Bless the Broken Road that Lead Me Straight to You

Chapter 15

Erin felt the bed shake slightly beneath her the following morning, and before she even opened her eyes, she heard two whispering voices. She kept still, eyes closed, body still pressed against Jay's like a second skin, and listened.

"My mommy used to have sleepovers a lot," Grace whispered. She must have been talking to Maddie, and even though the voices were hushed, Erin could hear them clearly, both coming from Jay's side of the bed.

"Really?" Maddie asked, sounding shocked by Grace's words. "Like this?"

"Uh huh," Grace continued.

"Then what happened?" Maddie's voice was rising above a whisper, and Erin couldn't tell if it was out of excitement or if she was upset. She hoped it was excitement, but doubt crept in as she continued to listen with her eyes closed.

"Well, sometimes nothing. The sleepover would end and that would be it." Her voice started to waver, and somewhere during her speech, Jay woke up and began to listen intently, as well. "But the last time my mommy had a sleepover, it was with her boyfriend." Grace said boyfriend like it was a four letter word.

"Then what happened?" Maddie must have sensed it, too. She was a perceptive four year old.

"He moved in with us," Grace's voice became low and fearful, resembling her voice on the very first day she came to live with them.

"Was it bad?" Jay knew he should stop the conversation, should open his eyes and signal to the girls that he was, in fact, awake. He could feel Erin trembling slightly in his arms, and knew she must have been awake, as well.

"Umm..." She sniffled, and sounded like maybe she had been crying. Erin began to move, her instincts screaming to comfort her. Before either one of the girls noticed Erin's movements, Grace posed a question to Grace. "Do you remember when Erin told us about her mommy's friends? The ones that hurt her?"

Suddenly, Erin and Jay's eyes flew open and they bolted upright in bed. Erin was still wearing Jay's t-shirt from the night before, and had slipped on a pair of boxer shorts to go with them. Both appropriately clothed, they disentangled themselves from each other and began to get out of bed.

As Erin walked around the bed to reach them, Jay opened his mouth to speak, but before the words formed, Maddie ran out of the room in tears.

He turned to Erin, his eyes wide, and she nodded slowly towards the door, signaling that she would take care of Grace and he should tend to Maddie.

Jay found Maddie curled up in her bed, her torn pink bunny nestled in her arms. She rarely removed the pink bunny from the shelf, it had been her mother's as a child and, between the two of them, it was a little worse for wear. The only times she ever reached for the bunny was when she was missing her mother. Or the idea of her mother, anyway.

"Baby, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before Erin slept over." He brushed away her tears with the pad of his thumb, and then began slowly rubbing her back.

"Is Erin your girlfriend?" Maddie asked, her eyes still full of tears.

"She is," he said softly. "Is that okay with you?" He considered addressing what Grace had said, but wasn't sure it was necessary. Maddie and Grace both knew Erin would never hurt them. He would tell her over and over if she needed to hear it, but for some reason, he didn't think that was what was plaguing her.

"Daddy?" That didn't answer my question.

"Yeah, baby?"

"Grace is going to be my sister, right?" He felt relieved when he looked down and saw the smile that appeared slowly on her face. She was still clearly excited about that.