Sway

Long story short

⚠️ Chapter Warning ⚠️
  * This chapter contains violence that may be difficult for some readers.

Charlotte's POV

It was somewhere after 10PM, Talia and I had decided to grab some dinner after talking for hours at the park. Now I was walking through the front door of my 500 square foot apartment with Evan attached to my torso. His little round head was hanging forward as he slept soundly. After taking off my sneakers, I swiftly removed the carrier from my body and held the sleeping baby in my arms. We walked down the hallway and into the only bedroom in the apartment, it was dark and I didn't have a free hand to flip the light switch. Thankfully, I knew my way around the room and was able to place Evan inside of his crib. After placing the fluffy Elmo beside him, I pulled the blankets up over his onesie and tucked him in. Then just as I was turning to walk away, a huge hand swept across my cheek. The pain from the unexpected slap created an array of blurred lines inside of my head, I was dizzy and nauseous all of a sudden. Then Eddie's voice sounded, "Where the fuck have you been?"

My hand was covering the burning sensation that was my cheek, the taste of salty blood forming at the back of my mouth. I knew that I needed to speak though, or else things would become far worse.

"I took Evan to the park," the pain from the slap was traveling rapidly to my head, "it was crowded... so it took awhile to get back."

Eddie wasn't an idiot, he swung his other hand this time, making contact with the other side of my face. Now I could no longer stand, my legs were weak as I reached for the edge of the bed. He didn't like that though, so he curled his fist tightly and shifted it into the center of my stomach, causing me to stumble down to the carpeted floor.

I cried out in pain, knowing that this was just the beginning. He was drunk, or maybe he wasn't. It was hard to tell lately, but usually when he was sober he didn't strike my face. Which is why I assumed he was drunk now.

By this point, I knew it didn't matter what I said about my day. He had it engraved in his head that I was out cheating on him, which, this time I was. However, the numerous other times, I was completely innocent.

The rage continued for another ten or fifteen minutes, then he eventually threw me onto the bed and practically ripped me out of my clothes. My face was swollen and my body was tingling from several kicks and punches, he didn't care though. He was well over 6 feet tall and overpowered me in every way, sweat dripped from his forehead and landed onto my face. His breath was reeking, the hot stench of scotch whiskey slithered down my exposed body as he breathed indecipherable words into my ear. My eyes closed as I thought of my baby just a few feet away - sleeping soundly in his crib, unaware of how pathetic and weak his mother was.

The night was slow and I played my usual game of zoning out as Eddie had his way with my trembling body.  I thought of earlier, how it felt walking down the streets beside Talia. Watching her play with Evan, smiling with her as we talked about anything and everything. There was just an aura about her, something so genuine and honest that it almost hurt me being around her. She was perfect, so fucking perfect.

🌤

Morning came and I rolled over praying that Eddie had gone to work. An inevitable smile formed on my face when I didn't feel him, then an extreme surge of pain replaced the joy. My entire body ached as if I was hit by a truck, my face in particular. Then as if he sensed I was awake, Evan began bawling in his crib.

My body was naked, but I lifted from the bed slowly despite. The ringing from his cries fused with the buzzing in my head, and I felt myself grow faint. He needed me though, so I pulled myself together and began changing his diaper and mixing his formula. I ignored the jolts of pain from practically every part of my body, as I dressed him in a clean onesie and sat him in the baby bouncer. He was content and I was thankful.