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Claire eyed John as they continued with dinner, something was off about him. He was too still. Too calculating, too polite. He was trying to not draw attention. Not in the way that was to protect… but to hide... he was scared. Something had him scared, yellow ringed his eyes, his breath was shorter, his fingers were toying with his wedding ring.
"So, Mr. Bender, how long have you worked in law enforcement?" Mr. Morres leaned back in his chair for a moment, chewing on his salad. The man wasn't much older than Claire, but he was from rich background, so naturally he and his young wife looked down upon people like John.
"I've been on the LAPD for about... eight years now?" John took another bite of his sandwich, looking to Claire for confirmation on small details.
"About that." Claire nodded, taking a sip of her beverage. What had him so jumpy, why was he so shut down? She watched his eyes, trying to find where the threat was but she found nothing.
"How long have you been married?" Mrs. Moores inquired.
"Well, we've been together since high school, but we've been married since 1986." Claire smiled, trying to get through the dinner without drawing any attention from around them.
John winced as he boosted himself into his truck, his healing wounds still tender to any pressure. He turned the key in the ignition and waited for Claire to finish with her lip gloss before driving out of the parking lot.
"So, who was there?" Claire asked, handing John one of her mints as she got one for herself.
"Remember my ex, Bethany?" He turned onto the highway, rolling the mint over his tongue. "Her uncle Willard was there. He tried to drug me when I was thirteen." He shook his head. "I don't know if he was grooming me into something he wanted before that but I know he's a chomo because of what he did to her."
Claire sucked in a breath as John described the night he'd been roofied and his friends had gotten him out, and by the time they were home she was nearly in tears with the story of what John had gone through. She only knew a handful of stories about his childhood, and each one only seemed to get worse.
Clarissa looked up from her crochet as John and Claire entered their home. "How was dinner?" She asked.
John smiled and gave her a hug. "Went pretty well." He took Claire's coat and hung it up, letting the girls get to talking as he slipped upstairs to check on his children.
He gently opened the door to each child's room, staying only for a few moments before checking on the next child. "What're you doing up?" He smiled as he lifted Reya from her crib, already able to tell she needed a fresh diaper. "You knew i was coming in tonight didn't ya?" He laid the baby down on her changing table and began the familiar process of changing her. "How about a song?" He thought back through all his favorite lullabies. "Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high There's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue And the dreams that you dare to dream, Really do come true. Someday I'll wish upon a star And wake up where the clouds are far behind me. Where troubles melt like lemon drops, High above the chimney tops, That's where you'll find me. Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly Birds fly over the rainbow Why then, oh why can't I? If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow Why, oh why can't I? Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high There's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue And the dreams that you dare to dream, Really do come true. Someday I'll wish upon a star And wake up where the clouds are far behind me. Where troubles melt like lemon drops, High above the chimney tops, That's where you'll find me. Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly Birds fly over the rainbow Why then, oh why can't I? If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow Why, oh why can't I?"
He finished zipping Reya's onsie up and caught a glimpse of Clairissa as she watched him through the open door.
"You're a good dad." She smiled, before leaving him to his parenting.