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Inside, I smile to myself This is how it should be Adult proble problems They shouldn’t trickle down on top of kids Let children be children There is h time later in life for them to be filled orry, doubts, and insecurities

“Mommy, did you see me? Did you see“I rode in a porch”

“Porsche, Porsche,” Morrison tries to correct

“It’s s’posed to go really, really fast, but Mister Mowison asked if I wanted to go fast or slow, and I said slow”

In that irl a choice I can’t think of a tiiven a choice about anything However, Morrison Caldwell gave ave her what she asked for

When I look to hi deal If he only knew

Quickly growing bored, Marisa bounces past me and over to Morrison, who leads us inside The space is not overly large, like the house I shared with Monte, but as I take in every single square inch, I see it is high-class The furniture, the TV—hell, even the accent pieces are high-end

Morrison has money

Thinking on that, ain What will he expect from me? What does he want from me?

We spend the rest of the afternoon getting set up—only teuest roo to understand my need to shelter her

Night comes all too quickly, thankfully with no word from Marshall or Monte I’d made a quick call to Jaet a new prepay to contact her on After we left earlier, she’d gone to the store and bought pads, taave es of ferocery bags on the way out of the store She doesn’t want Alex to see any nuular phone and turn theoodness for smart friends I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without her

I sigh I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without Morrison, either

Whether I want to admit it or not, Monte would have found a reason to pushI hooked up with Morrison This is his world, and I merely exist in it to do as he wishes

Knowing I won’t be able to sleep, I slowly pullin the overly lush bed Her books aren’t packed, because in s She happily settled for Mo up a fairy tale and added in her own bits and pieces where she felt appropriate

Now, I quietly h Morrison’s space as the dread washes overmother would do—I cry