𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐒 | | 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 [𝐄.𝐌]

Out Of Love, Not Fear

A/N
OMG OMG OMG!! Kim & Eddie are finally reunited!. It's actually been killing me not being able to write about them both.
Also, sorry if the first chapters of this book have been long and boring, I just didn't want to rush into the story line and potentially ruin it.
Anyway..

Enjoy, My Munson Babies <3.

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HAROLD CASSIDY
1985; Hawkins, Indiana.

She was gone. Gone from our life, gone from her home, gone from us. I knew exactly what I had signed up for the minute she asked of me what she did, but I never thought it meant sacrificing our relationship in order for her to build a life she couldn't have here.
She calls every now and again to let me know how she's doing, what country she's in, what new job she's secured, but none of it makes me feel better. If anything, I hate hearing how she's happier in a life that doesn't involve us. I can't stand the thought of my only daughter, my pumpkin, being content in a life that wasn't hers.

I couldn't begin to understand it myself, was this how a parent was meant to feel when their child was content with life?. It felt like a deep longing but also a deep hurt; a mixture of a pained acceptance and a painful disbelief that this was the new reality.

A bitter-sweetness; that's how you'd describe it.

And I think the worse part of the situation, the most gut wrenching experience from Kim faking her death, was that Michael and Andrew would never know their sister. They would never see the light she shone upon us all with her charisma and grace, and it's as if she hadn't thought of anybody but herself in that moment.

I watched the two boys roll around on the floor besides one another as I held a can of ale in my hand, my brain wandering through moments of my life where I must've fucked up to end up in a situation like this.

A single dad at the age of Forty Three with two twin boys not even old enough to know their own names, a house filled with memories that I can never forget no matter how much I try, and a lonesome heartache in my chest that never seemed to fade nor decease from me.

How does it get any worse than this?.

"Dad." The sound of my oldest boy's voice rang through my ears, crushing out the sounds of my own voice from my head. I turned to face Jonnie, looking him over in his suit and his sad expression. "You're not dressed, Dad." Jonnie pointed out the obvious, reminding me of why he was here.

"Shit." I mumbled and placed my can down on the coffee table, standing from my chair and looking around at my three children. "Look after the boys." I mumbled to Jonnie as I scuttled past and made my way up to get myself ready for the trial.

The trial.

How was I going to sit through it?. How could I possibly watch my wife get sentenced for the 'murder' of our daughter, regardless of whether Kim was alive or not.

How was I to sit and watch my wife get sentenced to death for the cruel, inhumane treatment she forced our daughter to endure due to her deranged mind?.

That wasn't something a father nor husband should ever have to endure. Never.

With my suit creaseless and my face presentable enough, I made my way back down the stairs to the almost too quiet home and began to pack a few things for the boys as Jonnie watched them with a small smile.