The Daddy Box Set

Vince smiled. “We’ll bust out like superheroes do.”

“I think that’s a great idea, little man.”

Sadly enough, he was the only hero in the room. Overnight, I found myself feeling far more like a villain.

We walked down the hall and found the doctor had approved our request for checking out. I settled the bill and signed all the paperwork as the doctor spoke for the last time to Vince.

“You can eat sweets, but not too many. Eat everything in moderation, okay?” Vince nodded, listening fervently to the doctor’s orders. He smiled at my son upon seeing his energy return, being the gleeful kid he had always been.

“Okay, this kid’s ready to go. Visit me for your regular checkups. But in the meantime, you can now rest and go home.” The doctor turned his attention to me. I held my son’s hand and thanked the doctor before we left.

As we walked out of the hallway, I recalled the awful things I had said to Kylie. Was I really that guy? One who would hurt someone as beautiful and sweet as my girl?

She used to be your girl.

The drive home was long and gave me far too much fucking time to think. Vince had fallen asleep on the way, the little guy still trying to get used to this new way of life.

When we got home, I carried my son to his room to rest. He was still asleep, regaining his strength from his latest incident. He looked so gentle and sweet, but also a little fragile. The thought scared me.

I walked out of his room with a heavy heart. My chest was aching so badly I put my hand on it and rubbed softly. Something deep inside of me turned into a hollow, gaping hole. What the fuck had I done?

Walking outside of the house, I turned to look at Kylie’s place. The lights inside were turned on, suggesting that Kylie was home. As I stared at her room’s window, I smiled over the light that shone inside. My smile turned into a frown when I watched the room turn dark again.

Just like everything we had, things vanished into the dark. I rubbed my chest a little harder, as an indescribable darkness swelled inside of me. I grabbed a chair and sat on the back porch, keeping my eyes on her bedroom, praying I would see her.

I could not have been more upset with myself. Everything I did was a childish act, a selfish move. I shouldn’t have yelled at her. I shouldn’t have said those things to her. She never deserved to be treated that way. She deserved so much more than I was giving her even when things were good. I told her she was just a nobody, but I guess the joke was on me. It was me who was a nobody. Only Vince saw me as someone worth loving, and Kylie had, but surely not now.

Vince had always admired me for being the most courageous superhero in the world. But I was the opposite of that. I was born a simple man with a coward’s heart. I was never the daredevil who explored things without any hesitations. I was just somebody who stuck around the comfortable zone, where emotional dangers rarely came to visit.

I was a coward to push her away rather than trying things out. And there it was. My overreaction was a protection mechanism, and it had served me in the past well, but tonight it had me feeling two inches tall, alone and miserable.

After being a dick to the woman I love, it was what I deserved.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Kylie

It had been two days since I stood at the hospital with Hunter screaming in my face, but I was still paralyzed with agony over it. The moment replayed in my head over and over as I lay in bed, crying like a child would at the death of someone important.

I woke from the worst dream I’d ever had the next morning. Vince had been crying as he held my hand tight, but a force was taking me away from him. A dark shadow, and I couldn’t figure out what it was or what to do about it. It was strong and so powerful. Although I held Vince’s hand, the force was too domineering and dragged me away from him.

After the dark shadow had dragged me away from Vince, it faced me with his piercing eyes. It was the man who broke into my house. I spotted a table with my gun on it. I ran to the table, taking the gun to shoot the man. I was certain t

hat I could pull the trigger now and kill that beast. I would do anything to protect Vince, and that included putting the pale-faced man down.

When I was clearing the gun’s chamber, the dark shadow began to uncover his face. He took off the dark cloth that covered his identity. I dropped my gun to see who it was. The man behind the mask was the man I loved the most. The man who crushed my heart into pieces.

Hunter.

Right after seeing his face, I woke up, the nightmare still clinging to me like a heavy cloak. My heart was still racing from my chest, my breathing heavy and fast. It felt like I had run a marathon with all my sweat, trickling down my forehead. My clothes were soaked in sweat, the madness of my bad dream having completely taken over me.

I sat up and ran my fingers through my damp hair as reality came crashing in. I was back at my house, the place where a burglar came and broke in weeks ago. Things were now fixed and looking normal, but it didn’t feel like a home anymore. It felt like a dangerous dark hole where I rested, unsafe.

I still couldn’t believe how things had turned upside down two nights before. Hunter and Vince used to be the two people I lived for, but now they were supposed to be like strangers to me?

“Impossible,” I whispered to the empty room around me. I felt hollow. My head still hurting from crying for two days. I stood up and walked to the bathroom to wash my face.

My eyes were swollen, dark shadows circling them. I looked horrible and disgusting. “At least my insides match my outsides. No living a lie today.”