The Madam Of Suburbia Chapter 24

Chapter 24 - Reality

I wake up to the sound of thunder. I open my eyes, and find myself in the nicest bedroom I ever been unless I sprung for a fancy hotel. I stare at the lace curtains that actually match the beige walls, and wonder how I ended up in such a classy place. Whenever I wake up in an odd place, I always have to pray that my shoes aren't full of cockroaches, and I'm not lying next to some woman who's name I don't know. I actually begin to worry I broke into a mansion, and will get caught trespassing.

I pull myself out of the bed, and smile because even the bed is nice. I slept in a king-sized, memory foam mattress which explains why I had the best sleep without any kind of sleeping aid. I even chuckle because the sheets even match. It's been ages since I've been in a bed this nice unless I ended up hooking up with a rich woman who was tired of her husband ignoring her needs. I begin to panic as I wonder if I need to hurry out of here before something bad happens.

As I step out of the bed, the door flings open, and a small redheaded girl rushes over, and wraps her arms around my legs.

"Daddy!" she shouts with glee. "You're finally awake!"

I look down, completely lost as I stare into her green eyes. The last thing my brain recalls is being knocked out by Riese on some country road. Now, I wake up in a fancy house with a children calling me their father. I wonder how long I've been out. I haven't had sex in so long, that there's no way I would even have a girl pregnant, but there's a child clinging to my leg calling me Dad. The part scaring me is she has Amber's red hair, and the same green eyes as Amber and I have. I have to figure out what is going on, and soon because my mind is racing at the speed of light.

The girl gives me a solution to get some answers as she says, "Mommy is in the kitchen waiting for us. She made your favorite."

"Well, let's not disappointment Mommy," I reply as I try to figure out if Daddy and Mommy are code words so the actual mother doesn't have to explain who I truly am. Normally, I'm some uncle not the father. I hope Mommy can explain things much better because I so lost right now.

I follow down the hall into the kitchen area. I stop when I see who Mommy is as I see sitting at the kitchen table is Amber drinking a cup of coffee. I notice she has a brass wedding ring on her hand. I look at my left hand, and notice I one that matches. I know Riese is strong, but I doubt his one punch knocked me out for that long. There is something going on here, and I hope Amber has more answers, especially how I changed my heart so much that I married her.

"Daddy's up, Mommy," states the girl as she sits in the chair to left of Amber, eyeing the stack of blueberry pancakes in the middle of the table.

"Is he grumpy, Merideth?" Amber asks.

"He's not," she replies. "He's behind you though."

"Oh, is he?" Amber asks as she turns around and says to me, "Morning. Coffee?"

"Can I talk to you alone for a few?" I ask.

"Sure," Amber says before adding, "Merideth, go ahead and eat. Mommy and Daddy will be back shortly."

Amber walks down the hall, and I follow her back into the bedroom. She sits down on the bed and asks, "You seem to be out of it this morning. Everything okay?"

"The last few things I remember right now are you shooting Richard, then being abducted by Blue. What is going on?" I ask as I find myself fiddling with my wedding band.

"You have a bad dream or something?" she asks. "Look at the frame over the bed. It should jog your memory."

I walk over to the frame hung over the bed, and begin reading the article. The title says it: "DEA Brings Down Madam Cartel". As I begin to read it, I can't help notice every time Madam's real name being mentioned, it's blank like it's censored. Even her face is a blank space. I glance back and ask Amber, "What's Madam real name?"

She speaks, but all I hear is "Her name is ."

"What was her name again?" I ask, and nothing. She speaks, but all I hear is silence.

"Amber, this isn't funny. Who was Madam?"

This time, when she opens her mouth, the blaring sound of an alarm clock comes out. I open my eyes, and find myself on a lumpy, twin bed in what looks like a cabin as the walls are made out of logs. I rub my eyes to see if I'm still dreaming, but sadly, I'm not. I'm not sure if that was a glimpse of my future, or a nightmare that I let her back into my life that much. However, she's still a part of it as I see a note from her stating she'll be back in thirty minutes if I need a hand getting ready.

I try to get out of bed, but notice my right arm and left leg are in a cast. I lay back down as I try to make sense of that dream. I still don't have those kinds of feelings for Amber. I still don't trust her fully, but if that was a vision of things to come, I wonder what changes between us. I honestly feel that I won't be alive to read such an article. Either way, I have to wait for her to show up so I can figure out what has happened since Riese knocked me out. With nothing better to do, I drift back into sleep.