Hiding Place || Tori Kelly

Red Eye

24 Weeks
(Nov. 30)

7:45 PM

Tori scrolled through her email, checking for brand deals or gigs that Scooter had sent and just like it has been for 5 weeks after telling him about her doctors visit, spam, spam, and more spam. He told her immediately after hearing about the bed rest that as a father he was going to honor that. And the only thing she would get was sparse studio time until the baby was born. Tori hated that, but after Thanksgiving, she understood.

With a deep sigh, Tori shut her laptop and placed it on the coffee table. She was getting tired of sitting on her hands. But, after Thanksgiving and the tiny panic attack she almost had after thinking that she'd went into labor early, Tori was going to finally heed her mothers warning. Kind of.

As Tori went to get up, a small child rounded the corner of the half wall by the steps with her head phones in. Tori watched Irie dance her way to the kitchen, jump into the pantry, grab an organic fruit roll up, and take her seat at the table without even looking up. Sad. The singer thought. Irie was so wrapped up in her device that she hadn't noticed her mother on the couch. It was typical though and Tori had to change that. Her child was not about to be addicted to the screen. "Mama!" Tori called. Irie paused her video and took out an earphone before looking at her mother.

"Yes," she replied.

"How long have you been on that?" Tori asked. Irie shrugged, even though they both knew the answer was too long. "Is your work from Ms. Cookie done? She's coming over next week to start your at home lessons," Tori reminded. Irie bit her lip and slowly shook her head.

"It's almost done. Can I finish it after this movie?" Irie begged. Tori internally chuckled. If André were standing here, he would say yes in heartbeat. Tori, on the other hand, not so much.

"No, ma'am. If you want to go to Emily's sleepover tomorrow, you have to finish your work. Go get it and bring it to the table," Tori said. Irie groaned as she got up from the table. "Drop the attitude, Mama. Or your not going at all and still have to do your work," Tori warned, as the seven year old disappeared to be replaced by her husband. He had sad eyes as he came and sat next to her. Tori looked him up and down with a side eye before raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?" Tori asked. André ran his hand over his face and sighed.

"I have a flight at 11. I have to go to this youth conference Pastor Jeff set up. It was last minute and he put my name on the rotation yesterday so I have to go," he lied. Tori took a deep breath and fully looked at her husband.

"You have a flight tonight to where?" Tori asked. André shrugged.

"I told you. The conference," he played.

"Yeah, got that. Where is the conference?" Tori specified. André waved off her question and pulled Tori into his lap so that she was straddling his waist.

"All I know is that Vanessa is picking me up, and I am meeting the pastor at the airport," he said, watching Tori's face change.

"Vanessa? Why is she taking you to the airport? We have four cars, you and I both have licenses, and if you wanna get fancy you can Uber," Tori listed. André started to laugh at his wife's reaction.

"I don't know. All I know is that she'll be here at 8:30 and we'll be gone for a week," André said. I trust him. I trust him. I trust him. Tori had to internally chant. She leaned down and pecked her husband's lips. Then, wrapped her arms around his neck.