Page 52 of Darkness Falls

"Goodnight, Sebastian. I love you," she said before she left the room.

I snap myself back to reality and stare at Callie in disbelief for a moment as she continues to sing the song on repeat. She stares at the floor and hasn't noticed me standing there yet.

"Goodnight, sweetheart; well, it's time to go. I hate to leave you, but I really must say. Oh, goodnight, sweetheart, goodn—"

"Callie," I interrupt.

Her head snaps in my direction, eyes locking with mine, and worry stretches across her face. "Yeah?"

"What was that?"

Her brows furrow in confusion. "What was what?"

"That song you were singing. What was that song?"

Her face relaxes when she realizes she was singing to herself. "Oh, that." She brings a hand up to rub the back of her neck. "I don’t know. It was just a random song that popped into my head."

"My mother used to sing me that song," I confess as I close the distance between us. "It's been a long time since I've heard someone sing it. I couldn't even remember the words for the longest time." I cross the room, crouch down in front of her, and look up into her eyes. "Thank you for bringing me back to one of those moments."

She lights up at my confession. Up until this point, we haven't really opened up to one another, but this feels important. What are the chances of her singing a song that brings a piece of my mother back to me?

I stand and offer her my hand. "Come on, we don’t want the water to get cold."

"Water?"

"I told you I’d take care of you when we got home. Let's go soak in the tub for a bit." I say with a smile.

We walk to the bathroom, but I can’t stop the thoughts from spinning in my mind. How was she singing the exact song that my mother used to sing to me when I was a child? Part of me wants to think that she had to know somehow, but there is no possible way. I couldn't even remember what that song was, and I have been trying to recall it for years.

Her eyes land on the tub, and she turns to look at me with pure joy all over her face. I step forward to undress her. She still has the toy inside her, and I need to take it out. I pull the shirt over her head and unclasp her bra, letting it fall to the floor before looking down at the way her nipples pebble from the air. I carefully unbutton her jeans next and pull them to the floor with her panties. She places her hands on my shoulders to steady herself as she steps out of both of them.

I lead her over to the vanity and say, "Bend over." She looks up at me, eyes full of concern, and I shake my head to reassure her. "I'm just taking the toy out. We're done playing for the day."

Shetakes a breath and nods before turning to bend over so I can pull it from her. A small whimper leaves her as I place the soaking-wet vibrating stimulator in the sink. I turn her back around and guide her over to the tub.

Before she can get in, I free myself of all my clothing, and she slowly eyes me up and down. My cock is fully erect, and I don't miss the way her eyes linger on it for a moment. I step forward and place a foot into the tub before extending a hand for her to join me.

"Together?" she questions.

"Unless you would rather be alone," I say, but she shakes her head. She wants me there to give her this comfort after the events of the day. I find myself needing this moment with her just as much after having that flashback of my mom. I've never connected with another person like this before, and it's a strange feeling.

I sink into the tub and pull her into me with her back pressed firmly against my chest. Everything I need to help her relax is set up along the edge of the tub, so I reach out to grab the loofah and squirt some grapefruit-scented bath wash onto it.

"Close your eyes and relax, trouble," I whisper in her ear before bringing the loofah to her chest.

She always smells like grapefruit, so I thought it was fitting to have a similar-smelling body wash here for when we brought her back to the house. I gently move the loofah across her body, washing the stress of the day away. She sighs and relaxes into me, soaking up the entire experience. When I finish, I wrap my armsaround her to hold her in place. We sit like this in silence for a while before Callie breaks it.

"Want to tell me about her?"

"Who?" I ask, knowing all too well who she's talking about.

"Your mom. If you want to talk about her, I want to listen."

I take a deep breath and hold her hand under the water. "It's hard because I don't remember a lot about her. When they put me in foster care, nobody thought to put aside any of her belongings or photos. All I have to look back on are the very few pictures that I've been able to find online. She always seems so much different in my mind, though." That makes me a little sad to admit. "It's weird because she was only part of my life for a few years, but I still miss her so much."

"You never stop missing someone you love," Callie says, looking up at me with eyes full of sympathy.

"She always used to sing to me. That song you were singing was part of our bedtime ritual. She would sing it to me every night before I went to sleep. We used to sing and dance all the time. After dinner, she would make it a fun game to pick a song to dance to while we cleaned up. The goodnight song was the only one that we always sang every day." I let my mind wander back to the earlier memory for a moment and smile. "She had the weirdest laugh. That’s one of the strongest memories I have of her."

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