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She was a very pretty woman with long sandy blonde hair and little freckles on her nose, just like Em’s. I imagined she was the type of person who smiled and laughed a lot since her face was filled with happiness in all of the photos. One of the photos showed a younger version of Derek standing next to his wife. He mostly looked the same, but with slightly less of the sexy ruggedness he had now.
I scanned to the next frame and felt that same crack in my heart from earlier start to spread. She was sitting on the front porch swing with a big round belly, gently pressing her hands around it and gazing over it with a loving smile. Derek stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders, staring down at her pregnant belly with the same look.
I could only imagine how happy they were and this big beautiful long life they imagined before them, raising their child together. But now, all of that was tragically gone. I felt like I was gaining a deeper understanding of why it took Derek so long to start dating again and why he had been so overprotective of Em.
I was startled by the sound of Derek clearing his throat. I spun around to see him standing there awkwardly. He knew I was looking at the photos of his wife.
“Sorry, I guess…I could have put some of those away or….”
“No,” I insisted, walking over to wrap my hands around his. “Absolutely not. Please don’t ever feel like you have to do that for me. She’s Em’s mom. Of course, she misses her and wants to keep pictures of her around.” My eyes dropped down to the floor, then shot back up to his. “I know you miss her too. And that’s okay.”
“I don’t know any of the rules about this kind of stuff,” he smirked.
I shrugged with a smile. “Me either.”
“Well, Em has requested your presence for her bedtime story. I told her I’d ask, but you don’t have to.”
“Of course, I want to join in on bedtime stories. Those are the best,” I told him.
As we started reading, I missed my mom. I remembered how she used to read me stories every night. She’d act out all the parts with funny voices, sometimes crawling around the room like a roaring tiger or bear or flopping around like a puppet on strings. Whatever the story called for.
Normally, I would never act so goofy in front of a guy I just started seeing. But I felt compelled to give Em the same good time my mom always gave me with stories. I tried to forget Derek was even there, witnessing what a complete dork I could be, and put on a show. Em smiled, giggled, and clapped her hands. Her giddiness made the embarrassment worth it.
When we were finished reading, I let Derek have a moment to say goodnight to Em alone. He came out a few minutes later and said, “Want to have a beer on the porch with me? It’s kind of a custom around here. Every time Keith comes over for dinner, we retire to the porch with a cold one after we put Em to bed.”
“I wouldn’t want to break custom,” I grinned. “Count me in.”
He grabbed two beers from the fridge and cracked them open, then wrapped me up in an extra sweater he had hanging by the door. As we walked out, I side-eyed the porch swing. It was the same one Derek and his wife were around for the photo on the mantle. But Derek walked straight to the front steps and took a seat, so I followed suit. I was kind of glad he didn’t want to sit on the swing. It felt so weird to be existing with him and Em in this space that carried so many memories for them.
We sat in silence for a moment listening to the crickets, watching the stars, sipping our beers.
“Em’s really sweet,” I told him after a while. “You’re a great dad. I liked watching you with her.”
“I can’t take any credit,” he argued. “She’s just like her mom. I do my best to keep things afloat, but I think it’s her genes that make her great.”
I leaned in and nudged my shoulder against his. “Give yourself at least a little credit. You’re doing all the right things. She’s obviously loved and well-cared for. You even make her eat her vegetables! That’s more than what I think I’d have the energy to keep up with.”
“She shows off for company. If it was just the two of us here, you would have seen a much bigger fight over those green beans.”
“But they were delicious green beans,” I laughed. “I’m starting to get really fond of the cooking around here.”
His eyes burned into mine. “I’m really fond of you.”
I smiled and closed my eyes as he leaned in to kiss me. We sat out there for a while, talking, flirting, and kissing. I was just thinking I should offer to head home when Derek excused himself to the restroom. I followed him inside so I could warm up for a moment. The temperature was dropping. Derek had told me something about the first frost of the year being right around the corner, and I could believe it from how it was starting to feel outside at night.
I paced around the kitchen while I waited for him. Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream shot through the house. I jumped with a sharp gasp. Em.
Even before my brain could decide what to do, my body reacted for me and took off running towards her. I didn’t know what was going on or what I’d do when I got to her, but instinctively I just knew I had to go.
She was screaming out from her bed, clutching the covers over her tightly. Her eyes were closed, but she seemed to be afraid of something looming over her. It was the stuff horror movies were made of, and my heart was pounding so hard I thought it might beat right out of my chest.
I rushed to her side but then froze. I remembered reading once that you shouldn’t wake people up if they were having a fit like that in their sleep. I had no clue if it was true or not, but I decided it was better to be safe than sorry and heeded the advice. I wrapped my arms around her and rocked her back and forth as gently as I could. Her face thrashed against my chest, and the moment her warm cheek pressed to my skin, the screaming faded. Her eyes were still closed tight, and her chest was rapidly moving up and down with her heavy breaths. Still, after a few moments of me holding her and swaying her breathing calmed, her whimpering stopped, and she seemed to be at peace again.
26
DEREK
I bolted out of the bathroom as fast as I could, cursing under my breath as I went. Of course, this would happen tonight, the first night I ever had Melody, or any woman for that matter, over to my place with Em.
