I put in my notice at work the next day, and I’m brutally honest with my boss about it. Obviously, he’s not happy, but I explain that there’s a family emergency and we have to leave town in the next two days. He doesn’t push back too hard, and when I leave at the end of the day, I know this chapter of my life is over.

Leah calls me from the car as I’m walking back home. “How’d it go?” I ask her.

“Not good. My boss flipped out.”

“I’m sorry.” I sigh, looking at the crowd of people as they pass me on the street. “But what else can we do?”

“Nothing. She’ll get over it eventually. I just can’t get another job at a hospital in this city anytime soon.”

I laugh a little bit. “Damn. Huge loss there.”

“I know, right?” She sounds like she’s in a good mood, which shouldn’t surprise me. We’re about to run away together, and that should be exciting. “Listen, I’m almost at Ryan’s daycare. I’ll be home soon.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Good.” She hesitates, and I think she’s going to say something else. “See you.”

She hangs up the phone. I smile to myself, slipping my phone back into my jeans, and I start to walk faster. I want to beat her back, have dinner started for her. I know this isn’t easy but we both can tell that it’s the right decision. Even still, I need to make this transition as painless as possible for her.

I make it back to our place about ten minutes before we get home. She’s smiling when she comes in the door, with Ryan hanging off her arm. He runs over to me and jumps up. “Hi Dad,” he says.

My breath catches. “Hey bud.”

He smiles at me again and runs over to his little toy corner, dumping out a bucket of toy trucks. Leah grins at me and walks over.

“How’d that feel?” she asks.

“Really good,” I admit, laughing a little. “I didn’t know that could feel so good.”

She grins again and I pull her against me. She looks surprised when I kiss her. We’ve kept this away from Ryan for a while now, basically because we don’t want to confuse him, but I don’t think there’s anything confusing about this situation. Not in my mind, anyway.

She lets me kiss her though. When I’m finished, she looks around. “Did you start dinner?”

“Of course,” I say. “I’m pretty useful sometimes.’

She laughs and kisses me one more time. “Watch him while I get changed, okay?”

“Got it.”

She heads off upstairs, and I finish prepping the meal. She comes down and helps out, and we eat together as a family. For the first time since this all started, I really feel like we’re an actual family, and not some fake version of one. Leah smiles the whole time, and even Ryan seems like he’s in a good mood for once.

We have some playtime after dinner and then we get him into bed with the lights out. I read him one story and Leah reads him another before we shut the door and he goes down to sleep.

It’s strange how these simple domestic rituals can make a place feel like home. I bet if we did all this stuff in a hotel room, it would still somehow feel like a home, at least a little bit. It’s the people and the things you do that makes a home, not the actual space. We populate our spaces with our lives. We make space whatever we want it to be. Sometimes, it works the other way, and space changes us. In this case though, I feel like we finally have some mastery, and we’re starting to come together as a real family.

Leah and I have a drink and watch some TV. She goes to bed early, kissing me softly before she leaves, and I stay up a little bit longer. Even though we have a plan and we’re leaving the day after tomorrow, I still feel like I’m on edge. I don’t know why, I just don’t feel like sleeping. Maybe because I know danger is still lurking out there, and it’s this city that’s making it impossible for me to close my eyes.

I have another drink, and soon it’s after one in the morning. I groan, but I don’t have to be at work tomorrow, not anymore. It’s just packing and preparing. I try to close my eyes on the couch, all the lights out, but I keep seeing visions of violence.

Finally though, I force myself to go upstairs. I finish my drink in my bedroom, brush my teeth, put on sweats, and climb into bed. I stare at the ceiling, and nothing happens.

Until I hear a noise. At first, I just dismiss it as a creak in the floor. Houses change temperatures, lumber grows and shrinks, they make weird noises. It’s just what happens with houses, especially old city houses like mine.

But it happens again. I frown to myself and I’m half standing when I hear a distinct sound, a specific creaking of a floorboard above. That’s the sound of someone walking down the hall.

I don’t know what makes me go up there. I expect to find Leah creeping around, checking on Ryan, but as soon as I quietly get to the top of the steps, I notice that her door is still shut. If she were walking around, it would be open. She wouldn’t close it behind her.

All of my senses are tingling. I don’t know why but I’m completely on edge. I slip into my bedroom, grab a baseball bat from under my bed, and grip it as I move toward Ryan’s room.

I hear something strange. I think it’s a grunt, or maybe a whine, and struggling. My heart’s beating so fast I can barely breath. I steady myself then kick open the door.

I barely have a second to assess the situation. Ryan’s still in bed, but his wrists are tied up and there’s a gag in his mouth. One figure is bent over him, finishing the gag, and another’s standing to the side.

