EMBER #2
His eyes go wide and a grin slowly appears across his face. My knees go weak seeing him so happy, and it’s not even his kid or wife or sister. Although, I'd never say that out loud because he feels like Atlas and Asher’s family.
“That honestly makes so much sense, but Asher didn’t say anything?” he says with a question in his voice.
“Correct, she hasn’t told him yet. She’s losing it because it wasn’t planned and so much has to be done before Asher leaves.”
He shakes his head in understanding. “Okay, let’s help them get this stuff done and then I'll take you home and run you a bath.”
I turn to kiss him and place my arms around his waist.
We walk out into the kitchen, hand in hand. Asher and Rawley are gone, and Atlas is putting the pizza boxes into the recycling bin under the sink. She turns when we walk into the room, placing her hands on the island.
“Are you okay, Em?” she asks me softly.
“I’ll be fine, I promise,” I tell her. “Where are they?” I question her.
“Asher knew something was up, so he took Rawley outside to work out there,” she relays to me. Just then I remembered hearing Aria crying.
“I’m gonna grab my nugget,” I tell them before quickly leaving the room.
As I get out of the doorway, I hear Atlas quietly speaking. “You keep an eye on her.”
“I’ll take care of her, Atlas,” Harley tells her. “I love her.”
I smile to myself, knowing it's true, and it’s not the toxic love that I've always had pushed on my heart.
I walk into Aria’s room and she’s already standing up in bed, tears running down her face. I reach over the crib, and bring her into my arms. I hold her close, and she rests her head on my shoulder, still letting out little whimpers.
“Auntie’s got you, baby girl,” I tell her, taking her over to change her diaper before we go face everyone. I take my time changing her, putting her little socks back on her feet after she took them off during her nap.
We walk out to the kitchen and living room area and don’t find anyone inside.
I grab a blanket to pull around Aria, grab my jacket to wrap us both up more, and head outside. When we get outside, I see Atlas holding the ladder, looking up toward the roof.
I walk out and back up farther in the yard to look and see what’s happening. I find Asher and Harley on the roof, repairing something. Rawley is fixing the downspout at the corner of the house. He looks up and laughs when we hear Harley and Asher bickering back and forth.
“You guys be smart up there,” I yell up, shielding my eyes from the bright sky. It's not sunny out, but the sky is light today.
“Where’s the fun in that, Ember?” Rawley calls over towards me, laughing. My insides scrunch together hearing his cheerful tone directed towards me.
I let out a laugh and throw my head back. “Being smart is a requirement when you're on the roof of a house,” I tell him, feeling peaceful in the first little conversation we’ve had. “I’m not going to the hospital.”
He chuckles lightly. “My mom says that ALL the time.”
I give him a small smile. “She sounds like a smart woman.”
I look over and see not only Atlas, but Harley too, watching me cautiously. I roll my eyes at them, not wanting to bring any attention to Rawley that they’re watching us.
I turn to walk towards my car to grab my chapstick, and I notice a car sitting up the road. I usually wouldn’t think much of it, but I see someone holding a newspaper up in the driver seat and my gut is going haywire. In that moment, I see the newspaper lower slightly, and see Dean peek over.
I immediately feel sick. “Atlas, take Rawley and Aria in the house.”
Atlas looks at me with confusion on her face. “I’m holding the ladder for dumb and dumber.”
“Hey!” I hear Asher yell from the roof.
I turn around and my eyes connect with Atlas, and she sees the seriousness written across my face.
“Hey Rawley, can you come inside with me?” she asks without an ounce of worry in her voice. I walk Aria over to her, and stand at the edge of the ladder. Atlas quickly shuffles behind Rawley.
As soon as the door clicks, I look up and call to Harley. “Babe, do you see that Nissan at the end of the road?”
Harley’s eyes snap to mine before looking towards the street. “God DAMMIT!” he roars with rage in his voice, and I wince at the anger.
“Ember, get in the house. Lock the door and call the cops. Now.” I start to argue, but he cuts me off. “NOW, EMBER.” And I rush inside, securing the lock.
Not even a second passes before I hear steps making their way across the roof.
“Harley told me to call the cops,” I tell Atlas.
“Do it,” she commands without hesitation.
I call 911 and an operator comes on the line, asking the basic questions for a report to get an officer out. As I answer questions, I watch out of the little peep hole and see Harley take off down the road. Asher follows after him, close behind.
