The Light to My Darkness - Chapter 25 #2
What was I supposed to say in response to her words? I took a deep breath and grabbed her hand. "Baby girl, there are no snake monsters. And there's nothing coming for us. Now, I'm going to go get ready for bed. And then we can have snuggles, okay?"
She let go of my hand and gripped the top of the sheets in her fists. "Okay, Mommy. But we could sleep with Uncle Tyler. Or Uncle Rob. Or Uncle Matt. Or Uncle Mason..."
"Scar, I can take care of us. There's absolutely nothing to worry about."
She pressed her lips together, like she was considering the possibility. "Can you look under the bed?"
I smiled. "Of course." I slowly got down on my hands and knees and looked under the bed. "Nothing there," I said and got back to my feet. "I'll be right back." I kissed her forehead and made my way over to my suitcase.
I almost started crying when I opened it up. There was one of James' t-shirts sitting on the top of the rest of the items, with a note. I picked up the slip of paper.
My beautiful wife,
In case you can't sleep without feeling close to me. I'll be back before you know it. Call me when you wake up. I miss you already.
Love always,
James
I quickly got ready for bed and then pulled his shirt over my head. James' cologne immediately surrounded me. It calmed me better than anything else in the world.
But a clicking noise disrupted any calming effect the shirt had.
"Scar?" I opened up the bathroom door and walked out when there was no response.
"Scar?" I turned toward the bed and froze when she wasn't lying where I had left her.
"Scarlett?!" I glanced around the room, but it was completely empty.
"Scarlett!" Fear gripped my heart as I ran to the door. Oh God. Oh God. I ran out into the hall and stared at my daughter wreaking havoc on a whole floor of The Plaza Hotel.
Scarlett was at the opposite end of the hall, banging on a door. "Uncle Mason!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Scar, what are you doing?" I hissed.
She turned toward me. But then immediately ran to another door, farther away from me. "Uncle Tyler!" she yelled and banged on the door.
"Scarlett, stop it." I started walking toward her. "You're going to wake up everyone on the floor." Ow. Not right now, baby boy. I stopped and placed my hand on the wall. A searing pain hit my chest right after another kick in the ribs. I closed my eyes for a second.
"Uncle Matt!" Scarlett screamed as she banged on another door.
"Scarlett Hunter, stop that right now," I said sternly and opened my eyes. "Come over here."
She just ran to another door. "Uncle Rooooob!"
Damn it, Scar. I put my hand on the center of my chest and pushed myself off the wall. Ow. I knew she had scared me. That's why my chest hurt. It's just in my head.
Scarlett started banging on another door.
"Scar, please stop. Please stop for Mommy." She hadn't listened to my demand. Maybe she'd listen to me begging.
Matt walked out of one of the rooms she had banged on earlier, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.
"Uncle Matt!" Scarlett said and ran over to him. She jumped into his arms as he leaned down to talk to her.
I slowly hobbled over to them. "Scar, you can't run off like that. We just talked about this the other day. What were you thinking?"
"It's okay," Matt said. "I got her."
"And what if it hadn't been you? What if it had been some stranger that just snatched her up?"
"But it was me." He said it slowly.
I knew he was trying to calm me, but I didn't think anything could calm me down. "You promised you wouldn't leave without a grown-up, Scarlett. Get over here, right now."
"I said I wouldn't leave the house," Scarlett said and hugged Matt's torso even tighter. "We're not in our house, Mommy."
For God's sake. When had my daughter become a smart ass?
"And we need Uncle Matt to sleep with us," she said before I could respond.
Matt laughed.
"We don't need anyone else, Scar. I told you I'd take care of you."
"Yes we do!" she yelled. "Because the snake is going to get you and you can't stop it. And then I'll be alone. We need Uncle Matt. We'll sleep in his room tonight." Scarlett pointed to his door.
"Actually, kiddo, you can't go in there right this second." He awkwardly ran his hand through his hair.
Not only had we most likely awakened half the floor, we had interrupted Matt in the middle of whatever normal single people did at weddings. Which was clearly sex. There was no doubt in my mind that he had a naked woman lying on his bed, waiting for him to return.
"Come on, Scar. We're going back to our room. I'm so sorry, Matt."
She gripped Matt even tighter and turned to face him. "But the snake is going to kill my mommy."
My chest hurt. And I thought someone had kidnapped my daughter.
And I missed James. And I was seven months pregnant with a son who wouldn't stop kicking me.
And I didn't want to die. God, I didn't want to even think about death.
It was like her words had pushed me over the tipping point.
I couldn't even help it. I burst into tears.
"Mommy?" Scarlett said.
I turned away. "Can you just...can you hold her for a second, Matt?
" I tried to wipe away my tears as fast as possible.
I tried so hard to be strong in front of Scarlett.
I never, ever wanted her to see me cry. And I had just ruined everything.
Now she'd know that I wasn't invincible.
But clearly she already knew that if she thought a snake would be the end of me. Fuck, stop crying.
"Mommy?" she said again.
I tried to take a deep breath. Ow.
"Let's get you girls back to your room," Matt said and put his hand in mine.
I should have pulled my hand out of his. I should have been able to tell Scarlett no and get her back into our room on my own. But my chest still hurt. My stomach still hurt. Everything just hurt. And Matt's hand was comforting. The fact that Scarlett was comforted by him was also a huge plus.
"But you'll stay the night?" Scarlett asked as he walked us down the hall.
"Yeah, sure," he said.
I knew he just said it to calm her down. But the thought of Matt coming into my room in nothing but boxers made me cringe. James was jealous enough as it was. This wasn't going to help. I wiped away the remaining tears on my cheeks. "I can take her now," I said when we reached our door.
"No!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "I want Uncle Matt."
She was a little terror. When had she become impossible for me to handle alone? I guess daddy's girls wreaked havoc whenever their fathers weren't around.
"It's fine," Matt said. "Key?" He nodded to the door.
Shit. I hadn't grabbed the key when I had run out looking for her. I reached out and turned the handle, but it was locked. "It's in the room." I leaned my back against the door. Why me?
"You're going to sit with your Mom while I go get another room key, okay, Scar?" he said.
"No," she replied and hugged him even tighter.
He gave me a tight-lipped smile.
"I'll go get it," I said.
"No you're..." his voice trailed off. "You're only wearing a shirt."
I completely forgot that I was inappropriately dressed. Normally James' t-shirts covered me pretty well, but with my pregnant stomach they barely covered my panties. I awkwardly tugged on the hem of the shirt. "But you're just wearing boxers."
He laughed. "It won't be my first time making a scene in a hotel lobby." He adjusted Scarlett on his hip. "We'll be right back." He winked at me and made his way to the elevator.
Scarlett didn't yell to stay with me. Or cry for being taken away.
She clung to him like she loved him more than anyone else in the world.
As they disappeared onto the elevator, I let my back slide down the door, until my butt hit the hallway carpet.
And I cried. I cried and I couldn't seem to stop.