I felt myself trembling with excitement as I pulled into our driveway.
I hadn't let Colby know the news about my new job because I wanted to see his genuine reaction.
I knew he would be excited for me but our lives were filled with such little excitement that any possible announcement would be life changing.
I went into the house then put my bag down so I could go find Colby.
"Heyyyy." I sang as I walked into Colby and I's room. Colby was sitting at the desk, looking at something on his computer.
"Hey." He mumbled, focusing on the screen. "What are you doing?" I asked and walked up to him, wrapping my arms around him from behind.
On his computer screen was a google search of 'things that normal people do for fun.'
"Dude." I said with a laugh causing him to look up at me. "I'm so bored, Jules." He said as I laughed and kissed his cheek.
"I'm sure. Google won't really help you figure out what normal people do for fun though." I said and patted his chest before standing up straight.
"Whatever. How did your interview go?" He asked and spun around to face me.
"Oh, ya know..it went." I said with a sigh. "That's it?" He asked and pulled me into his lap. "I start next week." I said, watching his face light up.
"You got the job?" He asked as I nodded. "I did." I said as he grinned.
"That's my girl. We should celebrate." He said as I shrugged. "It's just a part time job." I said with a sigh.
"It's normal. It's good for you, and I'm proud of you." Colby said then cupped my cheek and gave me a kiss.
"Yeah, and you dropped my five year old sister off at school for the first time. How did that really go?" I asked and raised my brows.
"It went just fine. I never thought I would do that." He said as I nodded.
"Yeah, it's kind of a big jump going from murdering people to dropping off a kid at kindergarten." I said then stood up.
"Is it sad I kinda miss it?" Colby said with a sigh. "No. Dark and morbid, yes. It's hard being on top of the world to not having anything but me and four kids." I said as he stood up.
"I don't regret it." He said and put his hands on my waist. "Well that's good." I said then hugged him.
"We'll pick the kids up from school and go to dinner." Colby said and rested his chin on my head.
"We can't go into the city." I said and looked up at him. "Why not?" He asked and scrunched his brow. "It's uh..it's too soon." I said then shifted uncomfortably.
"Hey...we've gotta do it eventually, and I won't let anything happen to you." Colby said as I shook my head.
"I'm just not ready to bring the kids out..not yet." I said and brought my hand to his cheek.
"Maybe I can talk Carter and Jenna into watching Juniper and Sam this weekend. Then the two of us can go." He said as I sighed.
"We'll see. Can we just stay in tonight though?" I asked as he nodded.
"Yeah, maybe we can keep googling what normal people do." He said with a laugh. "Great idea." I said then went to sit at the computer.
We ended up scrolling through the articles, which were mostly useless.
Obviously Colby and I knew what the idea of being normal was, but the people who wrote these articles haven't been through what we have.
The typical person doesn't mindlessly kill without any real repercussions.
When it came time for me to pick up the kids we made our way to the car.
"What were you thinking for dinner? Whatever you want since we're celebrating you." Colby said as we got in the car.
"Uhh...I don't know. What can we afford?" I asked, causing him to look over and chuckle.
"I told you not to worry about that." He said as I shook my head. "It's just...you don't really make any money now." I mumbled, picking at my nails.
"Don't worry about it, Jules. I'm serious. We'll work everything out when the time comes." He said and pulled my hand into his lap as he started driving.
I knew that I trusted Colby and that he knew how much money he had, but I knew the reality of having no income.
I knew the struggle of living paycheck to paycheck and although life was comfortable now, I refused for my siblings to go through that life again.
I was starting to get really worked up because my hands were shaking. I was obviously on my medication still but I was having some pretty bad flair ups.
Life had been so stressful since we left. Since we had to change our identities for paperwork purposes, we had to jump through a lot of hoops.
It was worth it for the safety of my siblings, but it took a toll on my body.
Not to mention, I was constantly living with the PTSD of the events that happened not even a year ago.
Although this life was better for us, there were still undeniable struggles.
"Deep breaths, Jules." Colby reminded as I nodded. "I don't want to have one today." I mumbled as he nodded.
"You won't, just keep your head down and focus on me." He hummed. I was so grateful that he was so sweet and caring.
Before we left Seattle, Colby always had a hard personality. Even when we were alone and he was soft and gentle there was still a little bit of a hard exterior.
Now that part of him was gone and I was left with the sweetest most gentle soul.
I love it, but it felt off.
The sick part of my brain missed the angry and more violent version of Colby.
I missed the danger.
We got to Juniper's school first since she was dismissed earlier. Since she was younger I would go and wait by the doors to pick her up.
There were always security guards around and police officers, but I was scared for my siblings.
No matter what protection they had, I would be scared for them.
"Want me to wait for her today?" Colby asked as I shook my head. "I missed drop off, which is arguably the cutest part of my day." I said then reached for my door handle.
"It was pretty cute." Colby said with a nod as I got out of the car.
By the time I got closer to the school, the kids were being led out by their teachers.
"Sissy!!!" Juniper squealed as she ran over to me. "Hey, love. How was your day?" I asked and crouched down to be eye level with her.
"Good!! I made a new friend!" Juniper said with a smile as I took her bag from her. "I can't wait to hear all about it." I said with a smile then stood up and grabbed her hand.
I always loved how excited Juniper was about life. Granted, the life of a five year old was pretty great so I couldn't blame her.
"Is Colby in the car?" Juniper asked as I nodded. "Yeah, your best friend is in the car." I said as she giggled.
"I love Colby!" She said as we got to the car. "Hey, kid." Colby said as I opened the door and lifted Juniper into her car seat.
"Colby!!" Juniper squealed happily. "She was so excited that you came." I said with a laugh and buckled her into her seat.
"Yeah, we're best friends." He said with a shrug as I closed the door and got into the car again.
"Next stop, big kids." I said then buckled my seatbelt. "Sissy, can we get a snack?" Juniper asked as Colby took my hand again, bringing it to his lap.
"Hmmm...we'll have to see." I hummed and looked out the window.
When we got to the older kids' school, Colby pulled up to the curb and waited for them to come out.
It still felt kinda weird to see Colby doing such a normal task such as waiting for my kid siblings to get out of school.
If you told me a year ago we would be in this position, I wouldn't have believed you.
I never would have thought that Colby would leave the crime world for me.
I never thought he would leave the crime world in general.
We waited outside of the school for a couple minutes before Jenna, Carter, and Sam were walking towards the car.
"Hey, guys!" I said as they got in the car. "Hey, Jule." Sam said with a smile.
"How was school?" I asked and looked back at them. "Jenna got asked out." Carter said causing Jenna to smack his arm.
"I did not!" Jenna hissed then looked at me. "Who's the lucky guy?" I asked with a laugh. "I'm not talking about this." She grumbled and crossed her arms.
"Why is Colby here? Are we going somewhere fun?" Sam asked with excitement. "Julia got a job today so we're gonna pick up whatever she wants for dinner." Colby said and started driving.
"Ugh, I know what she's gonna pick." Carter said as I turned around, narrowing my eyes at them.
"Chinese." Carter, Jenna, and Sam said at the same time. "Hey! It's good." I said and turned forwards again.
"It's her comfort food." Colby chimed in. "Did something happen to make her uncomfortable?" Jenna asked with concern.
"No." I said with a sigh then looked out the window.
I didn't want to admit how nervous I was to start this job and to take this step.
I had done it before and everything worked out fine with it, but this time it felt different.
No matter how badly we wanted to live a normal life, I was worried I would always have that deep seeded fear of someone being out to get me.