under

Chapter two: Nightly setup

It was a long drive to Dominick’s sister’s house. It usually takes me around thirty to thirty-five minutes to get there. But tonight it took me almost two hours because I kept taking turns that I usually don’t take and I had to keep taking breaks on the side of the road to catch my breath. I kept having these prolonged panic attacks that made my breath start and stop. It got to the point where me and Dominick had to switch seats and he had to drive. I was so stressed about how close Jason got to my kids and if he would find us. That was also why I kept taking other streets. I was paranoid that Jason was going to follow the car and do something to me and my little family that was still new to the world. I wasn’t taking the chances on Jason finding us. I kept taking those turns to make sure that he couldn’t follow us. I was so tired by the time that we reached the house and felt severely out of breath. After two hours, we arrived at the little pale yellow house with a dark brown door and a dark green fence that Dominick’s sister, Leah, called home. Dominick placed the car in park quietly and I started to rouse up the kids from the front seat. I was also able to get my breathing under control little by little from being in the driveway that was recently recovered in tar so that the old bumps and craters. Eric woke up and started to cry for peace so that he can continue sleeping. Rustina kept nodding in and out of sleep. I had to carry her inside with one of the duffle bags full of supplies. Dominick carried the other bag and Eric. I got to the door first and knocked on the door with the silver door knocker that was attached. Leah opened the door and whispered a squeal once she saw me. I smiled at her shyly, as Leah grabbed the duffle bag from my hand. I used my other hand to support the back of Rustina’s head and rocked her back and forth to get her to stay asleep. I laid her down on the light brown couch that was in the middle of the small living room. Dominick followed behind me and placed Eric next to his twin sister. He was fussing a little until I placed my hand that was slightly cold on his left cheek and started hushing him. He went back to sleep fully in seconds. Dominick stood beside me as I watched over them having sweet dreams. Leah came back into the living room from her basement down stairs where she had placed the bags and where me and Dominick would be sleeping until it was safe to go home. Leah stood at the top of the stair case staring at us, staring at the kids. A little smile showed up on her face as she then started making her way over to us and placed her hand on my shoulder. Because of my fears of Jason finding us I jumped because I didn’t know who it was touching me. She giggled a little and I sighed in relief and softly shook my head. Dominick also softly shook his hand at the both of us. She looked at both of us with happiness in her eyes and said, “ I can watch the kids for you guys tonight, you guys go be busy beavers in bed you two deserve it.” Dominick and I both got red. I can’t believe that Leah is telling us to go have s*x while she watches our kids. It was kind of crazy to think about doing it in someone else’s house. In someone else’s bed, and someone else was okay with us doing it in their home and in their bed! That person is my sister-in-law who is infernal and is also watching my kids! Dominick wrapped his arm around me and forced a chuckle as he said, “ Oh Leah, we’re really tired and are just going to go to bed. We’re not going to do that, but thank you for the offer I guess.” We slowly started backing up to the stairs as he said this and then we turned around and started making our way to the bedroom to have what felt close to the best s*x I’ve had with Dominick ever, but like I said, it was close to the best. The best was when I conceived the kids, but either way we could say we were busy beavers in bed. By the time that me and Dominick were going to bed it was four in the morning of the next day. I got comfortable and snuggled into Dom’s chest. Dom was a little nickname that I had given him back in high school when we started dating, which is what this night reminded me of so well. Dom wrapped his arms around me, having them rest on the top of my lower cheeks like he used to do when we were young. I smiled at this, knowing that things had seemed to be feeling the same as they used to. This was a nightly ritual that went on while we stayed at Leah’s house every night for about two weeks. That was when things seemed to be falling apart. That was when my mind started to fall apart. That was when my family started to fall apart. That was when everything started to fall apart.