Scarlet's Whisper

Chapter 1-

Chapter One-

"Mommy!" shouted my 6 year old daughter, Scarlet, from her bedroom.

I rushed out of my room in my robe and clomped down the hall to see my daughter sitting in the fetal position in tears on her bed. This had been the 5th time, this week, that she'd had a nightmare.

"Baby, what's wrong?" I asked, walking over to her bed and sat down next to her.

As she shrugged, I took a seat next to her and wrapped her in my arms. "Scarlet, I don't believe it is nothing. This is the fifth time since Sunday that you have woken up with a nightmare; I don't believe that it is nothing."

"You just forgot to give me a hug goodnight." she mumbled.

I shrugged myself, knowing that, that wasn't true, I never have forgotten to give her a hug before bed and I knew that the past few nights for sure that I hadn't.

Knowing Scarlet would tell me when she was ready; I gave her a hug, a peck on the forehead and pulled her blankets over her arms.

Scarlet's sweet little mouth formed an "O" as she sighed, "Goodnight, mommy"

I glanced one last time over my shoulder and closed the door. "Goodnight angel."

I have never had a problem with Scarlet not sleeping before but since her father left, it seems as if this has been a reoccurring thing, every night. Nathan still calls her every night before bed and sees her every weekend and has her everyday after school while I work.

I know she is used to him being around but I don't know how to fix things for her without getting back with Nathan, which was not going to happen.

Nathan was the perfect man in my life; although, we never married, it had seemed like we had been. We had been together for 7 years. We had been together once sexually when I got pregnant with Scarlet. He was my best friend, that somehow turned into a one-night stand. and it resulted in a pregnancy.

Fortunately, when I told him about Scarlet, he chose to be there, he chose us, and wanted a family. And even with the force of our relationship, we had never been a tumultuous couple, though we had our issues like everyone. But I am not sure what had caused his leaving. I am not even sure why I was still justifying his actions to Scarlet.

He was a good man, I know it, but his leaving had made a dent in my life and left Scarlet broken. The 6 year old we both share together, her life, the only she'd ever known was breaking at the seams. And he had caused this. He was a good man, a great "Husband" per se and the most amazing father.

Nathan chose this life and gave up a lot and still managed to present to both Scarlet and I with a life that we could count on, that wouldn't break and gave us the family we all deserved, him included; however, one day he just seemed to change his mind. I don't know why our life was going this way but it was.

I stared at the bedroom he and I once shared. It was still decorated as I wanted. A dark blue bedroom, to Nathan's liking, and the furniture arranged so I could get easily in and out to reach Scarlet [should] she need it, especially on nights like this.

I remember when Nathan and I first bought this house; Scarlet was 2 and was starting to venture more on her own. I was so picky on which house would be best to raise Scarlet in; at that point I was so sure that Nathan and I would be together forever, short-lived fairytale. But I cannot dwell on that, I have a 6 year old that I have to worry about, not the ending of my relationship with her father.

The room, a dark blue had a black pinstripe all around the middle of the walls; I wanted a more modern feel to the room when I painted it. I had placed the canopy bed just below the window so that the sun would shine down on our bed- er, my bed, and the wooden end tables placed on either side. The entertainment center was in the center of the room just across the bed so that I could watch TV late at night without leaving the room or waking Scarlet by turning on the Living Room TV.