Calum
I can hear my blood pumping behind my ears as I scale the front steps two at a time.
"Jes!" I scream. My voice shakes and I pause in the entryway waiting for a reply. I listen for any movement but don't hear anything.
Where the fuck is she? I drop my bags and race through the house throwing open every door on the bottom floor before racing up the steps and checking the second floor. I've checked every room in the house. She's not here and neither is P.
My chest tightens as I begin to panic. Where could they be? Did something happen to them? I pull at my hair trying to think straight.
I grab my phone from my back pocket frantically pressing my mum's name.
"Calum?"
"Mum! Have you heard from Jessie? I just got here and her and P are gone."
"Breathe. They're here. Come over."
"Thank God." I exhale hanging up the phone. The relief floods me for a moment before I feel nauseous my anxiety catching up with me. I rush to the bathroom and spew my stomach's contents. I wipe my mouth and rinse it out with water, wiping the stray beads of sweat away from my brow. They're safe. They're fine.
I head back down the stairs and out to the garage. I hop in my car and pull out, tires squealing as I drive into the night. I've never sped like this in my life. I weave in and out of the light traffic doing anything I can to reduce the time between me and the people I love more than life itself.
I make it to Jessie's old house in record time, 13 minutes for what's typically a twenty-five minute drive. I crash through the door to find my girl waiting for me.
I close my eyes as total relief washes over me. I can see her, hold her, protect her. My hand reaches behind her, pulling her against me and I kiss the top of her head before she tilts her chin up to kiss me properly. I feel the wetness of her fresh tears but I'm too lost in the feeling of having her in my arms and being able to taste her for the first time in weeks to worry about the circumstances of our current moment.
I finally pull away and hold her at arms length to look at her.
"What happened? Are you hurt? Why did the alarm go off? Where's PK?"
"Deep breaths." She says helping to calm me though I should be the one doing this for her.
"You scared me half to death."
"Come on, let's go sit down and I'll tell you what happened."
"Where's Paisley?" I ask again when we're seated in the living room. I'd forgotten how comfortable her couch is.
"Your mom's watching her in the guest room she had just got to sleep when you got here."
I nod, fighting the urge to race to the guest room and see for myself that she's okay.
"What happened?"
"We were just in our usual nightly routine. I got up at midnight to feed her and she was basically done when I heard someone come in the front door. I freaked the fuck out. I didn't know what to do but I grabbed P and we went out the back and ran over to the neighbors and I called your mom to come get us."
"Whoever it was must not have stayed long. No one was in the house when I got there." I tell her.
"They didn't find what they were looking for."
"Do you know who it was?" I question.
She nods her head and stares through the darkness looking everywhere but at me.
"I watched the security footage..." she trails off. I extend my hands in front of me asking her what information she's withholding.
"It was Mark."
•
Jessie
I never thought I'd be the girl with the crazy ex. My shit with Mark was two years ago now. I never thought I'd have to worry about something like this.
I don't even know how to react to the security footage. I don't know what his intentions were in coming to our house. I'm only thankful I'd reacted quickly and gotten myself and Paisley safely out of the house.
I can't even enjoy the surprise of Calum being home because of this. Thank God he's here though. I'd truly be a mess without him. It's funny how his timing always seems to be perfect. Like the universe knows when I need him most and brings him to me. I breathe into his chest and enjoy his arms being wrapped around me. This is where I feel safest, Calum the best cure for my anxiety.
"Can we go see P?" He asks and I nod letting him tangle our fingers and pull me behind him to the spare bedroom. He hugs his mom and dad before moving to stand over the extra bassinet I had been keeping at this house with his parents for when they watched P for me.
He stares down at her, his arms are crossed and the vein in his neck is prominent. He's deep in thought and I wish I knew what was going through his mind.
"What is it?" I question stepping to stand beside him. I lean my head against his shoulder and stare down as Paisley sound asleep, blissfully unaware of the chaos she and I endured tonight.
"Just hate I wasn't here to protect you."
"You're here now." I say firmly my eyes peering into his brown ones.
"Yeah but he shouldn't have been able to get in. I wonder what he wants? He didn't find you so, what if he comes back?" His voice is tight and I know the gears of his brain are turning a million miles an hour, trying to work out a solution. "Maybe I shouldn't go back with the boys. Maybe I should stay here."
"Calum." I say warningly.
"What Jes? Your ex-fiancé broke into our house with plans to do God knows what. What if you hadn't been awake? What if you hadn't gotten out? What if something had happened to you or Paisley?" His features are hard, his brows furrowed. They soften as he adds "I couldn't live with myself if something happened to either of you while I was away."
"Calum you have to work. We're gonna turn the security footage into the police. We'll ask them to do drive by's every night. Your parents can come stay in our guest room so I'm not alone and we can put new and better locks on all the doors."
"What if that doesn't stop him?" His eyes plead.
"I'm not gonna live in fear of him. I did enough of that when I was engaged to him. I don't know what he wants, but if it's to scare me I'm not going to give him the satisfaction. We're going to take extra precaution, but we're going to live our lives. Okay?"
He nods, but it's obvious this whole ordeal has put him on edge. I know he hates being away and this certainly hasn't helped anything.
Paisley stirs, letting out a cry and he moves quickly to grab her up pulling her close and covering her face with kisses. She cuddles against him and I'm struck by how beautiful a scene this is. The man I love, holding our child. I refuse to let my past ruin my present.
"Can we just stay here tonight?" He asks. It's nearly 2 AM so I agree, quickly pushing the bassinet to the master bedroom and bidding his parents goodnight. Cal carries Paisley bouncing with her until she settles again. He hands her to me reluctantly so that I can feed her since I didn't have time to grab any milk as we fled our house.
When Paisley is fed I finally have a moment to comprehend Calum's arrival home. He sits on the edge of the bed in the house I used to call home cradling our daughter. I sit on the edge of the bed and it dips under my weight. I crawl over behind him and wrap my arms around his neck. I trail soft kisses from his ear down his neck and to his shoulder.
"I missed you Cal."
"You have no idea, Jes. I've been damn near miserable."
"Me too. It's no fun being without you. The little one doesn't seem to like it much either."
"We've gotta work out a better system. I can't always be here but there has to be a better way. I just haven't figured out what that is yet. After this though, something's gotta change...I'm gonna worry constantly about you both now, more so than before."
"We're gonna be fine baby. We'll go to the police in the morning. For now let's just get some sleep. I've missed sleeping beside you. Even if you snore." I say laughing at my last comment.
Cal scoffs at my remark before settling Paisley and climbing in beside me. His arms snake around my waist and for the first time in weeks I'm truly and completely happy.