Wildest Dreams

I'm laying down on top of the covers with Cash, his soft snores make me smile as I stare up st the ceiling. After opening the mountain of presents the brunette toddler was whiney and irritable, so I'd scooped him up against his will and forced him to take a nap, even if it only lasted an hour.

My cell phone vibrates on the dresser beside the bed and I do my best to slip my body away from my son’s to keep from waking him. I reach for the iPhone but with the curtains closed and the lights off it's hard to see. My hand fumbles against the wood top before connecting with what I'm looking for.

“Hello?” My voice is low and I glance down to see it's a private number.

”Hey, baby.” his warm voice is music in my ears and I squeeze my eyes shut when I realize who is on the other line.

“Matt.” I breathe out.

”Are you alone?”

“I'm in bed, Cash is napping with me. The party wore him out and he was getting cranky.”

”I wish I could be there. Did he have fun?”

“He did. He was so excited about the cake, and he got so many presents I don't know where I'm even going to put them all.” Matt chuckles on the other line.

”I'm glad. My lawyer came through, finally. She got me a phone, for now at least.”

“How? I didn't think that was possible.”

”I need more phone time than the guards will give me, so this is my only option. It's not allowed, but it's the only way this will work. I'm paying my lawyer triple what I should be, so she owes me.”

“The way what will work?” I scrunch my eyebrows as I slip off the bed and into the bathroom.

”I didn't mention it before because I didn't want to get your hopes up.”

“Matt, what are you talking about?”

”Your dad, Johnny, and Zack are working out the evidence, baby. I'm getting out of here if it's the last thing I do.”

“So that's why Zack has been so weird around me.”

”I asked them not to say anything to you. I don't want you involved.”

“Because what you're doing is illegal.” I deadpan, realization filling my voice.

”Travis is a waste of space piece of shit, Mariah. No ones going to miss him when he's locked up. No family, no wife, nothing.”

“And what if something goes wrong and you get even more time added?” I run my fingers through my hair and try to push the negative thoughts to the back of my mind. “I can't do that.”

”Nothing is going to happen. Your dad took care of what we needed.” Matt’s voice is low and his caution causes angry butterflies to attack my stomach.

“I need you home with me. I couldn't take it if anything else happened.” My voice is barely a whisper and I hear him let out a deep sigh.

“I'm coming home, baby. I'll break out of here before I miss our second kid be born, got it?” My heart flutters with hope for the first time in months.

“Got it.”



By the time Cash wakes from his nap the sun is starting to make its way down and the heat has broken. There's quite a few people still out back when we get outside and while the kids chase each other around the backyard, the adults have set up beer pong and look like they're having more fun than anyone.

“Hey sleepy heads.” Sam calls out as she comes over with a red solo cup in her hands.

“He was so tired, and Matt called or I would have come down and left him to sleep.” Sam raises an eyebrow. Cash releases the grip on my fingers and takes off across the yard to climb back into the bounce house with a few of the neighborhood kids.

“I didn't know he could call whenever. That's pretty cool.” I keep Matt and I’s conversation to myself and avoid her comment. Carter comes up and takes her hand in his while trying to drag her over to the pong table.

“It's our turn honey.” He tells the blonde as she resists.

“Shoot for me. I'm going to get another drink.”

“I should make myself one.” I tease while brushing my hair behind my ear and following her back into the kitchen. As I'm pouring the Jack Daniels into a glass with ice and Coke, Zack steps into the kitchen looking uncomfortable and out of place.

“Can we talk?” His eyes don't meet mine and they flicker from me to Samantha.

“Of course.”

“Alone?” Sam picks up her cup from the counter.

“Oh, got it. Sorry.” She mumbles before heading back out the way we had just come.

“What's wrong?” I ask Zack as I make my way around the island to where he's standing looking like a wounded puppy.

“This whole thing has really got me fucked in the head, Mariah.” Concern for the more sensitive guy in Matt’s life creeps into my chest. “I can't stop thinking about it. It's all that runs through my head, all fucking day and night.”

“Getting shot?” His blue-grey orbs are filled with sorrow as he finally pulls his gaze from the floor to look at me.

“All of it. I've never seen someone just.. die.”

“Zack, I don't know what to say. You saved my son and I'm so grateful for that. Chris was an awful human being, there wasn't another way. You know that, right?”

“I do know, but it doesn't change the way I feel.” He takes a step back.

“What can I do?” I plead when I feel him distancing himself from me.

“There's nothing anyone can do. I'm going to get Matt out, but after that-“

“What are you saying, Zee?”

“I'm saying I'm not going to be around as much.” I stare at him, no words coming to mind as I let what he's telling me sink in. He doesn't want to be around us anymore. “I could go up prison for what we have to do to bring him home. All of us, but I'm going to do it because you are family. I don't want you to think badly of me when it's all said and done.”

“I could never think a single negative thing about you.” He's quiet for a moment.

“I'm going to say goodbye to Cash. I'll see you sometime, Mariah.” He steps forward and presses a kiss to my forehead before exiting the kitchen.

It's like my body is on auto pilot as I make my way back up the stairs and into the master bedroom. I can feel the emotions raging deep inside me and I sit down on the floor, my back against the side of the bed.

I clasp my hands together hard enough to turn my knuckles white as the silent tears flow down my cheeks. I refuse to make a sound but when I think about Zack’s face, one of my best friends in the world, and him leaving us behind it's too much to take. I'll get the love of my life back, but in the process I'll lose someone just as important.