize, and pray to the gods that she wouldn't take his sons away from him - that she would somehow forgive him.

Suddenly hearing the steady click of carriage wheels, Demetrius braced himself. This was it. This was the moment he had been dreading. There could be no denying reality now.

[Sky]

Peering out the carriage window, a happy smile spread across Philomena's face as she caught sight of her husband. True, things had been rough between them in recent months, but in the past few weeks she had done a great deal of thinking; in the end, the conclusion that all her thoughts had boiled down to was that she still loved Demetrius in all her entirety. Though she still disliked the fact that his life revolved around serving the royal family of Eraklyon and not his own family, a part of her had to admit that his commitment and loyalty to them was something to be admired. Not just any man could sacrifice his life to serve his realm, but her husband could.

With a content sigh, Philomena stared down at her smooth hands as she decided that the moment she stepped out of her carriage, she would tell Demetrius all of this. She would tell him that she wanted to go back to the way things were when they were younger and head over heels about each other. It wouldn't be impossible in the slightest; after all, they were far from being ancient - he was only thirty-seven and she only thirty-two. They still had their whole lives ahead of them; they could fix whatever problems they had and then, they could live life the way it had been meant to live. She was going to have her fairytale ending after all.

As the carriage finally pulled to a halt in front of the palace steps, Philomena didn't wait for the coachman to help her down or for Demetrius to step forward; instead, she threw open the door and agilely jumped down. Without hesitating, she approached her husband and threw herself into his arms before standing up on her tiptoes to give him a passionate kiss. After a long moment, she slowly pulled her head back as she stared up at him, her eyes shining with love, and said softly, "I missed you."

[Sky]

Looking down at her beautiful upturned face, Demetrius felt a sick feeling grow deep inside him. He hadn't expected her to react like this. At all. Somehow, he had expected her to still be in a huff about the stupid fight they had had on his last visit home a few months earlier. But she wasn't. Clearly she wasn't. Something had happened that had changed her - no. Something had happened that had brought the Philomena he had fallen in love with back to him. Wondering if this was some cruel joke the gods were playing on him, Demetrius felt his eyes burn. Why? Why did this have to happen to him? Why did his loving Mena have to return to him now when he had to tell her his horrible news? Why couldn't this have happened before he had gone to Aurelie for comfort? Why did things have to work out like this?

Swallowing back the lump in his throat, Demetrius took his wife's hand and gently kissed it before he said quietly, "We need to talk." As much as he wanted to forget about Aurelie and the baby and to focus on his wife, he couldn't keep the truth a secret any longer. If he waited, it would only make telling her more and more difficult with each passing moment. No, he had to tell her immediately. It was for the best.

[Sky]

Having brought Philomena to his chambers for privacy, Demetrius sat her down and then without further ado, painfully shared his news. As the minutes ticked by in absolute silence, Demetrius grew restless, anxious to know what was going through Mena's mind. But he couldn't rush her. He had to let her process, to think, to do whatever she needed to do before speaking to him.

As she sat there on his bed listening to the things he was saying, Philomena felt her body go numb. It had to be a dream. A nightmare. In a moment she was going to wake up and laugh at this rubbish. Because this wasn't real. It . . . it couldn't be. Demetrius loved her. No matter how many fights they had had, he loved her just as she loved him. He wouldn't have done this to her. To his children.

Suddenly feeling suffocated, Philomena shoulders began to shake as her breathing became irregular and her vision blurred. This wasn't happening to her.

But it was.

Tilting her head down so that her hair curtained her face, Philomena felt tears begin to roll down her cheeks - tears of hurt, confusion, and humiliation. Distantly, she knew that Demetrius wanted her to talk to him, but she couldn't. Not now. Not when she couldn't even bring herself to look at him.

[Sky]

Not able to bear the silence any longer, Demetrius crouched down in front of Philomena and took her hands in his own as he whispered achingly, "Please talk to me, darling."

Taking a shaky breath, Philomena finally lifted her gaze to meet his. As she stared at his face, a face that was contorted with pain, she wished that she could hate him for what he had done to her. She wished that she could lash out at him. That she could slap him and call him horrendous names and tell him that he didn't deserve her or their children. But she couldn't. Because a part of her wondered if perhaps she had driven him to this. He was only human and it was only natural to want to feel loved and to be close to someone. And the truth was, he hadn't had that with her for months upon months. She had only fought with him and had made him feel like a bad father. So had she not brought this upon herself in some way?

Feeling drained of all her energy, Philomena finally asked, her voice void of emotion, "Were things really so bad between us that you had to resort to that? I mean, I know that things between us haven't been as good as they used to be, but I never thought that it was . . . it was this bad."

Staring down at his hands, Demetrius answered softly, "There is no excuse for what I did. Yes, I was feeling lonely and yes, it felt good to feel wanted again by a woman . . . but that still doesn't make what I did justified. Darling, I swear, if I could take this all back, I would."

"But you can't," Philomena said with a sad smile. "You're going to have another child and . . . and things are never going to be the same. Our lives together-"

Cutting her off, Demetrius pleaded, "Please, don't say that our lives together are over. I don't want that. I want to fix this. I'll do anything to fix this."

Reaching out, Philomena laid her hand against her husband's cheek as she said dolefully, "I don't think it can be fixed."

