Author's note: Sorry for taking so long. And my apologies again for a short chapter right now.
Jimmy searched through the house, feeling out of place. This wasn't where he belonged, was it? It was so desolate. The lights were all dim, and all the house was empty. There was nothing to suggest that other human beings had ever lived here other than the few articles of clothing they had left behind.
Jimmy sighed and sat down on his wife's side of the bed. The scent of her perfume still lingered in places, especially on the pillow, and before he knew it he was once again sobbing into the stack of pillows on her side of the bed. He'd give up everything to get her and Matt back, but he had no idea where they even were.
He felt like a stranger here, intruding on someone else's belongings, someone else's life. The man in the pictures that held his wife so close and had his other hand on his son's shoulder couldn't be him. That man was a distant memory of who he used to be, yes, but it wasn't him. Slowly he made his way to his son's room and pushed the door open. The bed was unmade, there were toys all over the floor, and a pair of pants laid haphazardly across a chair, as though waiting patiently for their owner to return. Jimmy, not really paying attention to his own actions picked up the toys one by one and placed them in the toy box.
There was a faint buzzing noise that snapped Jimmy out of his work, and he reached in his back pocket for his vibrating cell phone. "Hello?"
"Hi, dad!" Chirped the young voice on the other end. Jimmy sat down on the edge of Matt's bed, utterly startled. It had been a week without a phone call..were they finally going to return to him? "Hi, son." Jimmy managed to croak out.
"Mom said I can talk to you for a few minutes..but I can't tell you we're at grandma's house." Jimmy could hear the sound of Matt slapping a hand over his mouth. "Don't tell her I told you, okay?"
"All right." Jimmy agreed. "Can I talk to your mom?" There was a long silence as Jimmy felt his heart beat growing faster, roaring in his ears deafeningly, violently beating at his rib cage, threatening to explode. "Mom says I have to go now, Dad. Bye..."
"Wait!" Jimmy called, realizing it was already too late as he held the phone closer, listening to the beeping that meant the line was dead. "I love you, and your mother..I just wish I would have told you both sooner."