I don’t hesitate, I smash the bat into the standing guy’s face, and it takes me another second to realize that it’s Piero Gallo, wearing all black.

The bat hits his skull with a dull thud. He drops to the ground, grounding, and the other body’s getting up, but he’s moving too slow. I bring the bat around and smash it into his shoulder. I barely miss his head as he moves out of the way, struggling to get something from the waist of his jeans.

“Fucking cunt,” Enzo says to me as I come at him.

I smash the bat down onto his arm as he turns away from the blow, putting his hands up to defend himself. A revolver drops from his jeans and hits the ground with a loud thunk, but fortunately it doesn’t go off.

I hit him again and this time I connect. His head snaps back and blood flies from his mouth. He hits the wall and falls to the ground.

Piero is stirring, and I don’t have a second to lose. I grab the revolver on the ground, cock the hammer, and point it at Piero’s face.

“Get out,” I say to him. “Get your brother and get out.”

“Okay,” he says, eyes dazed. He stumbles to his feet, walks across the room, and grabs Enzo. He drags him out of the room and down the steps. All the while I follow them, gun pointed, not wavering a second. If Piero pauses or tries something, I know I’ll kill them. My heart’s steady and I’m not afraid. I’ll kill them right here.

“What’s going on?” Leah asks, coming to the top of the stairs. She gasps when she sees what’s happening.

“Get Ryan,” I say. “Make sure he’s okay.”

“Oh my god,” Leah says. “Did they hurt him?”

“No, just go.”

I hear her disappear. Piero’s starting to come back to himself a little more now and he looks up at me with a vicious little smile.

“This isn’t going to end well,” he says.

“You’re right. If you don’t keep moving, it’s going to end with a double murder.”

He grunts and heaves Enzo up. He gets the man’s unconscious body all the way down the steps with minimal damage. He opens the front door and I follow him as he lugs the body outside and down the stoop.

I stop at the door, gun still pointed. “Give me a reason why I shouldn’t kill you guys right now,” I say, anger starting to rip through me.

“Because you’ll go to jail and you’ll never see your boy again.” Piero drops Enzo onto the sidewalk. “Because you’re not a killer, Connor.”

“No, I’m not.” I spit onto the ground. “But I can be for my family.”

“I believe you,” he says.

I stare at the man and every inch of me wants to pull the trigger. If Piero and Enzo are dead, maybe the Gallos will back off, but I know that’s stupid. If I kill these two, then the Gallos will kill me and Leah, probably slowly. They’ll take Ryan and everything we’ve worked for will be lost.

Slowly, I lower the gun. “Get the fuck out of here,” I say.

Piero nods. “Good choice.”

I step back inside, shut the door, and lock it.

My heart’s hammering again as I uncock the gun and put it into a drawer before I go upstairs. Leah’s holding Ryan, whispering as he cries against her.

“Fuck,” I say softly. “Are you okay?” I kneel down in front of him and he just nods, sniffling.

“He’s okay,” Leah says. “Just scared.”

“It’s okay bud,” I say. “It’s okay. They’re gone now.”

He reaches for me and I hug him tight. Leah’s face is a mask but I can tell what she’s thinking.

Eventually we calm Ryan down and get him back in bed. I don’t know if he’ll sleep, and I honestly can’t blame him if he doesn’t.

Back in the hallway, I pull Leah into my arms. I’ve been wanting to hug her ever since this all started.

“Are you okay?” she asks me.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“They were trying to steal him,” she whispers. “Those fucking bastards.”

“I stopped them.” I hesitate a second. “Might have killed Enzo. I’m not really sure.”

“Good riddance,” she says.

“If he’s dead, so are we. Let’s hope he’s not.”

She nods a little bit. “How’d they get in?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “But I think they came in through a window upstairs. Luckily I couldn’t sleep and I heard them walking around.”

She nods against my chest and I hold her tight for a little bit longer. I tilt her head up and kiss her lips very softly.

“Go sleep in my bed,” I say. “I’ll come in a second.”

“Are you sure?” she asks.

“I don’t want to be alone tonight, do you?”

“No,” she says, and kisses me again. She lets go and heads into my room, shutting the door gently behind her.

I go upstairs and sure enough, there’s an open window. I shut it with a curse and lock the damn thing, but I suspect that won’t matter if they try and come back. I think about blocking the window with some boards or something like that, but I doubt they’re going anywhere tonight, not with Enzo in like that. I got him pretty good, and he’s definitely missing some teeth if he’s still alive.

I head back down and go into my room. Leah’s there, warm and beautiful. I crawl into bed next to her and I hold her body for a while. My mind’s wandering, reliving that experience, anger rolling through me all over again. Leah falls asleep eventually, but I can’t sleep.

I’m up all night, thinking about how I wish I had pulled that trigger and killed the bastards that scared my son.