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T W E L V E
My hands trembled as I opened the front door, silently praying that the box I opened earlier was a figment of my imagination caused by the growing exhaustion my body and brain were experiencing.
Yes, that had to be it. I was so deprived of sleep that I imagined finding an anonymous package containing a mousetrap with a decapitated rat on my doorstep. There was definitely no other explanation for the situation.
"Momma?" Maia called from the living room where I left her after I told myself repeatedly that thirty minutes was more than enough time for me not to have a mental breakdown before I had to deal with the dead animal in my front door.
"Eat your apples and keep watching the movie. I'll be there in a little bit, okay, baby?"
"Otay!"
Holding my breath, I fully opened the door to see that the box was still there and not in my imagination. My stomach twisted just by looking at it still lying on the ground where it fell.
I've never been grossed out by critters like rats or other animals people usually are squeamish of. Growing up around military boys taught me that I couldn't be afraid of anything, or they would use me as a teasing target. There were multiple times where the only source of entertainment they had was to play with whatever animals they found on the streets.
Yet, the fact that someone thought it was okay to kill an innocent animal in the cruelest way possible and send it in a box to someone else as a joke made my stomach turn.
The sound of tires screeching to a halt on my driveway, followed by the banging of a door being closed, caught my attention, distracting me from my dreadful task at hand for a split second.
Before I had time to realize what was going on, strong arms wrapped around me, engulfing me in a tight hug. The tension and panic at the sudden intrusion immediately left my body as familiarity with the embrace quickly sunk in.
"Oh, thank God you are okay. I heard you scream over the phone, and I— Where's Maia?"
"Evan, we are okay. Relax." I pulled away from his tight hold to look up at him.
The dark bags under his eyes grew darker from how they were earlier, causing a stupid need of wanting to wrap him in my arms until we fell asleep.
Shaking my head, I looked away, focusing on the polka dots socks I was wearing.
I felt his intense glare on me, more than likely looking for something to tell him different from what I was saying.