[Sky]

"What are you saying?" Demetrius asked as his heart sank.

Averting her gaze from his, Philomena said softly, "I think that maybe there's been too much damage . . . maybe it's time to go our separate ways."

Shaking his head furiously, Demetrius replied brokenly, "No . . . no, you don't mean that. I love you and you love me . . . we can get through this. I know we can." Seeing her begin to protest, Demetrius continued, "And what of our sons? What about them? Can we not try to get through this for their sake?"

Her heart breaking at the mention of her children, Philomena hesitated for a moment. Demetrius was right. Their sons deserved to have a happy childhood. And she still loved him . . . despite all this, she knew her heart still loved him. He was her life. Closing her eyes, Philomena slowly nodded. "All right, Demetrius; let's try to fix this."

[Sky]

As she nodded her head in acceptance, Demetrius pulled her up into his arms and wrapped her in a tight hug. He wasn't sure how he was going to make this right, but if she was giving him the chance, he was going to make the most of it. Somehow, he'd find a way.

After a moment, Philomena pulled herself free of his grasp as she said quietly, "I need to do some thinking, but I'm tired now, so . . . why don't we just lie down for a bit? I mean, if you don't need to go on duty . . ."

At this, Demetrius shook his head. "No, the king and queen gave me the day few days off to spend with you."

"Good," she replied softly before she asked suddenly, "Just one last thing I have to know or else I fear that I won't be able to sleep - what was her name?"

~~~

Some fifteen minutes later, Philomena looked over at Demetrius and found him fast asleep. Ever so quietly, she rose from the bed and slipped her shoes back on. Giving him one last glance over her shoulder, she hurried from the room. She needed some answers and she was going to find them.

Touching a servant's shoulder, Philomena asked pleasantly, "Excuse me, could you tell me where Miss Aurelie's quarters are?" As the servant pointed down the hall, Philomena thanked him before she continued on her way, her heart pounding. She was going to meet the woman who had lured her husband astray.

[Random NPC]

: Aurelie was sitting in her rocking chair, by the fire place in her chamber. Resting on the floor near it was a large ball of crimson yarn. She would slowly rock back and forth, knitting the fifth pair of booties - or rather the attempt at a fifth pair.

[Sky]

Standing in front of the door to what the servant had said was Aurelie's room, Philomena straightened her dress and smoothed her hair before she firmly knocked one time.

As she waited for an answer, Philomena wondered what had exactly possessed her to actually take action to meet this other woman. A part of her knew though - knew that she was seeking some sort of evidence that husbands did not cheat on their wives because there was a more attractive woman available but because something was missing in their relationship.

[Random NPC]

: "The door's open," Aurelie called, not wanting to get up. If she so much as moved, she'd lose her train of thought and right now, all she could think about was getting this thing put together properly. She had already butchered four prior attempts.

[Sky]

Knowing that this was her last chance to back out, Philomena hesitated as she rested her hand on the doorknob. Was she ready for this? Was she ready to see this woman? Closing her eyes as she centered her thoughts, Philomena finally nodded her head. Yes. Yes, she was ready. She had to be ready. This was her new reality. There could be no running away from it.

Stepping into the room, Philomena quietly closed the door behind her. Casting her eyes around and not seeing anyone at first, she asked tentatively, "Hello?"

[Random NPC]

: "I'm over by the fireplace," Aurelie called, her attention on the... damn it all to Hades! Her shoulders slumped as she gazed at the fifth pair of booties she managed to mess up. She pulled the thread and the entire thing came undone - again. She sighed softly and started on her sixth pair.

[Sky]

Walking a bit further into the room, Philomena felt a wave of panic rise within her with each step she took. Dear lord, what was she doing? She wasn't ready for this. She wasn't . . .

Too late.

Swallowing hard, Philomena slowly drew her eyes along Aurelie's body, starting from the ground up until she finally met the other woman's gaze. For a brief moment, her vanity made an appearance as she thought almost smugly to herself that Demetrius's mistress was not quite as lovely as she. Her hair, for example, while of a pretty color, was no match in texture or length to her own. And her eyes were certainly not as expressive or -

As the complete stupidity of her thoughts dawned on her, Philomena quickly banished them to the furthest recesses of her mind as she gathered her composure and then asked softly, "Do you know who I am?"

[Random NPC]

: "Demetrius's wife, Philomena," Aurelie said as she glanced up. A small stab of jealousy welled up for a moment - and only a moment - as she saw how pretty the wife was and she wondered for the tenth time since it began - what did Demetrius see in her, Aurelie, if his own wife was that pretty.

[Sky]

With a faint smile, Philomena nodded as she answered, "Yes, that's correct." Pausing for a moment, she then continued, "I know who you are too, obviously. You're . . . you're my husband's mistress. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted to see you, but I'm an inquisitive kind of creature and there are things that I want - need - to know if there is to be any chance of me fixing my marriage. The first thing I wanted to know was what you looked like. Call me vain or what have you . . . I just needed to know."

Lapsing into another silence, Philomena walked over to the fireplace as she slowly ran her hand over the mantle for a distraction. As she stared down into the fire, her eyes took on a different tone - a harder one. Without looking back at Aurelie, she said flatly, "The second thing I wanted to know was if you knew that Demetrius was married when you began your little rendezvous with him."