* * *

Present:

“Lo’, you’ve got to quit worrying. It’s going to go fine,” I answer into the phone.

“I should be there with you!” she whines, but she sounds horrible. River came home with a stomach virus a few days ago, and Petal managed to pick it up, too. I left her at her mother’s house this morning—in bed with a temperature of one hundred and two.

“There’s no point. It’s a set hearing, honey. The Commonwealth has suggested all charges be dropped if I agree to six months of probation and mandatory anger management classes. I’ll show up, agree, and then be home to feed you chicken soup for supper.”

“Ugh, Luka. Don’t mention food. It pisses me off that you’re agreeing to this stuff! You didn’t do anything wrong! We should be pressing charges against your father!”

“Lo’, I did hit him and threaten him. I can’t lie about that under oath, and I won’t. The way I look at it, if this gets rid of him and your mother doesn’t try to get involved, it’s worth it.”

“I still don’t like it,” she mumbles.

“Duly noted.” I laugh because she sounds like a child pouting. “I just pulled into our driveway. I’m going to go in and get changed into my suit and head out. I’ll be back soon.”

“Be careful, please? I don’t like you not having someone watching your back.” She sighs. “I can’t believe I got sick!”

“Will you stop worrying? We haven’t heard from my father in a month. There’s not much he can do, honey. It’s all finished now.”

“Tell that to Black. He still hasn’t been called back to work.”

“That’s because of the IAB investigation. The wheels of justice turn slow, Lo’—but they do turn,” I assure her, and for the most part, I believe it. I am becoming more than a little bit jaded about the system lately, however.

“Just watch your back. Please?”

“I’ll watch my back,” I promise her. “Besides, Ida Sue, Jansen, and Black are all going to meet me at the courthouse. It’s not like I’ll be alone.”

“Yeah, I know. I just wish I was going to be there,” she says with a sigh, disgusted.

“Just get better. It seems like forever since I’ve been inside you.”

“Trust me, Luka, I know. I miss you. I just… Mom’s house—you know?”

“Yeah, honey. I get it. That’s another thing that’s changing after the hearing today. We’re moving back home. I wanted to earlier, but your mother convinced me it would be safer to wait until the threat of jail was gone from over my head. She worried my father might try to pull something else.”

I push the key into the lock, and it doesn’t want to turn. I have to jiggle it a little bit to finally get it to work.

“And she was right. Ugh, I’ve got to go, Luka. Time for my every-fifteen-minute-run to the bathroom.”

“Too much information, Lo’. Damn, the romance is gone from our relationship.”

“It so is,” she cries mournfully.

“We’ll get it back,” I laugh. “Love you, Lo’.”

“Love you too, Luka,” she whispers before hanging up. I smile. I’ll never get tired of hearing that.

I hit the button on my phone and step into the house. I’ve missed this place. I can’t wait until finally Lo’ and I can move in here together and live with our son… the way we were always meant to be. It’s been a fucking long road, but I think I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I reach up and turn on the light. The switch clicks, but the light doesn’t come on. The bulb must be blown. I walk into the bedroom wanting to hurry and get this done.

I just cross the threshold when I hear a sound behind me. I turn to see what it is, but before I can, something heavy comes crashing down on the side of my head. I fall down like a rock. There’s a ringing in my ears and everything is fading away, colors slowly leaking into grays and blacks. I’m going under, and I know I am. I try to force my eyes to focus, but the world is swimming in front of me.

“You shouldn’t have fucked with me.”

I hear the voice over me, but I can’t see who it is. I try to shake myself, to be able to defend myself. I think I see a flash of metal. Fuck. Is it someone I’ve arrested in the past? Are they going to kill me? Is that a gun? Is this how it ends?

Am I about to lose everything just when I finally have everything I’ve ever wanted?

All those questions bombard me at once. I wait for the gunshot, but it doesn’t come. Instead I feel something fall on my chest. The man kicks me and shoves me to my side, and I feel him fish in my back pocket for my billfold. Is he robbing me? Is that what this is about?

Then I know I’m done. Blackness begins to swallow me. I picture Petal’s face in my mind and allow it to take me—praying that I wake up.