Dead In The Middle (Rewritting)

Chapter 10

As I looked out my bedroom window, the birds flew past every once in a while singing one of their made-up songs. The sun lit up every inch of wet grass, exposing the bugs that walked across them. 

The door creaked open and he walked in with a tray, balancing flowers on top of it as the kids followed behind him and bumped into one another.

I shot up from the bed and rushed to grab my robe. "I slept late! I am so sorry you had to make breakfast. I'll go do the-"

He hushed me as he continued slowly walking toward me, signaling for me to sit. "It's your birthday, relax. Me and the twins got everything. Isn’t that right?" He turned to them as they cheered.

I smiled softly as he placed the tray onto my lap. The pancakes laid on a plate in the middle of the tray with strawberries and bananas, creating a smiling face as the scrambled eggs surrounded them for the hair.

"Thank you so much! You honestly didn't have to," I said, grabbing the utensils and napkins from his hands.

"You're right, but they planned this whole day for you. I wasn't going to let their creativity go to waste." He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "Happy birthday Viviana," he mumbled into my skin.

The kids scooted themselves in between us as he laughed and backed away. They grinned widely with missing teeth, reached their arms into the sky, and screamed, "Happy birthday Mommy!"

I grabbed each of their hands and kissed them. "I love you two so much! Thank you."

As I petted back their curls and watched as their green eyes lit up, he clasped his hands together loudly. "Alright you two, let's give your mom some space to eat while we set up the next thing." He winked. 

They giggled and rushed out of the room.

He placed a hand on my cheek and leaned down, kissing me lightly. "I love you," he whispered before leaving the room.

My eyes fluttered open to reveal a dark room. I looked around to see that I was sitting up in my bed, holding onto a book as if it was the tray he passed me. I placed the book onto the nightstand and stood up, stretching as I did so.

I guess not every dream I have with him in it is a nightmare.

Walking to the bathroom, the light from the kitchen shone into the hallway, grabbing my attention. I crept toward the end of the hall to hear pans crash to the floor. I stopped and waited for the sound of them rising off of the ground to move into the dining room. They began to mumble to themselves as they turned on the sink. I slid behind them and grabbed a knife from the block on the opposite side, making sure I always stayed behind them.

"Who are you?" I asked.

They jumped, dropping the pans into the sink. As they slowly turned, their face blurred just like his. I raised the knife and tightened my grip on it.

They quickly raised their hands into the air. "V, it's me! Put the knife down," they screamed. Their voice sounded as if all the men I knew had combined into one.

"How'd you get in?" I took a step toward them.

"You opened the door for me, remember?"

I rubbed my eyes roughly and tried to think back to the middle of the night, but I couldn't. The night seemed as though it never happened. When my eyes opened, DJ stood in front of me with beads of sweat forming on his forehead and glossy eyes.

I put the knife back into the block and sighed. "I don't remember letting you in. How long have you been here?"

"I've been in the guest room for a couple hours. I'm not surprised you don't remember, you seemed to be half-asleep. You even called me babe." He turned off the sink and began shaking the water off of the pans.