Cassie woke up the next morning and felt inexplicably good. She stretched, feeling the sun slant across her, warm and life affirming. She should be exhausted or guilt stricken from the night before, but she wasn’t. She was set free. She was safe and normal and glad to be facing the day, a stronger feeling than she’d ever had.
Tim wasn’t awake yet. Cassie snuggled him close. She’d slept with him. Breathing in his safety, his softness, and knowing that today, her son was finally typical. He could go to school and go play and be like every other little boy. Because she’d killed the man who threatened to hurt him.
Someday she’d tell Tim about last night. Someday when he was old enough to understand it, and even judge it on his own, someday she’d have to tell her son she’d killed his father.