Just before they leave my line of sight, I see Harley reach behind his back and pull a gun out from his waistband. My stomach drops. Not because I've ever been scared of guns—I've even considered the classes myself—but the weight of the situation sits heavily on my chest.
The operator gets all of the information and informs me that an officer is going to head out and should be there within ten minutes. She stays on the line with me until I see red and blue lights pull up.
Atlas takes Aria and Rawley into the little man cave that Asher has set up in the spare room. She turns on a movie and intentionally turns the volume up on the TV.
Atlas comes out of the room, pulling the door. “I hate to do this to you now,” she says apologetically, “but I think we should call Rawley’s parents to let them know what’s going on and see what they want us to do.”
My body goes still. I know she doesn’t mean the whole story, at least not right now. My mind is going crazy nonetheless. I gave him up to give him a better life away from this shit. I don’t realize I'm crying until Atlas gets closer and pulls me into a hug.
“I’ll tell them we noticed someone watching the house so we called the cops out of precaution,” she says as I hand the phone to her.
I’m not ready for any of this, but I don’t want Rawley to be unsafe. I need him safe, and in order to do that, his parents should know.
I listen as Atlas calls Rawley's mom and explains the situation, leaving out some of the details until she gets here. I hear her frantic voice over the phone while Atlas answers her questions. Her eyes connect with mine.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and on instinct, my body tenses. I pull it out and see Ensley calling. I reject the call and slip it back into my pocket.
Atlas hangs up with Rawley’s mom. She steps over and wraps her arms around me, embracing me in a hug. “I’m here okay,” she tells me softly. “We don’t even know anything for sure.” She’s trying so hard to comfort me, but nothing can calm the storm in my stomach.
We walk outside when we see Harley, Asher, and a cop get closer to the end of the driveway.
I walk over to Harley, my arms crossed over my front.
“I don’t know the name of the apartment complex, but I can give you directions or take you there,” he says, clearly avoiding eye contact with me. “He was sitting outside her house one night, and I followed him home.”
Fucking news to me.
The cop looks at me. “We’re looking at our options. It’s clear he's stalking you,” he says, writing in his pocketbook. “Do you have cloud storage with proof of his being at your house?”
“Yes, sir. I don’t know how much storage, but they’re fairly new so there shouldn’t be an issue,” I tell him.
“I have them all saved to my phone. I can show you,” I hear Harley say in a low tone.
What the fuck? How does he have video footage from my house camera?
I know it's not the time or place, but my mind is running ninety miles per hour. Just as my mouth opens to question him, a red Equinox pulls onto the street, and a dark haired woman jumps out of the car.
“Atlas! Where’s Rawley?” she asks, not giving me a second look. She’s frantic, and I can’t help but feel worse than I already do.
“Hey Charlee, he’s inside,” Atlas assures her, giving her a hug she clearly needs. My heart crumbles.
“Ember saw him down the street and had me take the kids in as soon as she felt like something was off,” Atlas continues.
Charlee, Rawley’s mom, pulls away from Atlas and looks over at me, her eyes widening. Some sort of an unsaid knowing must pass between us. “Oh my god,” she says, her hand covering her mouth and tears filling her eyes.
She knows who I am.
“Did you tell him?” she asks with panic in her voice.
“No. No, I would never do that,” I tell her, tears running down my face now. “I only got a semi-confirmation today when my boyfriend was making conversation and asked about his age.”
She grabs my hand. “He doesn’t know. I never told him.” I had assumed as much, and I didn’t expect it to hurt to hear out loud. It feels like I’m being ripped into pieces and stomped on at the same time.
“You should know what happened today,” I tell her, knowing the truth about Dean and his psychotic tendancies will seal any possibility of a future that could have come from the baby I gave away.
I go through everything, starting from when I decided to give him up for adoption fifteen years ago. She listens, not asking any questions. Just taking it all in, wincing after some of the intense parts. I see the fear in her eyes as she listens to everything Dean is capable of.
I don’t blame her for being scared, because I'm scared, too.
“He’s dangerous, and he doesn’t care about the law,” I tell her. She’s rocking back and forth on her heels, arms crossed now over her chest.
“Can you give me his information so I can look him up and be on the look out?” she finally asks.
I nod and text out all the information, sending it to Atlas so she can forward it to Charlee. I give her any and all the information she would need.
“Officer, can I file for a protection order against him, for my son?” she asks without wavering.