Grim

1

"Hush little baby, don't you cry," I sang to the beautiful baby boy in my arms. He stopped fussing and looked up at me with his big, beady eyes. He was so adorable, and I was completely in love with him. Other than his eyes and cheeks, he was a spitting image of his father. There was no doubt about it.

Pharaoh cooed at me as he reached for my nose, and I smiled widely. It was such a relief to finally get him to settle down.

"How about a little walk?" I smiled, and he just stared into my eyes, not really understanding what I was saying or maybe just not knowing how to communicate with me. He was only three months, after all.

I couldn't believe that it had been a year since I saw Azias. I figured something went wrong and that...

I sighed and placed Pharaoh in his crib before slipping on my coat. I then got him dressed and wrote a note for Rose and my mom to find.

My mom was sleeping, and Rose was taking a shower. I didn't want them freaking out about Pharaoh's and my absence.

"Okay, Pharaoh, it's just you and me," I smiled as I threw a blanket over him. I then left the room and slowly strolled around the motel.

One year ago

I entered the safe house, and an alarm began sounding inside. I heard the sound of two guns being loaded, and I quickly grabbed mine out of my backpack.

"Rose? Mom?" I called out, and I heard my mother release a nervous chuckle before she and Rose came from out of the dark.

"Oh, thank God it's you!" Rose sighed as she engulfed me into a hug.

Mom smiled, "I'm glad you made it safely, but what the heck is going on?"

I sighed because I knew I had a long story to tell them.

Ten months ago

I groaned as I held my stomach, and Rose and my mother looked at me with concerned eyes.

"You okay?" My mother questioned as she checked my body temperature with the back of her hand.

"I don't know. I just feel uneasy all of a sudden," I groaned.

Rose offered, "I'll make some tea."

"Thanks," I nodded gratefully as I slowly stood. My stomach felt weird out of the blue, but I knew I wasn't sick. I didn't have a high temperature. I just felt a bit nauseous. I sat at the edge of the bed, but upon feeling the food in my stomach rise up, I rushed to the bathroom. I was lucky enough to had made it to the toilet when all of the fluids from my stomach came up. It wasn't before long that my mother and Rose came rushing in.

"Uh-oh," Rose said through a whisper, but I caught it anyways.

"Did...did you and Azias-" mother got out before I cut her off.

"Yes," I answered as I stared into the toilet bowl. I clarified, "The same day I left."

Rose sighed, "Two months."

Three months ago

I stared at the two backpacks that were in the closet, as Azias had promised. Today was the first time that I had went searching for it because I wanted to believe that Azias would have dealt with the threat by now. However, six months had passed, and the food was completely gone. I was actually surprised that it lasted this long, given that Azias didn't account for anyone being pregnant. It was almost as if we were feeding four people with each meal.

What was worse was that after I got to the safe house, I realized that I never found out how to contact and meet up with Ace.

We were on our own and I knew that there was no way for Azias to track us down.