Piece By Piece

Chapter 9

"Hey wanna go out and have a girls day today?" Carrie's best friend said into her phone.

"Ummm" Carrie hesitated. She held the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she unloaded the dishwasher.

"Come on Care, it's been almost a month and you've hardly been out of the house. It'll be good for you, we both need this." Ivey pleaded. She and Mike had been trying to get her out for the past week and a half. She needed a day to have fun and not think about anything.

"Alright fine I guess." She finally agreed.

"It'll be fun I promise! I'll pick you up in like 30 minutes, is that okay?"

"Yeah, I'll see you then." Carrie replied and hung up the phone.

Leaning against the kitchen counter, she sighed.

"Whatcha thinking about in that beautiful little head of yours?" Mike asked as he came up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his chin into her neck.

"Ivey and I are going out today."

"Good!! That'll be fun!" Mike exclaimed.

"Yeah I guess so." She sighed, trailing off.

"Hey, it'll be good for you Care. You need a girls day, you can't stay cooped up in this house forever." He said, kissing her shoulders.

"I know, I know. I just don't want to see people. I'm not ready to be Carrie Underwood yet." Carrie turned around to face her husband with a solemn look on her face.

That line hit Mike like a bullet to his chest. Unsure of how to reply, he wrapped his arms around her tiny body and pulled her against him. Stroking her hair, he felt her body's tiny shakes as she started crying.

It broke his heart. Every time he thought she was starting to get better, she reverted back. He feared she'd never be able to take the next step and get back to her normal life.

Barging in, Ivey immediately stopped at the door when she saw the scene in front of her.

"Uh oh, bad time?"

Carrie pulled away from her husband, wiping her face.

"What's wrong?" Ivey asked, walking up to Carrie and embracing her in a hug.

"Nothing, I'm okay." Carrie forced a smile out. "Just having a moment."

"Do you still wanna go out?" Ivey glanced at Mike who shook his head behind Carrie. "We don't have too Care, we can stay here and watch movies or something."

Carrie's eyes started to fill with tears again, aggravated at herself for being so emotional.

"Hey, hey, don't cry. We don't have to do anything it's okay." Ivey pulled her best friend in for another hug.

"I do! I just don't want to see anyone. I'm just not ready to be Carrie Underwood yet." Carrie cried.

She hated herself for being like this. She didn't do this. She was always tough, she didn't let things get under her skin. The Carrie she usually was would have brushed this off by now and gone back to a normal life, but she just couldn't seem to do that.

She was constantly terrified. She'd only been alone a couple times and they'd been very brief. She hadn't gone anywhere by herself yet. She knew he was locked away in prison, but it didn't make her any less scared.