His car is still running in the middle of the street, and I open the back door and strap her into her seat. I choose to sit in the back with her, not wanting to be any closer to Darius than I have to be and not wanting to take my eyes off of my daughter.
He tries talking to me as he drives but I ignore him, and he gets the message I’m not going to talk. Dad’s car isn’t on the drive, but he’ll be at work and doesn’t know I was released.
Darius unlocks the front door as I hold onto Elsa, and I frown. Why does he have a key?
Everything looks the same when I step inside. Nothing is different. I head for the stairs, and I don’t stop until I’m in my bedroom. Everything is the same up here too.
I need to shower, to wash off that hell hole. I want to burn the clothes I’m wearing, never reminded of how I looked the night my life was ripped apart.
Darius hovers in the doorway, silently watching my every move.
“I need a shower… don’t leave this room.”
“We’re not going anywhere, Amelia.”
For some reason I believe him, but it doesn’t stop the ache beginning to grow being apart from her as he takes her from me.
I take the quickest shower, annoyingly reminding me of taking showers inside.
Wrapping a towel around myself, I smile at the softness of the fabric and wrap another around my hair.
Stepping into the bedroom, Darius is walking into the room with Elsa on his hip and a bottle in his hand.
“You said you wouldn’t leave.”
“She’s due a nap, Amelia, I just went to get her some milk.”
Drying off, I pull open the drawers and run my fingers over the denim jeans. Moving on, I dress in my favourite pair and a cashmere sweater. This time yesterday I was marking off another day wasted in my life and now, I’m home.
Darius lays Elsa on my bed and hands her the bottle. I’m not ready to be away from her just yet. The last time I was with her I had to feed her, now she’s holding the bottle herself.
“We should talk.”
I don’t look at him, I don’t reply. I climb onto the bed and lie beside the one reason I had to keep going.
Stroking her cheek as she guzzles on the milk, I don’t take my eyes off of her as hers begin to flutter closed.
I can’t see him from where I lay but I hear him sit at the dresser. I feel his eyes on me, never straying.
“Amelia?”
I jerk at the sound of my dad’s voice yelling up the stairs.
“Amelia!”
Jumping off the bed, I rush to the door as my dad comes to the top of the stairs.
“Oh sweetheart, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”
I’m in his arms before I even think about moving. Elsa and him, they’re all I need in this world.
“Why didn’t you call?”
“I wanted to see her.” It’s all I can say.
“I understand.” He lets me go and I wipe the tears away. “No more tears now, you’re home where you belong.”
Nodding, I laugh, and it feels so good. It is where I belong. Not in Dog City, not around people who will turn on me the second they hit trouble. Here, with my dad, working a good job and living in comfort.
