I wake up, a sense of confusion hitting me.
Where am I?
I reach across the bed for Tyler, and I hit skin.
I open my eyes.
He's still sleeping.
The second my hand hits his chest, he moves over in his sleep, locking his arms around me.
I hear giggling down the hall.
I look at the clock.
10:07am.
I yawn, squirming out of Tyler's arms. I kiss his forehead, slipping out of bed. I go in the bathroom to pee, and then I wander out of the bedroom.
All three of the kids are sitting in the hallway, playing on my phone.
"Hi?" Emily says into the phone.
"What are you three doing?" I ask, suspicious.
"Nothing Mommy!" Emily hands me my phone after presses the end button.
I look down to see who she called.
All I see is three numbers.
A nine, a one, and another one.
Oh dear god.
In the distance, I hear sirens ringing.
Oh god. I walk back to the bedroom, shaking Tyler.
He grunts, reaching across the bed for me.
When he doesn't find me, he sits up. He opens his eyes, rubbing them, and then he looks at me.
"Yes?" he asks.
"Our children called the police." I say, pulling on pants.
He blinks a few times, and then he chuckles.
"That's cute." He lays back down.
I hand him my phone, showing him my recents.
He looks at the screen.
"Oh god." He mutters, kicking the blankets off. He pulls on a pair of jeans and wander into the bathroom. I change Declan's pullup after Tyler gets him to pee, and then we go downstairs with the kids.
Tyler starts making dinner.
Somebody knocks loudly on the front door.
"I'll get it!" Declan says.
"Declan, no, you don't." I say. I open the front door.
A police officer stands there.
"We got a phone call from this address." He says.
I sigh.
"Yes, my three kids there," I open the door wider, gesturing to the kids. "Decided to play with my phone instead of coming in to wake us when they got up." I say.
He looks hesitant.
"You can come in and search, if you'd like.
"I'll do it quick." He says.
He looks around the house, in the bedrooms and everything, and then he comes back downstairs.
"Alright, looks good." He says.
He heads for the door. "Um, do you know anything about the officer that got shot?"
He sighs.
"I get asked that every day. He was a close friend of mine."
