by Claire Adams
After we had squeezed the stuffing out of each other, he moved back and glanced up at me. “Daddy, what are you thinking?” He reached up and massaged the space between my eyebrows, his little fingers cold, his eyes filled with far more wisdom than he should have had at five.
I let out a heavy sigh and smiled. “Nothing. I’m good. How about you?”
“Nothing really. I just don’t want to feel that pain again. It scared me a lot. Kylie made me feel like it was going to be okay. I just wished that she was here with us.” His lip protruded as his eyes filled with tears again.
I held his hand as I smiled at him. “Don’t you worry about anything right now, buddy. It’s all going to be great. We’ll figure it out like we always do. Together.” I kissed his forehead and smiled at him. “
“Thank you, Daddy. I have the best dad in the world. I’m too lucky to have you and Kylie.”
“I have the best son in the world too. The best superhero that ever lived.”
He held my hand tighter before and gave me an innocent look, which I was coming to understand wasn’t so innocent. “So, Kylie’s at work at the store with her mom today?”
I fidgeted with my fingers in his tiny hand. “Yeah, she needed to be at the convenience store. Mrs. Tomms called, and they needed to do a lot of work there lately. She will probably be very busy in the upcoming days. She might not come around at the house much from now on.”
He looked worried, but still, his face was cheerful and glad. “We should visit them sometime then. I bet they would love to have me work at the store.”
“Sounds great.” I got up and offered him my hands. “Let’s see if we can get out of here, hm?”
Vince smiled. “We’ll bust out like superheroes do.”
“I think that’s a great idea, little man.”
Sadly enough, he was the only hero in the room. Overnight, I found myself feeling far more like a villain.
We walked down the hall and found the doctor had approved our request for checking out. I settled the bill and signed all the paperwork as the doctor spoke for the last time to Vince.
“You can eat sweets, but not too many. Eat everything in moderation, okay?” Vince nodded, listening fervently to the doctor’s orders. He smiled at my son upon seeing his energy return, being the gleeful kid he had always been.
“Okay, this kid’s ready to go. Visit me for your regular checkups. But in the meantime, you can now rest and go home.” The doctor turned his attention to me. I held my son’s hand and thanked the doctor before we left.
As we walked out of the hallway, I recalled the awful things I had said to Kylie. Was I really that guy? One who would hurt someone as beautiful and sweet as my girl?
She used to be your girl.
The drive home was long and gave me far too much fucking time to think. Vince had fallen asleep on the way, the little guy still trying to get used to this new way of life.
When we got home, I carried my son to his room to rest. He was still asleep, regaining his strength from his latest incident. He looked so gentle and sweet, but also a little fragile. The thought scared me.
I walked out of his room with a heavy heart. My chest was aching so badly I put my hand on it and rubbed softly. Something deep inside of me turned into a hollow, gaping hole. What the fuck had I done?
Walking outside of the house, I turned to look at Kylie’s place. The lights inside were turned on, suggesting that Kylie was home. As I stared at her room’s window, I smiled over the light that shone inside. My smile turned into a frown when I watched the room turn dark again.
Just like everything we had, things vanished into the dark. I rubbed my chest a little harder, as an indescribable darkness swelled inside of me. I grabbed a chair and sat on the back porch, keeping my eyes on her bedroom, praying I would see her.
I could not have been more upset with myself. Everything I did was a childish act, a selfish move. I shouldn’t have yelled at her. I shouldn’t have said those things to her. She never deserved to be treated that way. She deserved so much more than I was giving her even when things were good. I told her she was just a nobody, but I guess the joke was on me. It was me who was a nobody. Only Vince saw me as someone worth loving, and Kylie had, but surely not now.
Vince had always admired me for being the most courageous superhero in the world. But I was the opposite of that. I was born a simple man with a coward’s heart. I was never the daredevil who explored things without any hesitations. I was just somebody who stuck around the comfortable zone, where emotional dangers rarely came to visit.
