Page 47 of Saving You

“You’re okay, Caleb. It’s just me. You had a nightmare.”

She continues to brush my hair off my forehead, and the tension slowly leaves my body. I lean back on my pillow and let out a deep breath. The feeling in the air changes when Bailey walks away. Noise comes from the washroom and then the bed dips as she climbs next to me. The feeling of a cool washcloth on my forehead has me closing my eyes. She stays quiet, patting it along my forehead as I lie here silently, allowing it to happen.

I begin to drift back to sleep. The bed moves as she moves to climb off, but my hand reaches out and grabs her wrist.

“Stay, please,” I ask.

She comes back and curls into my side, throwing an arm around my middle as I wrap mine around her, holding her to my side. I can’t remember the last time I held someone as I fell asleep. I’ve never asked someone to staylike I just did. Bailey is slowly chipping away all these preconceptions I had about how my life was going to be. I quickly fall into a dreamless sleep.

Iwake up wrapped around Bailey. A sense of contentment washes over me, feeling her so close. I turn and look at my phone and see it’s 6:30 a.m. I slip out of bed and quietly make my way downstairs, Finn following behind me.

I decide to whip up some French toast, eggs, and bacon. I put Finn’s food in his bowl before I hurry upstairs. I pop my head into my room and see Bailey still wrapped in the covers in the centre of the bed. I quietly walk over to the bed and climb in beside her. Brushing the hair that’s covering her eyes behind her ear, I smile. It feels like I’ve done this a million times before.

“Bails,” I whisper, and her eyes flutter open. A smile spreads across her face as she snuggles deeper into the bed. “Bailey, it’s time to get up.”

A groan escapes her. “No.”

I chuckle. “Yes, I made coffee and breakfast.”

She opens one eye. “Coffee?”

“Yeah, I’m going to wake Charlie up. You think you can make it down on your own?”

“Yeah.” She rolls over and stretches.

I smile as I make my way towards the guest room. The door is cracked, probably from when Bailey made her way into my room last night. I give it a little nudge and see Charlie is curled in the centre of the bed, exactly like her mom was just curled up in mine. Like mother, like daughter.

I brush her hair back in the same way. “Little Bear,” I say, and she rolls and stretches. “It’s time for breakfast. I made French toast.”

The mention of food seems to wake her up quicker than I ever would have thought.

“French toast?”

“Yup, and eggs and bacon.”

She climbs out of bed, and we make our way downstairs and into the kitchen. I get a plate made for her with a glass of orange juice and then make my coffee. A minute later, Bailey makes her way into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes.

“Morning.”

“Good morning, Mommy,” Charlie says around a mouth full of French toast.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” I say as I push a cup of coffee towards her.

She cradles the cup between her hands like it’s the most precious thing. I chuckle as I make her plate and leave it on the table. After I make mine, I join them. Charlie’s too busy eating as much food as she can to talk, and Bailey is very focused on her coffee. Finn’s positioned himself at Charlie’s feet, hoping to steal whatever she may drop. We eat breakfast in silence. When Charlie and I finish, I clear our plates and she runs upstairs to brush her teeth and get ready for school. I smile as Finn chooses to follow her upstairs.

I sit across from Bailey and make sure she makes eye contact with me before I say, “About last night.”

A blush tinges her cheeks, but I’m not talking about what she thinks I am.

“I’m sorry if my nightmare scared you. That was the last thing I ever wanted. Thank you for checking on me, though.”

She places her coffee cup down and reaches across the table, taking my hand. “There’s nothing to apologize for. You didn’t scare me. Are you okay, though?”

I squeezeher hand. “Yeah, I’ve had them for a while. I’m used to them by now.”

“You called a name out last night,” she says quietly, almost too quietly. “You kept saying Tyler.”

I sigh and look over her shoulder at a blank spot on the wall. She must take this move as me pushing her away, but I’m not. I just don’t think I can look at her while I retell this story.

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