Fearless

48

Everything was a blur.

The officer that was holding me as I sobbed on the floor kept asking me questions but I couldn't answer them. I only had one thought on my mind. I pulled myself up and ran to the closet, ripping the door open to reveal Mia, who had dewey eyes as she sucked on the pacifier. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and smiled at her, "it's okay sweet girl." I whispered and unclasped her from the seat, taking the pacifier out of her mouth. I held onto her tightly and rocked her back and forth as I tried to collect myself.

The police officers eventually escorted Mia and I downstairs to where the girls were waiting. As soon as I made eye contact with Kat I completely lost it again. She had tears in her eyes as she ran up to me. "Cora you're so stupid. So so stupid!" She yelled and hugged me tightly, as I held Mia closely to my chest. "I know. I couldn't leave her though Kat." I said and cried as Kevin burst through the door,

"Thank GOD y'all are okay," he said and rushed over to us as Devyn and Tara did the same. "You're such a bad ass! I can't believe you threatened to shoot someone!" Tara yelled and pulled me into a hug. I refused to let go of Mia for even a second so she was just being squished in between all of us as we hugged. "You guys heard all of that?" I asked and furrowed my brows causing Devyn to hold up the baby monitor sheepishly. "Oh..." I breathed out and watched them cautiously, I don't know how I felt about them hearing me act like that. "Wait a minute..you what?" Kevin finally asked, shaking his head in confusion.

"She went total badass on them and pulled a gun on them!" Tara said with amazement in her voice, I just rocked Mia uncomfortably, not liking this kind of attention. "Holy shit where did you even get a gun?" Kevin asked and I shook my head, "it was theirs." I said quietly.

Devyn noticed how uncomfortable I was getting, "that's enough guys, Kevin is it okay if we stay with you guys tonight?" She asked taking the attention off of me. I shot her a grateful gaze then brought my attention to Mia. I had taken the pacifier from her when I pulled her out of the closet so she was cooing like she normally would. I brought my lips to her head and just held her a little tighter.

"Cora?" Kat asked pulling me out of my own little world, "will you and Mia be okay if we bring her to the Krac house?" The krac house was what we called Kevin, Reggie, Aryia, and Cassie's house. "Oh. Um we should be fine but she might keep everyone awake all night...we can stay her-" Kevin shook his head, "no way in hell are you staying here, I don't care how many people you threaten. You aren't staying here, we can handle some crying in the middle of the night, Reggie already does that." He said and I bit my lip and nodded as the girls giggled at his comment. "Okay." I whispered and turned to go get a bag packed. I had to find my phone first though, "oh. Does anyone have my phone?" I asked and Devyn shook her head, "it's in the movie room, I'll go grab it for you." She said and jogged off. I took a deep breath, feeling extremely tired now that the adrenaline had fully worn off.

"Good luck with that.." Devyn said and handed me my phone. I chuckled and looked at the screen, Colby had called me 6 times and sent me multiple texts. "Thanks." I said and turned to go upstairs, still cradling Mia to my chest. She had fallen asleep again, but I didn't really want to put her down any time soon. I waited until I was in my room before FaceTiming Colby.

He answered after one ring, "oh thank god you're okay." He breathed out and I furrowed my brows, "the girls already told you?" I asked and propped my phone up so he could watch me pack. "Baby girl we all heard it happen." He said and I sighed, "oh." I said and laid Mia on the bed, swaddling her with a blanket.

"Cora. Talk to me." He said causing me to turn to him, biting my lip. "I hate that you all had to hear me like that." I said and pulled my duffle bag from under the bed. "What are you talking about?" He asked as I clenched my jaw, "I was a monster Colby! An absolute monster. I have never threatened someone like that in my life." I said and threw a pair of leggings into the bag angrily. "You were not a monster! You were protecting yourself and Mia. Don't say that about yourself." He said sternly. "I was going to kill them Colby. KILL them. While my baby sat in a car seat in the closet. I was going to commit murder in our daughters bedroom. Do you realize how fucked that is?!" I asked and sat on the bed, covering my face with my hands.

"No. Don't you dare do this to yourself, Cora. You were defending yourself! You were fighting for your life and our daughters life. It was either you or them. Plus you didn't kill them baby girl, you didn't hurt anyone." He started his rant almost angrily, but finished softly, bringing me so much comfort. I just looked down at my hands, feeling the tears pooling in my eyes, "I'm just ashamed everyone saw me like that." I said and wiped the stray tear that had fallen from my eye.

"Nobody thinks of you any differently, in fact everyone thinks you're a badass. We didn't think you had something like that in you. Baby you singlehandedly saved everyone in that house tonight. You should be proud of yourself for that, don't you dare think that you made a mistake. We are all so proud of you. Right guys?" He asked and panned the phone over to the guys, "yeah, you're a total badass." Sam said with a smile. "Yeah bro, remind me to never fuck with you. You've got bigger balls than Colby." Jake said and I giggled. "Everyone has bigger balls than Colby." Corey said and Colby panned it back to himself as he rolled his eyes, "you guys are assholes." He said and looked at me again,

"For the record I thought it was hot as fuck." He said with a smirk as I watched his eyes rake through my features. Even over FaceTime he sent a shiver down my spine. "Really?" I asked with a laugh, "totally. I'm about five seconds away from flying home." He said seriously and I rolled my eyes, "calm down. You're not coming home, you're staying right where you are and I'm spending the night at the krac house so that they can get a taste of baby life. God, I already feel so bad that they aren't going to get any sleep tonight." I said and got up to start packing again.

"They'll be fine, you have been running off of no sleep for a week and you still managed to save an entire house full of people from intruders." I shrugged then sighed, "I miss you." I said suddenly causing him to smile sadly, "I miss you too." I smiled then sighed, "I better get going or I'll never finish packing." I said and picked up my phone again. "Okay, before you go can you put the camera on Mia?" He asked quietly causing me to smile, "yeah." I said and panned the camera to Mia, she was sleeping but Colby still cooed at her, "I love you Mia. So so much." He said before I brought the camera back to me,

"Okay, I'm gonna hang up. I love you." I said and he smiled, "I love you too. Oh! And babe?" He asked before I pushed the end call button. "Yeah?" I asked as he smiled,

"I'm so proud of you."