Chapter One
"Bobby, where are you?" I ask looking around the the living room, I could see his head sticking out from behind the sofa, little giggles with him "well I guess you're better at hide and seek than mama" I sigh sitting down on the sofa right in front of where he was hiding.
Immediately, he jumps from behind the sofa and onto my head. I laugh holding him tightly as we fall on the floor, I begin to hear the front door open and close.
"Bobby, are you attacking your mother?" Charlie asks picking him up and throwing him in the air, little giggles just erupt from Bobby's mouth as flies in the air "it's lucky I came home when I did" Charlie smiles plopping Bobby back on the sofa upside down, I laugh getting up and walking into the kitchen to leave them play.
I start to make lunch when Charlie walks in, I send him a little smile before getting back to what I was doing. He comes up behind me placing a kiss on my cheek while taking what I was making for Bobby, I hit his hand away but he just laughs.
"I won't be home for dinner, me and the guys have some business to attend to" he says jumping up to sit on the counter, I just nod not that I was expecting him to be home anyway "I know I'm away a lot but I have no choice, the kind of work I do is demanding" he says as I put the put peppers into a pot, I've heard all this before.
"Yes I know, I have been married to you for three years" I say reaching up in the herd cupboard, before dumping a bunch of different herbs into the peppers and rice.
"What's wrong, before you say nothing, remember we've been married for three years" he says smiling from the counter, I sigh hating that he turned what I said around on me.
"Earlier I was thinking about Bobby and your work" I say being vague, he moves his hand in a circle telling me to carry on "what are we gonna tell him when he's older, right now he's two and doesn't understand but when he's older, he's gonna ask why you're never home or why daddy comes home sometimes with a smashed in face? Are we gonna lie or tell him that his dad is this huge criminal?" I ask finally looking away from the dinner and at Charlie, he was still sat on the counter but jumps down to stand beside me.
"Calm down, we knew this was gonna come up when we had Bobby, but just not this soon" he laughs a little but I give him a look, now was not the time for him to be laughing at me! "But you're right, we are gonna have to tell Bobby the truth one day, you never know he might wanna join the family business" he smirks where I give him another look, there is no way I'll be allowing my son to do what Charlie does.
"It's one thing that my husband is a huge criminal, but there is no way my son will do the same thing" I tell him with a pointed look, I will lock Bobby in a tower like Rapunzel if I have to!
This makes him laugh wrapping his arms around me, I knew when I got into this relationship when we were still at school, that it was gonna hard be due to Charlie's line of work. But I never imagined how difficult it was gonna be throwing a kid into the mix, well let's be honest I didn't know I was gonna have a kid so soon. We got married when I was 18 not even a year later I got pregnant with Bobby, I was still a kid myself having a kid of my own! But Charlie took care of everything and it wasn't as hard as I thought it was gonna be, it still isn't hard but when you think about the future, that's when it gets complicated.
"I don't have a time machine where I could tell you how all of this is gonna pan out, but just know that I'm always gonna look after you and Bobby. Remember when you found out what I do, we were on a first date at the beach and that guy pulled a gun on us. I told you that day I was gonna look after you no matter what, that still stands to this day but I get to also look after our son" he tells me pulling away to look at my face, I smile remembering the beach and the dude Charlie had to save from the water.
I smile up at him where he places a kiss on my lips, I mean it's hard sometimes but I wouldn't trade my life with Charlie for anything.
"Oh before I forget, this man came to the house asking for you when you gone" I say moving away to check the dinner first " I told him you wasn't here so he told me to give this to you" I say reaching over and grabbing the letter from the counter, I was gonna open it myself but Bobby wanted to play.
Charlie takes it from me, wasting no time ripping the envelope open. I give him a weird look before taking the dinner off the hob, it was done. I grab three plates from the cupboard while Charlie starts to curse.
"That bastard" he says throwing the letter on the counter, he starts pacing the room with his hands on his head, I reach over taking the letter to start reading it myself.
"As I said, she is beautiful and your son seems great! You're one lucky man"
I give the letter a even more confused look, I mean he must be talking about me and Bobby right? I don't think I've never saw that dude before, maybe he works with Charlie or even worse, one of Charlie's many enemies.
"Who's that from and what is that?" I ask placing the letter back on the counter, I knew if I didn't ask him he'd leave without telling me.
"This is bad and I don't know how I'm supposed to fix it" he mumbles to himself still walking up and down, this wasn't answering my question "the man at the door is called Richard, he really doesn't like me and the guys let's put it that way" he says laughing a little but I could tell he wasn't finding it funny.
"That man has a major screw loose and I don't mean that in a funny way" he says which in my opinion, I wouldn't think someone who has a screw loose could be funny "I saw him shoot a guy in the face because he coughed, why did I even associate myself with this man that's now turning his attention to my family?" He asks rubbing his hand over his face stressed, this man does sound bad jeez!
"Have you done something to annoy him, I mean I don't think he would turn on your family for no good reason?" I ask needing to know what I was dealing with, last time this happened I was kept in the dark.
"Me and the guys were meant to do a job with him a few months ago, things went south and the job ended up not happening. He told me I had to make it up to him somehow or he'd hit me where it really hurts, he knows how I feel about my family so he's choose that" Charlie sighs moving from the kitchen over to the window, he was actually starting to worry me as he never gets like this, even when I had Bobby he was as cool as a cucumber, but I guess he wasn't the one giving birth.
"Okay calm down, maybe he isn't gonna do anything and he just came to the house to scare you" I say hoping it would calm him down but also calm myself, I didn't need another crazy person going after me.
"That's not how he works, he talks about the way he works like chess, every move he makes he thinks long and hard about it and he always has a plan" he explains closing the curtains making sure the windows were locked, he's probably not trying to make me worry but he definitely was!
"Okay I just need you to stay in the house, lock all the doors and windows and don't answer the door to anyone, I'm gonna fix this" he says running over to me placing a kiss on my head before running back out of the room, I soon hear the front door close and lock behind him.
All this trouble is worth my life with him, I'll keep telling myself that.