Emily:I said fuck no and hid upstairs while Jack went to the door.
Emily:I don’t know exactly what he said but his voice got very quiet and very calm and then the door closed and they were gone.
The breath left my lungs in a rush. I was already halfway to the counter to grab my keys before my brain caught up with the rest of the message. I forced myself to stop. To breathe.
Me:Jack’s a good man.
Emily:He really is. Mia’s lucky.
Emily:When he came back in, he just said, “They won’t be bothering you again” and went back to his book.
Me:That’s exactly what you needed.
Emily:Yeah. It was.
A pause. The dots appeared and disappeared a few times.
Emily:I thought I’d feel something. Relief or anger or something. But I just felt... tired.
Me:That’s okay. You don’t have to feel anything right now.
Emily:I know. It’s just weird. I spent so long being afraid of exactly this happening, and now it’s like... I don’t know. I just feel numb. And a bit confused because the sky hasn’t fallen in.
Me:That sounds like progress to me.
Emily:Maybe.
Emily:Anyway. I just wanted to tell you.
Me:I’m glad you did.
Emily:Goodnight, Cam.
Me:Goodnight, sweetheart.
Monday,4:34 PM
Emily:I went to work today.
Me:Yeah? How was it?
Emily:Good actually. Nice to have something to focus on. Mia kept looking at me like I was going to shatter but I told her I was fine and eventually she believed me.
Emily:Or at least she pretended to.
Me:Baby steps.
Emily:Exactly.
Emily:How are the girls?
I grinned, already pulling up the photo I’d just taken.
Me:[image attached]
Me:Alice decided her stuffed animals needed a formal education. She’s running a classroom in the living room.
Emily:OH MY GOD.
