Babies.

Later that night, Duke and I were sitting at home just relaxing. We had already eaten dinner and now, we were just sitting around playing it by ear of what we were going to do. I hadn’t thought of Pete and it didn’t bother me. What did bother me was the fact that I had lost him as a friend. I didn’t have a lot of friends so it was nice to think that I was making a new one.

It was around eight now and it was time to put him to bed. I once again gave him a bottle and rocked him to sleep. After putting him in his crib when he was sound asleep, I covered him up with his favorite baby blanket. The day had worn me out so I tiptoed to my bedroom, changed my clothes, and climbed into bed. No matter how tired I was, I just couldn’t seem to fall asleep.

I rolled over and looked at the alarm clock. It was now nearing midnight. I sighed and once again closed my eyes. I had almost drifted off to sleep, when the sound of breaking glass made me sit up in bed. I quietly got out of bed and crept over to the window.

I pulled back the curtain and peaked outside. There was a large black truck parked outside of my house and there were two men walking up to the door. My only thought was I had to get Duke out of here. I grabbed my phone and ran into Duke’s room. I picked him out of his crib and thankfully he didn’t wake up.

I ran back to my room, grabbed my spare keys to my car, opened the window, and crawled out with Duke in my arms. I wrapped the blanket tighter around my baby and snuck over to the Fj Cruiser. They were inside the house now and Duke and I were now safely in the car. I unlocked my phone and dialed 911. I took a shaky breath as it rang.

“911, what’s your emergency?” “My house is being robbed.” “What’s your address? Are you okay, ma’am?” I gave her my address, my name, and told her I was safe. “Ma’am, the police are on their way” I nodded and thanked her. “I don’t feel like being here. I’m going to my friend’s house” the dispatcher agreed and told me to be safe. I once again thanked her then hung up. I turned around to check on Duke.

He was still asleep, breathing deeply. I started my car and pulled away from the curb. I got as far away as I could before I called Pete. “Hello?” I looked at the clock. It was almost 12:30 and he still sounded like he was wide awake.

“Pete?” I asked my voice shaky. “Wynter?” I gave a sob, holding back the tears. “C-can Duke and I come over?” “Yeah” he was very quick to answer. “What’s wrong?” “I’d rather not talk about it right now. Would it be okay if we spent the night, too?” “Absolutely” he gave me his address and I wasted no time in getting over there. As soon as I got there, Pete immediately opened the gate for me.

Duke was still asleep, thank goodness. Pete came out of the house and helped me inside. He took Duke from my arms and led me inside. “I’ll take him upstairs and put him in the crib” he told me and before I could answer, he was already going up the stairs. I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding and looked around.

I collapsed on the couch, feeling extremely tired. My eyelids started to flutter closed, but snapped open when Pete returned to stand in front of me. “What happened?” he handed me a bottle of water. “My house was being robbed. Duke and I were still inside. I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sorry” I shook my head before resting my elbows on my knees and leaning forward. He rubbed my back as he said that Duke and I could stay here as long as we wanted.

“I’m really tired” I told him. He nodded and led me to a spare bedroom that was right next to his. “I’ll be right here if you need. Duke’s in the room across from you and the monitor is in my room. If he starts crying I’ll come get you” I nodded before closing the door and heading over to the bed. Laying there, I couldn’t get the sound of glass breaking out of my head. I knew I was safe, but I was still scared.

Getting out of bed, I opened the door once again and crept into the hall. I knocked on Pete’s door before I opened it. “Um, I know this is gonna sound weird but can I sleep with you?” he sat up in bed and nodded. He moved the covers for me and as I snuggled in the warm bed, I immediately fell asleep.