She lied in bed and felt the warmth on her face; a smile spread along her red stained lips as she stretched her arms out in bed.
Sarah could hear a man in bed with her, but she was blinded by the sun and couldn't see him as she relaxed in the sheets.
"So, did you have a good night?" the man asked.
Sarah bit her lip "Yeah." She muttered.
She felt the mans hand on her naked hip as he kissed her neck gingerly, Sarah giggled as she playfully pushed him away.
"Michael, stop it!" she said.
She finally got a good look at the guy "Michael? Are you still hung up on that jerk?" Mark asked as he sat up in bed.
Sarah gasped as she pushed herself away from the man, watching as the fallen follower began to bleed from his gun shot wound to the chest and fall on top of her.
Sarah awoke from her nightmare in the dead of night, having to remember where she was for a moment before she finally relaxed.
"Oh, my god." She muttered as she sat up in her bed, looking out the window before crawling out of bed and look out to see the wind blow not only the tree, but the tire swing attached to it.
She sighed, quietly making her way out of her bedroom and attempting to climb down the stairs without waking up either Grace or Mike, which proved to be hard with the floor boards creaking the whole way down.
Sarah reached the floor, looking up at the stairs to see no lights turning on which was a good sign for her as she turned around to the living room to see the light from the kitchen on.
She gently walked in, seeing Mike sitting at the dinner table with a cup of tea by him; he turned to see her and sat up in his chair "…skipping out?" he asked.
Sarah shook her head "No, I was just getting a glass of water." She muttered as she walked into the kitchen.
"Would you like some tea?" Mike asked.
She turned back to him and smiled "Tea would be nice." She said softly.
Mike got up from his seat and walked over to a cupboard where he grabbed a tea cup and motioned Sarah over to the table where she joined him, watching him pour a cup from the tea pot.
"So classy." Sarah remarked.
Mike smirked "Well, you play tea party enough, and you get the hang of it." He said.
Sarah nodded "Thank you," She said before taking a sip "So what are you doing up in the middle of the night?"
"What are you?" Mike asked.
Sarah shrugged "I had a bad dream, and came down to get a drink of water." She told him.
Mike nodded "I can't sleep. It happens sometimes, so I come down, and make a pot of tea."
"And you just sit there until you get tired or are you up all night?" Sarah asked.
Mike shook his head "No. I go to bed eventually, if just for three or four hours. But I just sit here and think about Grace, and think about work…" he told her.
"Oh, yeah?" Sarah asked.
Mike took a sip of his tea "Yeah." He simply said "She's getting so big, I mean, she's four and she'll be in kindergarten next year. She was a newborn not too long ago, I swear! Time is flying by." He said.
Sarah smiled, not sure what to say as she took a sip from her tea, sitting in the silence as Mike played with his tea cup "Look, I want to apologize about Ryan…"
"No, it's okay, if it was me, I'd do the same; I just have to win him over, don't worry, it'll happen." She said, gently placing her hand on Mikes.
She realized what she did and quickly took her hand back "I'm sorry." She muttered, looking away from Mike.
"It's okay. I guess old habits die hard." Mike told her.
Sarah shook her head "No. Look, Mike, I'm not going to stir the pot alright? I'm gonna leave first thing in the morning and you'll never see me again. I promise!" she told him.
Mike looked at her and shook his head "Sarah, you kept you end of the deal." He told her.
"Did I? I mean, the deal was that if you took her, then I'd leave you alone and wouldn't try and butt in…but here I am, drinking tea with you at…" she trailed off to find a clock "…2 in the morning." She finished.
Mike looked down at his tea cup, then back up at Sarah "…you didn't try to meddle from prison, your mom or sister didn't try to take custody from me, you never wrote any letters for me or Grace. You didn't butt in, and driving all the way from Maine to spend just a few hours with your daughter to meet her doesn't count as butting in." he told her.
Sarah let a small smile out "Oh, okay then." She said, taking another sip of her tea.
Mike let the wheels in his head turn for a moment, he thought everything through as he stared at Sarah "In fact, I want you to stay." He told her.
Sarah looked up at him, shocked at his remark "What, are you serious? Mike—I don't know about that…I mean…"
"You know what? Fuck Ryan, and fuck my mom…you're trying to be a ghost in your daughters'' life because of the people surrounding her and I can't allow that." Mike told her.
Sarahs' mouth was agape for a moment "But all my stuff is in Maine…with my family." She remarked.
"Then we'll have it all shipped, or you can go to Maine and pack your car up with what you need and let your family sell or donate the rest." Mike said.
Sarah nodded "Okay, then what about bills? Rent? Utilities? Groceries?"
"You'll babysit Grace from home, do you know how money you'll be saving me by not taking Grace to daycare?" Mike asked rhetorically.
Sarah thought about it all for a moment, now playing with her tea cup as well before slowly nodding "Okay, BUT I'm still leaving first thing in the morning to go back to Maine and get all my stuff…and then I'll be back the next day cause…you know, 8 hour drive plus having to pack and explain to my mom and sister." She muttered.
Mike smiled "Okay. Works for me."