Skin Like Dawn by Jade Alyse Page B

shouldn’t you understand more than anyone what this means?  I want to give this baby life.” 
    “I didn’t raise you to be subservient to a man, Natalie Chandler.  I didn’t sacrifice my time and my well-being so that you could go all of this way then suddenly stop once a tall man with a pretty face jumps into the picture.” 
    “Why, because it happened to you?” 
    Helen lunged her flattened palm toward Natalie’s face, cracking the side of her cheek like the snap of a whip.  Natalie stumbled backward, prompting him to burst through the door and catch his wife before she hit the floor.  Immediately remorseful, Helen attempted to reach for Natalie, muttering apologies through muffled sobs.  Natalie nestled her head into the nook of Brandon’s shoulder blade, quelling her urge to scream.  
    “Helen, I strongly suggest that you leave in the morning.  And when you’re driving back to Decatur, know what you’ve done here tonight...to our family, to your daughter.  She’s not you.” 
    “And how are you going to support her, Brandon?  How are you going to make this work?” 
    “I’ve got it all covered.”  Natalie’s arms were hooked so tightly around his waist that he initially lost a little air.  “I’ve managed to secure a job.  A good one.  In a place just far enough for us to get our own identity again.  Natalie will never have to worry about money again.” 
    NATALIE WATCHED HER FAMILY LEAVE FROM THE UPSTAIRS WINDOW IN THEIR BEDROOM.  He kissed each of the women goodbye, apologized for their brief stay, then glowered at Helen, who managed to mutter through another apology, promising to call when they’d returned to Georgia safely.  
    He watched the car pull out of the driveway, then shut the front door slowly, breathing almost easily again, in spite of the episode of insomnia he experienced the night before, promising his wife that he’d stay up to watch her sleep and keep her safe.  He turned toward the kitchen to find Natalie, standing in the middle of their staircase with nothing more than one of his old UGA t-shirts on.  She was grinning, though dark circles created half-moons under her hooded eyes.  “Come to bed.  Let’s watch movies...then have sex...then nap...then have sex again...then go to a real birthday dinner.” 
    He sighed.  “Baby, we’re moving to Portland.” 
     
     
     
     
     

BIRDCAGE
     
    “IT HAD ALL HAPPENED SO QUICKLY,” HE’D SAID.  “One minute, Maya was calling the house to speak to you, and the next we got into a conversation about what she was doing and what I was doing.  And at the time, I was searching the web for jobs.  You were asleep and I didn’t want to bother you.  Your sister asked me what I was looking for and I told her.  Then, she mentioned some friends who moved out west a couple of years ago to start an agency of their own.  And business has skyrocketed.  I did the whole Skype, videoconferencing thing with a couple of the creatives over there and they loved me.  Then I sent over some sample storyboards I had done in grad school.  And...well...I accepted the over.” 
    The simplicity of his story and his comfort in telling it only angered her more, to the point where she simply stared at him, overwhelmed by a sense of betrayal.  Next, he would spout out some declaration of love for her and their growing baby and a desperation for a secure future.  Bullshit.  He did this because he needed to assume control over her.  They were secured by something that they not only wore on their left hands, but by something much bigger than them; a duty she’d established toward him a long time ago.  Damn it.  A number of angry expletives ran through her brain; so many, that if spoken aloud, would result in the kind of verbal backlash that only Brandon David Greene could produce.  Throat burning with tears, she swallowed thickly and closed her eyes, reminding herself that they were in a public place, several onlookers