I screwed up. on At Home

Charity Stones

August 08, 2020 7:57 AM

I screwed up. by Charity Stones

Things at home had been tense. At first, naturally, Todd had assumed he had lost his mind. Charity, for her part, could only explain so much since she couldn't do any magic herself and getting a two year old to prove your point was no easy task. Then there were the boys. Keeping a secret was tough for any kid, but especially at their age. They didn't understand why anything was a secret, let alone why their super cool, magical baby sister was partly a secret

But things had gotten tenser. Apparently, Mathias had gone to jail. Apparently, Mathias had not told the prison any contact information for Charity. Apparently, that had left Evelyn to be the one to break the news that he was dead. Died of a snakebite in prison.

Charity was sitting at the dining table holding the letter, Michaela in her high chair eating cereal nearby, when Todd emerged from the bedroom. He eyed their daughter wearily before kissing her curls, and then did the same with Charity.

"What's this?" he asked, gesturing at the letter. When Charity didn't say anything, Todd glanced from her face to the letter and then took it from her.

"Mathias is dead," she finally said, snapping out of her haze with a few rapid blinks.

Todd, however, was not listening. "Your kids will stay with their foster family," he said, reading from the paper. Charity nodded meekly, biting her lip until she realized Todd had taken to glaring at her. She cocked her head before realizing her mistake and snatching the letter back. Todd let her. "Kids," he said again. He looked at baby Michaela. "Evelyn?" he confirmed.

Charity's heart was pounding in her chest, but she nodded. Moisture welled up in her eyes. "She's going to be seventeen in August," she said quietly.

Todd stared for another moment, although it felt like a lot longer than that, before turning and walking back to their shared bedroom. Charity collapsed back into her chair and looked at Michaela, who was sticking Cheerios on her fingertips.

"I screwed up, baby," Charity said softly, finally giving in to the urge to cry and burying her face in her folded arms on the table top.

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