Under Pressure

Chapter 3

Melissa POV
"Mom? Dad? You home?" I yell walking through the doors to my parents' house. They both enter the hallway from the kitchen and greet me. They can tell already I have bad news, so they stay quiet waiting for me to tell them. "We need to talk."

I explain to them the situation that was presented to me this afternoon and they listen to every word. Their facial expressions show many emotions, but ultimately they remain quiet. I feel myself start to break down as I continue on with more information.

"Can you take care of him for 2 months?" I wipe the running tears from my face. Their faces remain on me and their expressions show me they believe I'm about to break, which it felt like I would.

"Of course, sweetheart, but two months is a long time." My mother whispers looking from me to my dad, "You won't be able to have any contact?" She says resting her hand on mine.

"I don't know," I said shaking my head and looking down, "but it's a dangerous, mom, and this case-" I couldn't tell her. I couldn't tell her that the reason the case was passed on so many times was because people lost their cover and would then be killed. "If I do, it could put Adam is a lot of danger, I don't know if that would be the best idea." I say grabbing hold of my mother's hand. She hesitated, she wanted to fight it, but eventually became peaceful, again.

"It's okay, Melissa. We'll be here with him." My dad says and I look up to see him smiling. "Maybe we should come with you to pick him up, so that we can head to your house after and grab his stuff?" My dad offers. 

My dad also understood me better than my mother even though I always knew she did try. I agree with him and we leave together.

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I enter the parking lot looking at all the kids as they wait for their parents to come. I scan each one looking for the only one that mattered to me. I hid my tears and sadness with a fake smile, as if my emotions were gone. I had to be strong and caring for him.

I see Adam sitting down talking to three boys and smiling. He looked happy. He'd be okay. I told myself. My parents stay in the car as I walk up with some other parents to get Adam.

Adam catches sight of me as I am approaching and he stands showing me an even bigger smile. He turns to the briefly say something to the other boys and then comes running to me. 

As he meets me, I pick him up and hug him tightly, realizing this was the last time I'd picking him up for awhile. This time I couldn't hold the tears back. There were tears streaming down my face. This moment on the sidewalk alone with my son doesn't last long enough.

He lets go and I set him on the ground, but his smile fades quickly when he looks up at me as I attempt to clear my face from the tears that had streamed down.

"Mom?" He says worried. I want to lie to him, and tell him everything is fine. "What's wrong?" He whispers. I take his hand and we walk towards the car

"Oh nothing." I smile down to him. "I want to hear about your first day!" I say trying to sound enthusiastic while I actually felt my heart breaking inside.

"Mom?" He refuses to believe my lie. I stop and crouch down so he can see me. I feel another tear form in my eye.

"I got some bad news today." I say through my continued fight not to cry. "I have to go on a long business trip." I felt my breathe get caught in my throat, not wanting to go on. I close my eyes shortly and clear my head, "It's going to be about 2 months long." The tears grow larger in my eyes and it makes it harder to keep them there.

"Can I come with you?" He gives a short, shy smile. His kind, soft words shatter my heart.

"It's too dangerous for you, silly." I say and close my eyes slightly so that I could pull on a fake smile. I see a tear run down his face now.