Mike woke up before the girls did the next morning. He slid out of bed quietly, hoping not to wake them. Carrie and Madeline were both sound asleep, snuggled close together under the covers. Mike couldn't help but smile at the sight.
He glanced at the clock, seeing that it was already almost eleven. He decided to cook breakfast, giving them something special to wake up to.
Surprisingly, Carrie woke up soon after Mike, even though she'd had the least amount of sleep of all of them. She'd spent over 4 hours at the hospital.
Sliding out of bed quietly, Carrie pattered out of the room carefully so that she wouldn't wake her daughter. She shut the bedroom door slowly and walked down the hall.
Passing Madeline's room, Carrie froze, staring at the messy bed she'd been raped in just hours before. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply and letting it out slowly as she opened her eyes again. She quickly shut the bedroom door and walked downstairs.
"Good morning princess." Mike smiled, standing in the kitchen. Carrie walked down the stairs slowly in a big T-shirt and shorts, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Her hair was a mess and she had her glasses on. Mike could see the hurt in her eyes.
"Hi." She croaked, her voice horse. She approached her husband, letting him embrace her. The feeling of his strong arms around her made her feel safe.
"How are you feeling?"
"I can't see anything out of my eye." She muttered. "And I'm sore. Everything hurts."
Mike hugged her again, kissing the top of her head.
"You know that I'm here if you want to talk about what happened. You don't have to, I just want you to know that I'm always here if you need me."
"Thank you." Carrie smiled. "That means a lot."
Mike returned the smile. "Do you want some coffee?"
"Yes please." Carrie grinned.
"Do you want some ice for your eye?"
"Sure. Does it look really bad?" Carrie walked over to the mirror that hung in the hallway off the kitchen.
"Shit, it looks awful. No wonder I can't see out of it." Carrie examined it in the mirror. It was practically swollen shut. There were big black and blue bruises surrounding it.
"It'll heal quicker than you think." Mike said, speaking from experience from previous hockey fights. "You need to try and keep ice on it today though. The first 24 hours are the most critical."
"Yeah, that's what the doctor said too." She took the bag of ice from her husband, wincing when she sat it on her eye. She sat down on the barstool, putting her elbow on the counter and resting her eye against the ice.
"Did Ivey tell you that Madeline doesn't know?" Carrie asked quietly.
Mike nodded. "I won't say anything."
"I just don't want her to blame herself. I know she will. She already thinks it's her fault. I don't think she could handle it if she knew he'd raped me. She doesn't need that kind of guilt. I don't want her to worry about me. It wasn't her fault."
"You're a good mom." Mike smiled. "I hope you know that."
Carrie shrugged, looking down at the ground.
"Carrie." Mike sighed. He put the towel in his hand down and walking around to her side of the bar.
"I just feel guilty. She shouldn't have to deal with this kind of stuff. I brought her into a terrible world. She deserved better than Sam. She shouldn't have to live in fear that her father is going to break into her room and try to kidnap her. All of this is my fault because I married him, and I didn't leave him when I should have." Carrie began to cry into her hands.
"Carrie" Mike placed his hand on her back, struggling to figure out what to say. "Sweetheart look at me."
Carrie looked up, tears rolling down her face.
"This isn't your fault. None of this is. You haven't done anything wrong. Just like you don't want Madeline to blame herself for what happened last night, you can't blame yourself either."
"I know." She sniffled. "I know."
"Mom? Is everything okay?" Madeline walked down the stairs, her plaid pajama pants brushing the floor with each step.
Carrie shot up, wiping the tears off her face.
"Yep, we're good." She forced a smile to her face and nodded. "How are you doing?"
"I'm okay." Madeline said, walking over to them. Carrie embraced her, holding her in a tight hug. "Are you?"
"Practically perfect." Carrie smiled.
"Mom, you don't have to pretend around me. I get it, it's okay. I know last night was really hard for you, you don't have to act like it's not."
Carrie put her arm around her daughter, pulling her in to kiss the side of her head.
"Thank you sweet pea. I'll be okay. I love you so much, don't you ever forget it."
