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Chapter Forty Three
A couple days had passed, and from an outsider’s point of view, it was almost as if nothing had happened at all. However, an outsider didn’t have the privilege of being with the Chasez family after night fell, when the family had settled in for the night and allowed their thoughts to take over.
Understandably, Julie had not started back at school. She couldn’t face the pressure yet. It had only been a few days, but there were many people there at the party, and when the EMTS had brought her down from the bedroom, there were what felt like a thousand stares were in her direction. Not only had she been violated, she had been incredibly humiliated as well. She wasn’t ready. And JC didn’t blame her. He wasn’t ready to let her out of his sight just yet anyway.
The family had settled in for the night in the living room to watch a movie, minus baby Jack who was tucked away safely in his crib for the night. Julie and Abbi were sitting on the floor at their parents’ feet as the two adults snuggled together on the couch. It was a perfect family picture. Or so it seemed.
With a sigh, Julie pushed herself to her feet, pushing pause on the DVD player. “I think I’m gonna go up to bed guys,” she said softly, offering her daddy a weak smile.
“You okay?” JC asked, lifting his arm from his wife’s shoulders and standing up. He put his hands on her shoulders and staring intently into her eyes. She nodded, shifting her gaze.
“Yeah, I’m just really tired,” she said softly, moving forward so that he could wrap her tightly in his arms. “I love you,” she mumbled against his chest before pulling away. She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek and then leaned over to peck Jen as well, before ruffling Abbi’s hair affectionately. “G’night guys.”
Taking her sister’s cue, Abbi stood up as well. “Can I be ‘scused to go to bed too?” She asked. Jen frowned, and this time she was the one who spoke.
“Why honey? You’ve got another half an hour before your bed time,” she said, holding her arms out for the little girl. Abbi walked over to her mom and sat down on her lap, resting her head against her chest.
“I jus’ don’ feel good,” she said softly. With a sigh, Jen touched her forehead softly.
“You don’t feel warm baby. What’s the matter? Does your belly hurt?” She asked. She was afraid that her daughter was getting sick. Just one more thing to add to the list of worrisome things.
Abbi shook her head, attempting to snuggle even closer to her mommy. “I jus’ wanna go to bed,” she said softly. “Can I?” She asked.
“If you want to, sweetie,” she said quietly. “Do you want me and daddy to come tuck you in?” She asked him.
“No, I can do it,” she said softly. She kissed her mom’s cheek and then climbed off of her lap to go give her dad a good night kiss. “Good night daddy,” she said, before pulling away and running up the stairs.
JC and Jen gave one another a bewildered look before shrugging. Standing up off the couch, Jen stretched and cracked her back. “Well, I think I’m going to go take a long, hot bath. You think you can just keep an ear out for Jack?”
“Of course I can,” he said, leaning over to kiss her cheek gently. “Enjoy your bath baby.”
Jen walked to the stairs and disappeared within seconds, leaving JC alone once again with his thoughts.
~*~
Rolling over in the big bed, Jen let out a groan when she didn’t feel the warmth of her husband’s body. She forced her eyes open and squinted to see the clock. “Ugh, Josh… where are you?” She groaned. It was nearing 2 am and her husband was nowhere to be seen. She turned the light on, cringing as it burned her eyes. Once she’d focused, she pushed herself out of her bed and headed into the hallway.
Coming from downstairs, she heard a harsh sniffling. Knitting her eyebrows together, she crept over to the stairs and tip-toed down silently. She could clearly see her husband, his back to her, sitting in the middle of the floor examining things. Surely the sniffling had not come from him. Her ears perked up when she heard it again, and she noticed his shoulders shaking slightly.
She climbed down the rest of the stairs slowly, and came up behind him quietly. “Josh?”
He turned to face her, and she could see the tear stains on his face. His beautiful blue eyes were clouded with tears, his nose red and slightly runny. Her heart broke.
“Baby… what’s the matter?” She asked, kneeling down beside her. She quickly saw that the things he’d been examining were pictures of the family. Particularly pictures of his two girls when they were little. It was amazing how much Julie and Abbi had looked alike, considering they’d come from two different mothers. Both of them had basically gained their father’s looks, although they were softened a little thanks to the female genes in their bodies. “What are you doing down here baby? It’s 2 in the morning.”
“I can’t sleep,” he said, sniffling once more as he reached his hand up to wipe away the tears. “I should have protected her, Jen. I never let her go out anywhere without grilling her and the one time I give in without 8 million questions, she gets hurt.”
“You had no way of knowing.”
“I’m her father! That doesn’t matter! I’m supposed to protect her! I’m supposed to keep these things from happening! I’m such a failure.”
She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to her as she swayed gently with him in her arms. “You couldn’t have done anything, Josh. You didn’t know this would happen baby.”
‘It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t feel safe anymore. Every night I come to bed I hear her in there crying. She’s scarred for life and it’s my fault!”
She had no idea what to say to make her husband feel better. She knew that nothing coming out of her mouth could fix this, so she did what she was best at doing. She held him quietly, kissing and brushing his tears away gently, cooing soft words to him of her adoration and love for him, reminding him over and over again that he was a wonderful father. Now, if she could just get him to believe that…
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