I was a coward to push her away rather than trying things out. And there it was. My overreaction was a protection mechanism, and it had served me in the past well, but tonight it had me feeling two inches tall, alone and miserable.
After being a dick to the woman I love, it was what I deserved.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Kylie
It had been two days since I stood at the hospital with Hunter screaming in my face, but I was still paralyzed with agony over it. The moment replayed in my head over and over as I lay in bed, crying like a child would at the death of someone important.
I woke from the worst dream I’d ever had the next morning. Vince had been crying as he held my hand tight, but a force was taking me away from him. A dark shadow, and I couldn’t figure out what it was or what to do about it. It was strong and so powerful. Although I held Vince’s hand, the force was too domineering and dragged me away from him.
After the dark shadow had dragged me away from Vince, it faced me with his piercing eyes. It was the man who broke into my house. I spotted a table with my gun on it. I ran to the table, taking the gun to shoot the man. I was certain that I could pull the trigger now and kill that beast. I would do anything to protect Vince, and that included putting the pale-faced man down.
When I was clearing the gun’s chamber, the dark shadow began to uncover his face. He took off the dark cloth that covered his identity. I dropped my gun to see who it was. The man behind the mask was the man I loved the most. The man who crushed my heart into pieces.
Hunter.
Right after seeing his face, I woke up, the nightmare still clinging to me like a heavy cloak. My heart was still racing from my chest, my breathing heavy and fast. It felt like I had run a marathon with all my sweat, trickling down my forehead. My clothes were soaked in sweat, the madness of my bad dream having completely taken over me.
I sat up and ran my fingers through my damp hair as reality came crashing in. I was back at my house, the place where a burglar came and broke in weeks ago. Things were now fixed and looking normal, but it didn’t feel like a home anymore. It felt like a dangerous dark hole where I rested, unsafe.
I still couldn’t believe how things had turned upside down two nights before. Hunter and Vince used to be the two people I lived for, but now they were supposed to be like strangers to me?
“Impossible,” I whispered to the empty room around me. I felt hollow. My head still hurting from crying for two days. I stood up and walked to the bathroom to wash my face.
My eyes were swollen, dark shadows circling them. I looked horrible and disgusting. “At least my insides match my outsides. No living a lie today.”
I returned to my bed after washing my face. I took my phone and hoped for a message from Hunter, but there was nothing. Instead, I dialed my mother’s number to call in sick.
After several rings, she picked up the phone. “Hello, Kylie? What’s the matter?” She knew me too well. It was way too early, and I didn’t get up until I had to most days. And it was never this early
“Mom, can I take the day off? I’m feeling a bit sick.” I laid in my bed, resting my head on the soft pillow I drenched with my tears last night.
“Of course, but are you okay? Do you want me to come over and bring something for you?” Her motherly instinct was too powerful to sense my pain.
“No, Mom. I’m okay; I can handle things. Don’t worry about me
. I just need time to rest and sleep.” I did not want her to know what I was going through. She would get disappointed in me and Hunter, and hearing ‘I told you so’ wasn’t something I could stomach just yet, though, she was right. “I’ll call you later, Mom. Have a great day at the store.”
“Are you sure, Kylie? I can feel something’s wrong,” she asked again, pushing a little.
“Yeah, Mom. If I get better during the day, I’ll come by and help.” I closed my eyes, stopping my tears from falling. Pain ran through my chest, stinging me and making it so damn hard to breathe.
“No, don’t worry about it. Just rest and relax. I’ll come by after I close the shop to bring you something. Is that okay?”
“Sure, Mom. I’ll see you then.” I dropped the call before she could tell that I was crying. I sunk my face into the pillow, hiding. I hoped I could sleep again, but I feared that nightmares might come back and fuck me up good. I had nothing left to do. Either way, the pain would come and remind me of how shitty my life was before Hunter and Vince and that I hadn’t been good enough to hold onto it. It was all gone, and I was alone – again.
