Each Other's

Chapter 3

Dad, Laura and I were eating our dinner of baked potatoes and steak one day, a few months after their wedding. Melanie was already asleep, thankfully.

"I have something to say.", I stated quietly, putting my fork down.

I looked across the table at dad and Laura. Dad had raised a bushy eyebrow, and Laura was giving me a questioning look.

"I-I need my own room.", I blurted out. I paused to gauge Dad and Laura's reaction. They both looked solemn, but not angry.

"It's not that I don't like Melanie.", I quickly lied, not wanting to hurt Laura's feelings. "I just need some privacy and peace and quiet sometimes. I am twelve now, after all. And little kids are distracting, y'know?"

I'd started to feel like I was babbling, so I stopped talking after that.

Laura nodded understandingly. "You're right, Mase." Her face was still serious, but her round eyes seemed to be sparkling, and full of excitement, which confused me.

"Tell him.", she said, nudging dad with her elbow.

Dad grinned--something I still wasn't quite used to seeing--and finally said, "Well, this was supposed to be a surprise, but...we found a house, Mason. A house we want to buy."

My eyes widened. "R-really? So I'll have my own room again?"

"We're going to finalize everything this weekend, and then it'll be ours!", Laura practically sang. She looked absolutely ecstatic, and even dad couldn't seem to stop smiling.

I was pretty pleased, myself. I could finally get out of the hell-hole I shared with Melanie. I inwardly sighed with relief.

***

"Do you want to come?", Laura asked, trying to jam her feet into some sneakers and tuck a sleeping Melanie in at the same time.

I thought for a moment. "What about her?", I said, glancing at Melanie.

"I'll call a babysitter, if you want to come.", Laura smiled.

I considered that for a few seconds, and then said, "Nah. I'll stay. It's only boring paperwork and stuff, right?"

"Well, yeah I guess. You sure you want to stay?", Laura said, hurriedly finger combing her short hair.

I nodded. I knew it would be a bother to find a babysitter last minute.

"You're a good kid, Mase. You know that?", Laura smiled and ruffled my hair affectionately. "Well, I'm off. Your dad's waiting in ther car, and he isn't exactly patient.", she chuckled, and then she was out of the room in practically a millisecond, her plaid shirt nearly a blur.

For many days after that, I wondered what I would have done if I'd known that that was the last time I'd ever see her. Would I have stopped her and dad from leaving home that day? Of course. But how? What excuse would I have used? Would it have worked?

Those are just a small portion of the many, useless ponderings I'd allowed myself to indulge in during the countless sleepless nights that followed that day.

***

"Dead."

I stared. "What do you m-"

"I already told you that she is dead, Mason.", dad said slowly, as if he was talking to a baby.

His face was so expressionless, his voice so dull, that it scared me more than if he had screamed.

My chest started to feel tight as his words sank in.