Page 34 of Instant Bond

I heard Karter close my front door, then heard him rustling around my kitchen for a bit. I didn’t bother looking up from my self-imposed cocoon of depression. It’s not like I had anything worth stealing or that he’d want anything of mine anyway.

After a few minutes, I heard the sound of dishes being set on my coffee table and then him sinking down onto the floor in front of the couch. The weight of his hand made itself known on my back as he stroked me through my thick comforter.

When I peeked my head out, my eyes locked with his before surveying what he’d brought me. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich rested on a plastic plate with a t-rex printed on it, with a cup of juice sitting alongside it.

“I’m not a very accomplished chef,” he apologized. Like I was going to complain about it. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had made me food, even something as simple as a PB&J. “People eat when they’re upset, right?”

A short laugh tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it.

“I think that’s considered an unhealthy relationship with food or something, but yeah. Thank you.” I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, anyway. Plus, who could cry while eating? Maybe that had been his plan in the first place.

“Is there something else I can do?”

It was kind of funny, hearing someone like Karter sound so completely unsure and out of his depth. Who knew a few tears would totally disarm him and leave him in a state of panic?

“No. You’ll stay with me for a while?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. “If you need to see a doctor or talk to a professional about what happened at work today, I can arrange that.”

I considered his offer, but shook my head slowly. “I’m okay, really. It was scary, but I don’t think I’m, like, messed up over it or anything. I appreciate that you would offer, though. Honestly,” I continued. “This morning was worse.”

His eyebrows drew together, his eyes searching my face in confusion. “Tell me what happened this morning.”

So I told him everything Ty’s teacher had told me, word for word. Her words had been echoing in my head all day anyway, so they were easy to recite. By the time I’d finished, I was crying again.

He had stayed silent through the whole story, listening intently. Now that I was done, he laid a hand on my head, carding his fingers through my hair to comfort me.

“I understand why you’re scared. I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now, but I can promise you there’s no way in hellanyone is taking Ty away from you. We’ll get a lawyer if we need to. A team of lawyers,” he corrected himself.

“I don’t think money is going to help this,” I said. “If they think I’m a shitty dad, then they’re going to take him. It doesn’t matter if we have lawyers.”

“But you’re not. You’re an amazing, caring, devoted dad. Everyone who knows you can vouch for that.”

That part was true. Ty’s teacher had, apparently, already shown me in a positive light, at least.

“I don’t really know anything about what they’re going to look for, or what we need to do to impress them or whatever.”

“I don’t either,” Karter admitted. “We’ll do some research, figure out what they want, and make sure we’re prepared. There’s no reason to think that they’ll follow through with this.”

His logic helped pierce a bit of the bubble of horror that had been surrounding me. But that was only one of the many issues that had randomly popped up in the last handful of hours. Had I broken a mirror or opened an umbrella in the house or something without remembering? Maybe the spot Ty and I had been feeding the ducks on was on an Indian burial ground or something and they were tired of getting duck poop all over their grave, so we were suffering the brunt of their wrath.

Eating the sandwich Karter made helped relieve some of the spinning in my head, and once I was done I pulled my old laptop into my lap. Next to me, he helped guide me to sites that explained the process and what we should expect from Child Protective Services. To my immense relief, it seemed that children were usually only taken away in extreme cases, like neglect or drug use. Still, I couldn’t afford to take it lightly and didn’t plan on it.

The thought that someone really suspected that I wasn’t properly taking care of Ty gnawed at me, and made me feel paranoid. The old couple at the duck pond? Were they mad thatTy had corrected them about duck food? No, that was stupid, they didn’t even know our names. I tried to remember if I’d pissed anyone off that I worked with, and nothing came to mind. The guy that had attacked me? I didn’t think they could be connected. He wouldn’t have any way of even knowing I had a son.

My phone vibrated with a text. I pulled it out to see a message from Hana.

Omg I wasn’t able to take a break until now! Are you okay??

Smiling a tiny bit, I messaged her back. I was sorry she was worried, but it was nice to have a friend that cared.

I’m fine. The police took the report and I guess you probably saw them arrest that guy, so everything’s fine.

I didn’t know when I’d have the mental capacity to address the whole eviction thing. I was sure all of my neighbors were as panicked as I felt. We’d lived in the apartment since I’d moved here, almost four years ago. I knew without even looking that it was going to be almost impossible to find a place now that would rent to me with my level of income. Maybe there was some kind of financial assistance I could apply for, as a single parent.

I cannot believe you left with HIM! You told me you guys were just talking!

I heard a snort next to me, and glanced up to see Karter looking at the message on my phone. Blushing, I hurriedly messaged her back.

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