I grab the TV remote and turn on a random kids’ cartoon to hopefully calm her down. I make sure that all the doors and windows in the house are locked.
I sit down next to her, and she hugs me tight, her body trembling slightly, from both fear and exhaustion.
“Are you hungry?” I ask when I see that it’s almost five. She shakes her head and just nuzzles herself farther into my arms. “Have you eaten today?” I ask, my hand rubbing up and down her back to comfort her.
“Breakfast,” she whispers.
“I’m gonna make you some soup,” I say, kissing the top of her head, slowly standing up.
She doesn’t let me get far before she looks up at me and lifts her arms up as if she were a little kid wanting to be held, so that’s exactly what I do.
I pick her up, and she wraps herself around me, arms around my neck, and her legs around my waist.
I hold her close to me, and the full weight of what happened today settles on top of me. If my suspicions about Gideon are right, then who knows what he would have done if she were alone, or if she hadn’t called me.
I hug her tightly, Mocha jumping up and trying to get our attention. But for the first time, all her attention is on me; she’s clinging to me as if she were to fall apart.
“Are you ok?” I know it’s a dumb question, I know that she isn’t ok, but maybe if I give her the opportunity, she’ll open up to me.
“I’m scared,” she whispers into my neck.
“I will never let anything hurt you. What do you need from me to make you feel safe?” I whisper, and she just shrugs.
“I don’t know. I just hate how I feel right now,” she whispers. She’s not crying, but her entire body is trembling.
“Well, here are a few options: short term, you come to the police department with me until you feel safe enough to stay home. I’ll order a better security system for the house and the property. Long term: Maybe we could look into getting you into self-defense classes, maybe boxing, judo, or any class that specializes explicitly in self-defense. Another option you could look into is getting your concealed carry license, since it’s legal in Colorado and Georgia. If being armed is something you’d be interested in.”
She doesn’t move or say anything for a long time, just holding as still as she possibly can, and breathing slowly as she takes in all her options.
“I think all those are good,” she whispers, bringing her face away from my neck. My hands rest gently on her hips as she straddles me, and I wait for her to form whatever words she’s trying to. “I think that I need to be more careful with what I post,” she whispers, fidgeting with her fingers as she looks down at them in her lap.
“If you want, I can get you the social media safety book that we keep at the station if you’re interested in learning more about its dangers and how they can be prevented,” I whisper, kissing the top of her head.
“I think that I would like that,” she whispers, looking up at me again. I nod softly, bringing my hands up to cup her cheeks, and she visibly relaxes into my touch.
“Good, we can get it tomorrow when you come in with me.”
My thumbs brush her cheekbones softly. She nods in response, and we fall into silence. I try to stay calm so that she doesn’t freak out any more than she has, even though all I want to do is go find the sick fuck who scared my baby.
“I’m going to cook us some soup, does that sound ok?” I ask, kissing her forehead for like the tenth time just since we’ve been home.
“I’m not really hungry,” she admits, which I figured as much.
“I know, and that’s ok, but we still need to eat.”
She nods, still wrapped around me as I stand up. I carry her into the kitchen, Mocha right on our heels. He looks up at Sloane with sad eyes, just hoping that his mom is going to be ok.
I sit her on the counter, she lets go of me after a few seconds, and makes herself comfortable.
When she has herself situated how she wants, I step back from her and go over to the fridge. I grab a handful of veggies and other ingredients out of the fridge and pantry. I lay out all the ingredients before grabbing the spices that I’ll need.
I begin by bringing chicken broth to a boil. While it boils, I cut up all my veggies and toss them in so they can start cooking.
A few minutes later, Sloane’s arms wrap around my middle, and she presses her face into my back as she presses a kiss to the middle of my spine.
“I’m going to go take a shower,” she whispers.
“Ok, it won’t be ready for a few minutes. Take your time,” I whisper back, turning and cupping her cheeks in my hands before pressing a soft kiss to her mouth. I sigh when she returns the kiss.