I laid there a few minutes longer before realizing that I had to do something, talk to someone. Bailey. She would be there for me. She always had been before.
*
I drove to Bailey’s with my head in the clouds, my thoughts consuming me the entire way. I got out and walked to the door, knocking twice and moving back. After a quick inhale and a short coaching session in my head, Bailey opened the door, and Cat pounced on my legs.
“Ki-we!” The cute little thing tried to pronounce my name.
I smiled and patted her hair, showing my appreciation for her sweet welcome.
She moved around me and huffed. “Where’s Vince?” Her tiny voice was oozing with cuteness.
“Come on in, my friend.” Bailey reached for me, pulling me into a hug. I kept her a little ways away during the embrace thanks to the messed up apron she wore. It was stained with splatters of food coloring and icing as if she battled it out with baking items as weapons. I wrinkled my eyes, baffled by why she looked awfully messy.
“What the hell happened here?” I asked her, surprised by the bizarre, speckled form she presented before us. Cat looked at her mother then laughed at her, finding it funny to see a living rainbow in front of her.
“I was baking for you, you idiot! Where’s Vince? I thought you might bring him with you. I made some sugar-free pancakes in rainbow colors today.”
That explained her untidy look. Emotion choked me up, and I wasn’t able to get an answer out to her just yet.
Bailey and Cat trailed behind me as I walked to the kitchen, wiping at my eyes the whole way.
“Kylie, are you deaf today, silly?” Bailey pulled me to a stop from behind.
I turned and pressed my hands to my face as a soft sob left me. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey. Come here.” She pulled me close and held me. “What’s going on? Did something happen with your momma?”
“No.” I pressed into the hold, warmed by Cat’s response to my pain. The little girl was wrapped around my leg, holding me as well.
“Hunter told me to leave them alone.” I was speaking as clearly as I could, but my voice was thick through my tears. “He even told me that I would never be Vince’s mother. I’m just a nobody.”
“What?” She moved back and smoothed my hair. “Most men are douchebags, but I thought maybe Hunter was different. Obviously not.” She shook her head as another wave of tears tore me up.
“I don’t know anything right now.” I wiped at my face, feeling stupid for falling apart again.
Her tone was soft. “You know, when I saw you and Hunter together during Cat’s birthday party, I felt like he was different. The two of you had a spark, an undeniable chemistry. It was beautiful. But I guess I was right. It’s difficult to get attached to someone with an additional baggage behind him. Being a single parent is hard, and you mess up a lot.”
I looked down, realizing the reminders Bailey and my mother had always told me. They were single parents who supported their kids on their own. They completed the rare list of the most valiant and persevered persons I had ever met in my life.
I should have listened and not got involved, or at the least, taken better care of little Vince.
“I know it is.” I nodded and found somewhere to sit down.
“You know what I think, Kylie?”
I raised my head to stare at her eyes. She was smiling at me like she was about to say something that had the power to sooth, my soul. Cat was listening too; her eyes darted to her mother as if she understood the things we talked about.
“What?” I asked my best friend with a shaky voice. I wiped the remaining tears from my cheek as my crying had finally stopped.
“I know everything he did for you was sincere. He must have felt the same love, but his fear consumed him. The fear of losing someone so important to him and Vince. He was holding back because he was frightened to experience the same thing that happened in his previous relationship.” She looked at me, her smile still consistently drawn on her face.
I studied her, waiting for the man-bashing part. I found nothing sarcastic about her words. She was telling the truth. She believed Hunter was a good guy and just fell apart in the face of fear. It was understandable, but it didn’t change anything.
He didn’t want me in his life, and I was too tired and hurt to fight for a different outcome.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Hunter
It was finally the end of the week, and it had been a long one. Trying to explain to Vince for the last few days why Kylie wasn’t in our lives and trying my hardest not to lie about it had me weary as fuck.
