Chapter 26 - The house at two in the morning
We stayed in the same house.
I considered selling.
For months I wanted to.
Then housing prices.
School district.
Lily’s friends.
Practicality.
We replaced the damaged side door.
Updated access controls professionally.
Removed old credentials.
Changed several physical security arrangements.
I refused to turn the house into a fortress.
One additional exterior light.
Better locks.
An alarm system we understood instead of one Daniel alone managed.
Both of us had access.
That detail mattered.
A year after Daniel returned, he traveled overnight for the first time.
Detroit.
Work.
Before leaving:
“Flight information is on the calendar.”
“I saw.”
“Hotel too.”
“Yes.”
“My boss’s number—”
“Daniel.”
He stopped.
“You’re overcorrecting.”
“Yes.”
I smiled.
“You can go.”
At 1:56 a.m., I woke.
A sound downstairs.
My body reacted instantly.
Heart racing.
I reached toward the phone.
Then heard:
Our cat.
We did not have a cat three years earlier.
Lily had worn us down.
His name was Orbit.
He had knocked a plastic cup from the counter.
I went downstairs.
Orbit stared at me without remorse.
I laughed.
Quietly.
Then called Daniel?
No.
May you like
That was progress too.
Not every sound required a crisis.
