Possessive Daddy Next Door

I know it’s bad gun safety to have loaded weapons in the house with a toddler around, but this is a special situation.

That Thursday, I head home from the manor and pick Tab up from daycare. We eat dinner together, sing some songs, watch some cartoons, and do a puzzle. It’s the usual evening toddler playtime and I think I look forward to it as much as she does.

I get her into bed and settle down on the couch. I get through maybe two TV shows before I’m already falling asleep.

“Old man,” I grumble at myself. I get up, make sure all the windows and doors are shut and locked, and the blinds are shut, before heading to my room.

I must fall asleep right away, because the next thing I know, I wake up in the middle of the night with light shining in through my window. I takes me a long moment before I realize that’s happening.

I grab the baby monitor from my nightstand and shove it into my pocket. Then I run to my closet, throw it open, and grab the rifle. I hold it over my shoulder and grab the shotgun too. I carry both guns out into my kitchen. I lean the shotgun up against the wall next to the door and make sure the rifle is loaded.

The floodlights in my backyard went off. They wouldn’t have gone off if people weren’t out there. Big animals wouldn’t do it, not unless it was a fucking bear. I peer out through the blinds and watch.

I don’t see anything. It’s still and quiet. But I wait. I’m patient.

That’s when I see it: something glowing cherry red in the dark.

It disappears again. It takes me a long moment to realize that it’s a cigarette.

Someone’s out there smoking a cigarette, just at the edge of the floodlights.

I wait. I don’t move. The lights go off, but as soon as they do, something sets them off again.

“They’re fucking with me,” I growl.

“Daddy?”

I hear the noise through the monitor. I look at it and Tab is sitting up in bed. Light’s streaming in through her window and she looks confused.

“Shit,” I say. I peer outside and spot the cigarette again.

“Daddy?” She sounds half asleep and confused.

I hurry to her. I head into her room, leaving the guns behind. “Hi, baby,” I say. “It’s okay. It’s just some light outside.”

“Dada.” She gets up and leans against the crib’s wall.

“Hi, baby. Let’s go back to sleep, okay?”

“Story?”

I hesitate but give in. I pick her up, bring her to the twin bed she’ll be sleeping in soon enough, and read her a story. I read it fast, and when I’m done, I tuck her back in.

“Sleep now, baby, the light will go off soon.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

I kiss her then leave. I hurry to the back door, grab my rifle, and look out.

I don’t see a thing. The light goes off again, and this time, nothing triggers it.

I stay by that back door for an hour, holding my weapon, just waiting.

Nothing happens. Soon, I realize nothing will.

Just fucking with me.

I carry the weapons back into my room, put them in the closet, and climb into bed.

At least I know the floodlight will wake me up. I hoped it would.

I close my eyes and try to sleep, but it doesn’t come easy.I drop Tab off at daycare then head to the manor. I check in with Patricks, get my assignments, and go for my usual rounds.

Working security for the Lofthouse family is simple. I get a patrol assigned to me and I walk it. I keep walking it until someone radios me and tells me to do something else, or until my shift is over. If any of the Lofthouse family asks me for anything, I do it for them without question.

Otherwise, I have a lot of freedom. Patricks doesn’t check in on me. He’s too busy being paranoid and staring at his monitors.

I run into Delia just after lunch. She’s in the music room again, and this time, she seems like she’s expecting me.

“You look busy,” I say to her.

She’s sitting at the piano bench with the key cover down, leaning on it with her elbows. She has a book in her hand. “Well, we can’t all have exciting golf cart chases every day.”

“I guess not.” I step into the door and close the door halfway shut behind me. Few people come down this way, but better safe than sorry. “I need to talk to you.”

She looks over. “What’s up?”

“Last night, my floodlights went off.”

She frowns. “So?”

“That doesn’t happen unless people are around.”

“You think they showed up.”

“I’m not sure. But yeah, I think so. I never saw them, but I thought I saw a cigarette.”

She takes a slow breath. “Let’s go check it out.”

“Wait, I wasn’t telling you to go down there,” I say, but she’s already getting up. She walks past me.