It seems Melanie wasn’t cautious at all, or the fact that her world was unraveling had made her act recklessly, which worked in our favor. No sooner had I knocked on the door than it was being flung open. “You idiots….” She opened the door screeching but came up short when she saw the three of us.
I didn’t recognize her, but something in her expression when she looked at me told me she knew me at least. She hid the look of shocked surprise well before trying to play shit off.
“Can I help you?”
“Yeah, you can get the hell out of my way.” I pushed past her before she had a chance to open her damn mouth again and left Mike to deal with her while Zandi and I went in search of our kids.
“Who are you, what are you doing in my house?” She screamed after us as Mike slammed the door shut and pulled her into the front room. I heard the two of them struggling as she cussed and threatened but kept it moving.
It felt almost surreal being here, like we were in the middle of a movie or some shit. Something outside of myself. As I walked down the hallway with my wife’s hand in mine I had the thought that this shit wasn’t normal.
My heart felt like it had stopped and I was barely conscious of putting one foot in front of the other. Zandi was in pretty much the same condition. Her quietness was starting to worry me.
I knew we were both afraid of what we’d find and I almost didn’t want to open any doors as we made our way down the long hallway to the last door. All the others had turned up nothing.
The old woman had said that the kids were in a room down here, even though she’d never been allowed back here she’d heard the children before. What if she was wrong?
What if this Melanie person had killed them after all? A lot had happened in the last few days. What if…? My mind went to the darkest place now that we were this close.
I started formatting what I’d have to do if they weren’t here. I don’t think Zandi can take much more and as painful as it is, I’ll have to put my shit aside and take care of her. I refuse to let her suffer anymore.
I closed my eyes and squeezed her hand in mine. She too had come up short, as if afraid to open that last door. As if gearing herself up for the disappointment of them not being there.
That all changed when I pushed the door open. I felt air gush from my lungs and heard her gasp beside me just as my body dropped to my knees, dragging her down with me as we both stared at the scene before us.
Two babies, alive, smiling as they pulled themselves up to hold onto the rails of the crib and stare back at us. One of them started babbling at us with its hands in the air as if begging to be lifted.
I looked at my wife in wonder and she looked back at me with pretty much the same expression I was wearing I’m sure. Joy isn’t even the word. I felt numb as fuck; like my body had lost all feeling and I no longer remembered how my limbs were supposed to work.
We knelt there, holding onto each other, neither of us seemingly able to move. My babies, my beautiful children were right there across the room, within reach.
I found my balls and got to my feet, pulling her up along with me before we both rushed forward to grab our children. I held my kid so tight I could feel its little heartbeat against mine as it raced.
“Did you find them...? Cade?” I cleared my throat enough to answer my brother who was stuck at the other and of the condo with the mystery woman, but it still came out as a croak. “Yeah… we’ve got them.”
I looked over at my wife who was grinning wide as tears glistened in her eyes. As if by some unspoken agreement we both checked behind their ears at the same time, as if still not quite believing that the shit was real.
The relief was instantaneous when I saw the little half moon behind my child’s ear. “We need to get them to the hospital so they can be checked over.”
She was shaking her head before the last word fell from my lips. “No, I’m not letting them out of my sight again Cade.” I moved closer and brushed her hair with my palm. From the way she was shaking I figured it wasn’t going to be long before she broke.
“Shh, it’s going to be okay. We’ll stay with them the whole time but we have to be sure this evil bitch haven’t harmed them.” Shit, that meant I had to call the cops after all.