I knocked on Vince’s door since he had not come out of his room yet. He was a vibrant morning person who woke up by himself without anyone shaking him to get up. Lately, he seemed to change. The old, cheerful son I usually had was now a gloomy, aloof kid who lost his appetite for food and interaction with others.
After a series of knocks, he was unresponsive. I decided to turn the knob and enter his room carefully. He was still lying in bed, his back facing me. His body was covered up with his blanket.
“Buddy, are you awake?” I stepped closer to him, sitting on the side of his bed to wake him up. I shook his shoulder lightly to wake him from his sleep. “Come on, Vince. Wake up and eat your breakfast.” I could feel his shoulder was fighting me as I turned him to face me. I peeked over his face and found tears all over his face, his nose already red from crying. “Hey, buddy. Come on, why are you crying? Superheroes don’t cry.”
“I had a really bad dream, Daddy.”
I looked at him as he finally faced me. His eyes were still puffy and red from excessive crying, but he managed to stop sobbing. I had wiped his runny nose before he continued his story.
“Oh, yeah? Well, tell me about it then.”
“I dreamed of Kylie, you, and me going into the forest to hunt those bad hogs that rooted up our yard. At first, we were all happy and laughing. I was enjoying everything I saw in the forest. There were beautiful flowers, tall trees, even a mother and baby squirrel watching us from a low branch. I loved the trip we had. It was awesome.” His eyes grew big, amused by the things he saw from his dream. “And then I spotted a hog hiding behind a thick tree trunk, watching over us with crazy eyes. When I pointed it to you, Kylie was preparing to shoot the hog. But something different happened.”
His eyes became dead, his face filled with fright.
“What happened, buddy?” I rubbed his hair and tried to use a calming tone with him. He was pretty shaken.
“The hog transformed into a monster. He began to run toward Kylie, jumping on her and squishing her under its big body. She was screaming and crying for help, but you dragged me away from her. I could still hear her shouting, begging for us to help her. But you dragged me away from her, Daddy. We left her to die with the hog.”
I pulled him
into my arms as my heart shattered farther. I missed Kylie so fucking much, I was having trouble eating and sleeping too, but seeing Vince hurt over it was too much. “I’ll not leave her alone, buddy. Kylie’s not going anywhere.”
“She’s already gone. We haven’t seen her in forever. And I don’t want her to get hurt, Daddy.” His eyes were pleading with me, hoping that I would protect Kylie no matter what.
“She’s just busy, Vince, but just know that I won’t let anything happen to her ever, okay?” I hugged him tight which seemed to calm him down. I got lost in my thoughts, wondering what my beautiful girl was up to.
Vince broke my day dreaming as he moved out of my arms. He moved to his window, looking out toward her house, and I studied his disposition. He looked like a gloomy kid who had given up on something he once hoped for. I had to fix things, at least where he was concerned.
“What if we visit the lake and go fishing today?”
“Yes! Wait, is Kylie coming with us?” He turned and asked in a small voice, hoping that the answer would finally be a yes.
I bit my lower lip before answering him. “I’m sorry, buddy. But Kylie is still busy working on some things for the convenience store.”
“Why don’t we go to the store instead? I bet Nana and Kylie are dying to see me again.” His eyes begged for my compliance.
“Sorry, buddy. They are busy and hoped to do things on their own. We can’t disturb them.” I got up and walked over, ruffling his hair a little. “So, no on the fishing, cause I’d really love some sunshine and time with my favorite superhero on the planet?”
“Okay to the fishing.” He nodded and walked to his dresser; his shoulders rolled, his little head down a little. Fuck me for messing things up with Kylie.
*
“I love this place!” Vince ran off to the dock right after I parked the car, his mood picking up fast now that we were at the lake. He was all gleeful and vibrant, his old self finally returning. I hoped I could keep his mood uplifted. His smile was just the best thing I could live for in the middle of my darkness.