sweet tea. -tkam

check-in.

-atticus' pov-

     I shut the door to scouts bedroom quietly, getting a final look at my sleeping daughter before I went back to working.
     I smiled softly to myself, there wasn't a sight in the world more precious than the faces of my children. Often times I felt like they were the only true things I had in life.
     I had lost such a big part of my life, and that feeling alone is enough to make anyone feel like they lost it all, but despite the pain I had experienced, I still can't begin to fathom what I would feel without the two of them.
      They were my everything, my reason, and without them what would I have to come home to. It's a lonely feeling not having a wife to come home to, not having a woman back home.
      And it feels empty at night once the kids are asleep, and I am left basically alone. Having nobody to love or hold, nobody to love you, for that matter.
      But, I still have them. To come greet me, and I don't like to think about a day where they don't come to greet me any longer, when they're too busy in their own lives, too old to care for it.
     Tonight felt particularly heavy on my heart, but for no particular reason. I stood still outside her door for a moment as I thought, before finally heading into my office. I could tell I needed sleep, and I needed it fairly bad. I was tired, and stressed, but when was I ever not?
     My kids were more important than work, and I had taken care of them, but, work was still more important than me, and now, I needed to take care of that before myself at last.
      Surely it wasn't the most productive to work on cases when all you really want to do is have a break and get some sleep, but when else was I supposed to do it if I was busy during work. I wasn't willing to sacrifice the hours I had with my children after work, when I wasn't as exhausted yet, so the only other time was now, late at night.
      My body had a dull ache, but I reminded myself that I had to do what I had to do. But as aforementioned, tonight was different. Something felt unsettled, or, just generally unnerving.
     I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I had a feeling of unease. Like something wasn't right. The feeling only grew as I tried to focus on work, so I sat down and dedicated some thought to it, hoping to find what was making me feel so uneasy so that I could fix it and continue on with my work.
     Suddenly, it hit me. Daisy, she was out on a date with that man mauide had wanted me to keep an eye on.
     My first instinct was to go and make sure she was alright, but then again, it wasn't my issue to solve. Not everything was something for me and me alone to have to fix. But then again, was this really where I drew the line? I weighed the pros and cons in my head, or , rather, the reasons to go or not go.
     I didn't like to put too much weight in my intuition, and preferred to remain neutral, or make decisions and take stances based off of objective matters or facts.
    BBut, again, I left room for my own morals, and sometimes, things were too morally compelling to disregard. The thing that settled it for me was remembering how good of a friend daisy had been and continues to be to scout, in her time of most dire need for someone like daisy.
      How she treats my children is something that means more to me than most things, and just for how much scout adores her, I felt it was right that I at least check on the situation briefly.
    I sighed and stood up from my desk, phoning mauide from the phone by the door.

"Maudie? I need a favor"

"This late?"

"I truly apologize for the timing Mauide but I believe it's for a cause you will find worth it"

"Oh what is it then"

"I have a bad feeling mauide, and I'm just going to quickly make sure everything is okay"

-daisys pov-

I sat hugging my knees to my chest as I cried on the floor, hopelessness taking over my will. I heard footsteps approaching the door, and i felt my body tense. As the door creaked open, I jolted up.